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.
Chinese Orange Chicken
Ingredients
Chicken:
- 4 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts cut into bite-size pieces
- 3 Eggs whisked
- ⅓ cup Cornstarch
- ⅓ cup Flour
- Salt
- Oil for frying
Orange Chicken Sauce:
- 1 cup Orange Juice
- ½ cup Sugar
- 2 Tablespoons Rice Vinegar or White Vinegar
- 2 Tablespoons Soy Sauce use tamari for a gluten-free dish
- ¼ teaspoon Ginger
- ¼ teaspoon Garlic Powder or 2 garlic cloves, finely diced
- ½ 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
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!
Hortencia
Made this today and it was so delicious. My 7 yr old gave this a up and said it was better than the Chinese restaurant. Recipe was so easy to follow.
Joye
This recipe is now going into the "rotation". It is the best orange chicken I've ever had.
Paula
This is the best recipe! Even my picky grandchildren ask for more. This is a favorite in our home!
Christi
I was searching for this very recipe today and I wanna thank you for such an amazing and tasty recipe!
FYI, I found a very similar recipe on PreppyKitchen’s site as well. The ingredients are in the exact order as yours but with slight changes to amounts.
Pear
My husband did not believe I made it myself from scratch! He was looking for "to-go" boxes. So good!
The only thing, 3 eggs was way too much for 4 thighs batch. Maybe I had large eggs.
Jim Christie
Two words - Absolutely Fantastic
Sue Kroll
Orange Chicken is one of my family’s favorite meals!
Now this is our favorite of all our favorites!!
Thank you so much ????????!!
Amber Peterson
How many servings does this recipe make??
Abby
I doubled the sauce recipe and used 5 large chicken breasts--it served 6 paired with rice and broccoli.
Ruthann
I made the orange sauce and served it over Sirloin Tip, cut thin, against the grain with broccoli and a side of my fried brown rice. Definately no more $40 trips to takr-out❣❣❣Very lean, tender, low fat, and high fiber.
Arnold Melton
Does anyone know the nutritional Information??
Ruthann Shore
I usually use myfitnesspal.com or calorieking.com and look up the nutritional of each item by quantity. I enter it all into a spreadsheet. Then I total each nutritional column. That gives me the nutritional value for the entire recipe. I divide each value by the number of servings in order to get the nutritional values per serving. It does take a little minute to do this, but, for me, it is worth the effort. I keep a blank nutritional value spreadsheet and when I create my recipes in my computer I add the nutritional values of the entire recipe and by serving. I have not done that for this recipe and I also made a few adjustments to the sauce. I used sirloin tip instead of chicken. I hope this helps.
Sarah Bennett
The best orange chicken ever!
Diane
Does anybody know of a way to air fry this rather than deep fry?
DARLA
I just tried this and commented today. I air fried just bare chicken nuggets, saved me some time and came out perfect, but I usually air fry in general. I would use the same recipe and spray the coated chicken with cooking spray,( or olive oil in spray bottle) right before starting the air fryer, then again about half way through.
Janet Gritter
This is definitely better than take out and the BEST orange chicken I have had. I can't believe I made something Chinese that tastes so good! My husband loved it too! Excellent and will be a go to when craving Chinese food!
Jim
Since retiring I've taken up cooking. More so since prices have gone up. My favorite Chinese place raised orange chicken from $7.50 to $11.00. This is better than any orange chicken I've had anywhere! Easy to make, perfect flavor profile, my wife was very impressed. Great for kids tired of regular chicken dishes.
Karen
I used a sugar substitute, omitted the pepper flakes and sprinkled sesame seeds on it. It was fantastic!!
Will definitely be making again.
Thank you for sharing.
Sharon
Can I have the name of the sugar substitute you used. And how much?
Amanda
I thought this was good, but needed to almost double the amount of cornstarch and flour for breading.
John Cavanagh
Awesome! I love cheesecake factories chicken and this came out just as good.. can’t believe I made something this good but the recipe was clear concise and easy! Thank you.
KD
My family loved this recipe. The sauce is really flavorful. I added an extra 1/2 teaspoon graded fresh ginger to the sauce and marinated the chicken in a little orange juice and soy sauce and more ginger for added flavor while I was making the sauce and preparing the rest of the recipe. The only recommendation I would make would be to include how much of the fresh garlic and orange zest in measurement as both of these things can come in a variety of sizes. My garlic was tiny so I used more.
Elliott
Made this with precooked Chicken Nuggets last night with rice, Going to try it with Fish Sticks tonight!!! So GOOD!!!
Elliott
This is the BEST Orange Chicken ever!!! Fantastic Securite Sauce!!! Can use this recipe with any meat or fish with rice... Mahalo
linda
this is the best Orange Chicken I've ever tasted, better than most restaurants. I used fresh squeezed OJ it was delish.
Kaylene
I totally agree I so never order orange chicken anywhere again because this is by far the best!!! Thank you so much!! Haha this saves us so much money!! And so easy!!!!
Annie
I love it too!!!!