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Chinese Orange Chicken made with crispy fried chicken covered in an authentic orange sauce. The ultimate Chinese Orange Chicken Recipe which is way better than take-out.
My kids are always begging me to take them to grab Chinese food. They are obsessed with orange chicken but I am never really sure what’s in it….especially if they get it from a drive-thru. I wanted to create a version at home, made from scratch, with all-natural ingredients. It still has the same incredible flavor they love. It’s definitely a win-win in our home.
It is wintertime in Arizona which means that the citrus is ripe for the picking. I am surrounded by neighbors who have a plethora of fresh oranges and lemons hanging from their trees. This is the perfect time of year to whip up orange and lemon dishes especially this Chinese Orange Chicken.
This Chinese Orange Chicken is made with boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into bite-size pieces, dredged, and then fried until golden and crispy. The orange sauce is divine! It is a sweet orange sauce made with orange juice, vinegar, garlic, sugar, soy sauce, ginger, red chili flakes, and orange zest. It is both sweet and spicy and full of flavor.
How to make Chinese Orange Chicken at home:
- Start with boneless skinless chicken breast or thighs. Cut into bite-size pieces. Dredge the chicken in whisked eggs and cornstarch/flour mixture until nice and coated. Get these chicken pieces ready for the oil.
- To make your homemade orange sauce, place orange juice, sugar, vinegar, soy sauce, garlic, ginger, and red chili flakes in a small pot and cook over medium-high heat. Add cornstarch and water and cook until thickened. Stir in orange zest.
- Heat oil in a heavy-bottomed pot over medium-high heat. When frying foods, it is so helpful to use a thermometer. Let the oil heat up to 350 degrees. Once the oil is ready, in batches, cook chicken for about 2 minutes until light golden brown. Repeat with remaining chicken.
- Remove from oil and drain on a paper towel-lined plate.
- Toss fried chicken with the sweet orange sauce. Top with grated orange zest and green onions. Serve immediately.
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Chinese Orange Chicken
Ingredients
Chicken:
- 4 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts cut into bite-size pieces
- 3 Eggs whisked
- 1/3 cup Cornstarch
- 1/3 cup Flour
- Salt
- Oil for frying
Orange Chicken Sauce:
- 1 cup Orange Juice
- 1/2 cup Sugar
- 2 Tablespoons Rice Vinegar or White Vinegar
- 2 Tablespoons Soy Sauce use tamari for a gluten-free dish
- 1/4 teaspoon Ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon Garlic Powder or 2 garlic cloves, finely diced
- 1/2 teaspoon Red Chili Flakes
- Orange Zest from 1 orange
- 1 Tablespoon Cornstarch
Garnish:
- Green Onions
- Orange Zest
Instructions
- To make orange sauce:
- In a medium pot, add orange juice, sugar, vinegar, soy sauce, ginger, garlic, and red chili flakes. Heat for 3 minutes.
- In a small bowl, whisk 1 Tablespoon of cornstarch with 2 Tablespoons of water to form a paste. Add to orange sauce and whisk together. Continue to cook for 5 minutes, until the mixture begins to thicken. Once the sauce is thickened, remove from heat and add orange zest.
- To make chicken:
- Place flour and cornstarch in a shallow dish or pie plate. Add a generous pinch of salt. Stir.
- Whisk eggs in shallow dish.
- Dip chicken pieces in egg mixture and then flour mixture. Place on plate.
- Heat 2 -3 inches of oil in a heavy-bottomed pot over medium-high heat. Using a thermometer, watch for it to reach 350 degrees.
- Working in batches, cook several chicken pieces at a time. Cook for 2 - 3 minutes, turning often until golden brown. Place chicken on a paper-towel-lined plate. Repeat.
- Toss chicken with orange sauce. You may reserve some of the sauce to place on rice. Serve it with a sprinkling of green onion and orange zest, if so desired.
Video
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This Orange Chicken is going to make you forget take-out. Let me know how it turns out by reaching out on instagram at @modern_honey. Have a great night, my friends!
Made this for my family, they said it was better than the Chinese restaurant!
I made this for my boyfriend who is a New York Italian. He has introduced me to what Chinese food should really taste like by sampling several New York restaurants while vacationing there (we reside in Arizona). This recipe was sooooo good and very comparable to what you would get from an authentic, Chinese restaurant. I will certainly keep this among my favorites and make again.
This is a family favourite!! Often made and always a hit!!! It freezes well.
I really love this recipe. You don’t specify what oil, but I’d recommend a vegetable oil as it’s neutral in taste and has a high smoke point. The only other comment I had was that I didn’t have enough corn starch/flour mixture for breading the 4 chicken breasts. The chicken breasts I used were smaller so I thought I’d be fine, but needed to make more breading throughout cooking. I ended up using ~a cup each of the corn starch/flour for ~2 lbs chicken.
Yes, I ended up making more breading too. I used canola oil.
I ended up using more of the flour/cornstarch mixture too. Also, I used avocado oil to fry the chicken.
This was fairly easy and DELICIOUS! It’s going in my rotation for sure!
Nice easy recipe. One time I had no orange juice but did have pineapple juice. Gave a slightly different flavor!
Very good! I just added more cornstarch to the flour blend because we like extra crunchy chicken. I paired it with Chinese green beans and it was a crowd pleaser dinner!
I added 2 drops of sesame oil, gave it a nice flavor, brought out the Asian flare
This recipe is amazing! I made it in bulk so that I could freeze it and have it whenever I need it. However, unfortunately I don’t think it’s going to make it to the freezer it is that amazing!!
Used 1/3 tangerine, 1/3 lemon, and 1/3 lime (so mines more of a citrus chicken than orange chicken, when life gives you lemons…) and swapped the chili flakes for gochujang sauce and it came out fantastic!
This was amazing! At first, I disliked it but after a few bites I loved it! The reason why it’s not 5 stars is because I think it would be better with an extra crunch to enhance the flavour. Will definitely do it again, though!
Hi Giselle! Thank you for making my orange chicken recipe. I love the idea of adding extra crunch…great idea!