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
- 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 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!
Jeff
My friends LOVED this! A couple of tips: Sauce is totally do-ahead, just gently reheat when you're getting ready to serve (and add the zest then). Also, I used a combination of boneless, skinless thighs and breasts, total was maybe 2.3 lbs (for 6 people), definitely needed more flour-cornstarch (easy enough to just add more to the dredging dish). Finally, I fried in my deep fryer in batches and just kept the done pieces on a paper towel-lined baking sheet in the oven at 250. Throw all into the simmering sauce and you're done. This recipe is a keeper!
Jessica
How many does this recipe serve?
Fran
Jessica. I think 4-6 maybe? I made it with 2 chicken breasts. And the sauce was not enough. So I made a stir fry of broccoli and onions and garlic in my wok with a thickened sauce of broth and cornstarch and combined it all with the chicken and sauce. It was enough for 4 people when you add broccoli and more sauce.
Chef jean kounouvi
Thank you chefs that's a wonderful food
Natalie
This recipe was easy to follow and the end result was delicious . I will definitely be making this again.
Angie
This is my family's favorite dish and I make it a few times a month. And they are super picky about food. I always have to make extra because everyone always want seconds. 🙂
Rachel
This was delicious! I had 5 chicken thighs and did need to mix a bit extra flour and cornstarch to coat. I left out half the red pepper because I didn’t want it to be too spicy for my daughter (she didn’t like it anyway but she’s 4 so I’m not super surprised) but next time I would add it all. I will definitely be making this again.
Tammy
This dish is great! Followed exactly except added a pinch more of red pepper flakes. It fed 2 with left over for lunch next day.
Nicole Scholten
Had another recipe for orange chicken cooking in crockpot, when done the sauce tasted like nothing. So in a pinch I googled orange chicken and this was the first recipe I found. I had everything on hand, was easy enough to throw together and poured it on top of my already Cooked orange chicken and yummy! Served over rice topped with green onions! Delicious will make again!
Kim
Is it possible to air fry the chicken for a healthier option?
Rod Schelin
This fantastic orange sauce can be poured over any chicken that's been fried, baked or grilled seasoned with only salt and pepper. If the chicken is breaded, all the better but not necessary. It's the sauce! It's amazing!
Jean
Loved the sauce. I tried 2 different recipes and they don't compare. Yours is the best. I'm going to be making a double batch. I used mine like your chicken & I also made chkn tenders and used your sauce recipe. It's hard to stop bragging about your recipe, if I could I would give you 100+ stars for it. Thank you for sharing.
Heidi
Yes, we don’t fry much in our house hold and the air fryer definitely works for frying chicken pieces. Depending on the size of your air fryer it can take a little bit of time to cook all of it. So if more than one person is eating it, keep it warm in the oven.
nata
Could the chicken be cooked in an air fryer instead of hot oil on the stove?
Ashley
This recipe is AMAZING!! I have been using this recipe for YEARS and it has not disappointed. It is so delicious and so easy to make. In fact I'm making it for dinner tonight!!! Thank you for this incredibly easy and delicious recipe.
Sabrina
I made this tonight for my husband and me. It was delicious! We're used to the Trader Joes and other frozen meals. I liked how simple and tasty this was. The chicken along with the half flour half corn starch gave a nice coating to the chicken and didn't feel as heavy as the coating found with frozen prepared meals. I will definitely make this again!
Kat
We made this tonight, it is fantastic!
Mary
I have an egg and chicken allergy so Chinese food for takeout is not possible. But my allergy was not discovered until later in life so I know what I'm missing 🙁 I have tried many recipes to try to enjoy Chinese food again and this is the best!!! A much MUCH better flavor than any bottle sauce. I used pork instead of chicken and buttermilk thinned plain yogurt instead of egg (very little, just enough to stick the flour on the pork) because of my allergy. Still an excellent recipe!
Elois
This is one of the best recipes for Orange Chicken I have come across. It is extremely well written, easy to follow.. I will definitely make it again soon.
Tracey
A bit more time to prep than indicated but the final product was DELICIOUS! I will definitely be making this again
K8ers
This was a yummy and easy dish. I subbed milk for the egg wash and whole wheat flour for corn starch and it came out nice and light. I just served it over green beans and poured the sauce over... it was a filling meal even without rice.
Sebastian
Wonderful quick recipe that was easy to make, my wife and I were very satisfied!
Leslie
I'm so glad I stumbled across this orange chicken recipe! My husband loved it, and there was enough for both of us with a little extra for lunch tomorrow. Served it on a bed of Jasmine rice with a side of broccoli. I will definitely be making this for our two boys when they are home from college (but planning to double the recipe, at least). We used to go to the mall food court for orange chicken, but this was healthier, simple to throw together, and had a nice tangy orange flavor (plus a little kick from the pepper flakes). Our new family favorite, and special enough for company. Thank you!
Fran
I just made this too tonight 2-19-2022. It was really good. But I only made 2 chicken breasts pieces and I made stir fried broccoli pieces with more garlic and onion slices and chicken bouillon and broth. I had to basically triple the amount of orange sauce and ingredients. I added the chicken and thickened broth at the end and 7 chile peppers de árbol at the end. So good! But the sauce definitely needs to be tripled or quadrupled!
Terri
This is the best orange chicken recipe ever! A family favorite. I do make a little more sauce for it.
Deborah
I didn’t change the recipe at all. It turned out wonderful and tasted great. It was quick to make too.
Destiny
This orange chicken is absolutely fantastic! Will definitely make again!!!
Pam P.
It was excellent...will make again.
Beez
Soooo good!!
I used the air fryer for the chicken!
So no oil needed
6 minutes on each side
@ 360
Freya Petersen
Thanks for the information on using your air fryer. When people are asking this question there's been no reply. I've made this before but got severely burned by the splatter of the chicken in the oil but the meal itself with superb. Trying to find another way a cooking the chicken without filling my house up with the smell of well. My question is did the chicken come out nice and crispy? Look forward to hearing from your response.
jeanny
the best recipe ever!!!
Vad
Amazing!
We don’t have Panda Express in the Land down Under. Whatever they are selling in restaurants under the name of “Orange Chicken” is most certainly NOT orange chicken. Tried this recipe. Using much less sugar, but otherwise the pretty much the same. Done it few times now. Everyone really loves it!
Thank you!
Nolan
Most excellent! Actually, I first made the orange sauce and was extremely impressed. However, I then used the sauce to make Orange Shrimp.
There can't be a better recipe on the Net....
Mims
Your orange chicken recipe sounds divine.
When you ask for ginger are you referring to powdered ginger or fresh ginger?
Jay
I grated fresh ginger and it turned out great.
Gee Gee
I used a teaspoon or two of garlic and ginger paste because that's what I had on hand. Worked out great.
Andrea
Woul like to make this tonight. Is the ginger supposed to be ground ginger or grated ginger?
Chris
Also needing info on fresh or ground ginger??
Penny
I used ground ginger..1/4 tsp for 1 tbsp fresh
Gail Eaton
We modified your delightful recipe slightly by adding vegetables to the orange sauce and the remainder of the egg mixture we used to turn rice into egg fried rice. Very tasty and we pass the recipe on
Andrea
Made this tonight because we love Costco/Sam's Club frozen Orange Chicken, but that gets pricey now that my little ones are eating more.
Everyone enjoyed this tonight, but I would like to figure out a way to improve the following:
1.) I air fried the chicken to save on mess and health... it didn't get all that crispy/breading wasn't very thick. So you didn't get the texture of store-bought at all.
2.) The sauce was too thin so it didn't stick as thickly on the chicken. I would up the cornstarch next time I think.
3.) The sauce tasted very orange juice-y. It wasn't bad, but it was very different to have it taste so much like orange juice...I think I'd rather adjust some of the proportions or something so that OJ flavor is not so strong.
We always add peanuts, green onions and red pepper flakes at the table to our orange chicken, which is a tradition we kept with this version too = yum!
Rose
Can you please tell me do you use fresh squeezed orange juice or orange juice from the bottle?
Gee Gee
Rose, how could it possibly make a difference what kind of orange juice you use in this recipe? Fresh squeezed, bottled, or even canned frozen would work just fine. I used the juice from the orange I zested and used bottled juice to bring it up to the amount called for.
Taylor
Can you save the left over orange sauce?
Dianna
One of the other commenters mentioned that it freezes well, if that helps!
Dean
I absolutely love this recipe! I really like Chinese food, but it has been really hit or miss for me when trying to find a good spot to eat. This recipe gives me my fix at home and it is sooooo good!! Easy to make, consistent and the flavors are amazing. This is a go to for my family.
Sierra Peterson
This orange chicken is SOOOO much better than take-out! I love making this recipe on the weekends for my family and friends. Everyone always asks for the recipe, it is that good!
Shelley Thomas Reagin
i was craving Panda orange chicken. With panda being 40 miles away and fuel prices being what they are I used this recipe. Subbed frozen quality chicken nuggets that I baked. This was off the chain good! Can I make extra sauce and freeze it?
Christine
Huge hit with my family and friends! Served with scallion waffles, for a chicken-and-waffle twist and everyone loved it. Thanks for this recipe!
Allie
This recipe was really good and honestly tasted better than fast food restaurants like Panda Express. Although, I used pork in place of the chicken, it still tasted really good!
Heidi Simkins
Sooo good😋 I made a couple small changes...I used orange juice in place of the water for cornstarch slurry, used brown sugar, & doubled the sauce.
Connie
This was really tasty. I definitely will be making this again
Ralph Mayo
I made this and it was excellent!
Joan
Do you have a good recipe for salmon, I bake it but need some different sauces to try. Thanks in advance
Rebecca
I will make thus recipe over and over again for the rest of my life!! This is the very BEST orange chicken recipe I have ever made. I subbed the fresh ginger for powdered ginger. Would recommend even for the luckiest eaters!!
Steve Fyffe
I have made this on numerous occasions and my family and I think it's as good, if not better, than the local Chinese takeaway. This is a very simple recipe that I would recommend anyone to try.
Miranda
This is amazing. Have made it twice now for my family.
Bonnie
Had the same experience as another one of your commenters after using a slow cooker recipe. Just like her, the sauce was bland so I found your recipe and made the sauce, and WOW, delicious! Spectacular! And sooo easy. My son tasted the slow cooker chicken and said it was good, but after I put your sauce over the chicken his eyes really lit up. Your sauce was of the perfect consistency and not that heavy sugary sweet sauce you usually get eating out. l love making Chinese food and I love your recipe. Next time I will prepare the chicken as you did. Thank you for the best ever orange chicken. Ten stars in my opinion.
Teresa
For dietary reasons, I substituted a few ingredients and this recipe was still outstanding. In case anyone is curious, here are my substitutions (everything is 1:1 ratio unless otherwise noted): honey for sugar (2/3:1); tamari sauce for soy sauce; tapioca starch for corn starch; and paleo flour for all-purpose flour.
Kelley
I’m no cook. I actually hate cooking. I’d much rather do dishes. That being said, I felt a hankering for orange chicken. Long story short… this was SO good!!!! My husband said this was his favorite dish I’ve Ever made (we’ve been married for 21 years, so he had a bunch to choose from). I’ll be making it again. When I get the hankering, that is.
Keith
How sweet is it? Can you dial back the sugar and still get the orange flavor coming through.
Chris David
Great recipe and really a nice one. Will surely try this
Kristen
Seriously best orange chicken ever! I make this an unhealthy amount now that I’ve found this recipe!