Finger-licking-good baked chicken dinner that’s super easy to make. Chicken things marinated, seared and baked in a delicious sesame sauce.
Sesame Baked Chicken Thighs
Do you ever have those days when you want to eat something but you have no idea what. And to make matters worse, nothing in the house sounds good. I hate those days but sometimes I come up with something very tasty in the end. Just like these roasted sesame chicken thighs.
Last week, I had one of those days where you stand lost in front of the pastry for seemed like hours. Finally, sesame seeds and sesame oil jumped out at me and sounded very good with baked chicken. That’s the best part about finding that right star ingredient, the idea just pops in your head when you see it.
Chicken thighs and drumsticks are usually my go-to chicken cuts to bake. Dark chicken meat is so much juicier, more flavorful, and much more tender than breast meat. And yet, I always find it odd that fewer people prefer the dark meat to breast.
These sesame baked chicken thighs came out just as delicious as the idea in my head so I had to share it. Any successful dinner recipe is one to share and repeat!
What To Serve With It:
You can serve this chicken with several different things. My husband prefers it with roasted potatoes. I loved, loved, loved it with some roasted asparagus and rice.
Some of the best sides are ones that soak up the sauce from the chicken. Go for things like rice, quinoa, broccoli, cauliflower, and even noodles. Rice noodles are actually very nice with sesame sauce.
You can also serve it with Sesame Cucumber Salad, Cucumber Broccoli Salad, mashed potatoes, or pasta.
More Baked Chicken Recipes To Try:
One Pot Balsamic Chicken & Potatoes
Baked Chicken with Tomatoes and Mushrooms
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Sesame Roasted Chicken Thighs
Ingredients
- 1.75-2 lbs bone-in chicken things
Marinade:
- 4 Tbsp soy sauce
- 2 Tbsp sesame oil
- 2 Tbsp rice vinegar or wine vinegar
- 2 Tbsp chicken broth
- 1 Tbsp brown sugar
- 3 garlic cloves
- White pepper
- Sesame seeds
- Salt
Instructions
- Combine ingredients for the marinade in a large mixing bowl and whisk well. Add chicken thighs and mix them into marinade. Let the chicken marinade for 15-20 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 375. Heat up a well-seasoned cast iron skillet (or another oven-safe skillet, greased) on stove-top, over medium-high heat.
- Add chicken thighs to the hot skillet and sear on each side until you get a nice golden sear, 2-3 minutes. Add about half of the marinade to the skillet and transfer it to the oven.
- Roast chicken in the oven for about 20-30 minutes (depending on the thickness of the chicken thighs). You can cut into the thickest one to check and make sure it's cooked through or use an instant read thermometer to check if internal temperature reached 165°.
Notes
Nutrition
Mel says
The chicken was delicious. A home run. This is going in the regular rotation. Thank you!
LyubaB says
I am so glad you liked it, Mel!
Abby Love says
Lyuba.
Thank you, Thank you…finally a recipe that the chicken comes out moist. I added a healthy helping of crushed red pepper. Then I made a bit of a dipping sauce just honey soy sauce and 1 or 2 drops of toasted sesame seed oil and sesame seeds, MIxed it and dipped some chicken but was great with the rice. I have had so many recipes lately dry the chicken out, so no matter how tasty, dry chicken thighs are not great! I really appreciate this being here. Great flavors!
LyubaB says
I am so happy the chicken turned out well for you!
Viccin says
Normally I use honey, but I think the brown sugar was what was needed to merge with the soy and sesame – even at such a small amount. Great recipe, easy to make, and my husband and I both thought the chicken was delicious. Cooking on stove-top first in cast iron helped so the skin did not burn in the oven and only needed about 20-25 minutes to be cooked all the way through. I used 2 cloves of garlic and only a little over 2 tablespoons of soy and sesame oil, and the sauce was very good over jasmine rice. I served it with green beans with sour cream/butter mix and sesame seeds. Tasty meal! Thank you Lyuba.
Kiki says
Instead of roasting, I used my new Sous Vide and finished them in a cast iron skillet. Because I’m new to Sous Vide cooking, I wasn’t really too sure what temp to cook them and for how long. I started at 150 for 2 hours, got freaked out about salmonella and up it to 165 for an additional hour. They were not the juicy thighs I get from the bbq, but it also could have been that they marinated for 4 hours. The flavor was a SERIOUS SESAME PUNCH and very good (I wouldn’t change my marinade time), but I do like mine just a tad sweeter and a tad thicker. So, I took all the MARINADE, threw it in the skillet I seared them in, sprinkled splenda brown sugar blend to taste, and thickened it up a little with some corn starch. I absolutely love being able to take the marinade and make it into a sauce of my preferred thickness!
**I’m open to suggestions on a substitute to the brown sugar I added to the sauce afterwards. Maybe rice wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar?
Kiki says
I forgot to rate the recipe in my original post. Definitely 5 stars!
lyuba says
Thank you so much, I’m so happy the cooking method worked out for you! I often turn my marinades into sauces using cornstarch as well.
Do I understand you correctly that you just don’t want to use sugar but want it sweeter? Some common sugar substitutes are honey and maybe Agave syrup. You can add a tablespoon or two of either depending on the amount of sauce.
Neither vinegar is sweet though so if you’re looking for sweetness, go with honey, sugar, or Agave syrup. You can also use apple juice for a light sweetness but it will be thinner sauce and you may need to add a little more cornstarch.
I really hope this helps! Let me know if I misunderstood you!
Mike says
Excellent all around taste. I will definitely make more of the marinade. I wound up using all of the original when I roasted the dish, the resulting sauce is great – just needed more of it! Really good over rice.
Jessica says
My husband loves chicken thighs and well he’s asian so this recipe seemed perfect for me to try~made it tonight and it was so yummy!! I had bigger thighs so I marinated them for about 30 mins and cooked them in the oven for about 40 mins. I thought the crispy skin would be my favorite part but the chicken was so tender and flavorful!! Thank for sharing, will be one of my go-tos!
Linda says
This looks wonderful and I will make it this weekend! One question though, are the sesame seeds part of the marinade or sprinkled on after cooking. I don’t see them mentioned in the directions, which leads me to believe they are part of the marinade, but in the photo, they appear to have been added after cooking. Thanks for clarifying.
lyuba says
Hi Linda! Actually it’s both, part of marinade and I add some to the chicken directly while it’s cooking.
I’ll make sure to edit the recipe. Thank you!
Liz says
I’m smiling lots. Thank you Lyuba and have a good weekend.
Ekatereena Kouzina says
Thank you so much, Liz. We hope your weekend is good too!
lyuba says
Thank you, Liz 🙂
This is my little sister above, I’m teaching her some stuff behind the scenes that she can help me with.