Gluten-Free Chicken Dinner | Baked Sesame Chicken

In case you ate too much gluten-free licorice or carrot cake yesterday, I thought we should start off this week with a healthier recipe for a favorite gluten-free chicken dinner.

There are a few Chinese restaurants not too far from where we live with safe & reliable gluten-free menus, and sesame chicken has always been a favorite. And not that I’m against fried food.

But this gluten-free sesame chicken is sort of like a marriage of my gluten-free cornflake crusted chicken nuggets with a homemade version of sesame chicken sauce, and to be honest I feel a bit lighter after I eat this than I do after eating the (admittedly delightful restaurant fried dish).

And also it gives me an excuse to use chopsticks. Not to brag but I’ve always been a bit of a chopsticks whiz. Okay fine I’m downright crackerjack at it. What I’m not so good at?

Teaching my oldest kid, who is nearly 11 and generally rather dextrous, to use chopsticks. Her form is good, but you can see how she sent her other hand in for reinforcements. And still, no go. Using chopsticks is kind of like tying a bow tie. There’s only so much technique you can teach. At some point, it’s just a go-with-it sort of situation.

Because I wanted to show you the best-lookin’ chicken that baked up crispy on the outside, tender on the inside, I went all the way in coating it: dry-wet-dry. I coated the chicken first in cornstarch, then dredged it in egg, and finally in gluten-free cornflake crumbs.

Even though it makes some gorgeous gluten-free chicken nuggets, it does take some extra time. Feel free to skip the cornstarch, pat your chicken dry with a paper towel, then go right for the egg-cornflake crumb duo.

Oh, and about those sesame seeds. Sometimes, I buy already-toasted sesame seeds. Sometimes, I have to toast them myself. Good news! It’s super easy to toast sesame seeds in a dry cast iron skillet (stainless steel will work, too – nonstick will not since you can’t get it hot enough without ruining your pan)!

They’ll be pale as can be, and suddenly will begin to take on color. Just toss them in the skillet every now and again to keep them from sticking, and remove them from the heat as soon as they look lightly golden brown. Don’t go too far, or they’ll burn!

This is one of those dinners that my kids won’t eat until they exact a promise from me to make it again. What about you – do you promise to make it, and then make it again? Yup. It’s that good…