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Crispy Sesame Ginger Chicken Tacos with a little extra sauce and CRUNCH. The chicken is breaded and baked until crispy. Then tossed in a yummy, spicy-sweet, sesame ginger sauce with soy, fresh orange juice, garlic, ginger, and chili paste. It’s a little sweet and a little spicy with such great flavor. Inspired by the street food style tacos we love, but with my own twist. The crispy chicken and shells are the real secret, and the sauce is of course delish. These are the best tacos to really switch up your weekly taco night.
We love taco night in my family. I’m actually making tacos tonight for dinner, they’re a twice-weekly family meal for us and have been since before I can remember. Our go-to is one you’re probably familiar with since I talk about them all the time, my dad’s crispy, cheesy tacos.
They’re as simple as a taco can get, but we sure do love them.
Of course, by now you all know how much I love creating switch-ups for taco nights. Many times I’ll make a seafood taco. Or my brother, Red, loves when I make a crispy cauliflower taco.
And sometimes we’ll do something like these. Street-food-inspired with some spicy sweet sauce. The crispy shells are my newest addition and they’re so yummy!
Details
Start with the chicken. Simply toss it with an egg white, a splash of soy sauce, plus some fresh orange zest. Then dredge the chicken through cornstarch. The cornstarch gives the chicken just the right amount of breading to crisp it up. It also helps the sauce thicken nicely around each piece of chicken.
When you’re dredging the chicken through the cornstarch don’t stress if it starts clumping a little on the chicken. Those clumps will get crispy and be delicious in the sweet-spicy sauce.
At this point, throw the chicken in the oven to bake. Be sure to use sesame oil to coat the chicken before baking. The oil helps the chicken to crisp up nicely.
While the chicken is baking, mix the sauce. This really is the heart of the recipe. Start with lots of fresh orange zest and juice. You can use already squeezed orange juice, but with citrus in season right now, I highly recommend fresh juice.
Next, add soy sauce, honey or maple syrup (to lightly sweeten), chili paste, a small amount of peanut butter, fresh ginger, and garlic.
When the chicken is ready, pour the sauce over the chicken, you may not need all of it. Broil until crispy. See, very hands-off and no fuss.
For the taco shells, you can use store-bought or do what I do and bake homemade shells.
They’re pretty easy. Just warm corn tortillas in the microwave, then place them on top of a sheet pan and rub them with olive oil. Use tin foil to make a “mold” for the shell to sit on. Simply mold the foil into a cylinder shape and drape the tortillas over the foil. Use my photos for reference, promise it’s not hard. Then can bake until crispy. I usually bake them at 425° for 12-15 minutes.
Lastly, put the tacos together. I love to layer nori sheets (use if you enjoy), then lettuce, kimchi, and hot chicken straight from the oven. Drizzle over any extra sauce left on the sheet pan, cilantro, green onions, and a crumble of cheese.
I also like to add yum yum sauce (shared my homemade recipe in the notes). Definitely not your average taco, but colorful, so flavorful, and delicious. These are the perfect tacos to switch things up any night of the week!
Looking for more simple recipes? Here are a few favorites:
Spicy Buffalo White Chicken Chili Tacos
Crispy BBQ Salmon Tacos with Avocado Mango Salsa and Jalapeño Cream
Crispy Cauliflower Tinga Tacos with Honey Lime Avocado Crema.
Healthier Homemade Crunchwrap Supreme
Oven Fried Korean Popcorn Chicken
30 Minute Korean Beef and Peppers with Sesame Rice
Lastly, if you make Crispy Sesame Ginger Chicken Tacos, 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!
Crispy Sesame Ginger Chicken Tacos
Servings: 6
Calories Per Serving: 391 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 pounds boneless chicken breasts, cut into cubes
- 1 egg white
- 1 tablespoon tamari or soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon orange zest
- 1/3 cup cornstarch
- sesame or olive oil, for drizzling
Sauce
- 1/2 cup tamari or soy sauce
- 1/3 cup orange juice + 2 tablespoons zest
- 2 tablespoons honey or maple syrup
- 1-3 tablespoons chili paste (I love Gochujang paste)
- 2 teaspoons creamy peanut butter
- 2-4 cloves garlic, chopped
- 1 tablespoon fresh grated ginger
- 2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds
- 12 hard shell tacos
- nori sheets, lettuce, kimchi, cilantro, green onion, and queso fresco or your favorite cheese, for serving
- yum yum style sauce, for serving
Instructions
- 1. Preheat the oven to 475° F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or grease with oil.2. In a bowl, combine the chicken, egg white, tamari/soy sauce, and orange zest. Toss well to coat. In a separate bowl, add the cornstarch.3. Dredge the chicken through the cornstarch to coat. Place the chicken on the prepared baking sheet. Drizzle with oil. Bake for 8 minutes. Flip the chicken and bake another 3-5 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through. Switch the oven to broil. 4. Meanwhile, whisk together the tamari/soy sauce, orange juice, honey/maple, chili paste, peanut butter, garlic, and ginger. Pour the sauce over the chicken, then toss to coat. Sprinkle with sesame seeds. Broil 1-3 minutes, until the sauce begins to stick to the chicken and thicken. 5. Stuff the nori into shells (if desired). Add the chicken, then top as desired. Serve with any extra sauce from the sheet pan and/or yum yum style sauce (homemade in notes).
Notes
Yum Yum Sauce: Combine 1-2 tablespoons of chili paste, 1 tablespoon ketchup, and either 3/4 cup plain Greek yogurt, sour cream, or mayo. Season with 1 teaspoon of seasoned salt. The sauce will keep for 1 week in the fridge.
This recipe is awesome, Teighan! Very creative and I hope to see more chicken cooked this way, Korean food, and TACOS! You are a taco genius. Next time I make this, I will use low sodium tamari. I did think this taco came out a bit salty for me, but packed with great flavor.
xoxo
Hey Mac,
Wonderful!! I appreciate you making this recipe and your comment, so glad to hear it was enjoyed! Have a great weekend:)
Does using sesame oil for the drizzle taste super strong? I am thinking olive oil with maybe a drop of sesame oil. I will be trying this one out.
Hey Amy,
Sure, that might be a nice touch! Please let me know if you give this recipe a try, I hope you love it! xT
This was such a creative twist on tacos and had amazing flavours and a nice kick of spice. Will definitely be making again!!
Thanks so much Courtney!! I love to hear that this recipe was a hit and appreciate you making it!! xT
I tried this tonight and loved it. Instead of taco shells I made it a rice bowl with veggies instead. Everyone loved it.
Hey Deanne,
Happy Friday!!⛄️ Thanks so much for making this dish and sharing your review, so glad to hear it was a hit! xx
I accidentally added this recipe to my saved folder 3 times! How can I delete the extras?
Hi Kathy,
Just click “remove item”. You can find full instructions here:
https://www.halfbakedharvest.com/how-to-save-recipes/
I hope this helps! xx
Can you cook the chicken in an air fryer instead of the oven, and if so, what temperature would you do it at?
Thanks!
Hey Linda,
I’ve not tested this recipe in the air fryer, so I can’t say for sure on the temp, but I bet it would work well for you! Please let me know if you have any other questions! xT
What kind of cheese do you use? Not mentioned in ingredients list.
Thank you
Hi Cathy,
I used queso fresco for this recipe:) Please let me know if you have any other questions! xx
I always import all recipes into an app I use called Anylist. Your recipe site is the only site that doesn’t import the step numbering correctly. All the sites appear to use a similar style of recipe formatting……… Any idea why the individual steps all clump into one paragraph?Could you please fix it?
AnyList is super responsive… if you submit a ticket to them they can probably fix it on their end fairly easily. It just looks like a simple delineation issue.
So sorry to hear this Kathy! I can have someone from my team take a look at this on the backend:)
See Crispy Cauliflower Tinga Tacos
“Instead of using store-bought taco shells, I like to take corn tortillas and stuff them with the cauliflower tinga and a sprinkling of cheese. I throw them in the oven to bake until the tortillas are crispy.”
Tieghan do you ever make homemade corn tortillas?
Hey Stephanie,
Unfortunately, I haven’t had the best luck making corn tortillas from scratch, so I just use store bought. Please let me know if you have any other questions! xT
We didn’t love it. Orange flavor was really strong and it was very salty. I usually love everything on Half Baked Harvest, but this was a miss.
Hi there,
Thanks for giving this recipe a try and sharing your feedback, so sorry to hear it was not enjoyed! Please let me know if there is anything that I can help with! xx
oh my goodness these look so good! Would even do these over rice for a yummy rice bowl. Need to try this asap!
xo Jessica
an indigo day
Thanks so much Jessica! I hope you love this recipe! xT
I’ve failed at making the crispy shells you show in the photos and I don’t see the instructions or photos using the tin foil cylinder. Can I find that somewhere on your site. These look delicious, but I haven’t been able to replicate. Thanks.
I also don’t see the picture on how to make the shells.
I have a video on IG stories right now if you want to check that out:)
Pic isn’t there. Microwave corn tortillas until soft/rub with olive oil on both sides
– put ingredients on half close tortilla (you may have to turn it over) crisp in oven maybe 10 min on both sides. See how it goes. The longer they sit outside of oven the crispier they get.
Hi Sheila,
So sorry, I don’t have a video for those. But if you just follow the worded direction exactly, I promise they are pretty simple to make! Be sure to use soft corn tortillas and warm them first and coat in oil. You might also try a different brand of tortillas than what you have been using. I hope this helps! xx
So sorry, I somehow missed the photo with the tortillas over the foil, duh! Appreciate the response though😀
She added the picture now! There’s also a video of her showing how to do it on her instagram stories now
Is the peanut butter essential for the sauce to emulsify, correctly? Could I smash up a few pine nuts or cashews, instead?
Hi Kathy,
I probably won’t recommend just using the nuts, some type of nut butter is going to work best for you! I hope this helps! Please let me know if you have any other questions! xx
Any substitute for the peanut butter. I am allergic..? Thank you!
I’m sure any nut butter would do.
I usually love your recipes and have your cookbooks. Unfortunately, this was not a hit with me.
Hi Leigh Ann,
Thanks for giving this recipe a try, so sorry to hear it was not enjoyed. Was there anything specific that went wrong or something that I can help with? Please let me know! xT
Hey Jacqueline,
I would use sunbutter in place of the peanut butter, that should work well for you! Please let me know if you have any other questions! xT
So delicious….but ps. If using parchment paper, switch to foil before broiling – parchment will burn
Thanks so much Bonnie! Let me know if you give the recipe a try, I hope you love it! xx