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!
Laura
This was delicious! I made it exactly as specfied, except that I didn't deep fry. I did saute the chicken in olive oil on both sides to get a crusty coating, and then baked it in the sauce afterward. It was delicious, highly recommend and will make again.
Kimberley
Oh wow just what I was looking for!!! How to make this recipe without deep frying ? When u say you baked the chicken in the sauce did you put it in the oven at all please tell me how you did it !!!:)
Lisa
Made it tonight. Was delicious!
Ashleigh Phillips
An instant family favorite! Simple to make and easy to increase servings if you have a big group.
Sidney
It was absolutely amazing . We have a big family so I had to 4x the recipe. A bit spicy , but if you don’t want as much just dial down on the pepper flakes. Absolutely fantastic though !
Peter Papazoglou
Excellent recipe that absolutely is much better than most take out.
Only addition was I added and sauteed sliced red peppea few minutes before serving
Isabella
Great recipe, used tapiocia starch instead of cornstarch and was still delicious!
Judy Ellis
I can't have a lot of fried foods. Can this be made in an air fryer
Seasons01
Someone above in the comments did.
Marvel Rostar
I love this recipe! I've made it several times..easy and sooo much flavor! I have to double the sauce recipe, my family devours it!
Beth
I cut back on the sugar using 1/4 cup it was plenty sweet for us. Also, hubby doesn’t like a lot of heat so only used 1/4 tsp of the pepper flakes- it was delish!
Caleb Wedge
Yeah its definitely a rating 5...
Ryan Borden
I modified things a bit, like adding in some frozen orange juice flavor to turn up the volume and some other tweaks, but I have to say the overall texture of the chicken with this thin light breading is great.
My favorite Chinese restaurant back in Phoenix (I live in Detroit now) made orange chicken like Ive never seen anywhere else. It was thinly sliced and the breading was ultra thin and did not completely cover the chicken.
This is not yet better or as good as those, but its quickly closing in.
Next time Im going to try thin sliced chicken and rather then dip the chicken in Im going to sift it over the chicken for a more light coating.
I might cut out some of the flour and up the corn starch as Ive seen recipes that use corn starch only. Im still experimenting but this recipe is quite good even as it is and has set me on the right track to get what I want.
My 3 boys loved the chicken as well. 🙂
Good job with the recipe!
Jessica
Oh gosh does anyone have any recommendations for what sort of oil to use for the frying? Cooking this for the boys later in the week but I'd love to test it beforehand and I'm a bit new to cooking (more of a baker myself) so I'd hate to use the wrong sort of oil! Would olive oil work alright?
Ron+McDon
I would use vegetable/sunflower/rapeseed oil. Olive oil wouldn’t get hot enough without burning, and might have too strong a flavour.
Salacia
I just have a question, can I make this without cutting the chicken? I wanna make it with full chicken breast without making the pieces smaller
Ella
Can this be made gluten free?
Christina Garcia
Amazing! My family, loves it! Way better than Chinese " fast food" I've ever had!
Angelisa
Delicious! Best orange chicken I've ever had. Be prepared to spend a couple hours on it though.
Lynell
Just made this and it was fantastic!!!! The fresh squeezed orange juice and zest made this so flavorful!!! This was my first time making Orange Chicken but it will not be my last time making it!!!!
Josie
Delicious! Can the sauce be frozen?
Jennifer
Orange chicken is always my go to when ordering takeout. While I wasn’t able to get a good crisp with this batter, the sauce most definitely made up for that. Tucking this one away for next time I’m craving some orange chicken. Much better than takeout and the freshness of the oranges really made the dish pop. Thank you.
Christy
Another winner! We used half the vinegar, a little less orange juice b/c we ran out. & We made extra sauce. 5 star reviews from the whole family.