Fried Chicken & Honey Sesame Glaze: Dairy and Gluten Free!

It's football season, and that calls for game day eats, like this tender, juicy, crispy, golden fried chicken. It’s gluten AND dairy free, making it enjoyable for everyone!

Today is the OFFICIAL start of football season! That means the beginning of ALL the yummy, fun, and festive mouth-watering game day eats everywhere you look. I never get sick of seeing the amazing and creative recipes people come up with. It makes me feel so excited and energized to cook and develop fun new recipes for the entire fam...it also makes me super hungry!

I’m celebrating opening day by sharing with you all this AWESOME Fried Chicken & Honey Sesame Glaze recipe! And guess what? It’s gluten AND dairy free! Before you consider writing it off because it’s dairy and gluten free, hear me out: we LOVE a good Popeyes night now and then, and when there's a fried chicken spot to see when we travel, we are THERE, and I promise promise promise you that this fried chicken recipe can hang with the best of them. I know...big statement. I wouldn’t say it if it wasn’t true. Every single bite is a mouthful of crispy, golden, juicy, tender deliciousness. It's balanced perfectly with a sweet, sticky, nutty honey-sesame glaze for drizzling or dipping and the crisp, fresh bite of chopped scallions.

This will be the perfect game day dish to serve up on a big beautiful platter and share with family and friends this football season! And the best part is, everyone can enjoy it. That's a total touchdown in my book. (HA...mom joke!)

Prep Time: 20 Minutes

Cook Time: 20-30 Minutes

Yield: About One Dozen Pieces

Equipment to Note You'll Need:

• Large pot for frying

• A metal, heat-proof thermometer like a deep fry thermometer or candy thermometer

• Large bowl for whisking the batter and dredging the meat

• Whisk

• Meat thermometer if you plan to check the internal temperature of your chicken pieces to make sure it’s cooked through (recommended)

• A cooling rack (don't lose that crispy coating to paper towels!)

Ingredients

For the Chicken:

1 3 ½-4 pound chicken, butchered, and then each breast cut into 1-inch thick strips, and then washed and thoroughly patted dry with paper towels.

*You can also purchase a variety of chicken pieces pre-butchered and packaged.

For Frying:

2 inches oil (peanut, canola, or vegetable) in a pot or dutch oven for frying

For the Batter:

2 eggs

1 cup unsweetened plain almond milk

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon onion salt

½ teaspoon ground mustard

½ teaspoon paprika

Kosher salt to taste

Freshly ground black pepper to taste

2 cups gluten free all purpose flour

For the Glaze:

4 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds (method below if toasting them yourself)

½ cup honey

2 tablespoons coconut aminos

1 teaspoon sesame oil

½ teaspoon fish sauce

Chopped scallions for garnishing

Directions

For the Chicken:

1. Add the frying oil to a large pot and bring it to 350 degrees F over medium-high heat. Use a heat-proof thermometer to maintain this temperature. Just keep an eye on it and adjust the heat level if necessary.

2. In a large bowl, beat the eggs. Then add the almond milk, garlic powder, onion salt, ground mustard, paprika, and season with salt and pepper to taste. Mix using a whisk for two minutes. Then add the flour to the bowl and continue to mix with a whisk until a smooth batter forms. Scrape the sides with a spatula as needed. This will take a few minutes, it will seem a little dry at first, but just keep mixing.

3. Once the oil is hot and ready, dredge three chicken pieces at a time in the batter until well coated and drop into the oil immediately. Fry until crispy and golden on both sides, turning with tongs as necessary. I find that each batch takes 6-7 minutes. Repeat in batches with remaining pieces of chicken.*

4. Once cooked, use tongs to remove the chicken and place it on a cooling rack set over a sheet pan. Cool for five minutes, transfer to a platter, and serve immediately.

*Do not consume raw chicken. To check that your chicken is cooked and perfectly tender, I like the thickest part of the chicken to be 165 degrees F. Check using a meat thermometer.

For the Glaze:

1. Add two tablespoons of the toasted sesame seeds and the remaining ingredients to a bowl and stir using a fork or whisk until a thick glaze forms.

2. Serve in a bowl for dipping, toss the chicken in the glaze using tongs to coat, or drizzle the glaze on top. However you decide to serve, sprinkle the remaining sesame seeds over the glaze. Garnish with the scallions.

​​To Toast the Sesame Seeds:

1. Add the sesame seeds to a small saucepan over medium-high heat for 5-7 minutes, until golden brown and aromatic. Stir frequently to avoid burning.