Air Fryer Sesame Chicken Thighs

Air Fryer Sesame Chicken with honey is to die for! With our homemade sauce that is sweet and tangy you can make this healthy Asian meal year round. If you loved our air fryer teriyaki chicken but you want a thicker sauce on your meat, this is fabulous.

If you love Asian recipes but didn’t know you could make it in your hot air machine, you’re wrong! Air fryer sesame chicken thighs are out of this world delicious and a super duper easy air fryer recipe we make often. (affiliate links present)

Air Fryer Honey Garlic Chicken

Many have made our Instant Pot sesame chicken recipe and that is fabulous as well. The biggest and really only difference between the two is that this one has crispy bits on the outside, while the other does not. Take your pick, you can’t go wrong with either one though.

There are a few basic ingredients you always have to have on hand with asian chicken recipes. Honey and garlic are a must. We used to make Crockpot sesame chicken thighs all the time but that doesn’t get crispy at all, then we transitioned to this.

Ninja Foodi Air Fryer Sesame Chicken

If you use a Foodi to make this in this case the lid that is attached. It will cook and crisp the meat on the outsides at the same time. Other than that the directions remain the same as stated in the recipe card below.

Sesame Chicken in Air Fryer with Bottled Sauce

Yes you could use a bottled sauce and add a bit of thickener at the end if you’d rather but homemade really doesn’t take that long to whisk together. I have made this with the sauce already added, and then cooked inside the air fryer basket. As you can imagine, about half of the sauce will drain to the basket underneath.

It still soaks up a lot of it and we still enjoyed it quite a bit but then we combined it all into this pot with a handle. That way it was all cooked together and soaked up more. It did take a bit longer since there was more contents to heat but it was great.

with homemade sauce

Making your own sauce is probably the best and will be explained below in the printable recipe card. A few ingredients are whisked together until smooth and then tossed with the meat once done to coat and serve.

Then if you take 5 minutes to heat and whisk the homemade sesame chicken sauce together and then add the cooked poultry in at the end it is perfection. The bit of cornstarch thickens it nicely and it gets sticky and FULL of flavor using this method.

Ingredients

1. You can use bite size boneless skinless chicken thighs or breasts, either way works great. The latter will be a bit more tender.
2. Honey is a must
3. We used minced garlic like it is going out of style.
4. Soy sauce or aminos work for gluten free
5. Salt and pepper
6. Chicken broth is used to thin it out a bit.
7. Rice vinegar gives it a bang

Can you substitute chicken breasts instead of thighs?

That depends on the recipe but in this case you can. As long as the cubed meat is cut in bite sizes then dark meat or white won’t make much of a difference as far as cook time is concerned.

Diced green onions or chives gives it some color when it is served, and of course sesame seeds as a garnish are a must. Served over some Ninja Foodi rice and you have the perfect meal. Quinoa is higher in protein if you’d rather.

How to Cook Air Fryer Honey Chicken

1. So to start you just coat the meat with the thickener, a bit of soy sauce and your seasonings of choice.
   • Chili pepper flakes could be added at this time if you wanted to really intensify the heat, we didn’t. Only salt and pepper were used but garlic powder would be a good add in too.
2. In a bowl mix together bite sized chicken thighs or breasts, cornstarch, 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp pepper and 1 tsp soy sauce. A bit of sesame oil is great too if you like. Stir together so all meat is nicely coated.
3. Preheat air fryer to 380 degrees for 5 minutes. Spray basket with non stick cooking spray and pour coated chicken inside.
4. Cook for approximately 8 minutes flipping after 4 or until largest piece of chicken is cooked and no longer pink inside.
5. In a small saucepan combine remaining ingredients listed under sauce above. Cook and whisk over medium heat for a few minutes until bubbling. (You can whisk it together and warm in microwave if you’d rather but sauce won’t be quite as thick).

Then pour cooked chicken inside pot. Stir to coat nicely and allow to thicken and bubble for about 2 minutes. Serve over rice with a sprinkle of sesame seeds and/or chives/green onions on top.With prep time this probably takes about 20 minutes start to finish.

If you need a gluten free option you could use aminos instead of soy. Check other ingredients added as some brands may differ from others. Under high heat but then coated with this thick sauce I am telling you that you’re in for a real treat of a dinner.

Ninja Foodi Sesame Chicken

We have several different brands including the Foodi, Cosori and AirWave. They all work basically the same for this one since you don’t need to pressure cook it. If you do have that pot though you can try our spicy teriyaki chicken recipe which is out of this world too. Dual function kitchen appliances are the best I tell you.

Want to make this or our air fryer teriyaki chicken the other way I explained? You can, just follow those instructions. No extra saucepan or anything other than just throwing it right into the basket and this is how good it turns out.

Can you reheat sesame chicken in air fryer?

If you have gone out to eat and have leftovers you can surely throw that in and warm it up nicely. 380 degrees F for about 5 – 6 minutes shaking halfway thru usually does the trick. You will once again get that nice crispness on the corners even if it is a day or two old. Remember to let it come to room temp. first for best results.

How do you crisp chicken in an air fryer?

You can air fry everything basically. To reheat chicken in air fryer read this article, nothing is off limits my friend! All cuts are better heated in this baby. Even our air fryer firecracker chicken is as good next day.