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This simple Sheet Pan Sticky Ginger Sesame Chicken and Crispy Brussels Sprouts dinner is about to become your new go-to meal. Easy homemade Asian inspired chicken, tossed in a gingery, sweet, spicy, and extra sticky soy pomegranate sauce. Serve this meal with roasted brussels sprouts, cooked right alongside the chicken, for the easiest sheet pan dinner. Then add a side of steamed rice topped with plenty of sesame seeds. And the best part…this sticky chicken is made quicker than any take-out meal and much healthier too. A delicious, fun, and healthy dinner any night of the week!
I love a good Asian inspired recipe more than you know. Anything that semi resembles take-out style meals seem to end up as a family favorite. Well, we love pizza and pasta too. That’s why I try to provide a variety of recipes here on HBH for whatever food mood you’re in.
Anyway, tonight we’re going the take-out at home route and I’m excited. It’s been a while since I’ve shared a “take-out” style recipe.
I originally had the idea to make this chicken last week, but then we had snow. The cold swayed me towards creating a cozier rosemary chicken and rice pilaf. But this week, the sun is shining and we’re back to normal fall weather around here. Enter this chicken, it’s the perfect fall dinner that highlights in-season brussels sprouts and sweet pomegranates.
Making this sheet pan sticky ginger chicken is easy…
Here are all the details. I wasn’t planning on breading the chicken, but as I was testing, a light went off in my head. Sure, I wanted a sticky sauce, but how would the sauce really stick to the chicken without any coating?
So I quickly decided to toss the chicken with a beaten egg and dredge it through some flour. This is a very, very light coating, but it’s just enough to help all that sticky sauce actually stick to the chicken. Once you’ve coated the chicken in flour, arrange it to one side of a large greased baking sheet. Then drizzle generously with sesame oil (or olive oil) to help the chicken crisp up a bit.
Now that you’ve got the chicken ready, let’s talk about those sprouts.
First off, sure you can use broccoli if you hate brussels sprouts. But I LOVE a well-roasted sprout and also find them delicious when paired with a salty Asian recipe.
I kept the sprouts basic, just sesame oil, salt, and pepper. But the real secret? Getting them extra crispy in the oven. Since the chicken cooks at such a high temperature, the sprouts have time to roast, soften, turn crisp, and lightly char on the outside. Delicious.
While everything is roasting, make the sticky sauce.
The truth? The sauce is truly why you should make this recipe. The sauce + the sprouts, because I really do love brussels sprouts the most.
Oh, and the sauce? It’s honestly so addicting. Sweet, tangy, a touch spicy and once boiled down, super sticky. The secret ingredient is one of my autumn favorites, pomegranate juice. I know it might sound odd, but please, don’t doubt me here. The pomegranate juice adds sweetness, tanginess, and deep dark color too. It’s one of my favorite ingredients to use in Asian inspired recipes. Plus, I always love the added pop of color, especially this time of year when the pomegranates are coming into season.
The sauce takes only a few minutes to thicken up on the stove. It’s usually ready by the time the chicken has finished cooking.
Then just toss the sauce with the chicken, return to the oven for a few more minutes, and you’re done. I was shocked at how well the timing of everything ended up working out.
Nothing fancy here, just simple cooking, but very delicious.
Serving suggestions?
Steamed rice, plenty of green onions, toasted sesame seeds, and pomegranate arils – if you can find them. Sadly ours have yet to show up for the season, but they’ll be here soon! Then drizzle with a generous amount of the leftover sauce…because saucy sticky chicken is the only way to go.
Tip…double the recipe and save the leftovers for quick and easy lunches. The chicken would also be great atop a chopped salad or served with rice noodles.
If you’re looking for something fresh and healthy…ish for dinner this week, make this sticky chicken!
Looking for other Asian style recipes? Here are a few ideas:
Thai Basil Sesame Cashew Chicken with Coconut Rice
Weeknight Sesame Teriyaki Chicken with Ginger Rice
Ginger Sesame Chicken Potstickers with Sweet Chili Pomegranate Sauce
Lastly, if you make this sheet pan sticky ginger sesame chicken and crispy brussels sprouts, be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
Sheet Pan Sticky Ginger Sesame Chicken and Crispy Brussels Sprouts
Servings: 6
Calories Per Serving: 454 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Watch the How-To Reel
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 pounds boneless chicken breasts, cut into 2 inch cubes
- 1 egg, beaten
- 1/4 cup all-purpose or gluten free all-purpose flour
- kosher salt and black pepper
- 3/4 pound brussels sprouts, halved
- 6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil or sesame oil
- 2/3 cup low sodium soy sauce
- 1/3 cup pomegranate juice (equal amounts of apple cider or orange juice are great substitutes)
- 1/4 cups honey
- 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 1 tablespoon molasses or pomegranate molasses
- 1 tablespoon creamy peanut butter
- 2 cloves garlic, minced or grated
- 1 inch fresh ginger, grated
- 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, use more or less to taste
- rice, sesame seeds, and green onions, for serving
Instructions
- 1. Preheat the oven to 475 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or grease with oil.2. Add the chicken, egg, and a pinch of pepper to a bowl. Toss to combine. Add the flour to another bowl. Dredge the chicken in batches through the flour, tossing to coat. Place the chicken on one side of the prepared baking sheet. Drizzle with 2 tablespoons oil. Add the brussels sprouts to the other side of the pan and toss with 2 tablespoon oil, salt, and pepper. Arrange cut side down. Bake for 12 minutes. Toss the sprouts, flip the chicken and return to the oven another 3-5 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through. Reduce the oven temp to 400 degrees F.3. Meanwhile, combine the soy sauce, pomegranate juice, honey, balsamic vinegar, apple cider vinegar, molasses, peanut butter, garlic, ginger, and crushed red pepper flakes in a medium saucepan. Set over medium-high heat and bring the sauce to a boil. Boil 5-8 minutes, until the sauce thickens and reduces by about 1/3. Remove from the heat.4. Pour half the sauce over the chicken, tossing to combine. Toss the sprouts with 1 tablespoon oil. Return everything to the oven for 3 minutes, until the sauce coats the chicken, watch close the sauce can burn. 5. Serve the chicken and sauce over bowls of rice topped with additional green onions, pomegranate arils, and sesame seeds. Serve the brussels sprouts on the side.
This post was originally published on September 16, 2020
So flipping delicious! We made 1.5x the sauce, plus added steamed broccoli. Huge hit with everyone! Thanks HBH!!!
Thank you so much Bre!! I am really glad this recipe turned out so well for you! xTieghan
Loved this! Sauce was easy and interesting mix of flavors I never would have tried! Loved the addition of the peanut butter. Chicken come out perfectly crisp too.
Thank you so much Alex!! I am so happy to hear that! xTieghan
The sauce never thickened. 🙁 I boiled it 8min to reduce then added it to the pan and baked for several minutes at 400 as directed. It’s still watery after 5min and I’m afraid to burn it. I made the sauce a second time, whisking constantly — it never thickened so finally I added in flour carefully whisking and it thickened. Wish I had corn startch!
Hey Alice,
So sorry you had issues with the sauce. Next time I would add some corn starch to help thicken it up:) Please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
Made as written. Really tasty and not too sweet. I agree with the poster who said get your sauce ingredients prepped first. That took some time. Scorched some green beans instead of sprouts (that’s what I had) and tossed in sauce. Fantastic. Thank you for a great recipe!!
Thank you! I am really glad this turned out so well for you! xTieghan
OMG this was delicious and simple! The chicken melts in your mouth, the sauce is tangy yet full of ginger and sweet pomegranate! We loved this and can hardly wait to try other recipes.
Hi Marita! I am so happy this recipe turned out so well for you! Thank you so much for trying this! xTieghan
Hi Teighan
Made this tonight and my husband and I loved it! Will definitely be making it for friends this winter! However, living in Scotland in the UK, one thing that drives me crazy about the many American recipes that I try, are the different weights and measures that we use, and I have to keep stopping and looking up my phone to convert them. Same goes for oven temperatures. And because I can’t edit my saved pins to make notes on these changes at the time of cooking, it means I then have to do that every time I make that recipe. I believe Pinterest are now making it possible to edit pins, but it depends on what the original post allows you to edit. Any chance that you could make this possible?
Thanks again for all your many wonderful recipes!
Georgie
Hi Georgie! I am so happy this recipe turned out so well for you both! Thank you so much for trying this! I will look into adding the metric measurements, I am sorry you are having trouble converting the ingredients! xTieghan
Is there a veggie substitute in place of chicken? I have success with all your other recipes would love to try this one as well!
Hey Bob,
You could do broccoli in place of the chicken. I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
Loved this recipe, very delicious! I made some substitutions based on what I had on hand (chicken broth instead of pomegranate juice, a sweet ginger sauce instead of molasses). Thanks, Tieghan!
Thank you for trying this one, Rachel! xTieghan
The hubs hates peanut butter. (I know, fatal flaw). Would there be a good sub? I imagine this aids in the thickening the consistency and adds fat.
Thanks!
Hey Heather,
You could use another nut butter or tahini in place of the peanut butter. I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
This recipe is really delicious. One word of caution is that the sauce took closer to 20-25 minutes to thicken when I made it.
Thank you Julie! xTieghan
Delicious as always. I substituted maple syrup for molasses.
Amazing! Thank you so much Casey! xTieghan
Another great recipe by HBH! This had so much flavor and was pretty easy to make. My only complaint was that I found the sauce to be a bit too spicy for me. My husband loved the spice level though. I think next time I’d cut the red pepper flake amount in half and just let him sprinkle more into his own serving. Thanks again for another great recipe T!
Hi Marissa! I am really glad this turned out so well for the both of you! I hope you love it a little more with less red pepper flakes next time! xTieghan
I made this tonight and it was DELICIOUS! It looked exactly like the picture. Definitely take out style food but healthier!
Thank you so much Kelly! I am really happy this recipe turned out so amazing for you! xTieghan
This recipe was delicious! I used orange juice instead of the pomegranate juice. I also thought the flavor of the peanut butter was so subtle that we didn’t even notice it in the sauce. I have been loving the sheet pan recipes you have been posting, they have wonderful flavor and feel a bit fancy while being so quick and easy!
I am so happy this recipe turned out so well for you, Kristine! Thank you so much for trying it! xTieghan
This was a great dish. I suggest making the sauce a little earlier so it is definitely reduced when you need to add it.
I am really glad this recipe turned out so well for you, Branden! Thank you! xTieghan