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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!
Amaziiiiiig recipe!!! Swapped the sugar for coconut sugar and the flour for tapioca starch (for gluten free). Also used mandarin zest instead of orange.
Absolutely marvellous!
Been craving these for two weeks. In the US you find it everywhere, but in Portugal there isn’t a single restaurant or supermarket that sells it 🙁 Had to take matters into my own hands!
Everyone loved it!
This is an amazing recipe and tasted phenomenal!! I left the ginger out though and it was still so good! My husband keeps asking for me to make it again.
I am so happy to hear it, Shelby! I love getting the husband’s approval, I know it’s good then❤️
So I want to make this tonight and I basically have the ingredients but I’m wondering if I could just pan fry the chicken in a little bit of oil? I don’t have enough for a real fry. Also I’m sure it’s basically a crime but can I just use store bought orange juice and no orange zest? I don’t have any oranges but I’m pregnant and this sounds so good:)
I cheat and use store bought orange juice all the time. Another cheat is air fried chicken nuggets. Or even just a 20 piece from McDonald’s or Wendy’s.
Great questions, Claire! I honestly haven’t recipe tested either of those, but I would expect both to work out okay. Store bought orange juice would be okay, just not the same flavor as the orange zest. Pan fried chicken won’t be the same crisp and crunch as the fried chicken would be. Let me know how it goes! And thanks for trying my recipe!
I made the orange chicken tonight and it was a hit. Took longer than expected but bravo 👏
Everyone loved this. Needed help to get it dipped and fried but worth the work
Fantastic recipe and very easy, great layout and instructions. My teens devoured it. I tripled the recipe and will freeze two portions w sauce and chicken stored separately. I do this with a dry Chili chicken recipe we make, we throw the chicken in the oven to crisp it up and then toss it in the sauce for a quick week night dinner. Well done and thanks for sharing!
Jules thank you so much for your comment! I love that this recipe has become a family favorite. That is the biggest compliment to me! Thank you for using my recipe❤️
OMG!!! Forget Panda Express, this beats it hands down. I got sick of poor take out in my area of Pennsylvania so I started making my own. This fat, white, balding, old, white, Jewish, guy who likes to play with my food by playing with recipes (FWBOWJP) from NYC became better than almost all the Chinese restaurants in the area. Now this is SAD!!! Being from NYC, I know what Chinese is supposed to taste like.
This is the must use recipe for Orange Chicken!!! The sauce really does taste like oranges. A few tips. First, use the sweetest and juiciest oranges you can find. This will generally eliminate the oranges by the bag. Second, double this sauce recipe. You really be glad you did. Don’t cut the chicken too small. This avoids dry chicken after the frying. For diabetics like me, substitute cane sugar. It has a low glycemic index of 42 and it doesn’t change the taste of the sauce. Also, for those who like spicy, you can safely at least double the dry chili flakes. In my area of PA the take out places have no idea of what SPICY really means. This will bring it up to NYC hot.
So go ahead and try this recipe. Include some are all of my tips if you want to, especially about the oranges. This is a required must. ENJOY and you can forget about Panda Express.
I forgot to mention that I used the peel of one orange thinly spiced and somewhat fried and added to the sauce. This really intensified the orange flavor too.
Made this for my 6 yr old who had been asking for Panda Express (for the orange chicken) and thankfully had all ingredients on hand, and he was VERY pleased! At first he said, “mom, I don’t think this is going to be very good.” Then, after the first bite he gave thumbs up and said, “I really like this mom, this is really good!” This is overall a pleasant recipe to try.
I’m hooked. So yummy!
Made this today and everyone loved it!