Chinese Orange Chicken
Not even Panda Express can beat this homemade orange chicken!
Today was just one of those days. My photography shoot went awry. I burned myself when frying an egg. There was an ant party in my kitchen trash. I hit the worst kind of traffic on a Saturday afternoon for a 3 mile drive. The list goes on.
The highlight of my day was that I still had some of this orange chicken left. This is a Chinese favorite of mine, especially from Panda Express, involving crisp, fried chicken bites smothered in a wonderfully sweet and tangy orange sauce. There is a bit of prep work involved here but at the end of the day, nothing beats homemade, right? And believe me when I say that not even Panda Express will beat this version!
Chinese Orange Chicken
Ingredients
- 1 ½ pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch chunks
- 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons cornstarch, divided
- 2 large eggs, beaten
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- ½ teaspoon sesame seeds
- 1 green onion, thinly sliced
For the marinade
- 1 cup chicken broth
- ½ cup freshly squeezed orange juice
- ½ cup sugar
- ⅓ cup distilled white vinegar
- ¼ cup soy sauce
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon orange zest
- 1 teaspoon Sriracha, or more, to taste
- ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
- ¼ teaspoon white pepper
Instructions
- To make the marinade, whisk together chicken broth, orange juice, sugar, vinegar, soy sauce, garlic, orange zest, Sriracha, ginger and white pepper in a large bowl.
- In a gallon size Ziploc bag or large bowl, combine chicken and 2/3 cup of the marinade; marinate for at least 30 minutes, turning the bag occasionally. Drain the chicken from the marinade, discarding the marinade.
- Heat remaining marinade in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil and stir in 2 tablespoons cornstarch combined with 2 tablespoons water. Cook, stirring frequently, until thickened about 1-2 minutes; keep warm.
- Working one at a time, dip the chicken into the eggs, then dredge in remaining 1 cup cornstarch, pressing to coat.
- Heat vegetable oil in a large saucepan. Working in batches, add chicken and fry until golden brown and cooked through, about 1-2 minutes. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate; discard excess oil.
- Serve chicken immediately, tossed or drizzled with the marinade, garnished with sesame seeds and green onion, if desired.
Did you make this recipe?
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Family loved! Will make again for sure!
You’re recipes are always great! This one especially is a crowd pleaser! It’s the best orange chicken I have ever had. Thanks for all the great recipes you post. I use them all the time!
I made it tonight. So crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. The orange sauce was delicious. The serving size was right on. I had a perfect amount for my dinner guests. Lots of compliments. I did try a few pieces of the orange chicken in the air fryer. I was curious to see if I could save a few calories. Unfortunately it didn’t do well. It crisped up a little but never browned. It stayed the white color of the corn starch, so not very pleasing to the eye and wasn’t nearly as tasty as the fried chicken
Do you think it would work to make the chicken like your firecracker chicken recipe? Like coat it and cook on the stove then put in baking dish and pour the sauce on and bake, mixing every 15 mins or so? Works well for the firecracker chicken.
My family LOVED it. I have very picky eaters, and they all loved it. This will be made again and again! Thank you!!!
Can you make this like the firecracker chicken recipe on this site and after cooking coating/chicken partway on the stove, throw it in a baking dish with the sauce until cooked through/thicker?
Amazing Recipe Chung-Ah !
I’m having difficulty getting the chicken as crispy as I’d prefer but I’ll try double-dipping to layer the starch n see what that does…
Today is my 4th time making this – I’m going to add a pad thai twist to it. Not true Pad Thai but just the Pad Thai noodles added to create an Orange Chicken Pad Thai.
The first time I marinated for maybe an hour, the second & 3rd time I marinated for 8 hours, this batch is on a 24hr marinade. The 8hr marinade tastes far better than the 30 minute; hopefully the same can be said for the 24hr marinade. I think more than 24 would be overkill though, the orange zest has a waiting of culminating.
(I keep forgetting the seeds though, lol)
Delicious!!! I had chicken tenderloins on hand so used those, and made the recipe as written, SO good!
This is not a review but it is a question. Will this recipe hold up well if prepared as directed and then placed in a warmer/crock for serving at a buffet line for an open house
I made this last night and it was so good. Another great recipe!
So good!
Tips:
1. Yes, put the cornstarch and chicken in a large baggie to mix – so much faster, easier and cleaner.
2. I froze some uncooked chicken and unthickened sauce for later use – thawed it and then cooked per the recipe, and it turned out great too! In the future, I’ll be doubling this recipe so I can freeze half for later!
Amazing! I used chicken tenderloins because that is what I had, super tender. I also put the cornstarch in a ziploc and added my chicken after I drained off the extra egg as I do with other recipes. It made it less messy for me. Fresh squeezed orange juice is the key, do not substitute! My family says better than any restaurant. I have made it several times, worth the time.
This was spectacular! A little bit of work, but easy to do!
Will definitely be making this again!
This was fantastic! Better than any orange chicken I’ve had in a restaurant.
The only changes I made were adding rough chopped red bell pepper to the sauce and subbing fresh ginger for the powdered ginger, because I have a boatload of fresh ginger on hand. I finely minced about an inch and a half long knob. It added a very nice ginger tang. It is nice though to have the option to use powdered ginger because one doesn’t always have fresh on hand.
I will definitely be making this again. Thanks!
OMG this recipe was AHMAZING! The orange zest gave it a long lasting flavour after biting into the chicken. I could make this every week! Definitely on my list to make for my family again! They loved it! Check out the PF Chang Mongolian beef recipe on this site as well! Another great dish! I made both of these recipes two nights in a row. Definitely a follower of this site for good! Thank you for your efforts!
I give it a 10! Hands down! definitely making it again.
Love this recipe! We made it once as written and it was delicious and made a cheater version with the sauce as written and popcorn chicken in the air fryer instead of marinating and frying, also amazing!
Thank you for so detailed information. I just made this because i didn’t know how else to cook the boneless chicken breast i have thawed out and the sauce taste delicious.
This was absolutely delicious! No additions or substitutions. Served with steamed white rice and steamed broccoli. Much, much tastier than the takeout version! Thank you for the wonderful recipe.
Delicious! A+
I want to make this tonight but have to white vinegar. Can I use Apple cider vinegar instead?!
Hi! Okay I never leave reviews…but I made this last night and it was amazing!!! I’ve made a couple different versions of orange chicken and this one is by far the keeper! My husband went back for thirds! Lol! Paired this with your quinoa fried rice and wow! Seriously amazing!
With COVID, I am missing going out to restaurants. This is definitely restaurant grade. Thank you so much for the recipe. This is definitely a keeper.
Would this work in an air fryer?
I found the soy sauce to be overpowering. Otherwise my family really liked this. When I make it again, it will definitely be with less soy sauce.
I never leave reviews but this was so delicious I had to. Ended up needing to use pork and it was still amazing!
Fantastic! Sharp, sweet, hot, citrusy, crunchy, moist and light. So so good!!! Followed the recipe to the letter and it was 100% perfect. Definitely making this again, and again and again. Sesame seeds add a real finishing nuttiness to it, would suggest not skipping that if at all possible. Served this with steamed tenderstem broccoli, which paired really well.
I tried this recipe over a year ago and my family loves it!! Too mix it up a bit we add shredded carrots and red or orange bell peppers, they really enhance the flavors!!
This was delicious!! It takes some effort, but it was worth it! I will definitely make it again. Everyone in the family liked it, which is a huge bonus!
Oh my goodness! That is amazing dish! There was not enough sauce so next time will make more, but the taste was to die for. Definitely gets into my cookbook!
Delicious indeed! I made this tonight using the ingredients we had on hand, due to the quarantine restrictions. Had to substitute cuties (clementines) for the oranges, olive oil instead of vegetable oil, omitted the sriracha sauce, and we ran out of corn starch so half the chicken we just ended up dropping in oil without breading. Everything turned out amazing! Served it over rice, and paired it with asparagus sautéed with red peppers, and sweet onions. Thank you for the recipe!
We love this recipe! A dead ringer for the best restaurant Orange Chicken. Our teen started us on this quest and we love this dish! We heat up pork egg rolls from Sam’s on the side, sometimes stir fry some veggies. What a great meal!
This recipe took a fair amount of time but ended up tasting delicious. Not sure if this made a difference but I didn’t have white pepper so ai just used black pepper instead. I fried the chicken on medium high for about 3-4 min on each side. Definitely will be making again my family loved it!!!
Declicious!!!
Excellent. Made as is, no changes except was generous with Sirracha. Threw handful of canned mandarin oranges in sauce right before serving.
That was so so delicious !!!
Thanks so much !
Want to to try so much of your recipies now, thank you
I made this for dinner tonight. It was the best orange chicken I’ve ever had!! It was a great way to use some of the oranges from our tree. I’ll be making this again very soon. Thank You so much for sharing this delicious recipe.
Excellent.
This is a staple in our house now. My son is allergic to egg so I now dip in aquafaba before the cornstarch. I also make loads of the orange sauce/marinade ahead of time and keep it in 8 oz. Portions in my freezer so I can just pull it out when needed. Sometimes we use it on other dishes too. It’s great. Thanks for this epic recipe!
I love the Aquafaba idea! I’m vegan and I’d love to try this recipe using tofu and this would make it perfect! Thanks for the great tip!
Amazing! This is now a staple meal for us. I used fresh ginger one time and powdered another time, both were amazing.
I haven’t made this before however we absolutely love your Korean beef recipe so I’m sure this will be great as well. I’m fixing this for 20 people coming over tomorrow and wondered if you had any short cuts or ideas for frying chicken ahead of time or skipping the breading? Or maybe baking in the oven? Thanks so much
What a great idea! But unfortunately, without having tried this myself, I cannot answer with certainty. But if you get a chance to try it, please let me know how it turns out! Good luck! 🙂
I use Tyson Anytysers Popcorn chicken, 2 bags for my family of 5 and prep in the oven as directed
(they LOVE orange chicken but I dont like to fry)
Magnificent dish. My family has been asking for orange chicken for quite sometime. After viewing numerous recipes for orange peel chicken. I was reluctant as I do with many other recipes. I can’t believe how easy the preparation was. My family absolutely loved the orange chicken. My hats off to you!!!
Delicious with bright flavor! Made this vegetarian and substituted fried tofu instead of chicken. Used water instead of chicken broth. Otherwise, made the recipe as written and the entire family loved it. Thank you for sharing 😉
Mmmm, good! I tried it over cauliflower rice and it was great, plus the instructions for this meal were super easy to follow.
I don’t fry food often but so glad I made the exception today. WOW this was insanely good!!
I love your recipes, you make them so easy to follow. I plan on getting every cook book you put out. Kathy
So sorry for the late night review, this is what happens when insomnia kicks in lol. Anywho, I wanted to see if I can replace the distilled vinegar with rice wine vinegar for the marinade/sauce.
Looking to make this (although I made this recipe plenty of time just want to try something different) re pie tomorrow for a family gathering
What a great idea! But unfortunately, without having tried this myself, I cannot answer with certainty. But if you get a chance to try it, please let me know how it turns out! 🙂
I have tried it with rice vinegar it’s fine.
Only gave this 4 stars cause I haven’t actually made it yet but I can not wait to try it!! I am at work now and can’t wait to get off so I can go home and make this for dinner. My husband will be so suprised when he comes in and smells this..I’m almost drooling just thinking about it.
Why in the world would you leave a rating if you haven’t tried it yet? That’s insane.
hahahahahahaha
I’m usually not a big orange chicken fan, but it’s my husband’s favorite! I followed this recipe exactly as written and it was so fantastic, I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it! My husband already wants me to make it again next week, and my toddler even approves. Thank you for such a damn delicious recipe!
That’s great!
Wow! You aren’t kidding when you say it’s better than Panda! I love how crisp the chicken is, and the sauce is the perfect balance of sweet and tangy. The sesame seeds and chopped green onions really make it look and taste like it was made in a nice restaurant.
Thanks, Sari!
This is the third time I have made this and I can honestly say its SO DELICIOUS and EASY you wont be disappointed! I have an orange and mandarin tree in my back yard, which are now ready, so I use the fresh squeezed juice from the oranges and their zest. We always turn to your site for delicious recipes as I fine them both easy, well explained and most of all, DAMN DELICIOUS!!!
Thank you, Karen!
This is delicious, very light and flavorful. Unlike some Chinese/Asian recipes there was plenty of sauce for the chicken. I stir fried some snow peas and added them to the plated dish, poured the sauce over all and garnished with the scallions and sesame seeds. It looked as good as it tasted! I served rice on the side. I will be making this again. Thank you!
SO GOOD!!! My boyfriend and I decided to make our own Chinese-inspired dinner instead of ordering in. We followed this recipe exactly, except for tripling the amount of sriracha (we like it spicy!). Paired this chicken with homemade veggie fried rice and the combination is DIVINE. HIGHLY RECOMMEND!
Just wanted to add, to cut down on the sugar grams, I used half Splenda granular and half real sugar. Turned out great!
This is the 2nd time I have made this recipe. It tastes DELICIOUS and am so happy I found it. There are a lot of copycat Panda Express orange chicken recipes out there, but you need not look further, this is the BEST
I never write reviews unless the recipe was surprisingly better than I expected. And I usually have disappointing results when making Asian foods. Not this time! This was really good! The kind of good where you say I can’t believe how good this is the whole time you are eating it! Happy teen as well. I used leftover plain rice for kids and riced cauliflower for me. Thank you for posting!
I just made this recipe and it really take only 30 mins to make. I substitute sugar with honey.
Great!
Made this tonight and it did not come out at all. The chicken was soggy, and we fried it for much longer than the directions say. Someone help! What did I do wrong?
Didn’t use enough cornstarch and/or oil not hot enough
I made this with raw shrimp and it was phenomenal, thanks for another Damn Delicious recipe that the whole family loved!
This was SO delicious! A little bit of work but so worth it. I made it with some copy cat Panda chow mein noodles. We had leftovers and I reheated them in the oven like someone suggested. It was ok, definitely not as good as fresh.
So happy you liked it!
This recipe LOOKED amazing but was a flop. The corn starch made the chicken never turn “Golden” it just turned out as fried, white, and tasted like corn starch. I tried to use less to coat th chicken and it was just a disaster. The sauce was a gelatinous blob and didn’t work out either. I really had high hopes for this recipe and the flavors were all there but I feel there has to be a better alternative to cor starch to bread the chicken and there has to be some tweaking to the amounts used in the recipe.
Tori – I’m so sorry to hear that happened! But it sounds like maybe your cornstarch had expired?
I had similar results with the chicken, Tori. The chicken never got golden, it stayed white. My cornstarch isn’t even close to expired. I always have great results with Chungah’s recipes but this one doesn’t look at all like the photos. It tastes good…just doesn’t look appealing.
Made this tonight and it was wonderful! Thanks for this recipe. Doing the egg/corn starch part was a pain but worth it. I’m also glad I read one of the comments that told how she reheated it.
Would this recipe work with an air fryer??
Unfortunately, without further recipe testing, we cannot answer with certainty. As always, please use your best judgment regarding substitutions and modifications.
This dish was amazing! I have never fried anything before and made quite a mess with the cornstarch LOL . But the end result was an amazing recipe I will use again and again. THANK YOU
Tried this tonight I had a plethora of chicken breast in the house and I saw other recipes for Orange Chicken but chose this one because it looked simpler and didn’t have me running all over creation for ingredients. This was wonderful and I ate it with Zucchini noodles to give it more a freshness with it and to keep it relatively low carb, although pretty sure cornstarch probably kills the carb content, but that’s another story. lol
I recall this recipe was baked for 50 minutes to develop the sauce and crispiness…did you change the recipe?
Nope – the recipe has not been changed. 🙂
I wanted to make this tonight but I’m tired lol. Would it be ok to let it marinade overnight ?
Allyse | Foodie| Seamstress | Blogger
http://www.allysejolie.com
Yes, of course!
Made this last night for dinner and it was awesome! Great flavor. I’m pinning all your other recipes to try too! Thanks! Great website!
Do not compare any of your dishes to Panda Express. It is the McDonalds of Asian foods and that is a low standard. You perform at a far higher level.
I totally agree!
Made the recipe last night along with your spicy chicken potstickers and korean beef bowl. What a glorious feast!!!!! Warming up the few leftovers for breakfast. Lol….. You are the rockstar of food.
I. Love. This. Recipe. I make it all the time. I am wondering, though, about using the marinade on some chicken and cooking it in my crock pot to serve over rice. It wouldn’t be breaded or fried, obviously, so maybe a little healthier? I’m thinking this would be delicious served over jasmine rice. Anyone tried something similiar, or have any input?
Made this for dinner tonight but we have large household. All adults so I doubled the batch. It worked out wonderfully. Made fried rice with snap peas to go along with. So delicious. Thank you!
Chungah this turned out delicious! The best orange chicken I’ve ever made, I don’t know why I waited so long to try it. Thank you for sharing your talents! I’m an awesome baker, but need ideas in the cooking dept. I’m always happy with your recipes, and my family too. Also, thank you for having an easy to navigate website. Some blogs have so many ads you can’t read the blog because the page is constantly refreshing.
This looks delicious. I’m going to try putting the chicken in my air frier. Do you know if any of your readers have tried that?
I don’t think so but I don’t see why it wouldn’t work! Let me know how it turns out!
Perfect. Didn’t have any chicken broth so I made some Asian style. Used fresh ginger in the marinade because I didn’t have powdered. Kept the sauce hot in a thermos- one of those insulated coffee mugs would have worked too. I’m usually a little bit of a critic- absolutely would not change a thing. Made this just for two so I put the marinating chicken in the freezer for another show stopper. Thanks for a terrific recipe!
I made this last night with no modifications to the recipe and it was PERFECT! Thank you so much. My only feedback is that your site tends to crash my browser or just freeze whether I’m looking from my phone or computer. 🙁 I keep coming back though – your recipes are amazing. Thanks again.
Pretty darn good! I may have put too much orange zest in because there was a slight bitterness. I also had a hard time telling how much to save for the marinade glaze and didn’t have any for left overs. Darn good first attempt, though!
Amazing! This recipe is my family’s favorite. Definitely worth the prep work. I make it quite often. Sometimes I will make the sauce the night before which cuts prep time in half on a work night. I think it is delicious even when I don’t have time to marinate the chicken. Try this!!
Tonight I’m making your shrimp with walnuts but this will be my next one unless I go for coconut shrimp instead–there aren’t enough days in the week to try all your yummy recipes! I love orange pork and shrimp, too, will try those another time. I so appreciate your website because all the Chinese restaurants around here are bland and boring.
Thanks for the recipe, I made it last night, but it doesnt look as orange and yummy as yours 🙂 Any idea on what happened? Do I need to add more orange zest to the marinade?
Thanks again!!
I’m not entirely sure – did you follow the recipe exactly as written without any substitutions?
i bet this tastes lovely. Thanks for sharing this, gonna give this a go later. Simon
OK so I stumbled across this recipe while looking for something called strawberry chicken. I used to order it years ago at a local Chinese restaurant that closed. Do you have any suggestions on how to make the marinade and sauce using fresh strawberries in place of the orange?
That sounds amazing! But unfortunately, without further recipe testing and without having tried this myself, I cannot answer with certainty. As always, please use your best judgment.
Hi, amazing recepie I’ve tried it but when i tried to toss it in the marinade the corn starch coating on the chicken came of any tips?
Maha A, the chicken is coated with cornstarch, then cooked in vegetable oil. It is not tossed in the marinade.
Do you think it’s worth it to marinade this overnight? Or is 30 min all you need?
30 minutes is just fine.
Just made this for the first time. I usually get the frozen orange chicken they sell at costco and have been wanting to make my own. this turned out much better. A little more work than cooking the frozen chicken in the oven and microwaving the sauce but it was worth it.
Made this tonight for dinner and its delicious. Takes a little bit of time but well worth the work and time.
I added chunks of white onions and red and yellow peppers served over brown rice..
Yummy. Going to share on my Favorite things and friends blog.com
I just made this recipe! It was very flavourful but I did use real ginger as opposed to ground and added a pinch of sesame oil to the end sauce! Overall it was delicious!
This was delicious! I made a few changes, swapped the measurements for the orange juice and chicken stock and vinegar and sugar. Solely for personal taste, I enjoy assertive acid.
Thanks for sharing, this was a hit with the whole family.
Also, can I use 1 cup Coconut oil instead of Vegetable Oil?
Unfortunately, without further recipe testing, I cannot answer with certainty. As always, please use your best judgment.
What can I substitute the white pepper with? I think I can just add black pepper, but just use less. Is this correct?
Yes! 🙂
Can you advise if you think I could make a day ahead for dinner guests? Trying to cut down on work day of party
Jennie, this is really best when served immediately. But as always, please use your best judgment.
With one exception, I followed the recipe exactly as written and it was great. I’ve never used corn starch before, so the one exception was I forgot to mix the corn starch with (cold) water before adding it to the heated marinade. So, if you are a first time corn starch-user like me…just know that this step is important or you get globs of corn starch in your marinade. It was a non-issue, though, and in the end had no impact on taste or appearance. I love green onion usually but I ended up preferring bites without the green onion in this particular recipe. It’s personal preference (and is stated as optional), but don’t worry if you don’t have green onion. The sauce was delicious and my chicken turned out great — 1 inch chunks from thin chicken breasts and fried in a deep sided frying pan on an electric stove on medium. I didn’t time the frying..you just sort of know. I probably used about 2 cups of corn starch on a total of 3 thin chicken breasts cut into cubes. I think most of it ended up stuck on my fingers, but what can you do. :o) It’s worth it to use more corn starch or else I don’t think you’ll get the crispiness if your egg bleeds through. Anyway, it was great. Next time I will do what I can do to prepare some things in advance, as this did take me about 90 minutes, but it was delicious.
I used gloves to cut and to coat my chicken worked Great.. Just a idea for the next time you make this dish.
I just made your orange chicken for tonight’s dinner, and Wow! It is so delicious!
It definitely took some time, but it was well worth the trouble. I doubled the recipe, hoping for leftovers, but I don’t know if it’ll make it to tomorrow. I was about to lick my plate clean, the sauce was so good!
Thanks for sharing a great recipe!
Hi! Thanks for this recipe- looks delicious! It’s been pinned. 🙂 Any advice for baking the chicken pieces instead of frying? Thank you!
Honestly, this is really best when fried! But as always, please use your best judgment. 🙂
Can this chicken be frozen. Will try it soon
Unfortunately, I cannot answer this with certainty as I have never tried freezing this myself – there were no leftovers left to freeze! Please use your best judgment for freezing and reheating.
I’ve never made Chinese food at home because I thought it would be too time consuming. This makes it look manageable, and certainly healthier than picking up “to go” meals from the local Chinese restaurant. Thanks so much! (PS. I love the pictures!)
This recipe is worth the effort! I made extra sauce this time to try over some ground chicken meatballs and it is fabulous – will be my dish to pass at upcoming holiday parties.
Fabulous! Better than any restaurant orange chicken! I served it over basmati rice with broccoli and red bell pepper. Thank you for a delicious supper!
Thank u for the recipe. It was easy to follow & simple/few ingredients required. Quite delicious!
For God sakes people…… Sake is RICE WINE
Is it ok to marinate the chicken overnight? The recipe says for at last 30 min but I wanted to be sure overnight isn’t too long.
Because of the vinegar, I do not recommend marinating overnight.
This was absolutley amazing. We almost didn’t make it to putting the sauce on because my husband and I were eating the chicken as it came out of the oil because it was so delicious. Definitely a 10 with or without the sauce 🙂
Oh and I used boneless skinless chicken thighs because it is what I had on hand and it was just as good (I prefer dark meat anyways)
I like Chinese food, hoping to learn more about Chinese food recipes.
Best recipe for Orange Chicken that I’ve ever found. I do like a good orange flavor, so I used the zest of one large orange (added to the sauce) and I added a 1/4 cup of orange marmalade to the sauce before adding the corn starch slurry.
Hi Chunga, 1. Awesome Corgis. 2. I made this orange Chicken recipe, turned out great, tasted awesome and a lot better than any take-out orange chicken, I have ordered. I will make this again, as it was fun and easy to make. Thanks for posting the recipe.
Hello! I am a young 20 something and I stumbled upon your blog on pinterest. I have tried several of your recipes and there is literally nothing I havent loved. I am not a blog person but I always come here to find new recipes to try. Your food is delicious!
Made this about a month ago and took it to my husband at work. Needless to say, all the police officers wanted some and they loved it! The only downside: I didn’t get any. Making it again tonight, but this time, I will definitely keep some out for me. This is an easy, awesome recipe!
OMG! This is absoutely the best orange chicken I have EVER had..And it’s the only one I have made at home that is actually out of this world. Simple ingredients, simple prep, outrageous results! Family was very HAPPY, HAPPY. Will be repeated on a monthly basis.
Tried this last night! It was awesome!! It takes a long time from start to finish but it was well worth it. I made it with a fried rice recipe I found on pinterest. Next time I will add 4-5 tbl of the sirracha. (I put 3 tbl, wasn’t spicy enough for us!)
awesome recipe, thank you for sharing!!!
Can I use boneless skinless chicken thighs instead?
Yes, absolutely.
Can you freeze sauce?
Unfortunately, I cannot answer this with certainty as I have never tried freezing this myself – there were no leftovers left to freeze! Please use your best judgment for freezing and reheating.
Would I be able to substitute any hot sauce for Sriracha? Or do you think the Sriracha gives it a distinct flavor?
I find that this recipe is best when Sriracha is used rather than any other kind of hot sauce.
Hi, this is probably a stupid question but could I substitute lemon for the orange ingredients? Just to change up the citrus flavor? Thanks.
Yes, absolutely!
Made this tonight for dinner, and it was amazing! It’s a little finicky to coat the chicken, but well worth the time and effort. The fresh orange juice gave the sauce such a nice taste.
Thanks for sharing the recipe!
I made this recipe awhile back and everyone absolutely loved it. Now I have a troop of Girl Scouts coming over Friday night who want to learn how to cook Chinese food (not really in my wheelhouse, if I’m being honest) so I’m going to teach them how to fix this dish. We’re going to try it sans the coating, but I’m sure it will still be delicious.
Am I the only one who messed up this recipe? I have never cooked with cornstarch before and I was a mess and so was the dish. Boo. The chicken wasn’t as crispy as it looks in your photo and I had lumps of the cornstarch water mix in the marinade. Any tips? I am usually a good cook. I know one of the issues was that I was trying to hurry and didn’t dip the chicken pieces one by one, like you suggested. Oops. I have made so many of your recipes though and my hubby and I have loved every single one of them!!
Alima, it is best to take the time to dip the chicken as best as you can or else you will end up with soggy, non-crisp chicken pieces!
As far as marinating the chicken what’s the longest time you recommend?
I would say about 8 hours (or overnight).
I prepared this for dinner today, and I agree with everyone’s comments that this recipe is a definite keeper!! I have a question – Does the recipe use white sugar or brown sugar? I thought I had read in one of the comments about using brown sugar. I made my sauce with white sugar.
I did find that there’s quite a bit of preparation time required for this, and the cooking time for my chicken took longer, too. I did use peanut oil, so perhaps this makes a difference. I did achieve a nice golden brown crunchy coating on the chicken, and I drizzled the sauce over it to maintain it.
I’m wondering the best way to reheat the left-over chicken. I kept the sauce in a separate bowl so the chicken wouldn’t get soggy while storing it.
I’ll definitely make again, but will be better prepared for the time allotment that this dish requires.
Thanks again for another winner. I made your pot sticker recipe, and that, too, was super delicious!!
It is best to use white sugar for this recipe (typically a recipe will specifically indicate brown sugar or dark brown sugar). As for reheating, I found that the best way to reheat is by baking the leftover chicken as the microwave can yield soggy results.
Thanks, Chungah. I’m glad I used the white sugar to make the sauce.
I made the left-overs today, before I saw your reply. I ended up heating the chicken in a pan on the stove, and also, heated the sauce in a separate pan. The chicken ended up tasting too dry, and the sauce was thick and slushy-looking. Luckily, it still had a tasty flavor, so we were able to salvage the dinner.
No doubt, this dish tastes its best when eaten right after preparation.
I tried making this today, chicken didn’t get a crust on it like l hope, l didn’t have enough corn starch. So, l threw the entire marinade into my wok, due to the raw chicken l simmered sauce for 10 minutes then added the chicken. It was the most moist, tender chicken l’ve ever tasted! The sauce is creamy & delicious, paired great with brown rice. Happy accident 🙂
I made this tonight it was perfect 🙂 followed the recipe exact except I used peanut oil! thank you so much it for posting it
Hi are you using a wok? Could I use a cast iron skillet to fry the chicken
Either will work just fine.
Excellent flavour on the marinade. I made it as written but doubled the Sriracha. I was in the mood for a little more kick but I may have gone overboard.,,,,we will soon find out! :0)
Chicken is marinading for 2 to 3 hours. Thank you for the recipe!
This is good. I mean really good. I know how to cook and do a pretty damn good job at it. LOL. This recipe worked! So many recipes from the web or even a blog won’t.
My family loved this recipe and I have made it twice so far. I am getting ready to teach it to my kids in our middle school cooking class. I will let you know what they think.
Thanks for your hard work.
This is AMAZING! My whole family (including 3 kids, 2 of which are crazy picky) LOVE this! I love it for so many reasons besides the amazing taste:
1- we live in the middle of no where so take out isn’t even an option.
2- I’m literally having a baby in 9 days and this is so amazing, totally worth standing in the kitchen for over an hour to make it (I make a ton at a time)
3- it’s amazing cold or warmed up as left overs, and my family is not big on left overs at all.
Thanks for sharing this! I’ll be making it again for dinner tonight, hopefully I’ll have some left overs tomorrow!
This was ridiculously good! I made it exactly as written except I halved the recipe. The orange flavor was so pronounced my 3 year old said it tasted like orange juice (he loved it!). It was crisp and sticky. I served it over white rice with roasted broccoli. Thank you for such a great dinner recipe!
I made this tonight for dinner. Actually, I marinated my chicken overnight only because I started into it late and just decided to cook the next day…that really allowed the flavor to soak in & dont think 30 min would have given off the deep flavor result I got. Dipping in egg and dredging in cornstarch kept my fingers messy lol! I did cook my pieces for at least 5 min…jus didnt wanna chance it being undercooked. It came out nicely…my son loved it… I had a couple of pork chops in the freezer so I cut those up and did those too, as well as some ‘chick-less’ soy strips for my vegetarian daughter. Im used to restaurant orange chicken being a lil sweeter but overall an easy and tasty dish. Thx!
Fell upon this recipe and website last night. Quickly through this together with no time to marinate. Yummo! The family loved it! Thanks. I’ll be back for more, I love food blogs and now I’m hooked. We’ve decided to use this sauce as a wing coat too.
I unfortunately did not have time to make a homemade sauce so I used store-bought, but the chicken recipe was delicious! I made it twice, and it actually works really well to just put all of the chicken pieces and cornstarch in a bag and shaking it. It’s a little messy but it makes the process way faster and you can make everything at the same time. But great recipe! 🙂
I made this and it is DELISH!!!!
That recipe looks so good ! Iwant to cook it but therefor I need to know: What brand of sriracha sauce did you take ? And what kind? because i found some that was called hot, really hot, ginger, onion, garlic and lemon gras And i didn’ know which one i should take
I used Huy Fong.
Hello. I like your photography.
I decided to make this recipe last minute and use up some veggies in the process. I didn’t marinate the chicken but instead used it to make the sauce. I skipped the egg dip, tossed the chicken in whole wheat flour and fried it in a small amount of hot oil, then set aside. Sautéed carrots, snow peas and onions in the pan, added the marinade liquid and when bubbling. I made a roux with cornstarch and chicken broth and slowly added to the sauce and veggies and it thickened up nicely. I added the chicken back in, and when all was heated through, thick and bubbling, I added some frozen pineapple chunks. The whole family loved it, it was easy to make and goes on the permanent meal rotation. If I plan ahead, I can try marinating the chicken. Great recipe!
Second time making this recipe, and it is the best orange chicken ever!! I’ll be trying more recipes from your blog–fool-proof is the best! Thank YOU!
This orange chicken was absolutely delicious!! I followed the directions almost to a “T!” I did not have white pepper, so I used black. I used freshly squeezed oranges for the juice and I do not have a zester, so had to forgo that. It was so very good! I did end up needing to make more sauce b/c it did not make enough for the amount of chicken I coated! This is one of the best orange chicken recipes I have tried!!
Here’s the critical steps to get a crunchy result:
Use potato starch for the coating but still use corn starch for the sauce thickening. (trust me)
Try to dry the chicken before coating with egg.
Do small batches so as not to cool the oil too rapidly. A deep fryer with peanut oil is the way to go. I feel like the vegetable oil gives a spoiled oil flavor. Peanut oil is near flavorless.
Experiment with deep frying times. I like to allow it to sit in the oil until the bubbling subsides (like popcorn in a microwave)
Consistant cut sizes with no dangling meat. Give that part to the begging cat.
Even after sitting in my sauce for 5 minutes my bites give an audible crunch.
I was too lazy to marinate it beforehand and I feel like the moisture left on the chicken bites takes away from the crunchy result. Plus, the sauce is coating the bites anyway.
Thank you for this comment. I was actually reading through them to see if the recipe author ever addresses this issue. I thought the sauce tasted amazing but the second I added it to the chicken, my nice crunchy fried coating turned to absolute mush. I was wondering if there was a better way to keep the chicken crispy (like Panda Express does, even as the Orange Chicken sits in the heated pan for extended periods of time). Maybe it would be better to fry the chicken with a batter coating to keep the crunchy layer?
Lynn, once the chicken is tossed in the sauce, it is inevitable that it’s crispness is lost over time – there’s really no way around that. If the crispness is most important to you, you can always keep the chicken dry and use the sauce as a dipping sauce.
This is by far one of my favorite recipes to make!!! It is easy and delicious!! It is one of my Husbands favorites to eat!!! Love your blog and your recipes!!!
EXCELLENT!! Thanks for a great recipe!
i made this tonight for our New Year’s Eve celebration. It was fantastic! I am very picky when it comes to orange sauce and am always a little skeptical but this knocked it out of the park. I didn’t have any issue with the breading falling off but I also upped the oil to 3 cups to speed up the frying process. My Panda Express loving husband says this tops the list now. Thank you so much!
I want to try this really bad, but I always fail when I try to fry anything! Do you remember how high you set the temp when heating up the oil? Thanks! Btw: I love your site and since discovering it, it’s my “go-to” when planning my meals for the week…..we’ve had your One-Pot Pasta once a week for past two months!!!!
Kelly, I honestly can’t remember how high the temp was as I was not using a thermometer. I just let it sit on medium heat for about 3-4 minutes. Hope that helps!
350 degrees is the optimal frying temperature for most foods.
Just wanted to know if I can do it without frying the chicken?? I can’t wait to make this!!!!
I would advise against it as this recipe is really best when the chicken is fried in this manner.
Recently found your website and have tried a few recipes with great success. This was dinner last night and it was excellent – even better than Panda’s own! We loved it. The siracha gave it a wonderful after bite spicy taste which perfectly complemented the orangey tang. Thank you!
I made this tonight and can’t wait to try it. My problem is that after I added the cornstarch (mixed with water) my sauce turned brown. Looks like gravy. Still tastes great though, I just wish I had your pretty picture on my table. Ha! What could have happened?
Oh no – I have no idea how that could’ve happened!
Such a great recipe! My kids love it, and it has become one of my ‘go to’ meals 🙂
This is great. Thanks a lot for the recipe.
“Not even Panda Express can beat this homemade orange chicken!” I couldn’t have said it better my self! I made this last night with some chinese rice and crab rangoon my hubby loved it, he said I spoil him. I also sent some over to my in-laws and they called to thank me and couldn’t stop raving on the dinner. Sooo thank you thank you thank you thank you for the awesome recipe. Been looking for something like this for a while and I’m so glad I found it (:
I made this once before and it was thee bomb! Making it for my sons mom for her bday manana. Turn up! Lol
This was AMAZINGLY fantastic! I have now made it twice in the same week! Thank you for this excellent recipe!
I have had requests for more!
Thank you! from me, here in the UK!
Made this tonight and it was delicious!!! Thanks for the recipe.
To velvet the chicken (like restaurant quality that will stay juicy even after being in the fridge overnight) add the cornstarch to the marinade. Marinate at least 30 minutes. Then boil chicken (poach) for 1 min. Then cook after other ingredients are cooked through for another 1 minute at high heat.
Thank you for this recipe. I rarely take time to post feedback on recipes but felt I must. My kids said they had orange chicken at a friend’s house and it was SOOOO good they wanted me to make it. I searched for a recipe and finally chose this one. It was a little bit of work to make something like this from scratch but that is nothing negative about the recipe, just be prepared–you need a bit of time. The results were fantastic. I was skeptical and nervous when I was making it! Especially seeing the raw chicken coated with cornstarch turning gooey. It fried up beautifully and the end result when tossed with the sauce was something out of a very good Chinese restaurant. Forget Panda Express, try PF Chang! Seriously, it was REALLY good and fresh. The green onion was awesome with it. Only thing I didn’t have was sesame seeds and I know that would have been nice to have. A bit of rice on the side with soy sauce was a perfect salty contrast. Thank you for your efforts on this site! I’ll be back!
THIS IS SO YUMMY. BUT I DIDNT HAVE THE SEEDS AND THE GREEN ONIONS. BUT IT WAS GOOD. THANK YOU FOR THE RECIPIE. I TRY ALOT OF YOUR RECIPIES BECAUSE YOUR A REALLY GOOD COOK. AND YOU FOOD IS GOOD BETTER THAN ANY OTHER WEBSITES.
~THANK YOU~
This is by far the best Orange Chicken recipe I’ve been able to find. I had never used corn starch for frying before and I was really surprised how good it was compared to flour. Thanks for broadening my (cooking) horizons 🙂
I found a soy sauce for all of us with wheat or soy allergies. You mix Balsamic vinegar and molasses and brown sugar and chicken broth together. My father and best friend could not tell the difference
I just finished making Orange Chicken, I was hard for me to stay out of the sauce, while the chicken was cooking. This is my favorite Asian food, now I can make my own. The only difference, I added broccoli, and I finished cooking it in the oven, 300* 50-55 minutes, so the flavor soaked into the chicken. Love love this recipe!
Hi Chung-Ah, I made this last night and my husband said it was so great and my daughter could’t believe I made this. I thought was easy and I had no problem with it but I did make double sauce and I just wanted to say Thank You for your recipe and for it being easy to make and please keep it sharing.
That looks AWESOME! I wish could have some right now! But it is on my list for dinner next week! Thank you so much!
I loved this recipe! I made it tonight with your recipe for shrimp fried rice and I grabbed a good bottle of Peach/Mango Moscato to have a glass with my meal. It was wonderful! I can’t wait to make the Lighter General Tso’s Chicken next time.
I just tried your recipe. It was absolutely delicious. Thank you for the wonderful recipes. I also tried your speghetti carbonara. That too was great. I am anxious to try other recipes.
Please explain step 3 for, I don’t understand english much…. In step 3 I don’t add the chicken right ??, and use the marinade in the Zip bag to heat in the saucepan ????
No, you are only using 2/3 cup of the marinade for the Ziploc. The rest should be heated in step 3.
Greetings from Finland and thanks for the great recipe! I have eaten this dish couple of times when visiting in States and it has been delicious. Here in Finland you can’t have this dish from nowhere, so I had to do it my self. Much cheaper than booking a flight to the States =)
this looks so good can’t wait to make it tomorrow for dinner.thanks for sharing..
Thank you for the recipe! I’ve made this for a crowd and it was great! I substituted rice flour for the corn starch because I was running low on corn starch it worked well. It probably wasn’t as crunchy as corn starch but when you mix it with the sauce it didn’t really matter. The sauce is spot-on and delicious. I also added a drop of sesame oil in the sauce at the end and it gave it a nice finish. This recipe is a keeper! Thanks again for sharing!
Tried this the other night & followed the recipe exactly. OMG the sauce is SOOO good! I was craving it the next day! My BF LOVEDDDDDD it. He had the leftovers the next day at work and everyone kept asking him what smelt so good after he microwaved it! Thanks for the recipe! im trying the terriyaki salmon tomorrow for a dinner party!
This is the fourth of your recipes that I’ve done (also did Shrimp Dumplings, Teriyaki Salmon and Fried Rice) and they just keep getting better. Thank you so much for sharing, love your site 🙂
For years I’ve tried to make a Chinese dish at home, similar to what you would eat at a restaurant and you’re recipe did just that! I was amazed and it was easy to make!! I love it!! And I’m happy, I definitely will be making it again and forever! I recommend this recipe to anyone. I also like that I could make it gluten-free, so my husband was finally able to enjoy some Chinese food with me. Oh and I have also made the zucchini fritters and those are amazing as well!!! Thank you so much for sharing! I can’t wait to try some more of your recipes 🙂
I haven’t tried this recipe yet, but I certainly intend to! When I make Szechuan chicken and other stuff, I don’t put a coating on it. Will this work without dredging it and just cooking the chicken? I am guessing the cornstarched marinade will still stick.
Yes, the marinade will still stick. However, the cornstarch is really there to provide that amazing texture for the chicken.
Leg and thigh meet work great with this recipe. Also potato starch works great too. I actually like to use a mixer to thoroughly work the starch into the meat in place of dredging. Should you want to reheat this using your oven does the trick great! assuming the chicken bits are not covered in this delicious sauce! Happy cooking!
I made this last night, my first time making a recipe from online, and it was outstanding! I was sorry that I was the only one here to taste it. Thank you for sharing. I look forward trying more of your recipes.
what can i use instead of sriracha? i don’t have it where i live i only have tabasco sauce 🙁 will omitting the whole sauce cause any major change to the taste?
Because there is such a small amount of Sriracha in this recipe (1 tsp), it shouldn’t make too much of a difference if you omit it completely.
This was so good! Thank you for this fantastic recipe!
I’m from the UK and it is hard to come by chicken broth here. It is actually something completely different… usually a soup. I know it is slightly different to stock but would it make a significant difference to use chicken stock instead?
Stock should work just fine without a significant difference.
I made this tonight and it was DELICIOUS! I love getting orange chicken when I vacation in the US and this was just perfect. If anyone else tries this from the UK, oxo chicken stock cubes work just fine instead of broth. Thank you for bringing this into my life. I never post recipes on Facebook but I have shared this with everyone! 🙂
Really good! I forgot the water in the sauce, which may have contributed to beading up of the cornstarch. I ended up adding extra and straining it. Still really good! Next time I’ll put salt and pepper in the cornstarch before frying the chicken – will make it even better. Unfortunately no one in the family is here to eat it today, so we will be testing how to make it work on day 2 – it’s already getting soggy.
I’m so glad you had a chance to give this a try! And yes, unfortunately this is best served immediately. Sogginess is a major factor even after 20 min!
Made this x 5 for a music video production. Compliments all around. Made Fajita’s the day before to a LOT less Fanfare.
I loved this recipe! Took kind of a lot of work but it was worth it! Unfortunately no one else in my fam liked it =(
So I had just mastered eggroles and chow mein……I added this orange chicken recipe to the meal and it was smashing!!!!!! Awesome
This recipe is so amazing that it actually caused an argument lol. My significant other simply couldn’t believe I made this, and actually checked our credit card statements for Chinese restaurants. This is the first Asian-inspired recipe I’ve ever made. I grew up in a household based on down-home cooking, and this recipe would have been deemed too wild in my mama’s kitchen. It’s so amazing to break free from the constraints of that, and indulge in this. You take amazing photos by the way. 🙂 That’s why I ultimately chose your recipe, and will continue to do so. Thanks for posting.
Too funny – I can’t believe an argument broke up! Nonetheless, I am SO glad you had a chance to give this a try! 🙂
I made this for my husband a few weeks ago. I’m a picky eater, EXTREMELY, and I have to say this was by far my favorite orange chicken I’ve ever had. One thing I hate about orange chicken you get from other places is there’s always that one stale piece that’s dried out and just takes away from the overall meal. Not this recipe. Wow! So good. I’m on my way to the store to make it for my parents tonight. Thanks so much!
Here’s a picture of my first time: http://tinypic.com/r/1euzag/8
I’m so happy to hear that!
Hi Chung Ah, really looks good and want to try it out., but we don’t have an orange, can i used orange juice and lemon zest instead if ever? Please let me know, reall loved orange chicken. Thanks!
I do not recommend using lemon zest as it may significantly alter the taste of the dish.
If I were to bake the chicken at 350*, how long would I bake them for?
Katie, unfortunately, I cannot answer this question as I have never baked this myself. I recommend using your best judgement to use the oven-method, making sure the chicken is completely cooked through before consuming.
I’m living in Gemany, 4 months pregnant, and have been craving American style Chinese food and can not find it here! I finally resorted to making my own and found your recipe. Turns out, I am glad not to have found a good Chinese restaurant because this was way better!
this recipe is amazing. i actually have been daydreaming about it since i made it! SO, SO GOOD.
I am going to do the sauce (minus the sriracha sauce, because I don’t have any) and use it on some leg quarters. I’ll let you know how it comes out!
Holy… Balls… This recipe is flawless! I made this tonight and my boyfriend and I loved it! He literally said that this had ruined Panda for him forever. No take-out will ever trump homemade:) The only deviation I made was using freshly minced ginger instead because that’s what I had in my fridge. Also, I added an extra Tsp of sriracha. Yum! I will definitely try more of your recipes. Thank you!
I made this tonight and it was delicious. Instead of vegetable oil I used coconut oil which paired really well with the flavors in the marinade, thanks for this wonderful recipe!
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I love the info you provide here and can’t wait to take a look when I get home.
I’m shocked at how quick your blog loaded on my phone ..
I’m not even using WIFI, just 3G .. Anyways, wonderful blog!
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Made this tonight it was a big hit! Thanks !
So I made this for dinner last night! The sauce was just about divine! I have a few questions thought that maybe you could help out with!
1. If you were to use a deep fryer (unless you would strongly advise against it) what temp would you set it at?
And 2. Your crust on your chicken looks a little crunchy, like restaurants have, and I love that little bit of crunchiness, mine was not crunchy at all, it was still yummy but it was just a soft breading that turned even softer after I tossed it with the sauce. Is there a secret to getting it crunchy? And if this recipe isn’t supposed to be crunchy do you have any tips on how to change the breading so I can make mine a little crunchy?
Thanks! 🙂
I’m so glad you had a chance to make this. In response to your questions:
1. Unfortunately, I cannot answer this question as I have never used a deep fryer myself.
2. There is supposed to be a tiny bit of crispness to this, but it’s a bit hard to maintain that once you add in the sauce. If you’d like to keep the crispness, I recommend using the sauce as a dipping sauce, rather than tossing it all in.
Hope that helps!
Try pan frying at a lower temperature for longer. This will allow the chicken to get crispier the longer it cooks without burning it.
Hey for everyone who made this, what brand of soy sauce was used?
Lupe, there is no need to use a specific brand of soy sauce. Even generic will work just fine.
I made this a couple of weeks ago but forgot to comment until now. The sauce was sooooo good that I could have just had that on rice but the chicken had a nice flavor to it as well. This recipe is definitely a keeper. Thanks!
Made for the second time this week. Love it
Looks yummy and can not wait to make this recipe. Could I use Tabasco Sauce for Sriracha??? I not sure about finding sriracha in our rural market.
Stephanie, I don’t think Tabasco would be an appropriate substitute. Sriracha should be available at your local grocery store – it’s a very popular item.
Thanks, I’ll try ordering some online. Did I mention I lived in rural Mississippi…..like really country Paula Deen food cooking area…turnip greens,cornbread,catfish.
I recommend ordering from Amazon.com.
I made this for a small dinner party I was hosting and I cannot tell you the number of times I heard “this is so good … the best I have ever had”.
Thank you for posting this recipe and making my party such a success.
I just wanted to tell you that I made this for dinner last nite and wow…LOVED IT! Thx for sharing this recipie!
Did you use fresh ginger or ground one?
Cloey, I used ground ginger.
what is Sriracha and can i use something else as a subst.
Sriracha is an Asian-style hot chili sauce and can be found in the Asian section of your local grocery store. I highly recommend using this ingredient for optimal results.
Can I just use white pepper instead of black pepper?
You can certainly use black pepper, although white pepper is ideal in this dish.
This was really good! Thank you so much! And you should make a youtube channel 🙂
This was absolutely amazing. I personally used OJ from a jug, black pepper (that’s what I had around) and potentially an excessive amount of Sriracha because I love me some heat. Perfect balance and the BF loved it, and everyone wants the recipe!
Is there a difference between using white pepper and black pepper?
Yes, there are differences between using white and black pepper. White pepper is commonly used in Asian dishes, and provides less aroma than black pepper.
I made this recipe thinking that it might not turn out very well but i would give it a try. BOY what a surprise to me! It was absolutely fabulous! Cannot thank you enough for the recipe!
I just wanted to come back to let you know that this recipe freezes well too. We loved it so much that I made up a double batch of the sauce and threw it in the freezer. Thawed it in the sink and it made for a super quick dinner.
I made these last night and they were amazing! Thanks for the recipe!
Have made this recipe twice now. Delicious!! Love it!
Tried this out for the first time at home… Add extra oranges on the side to add more zesty orange flavor if you like that strength. Overall wonderful recipe, I’ll be coming back to this blog for more interesting and flavorful dishes!!!
I’m extremely happy..m who needs take out when you hace this!!!!!!! its super delicious! The best and no msg.mseriously I have you bookmark. .Thank you so much! This is my second recipe. Yesterday I tried the ravioli lasagna and it’s a hit. .The best part that everything is fresh! Once again thank you ..it’s a hit in the family
ive tried it and yummy i consider it one of my main dishes and thanks a lot for the great recipe
This recipe is delish! I CAN’T wait to make it again. Here’s a couple things I did. After getting my fingers disgustingly sticky from dipping the chicken in the egg, then the cornstarch, I decided to put the cornstarch and chicken in a gallon size bag and shook it. It got the chicken coated perfectly. I served up the chicken with a side of a brown sugar carrots fried in sesame oil. PERFECTO!
Ive made this dish once and loved it but i want to know if i Can bake it instead of frying
Diana, you can certainly bake it but I cannot speak for how much this will change the texture/flavor of the dish. I recommend using the cooking method listed in the recipe for optimal results.
Made this tonight for dinner and it was so easy to make. So delicious that my picky 3 year old ate every bite.
this recipe was delicious and easily substituted with allergy friendly ingredients, which my family requires. I subbed coconut aminos for soy sauce and used a mix of gluten free flour and arrowroot powder for the coating and fried it in lard. I will definitely make it again and I can’t wait to try some of your other recipes!
Can you use brown sugar instead of white sugar in this recipe?
Kim, I recommend using brown sugar for optimal results.
Thank you for this recipe! Made it tonight for dinner. We LOVED it!! I’ll be making this again and again.
Like the comment above, I heed the idea of putting the chicken on a ziplock (after dipping on beaten eggs ), saves so much time. Well i tried this yesterday and even went back to the grocery store to buy the Sriracha, because it was a last minute decision to cook this recipe. My hubby said “this orange chicken is a winner”. Thanks to your wonderful recipe! More power!
Loved it! Delicious recipe. Cooked chicken longer and used another comment post which put cornstarch in ziplock bag to bread the chicken after dipping it in egg which I think saved some time and was probably easier. Turned out great. Served it with white rice and peas. Will make again! Thanks
Made this for dinner tonight, the flavor was amazing but I was disappointed with the texture..i fried the chicken and it was nice and crispy, as soon as I mixed in the sauce with chicken the coating began falling off on many pieces and biggest letdown is that is was not crispy! It was soft and almost soggy..what did I do wrong?
I’m thinking of trying readers suggestions of baking it in oven with the sauce, maybe that will be more crispy?
I will wait for your input I really want to make this again.
Your recipes look amazing, this is the first one I tried and can’t wait to try more, thank you!
Alina, the breading should not be falling off once the sauce has been added. I would make sure the breading is done thoroughly to avoid this. As for crispness, if served immediately, the chicken pieces should still be nice and crisp. Over time, they will get “soggy” in a sense as they are tossed with the orange sauce.
We did eat them right away after making. Regarding the coating, there was a nice layer on the chicken, I did coat it well, but I did not exactly “press” it in. Could this be the case?
Yes, absolutely. Without that step, the coating is barely hanging on, which as a result, comes apart when tossing it in the sauce.
Delicious! I used less oil and dipped chicken in mix of 2-3 tbsp cornstarch and 1 egg white. Fried in 2 tbsp oil. then added sauce and thickened in the pan. Really good thanks a lot for the recipe!
Hi Chung Ah! I want to try this simple recipe with amazing reviews. Any idea as to what I can sub for the egg coating? I was hoping to find someone with similar problem in reviews but no. One of my boys is allergic to eggs etc. but wants the try the orange chicken his brother raves about. I always thought they used flour – he is allergic to gluten too so happy to see you call for cornstarch. I know the coating is essential but can’t think of a good sub for eggs 🙁 I see you blog – any ideas based on experience? Gelatin maybe – that just came to mind lol but no experience
Kacey, unfortunately I’ve never tried a gelatin coating before and I’d hate to give you a substitution suggestion that may or may not work. I have read though that milk may work as a coating. Hope that helps!
Yum…I used legs & thighs, apple cider vinegar, fresh ginger. Browned the chicken, put it into pan, topped w/sauce and put into 400 degree oven until done…mmmmm…
This is a lovely recipe, thank you! I modded it using a half cup of marmalade instead of the half cup sugar, the half cup OJ, and the orange zest (I made the marmalade so I knew there were equal amounts sugar/OJ, and it had plenty of zest already in it). I also used fresh ginger instead of powdered. Since the sauce had large chunks of zest, after marinating, I strained it so the sauce would be nice and smooth. I served it with rice and some halved Brussels sprouts (browned in oil, then steamed until soft) that also got a nice dose of the orange sauce. Delicious!
I made this last night with chicken thighs b/c that’s what I had on had–I trimmed off the skin and took the meat off the bone then cubed my chicken into bite sized pieces.
I would say the frying time for the chicken, b/c I used thighs, is the most difficult. Its just hard to know if your chicken is cooked all the way through; eventually I settled on 4 minutes for each batch.
The sauce–I think it really makes the dish! But really mince your garlic finely or you will end up with raw pieces of garlic on your finished product. There needs to be more sauce overall, I would probably try to tweak the recipe in the future to make more sauce to pour over my cooked chicken, or reduce the 2/3 of it for the marinade as it was plenty and then some in the ziploc bag.
Great recipe! Thank you!
I’m so glad you gave this a try! One suggestion – you can always press your garlic in order to avoid having huge chunks of garlic pieces in your finished dish.
What kind of vinegar are you using ? Thank you 🙂
Brit, I used distilled white vinegar.
I followed this recipe almost to the letter. I did reduce the vinegar by half as I’m not too fond of the vinegar taste, also reduced the amount of frying oil so that the battered chicken pieces were only half submerged in oil. I also toasted the sesame seeds a little to create an aroma. The final dish came out perfectly! The taste has a bit of everything – tangy, sweet, and spicy. Even better than the restaurant version, just as the author claimed! Thank you for posting this recipe, please keep them coming! 🙂
Thanks so much for the recipe!!! I loved it. I’m trying my leftover marinating chicken in the deep fryer instead of stove top tonight. I can’t wait to try variations of this recipe, I’m doing lime & chili peppers next! Thanks for the inspiration, all your recipes look great!!
Hi,
Just discovered your website and this is the first dish I tried. We had it for dinner tonight, and everyone loved it. It’s a keeper!
Just one small point. You say to fry the chicken pieces for 1 – 2 minutes. My oil (I used peanut oil) was hot, yet after 2 minutes of cooking the chicken was still quite raw. I cut them in 1 inch pieces as per your instructions. I found it took much longer to cook the chicken, about 6 – 7 minutes. I just checked the website for the recipe you adapted this from, and see that the recommended cooking time is 7 minutes. I’m surprised no one else has remarked on this in your comments. I hope they haven’t all been eating undercooked chicken as this is very dangerous! After 6 – 7 minutes my chicken was perfectly cooked. Crisp on the outside, and juicy (but cooked) on the inside. The sauce was delicious! I used cider vinegar which I think adds more depth to the flavour. Thank you for this delicious recipes. Tomorrow I will be making your sriracha salmon.
Anne, this really depends on several factors, such as how thick or thin your chicken pieces are and how hot your oil is. Your oil should be at about 300-350 degrees F. With that kind of heat, cooking the chicken for 6-7 minutes would result in completely overcooking the chicken and making it incredibly rubbery.
Hi Chung-Ah,
Thank you for replying. My oil was heated to 350 degrees and my chicken breast was cut in 1 inch cubes as per your instructions. I marinated the chicken for one hour. I am wondering why the website you adapted this recipe from says to cook it for 7 minutes and you say 1 – 2 minutes. My chicken, after 6 minutes was still juicy and tender, and the battery was crispy. After cutting into a piece after two minutes of cooking, it was visibly pink and undercooked in the centre. I don’t mean to criticize but I am very concerned that some novice cooks will not check the chicken for doneness, toss it in the sauce and eat it, thus risking getting sick. Undercooked chicken is very dangerous.
Anne, I understand and appreciate your concerns but as you can see from the comments here, a lot of people have tried my tested recipe, followed my instructions, and have had amazing results. But as mentioned before, if your oil is not hot enough or if your chicken pieces are not entirely all that small, people will have to make adjustments accordingly.
This recipe was SUPER and we were fighting over the left overs today for lunch. One we can’t wait to make again! I did want to share that I too had a longer cooking time with my chicken pieces – which were all to your specs, too (size, marinade time…etc). Ours maybe even longer than 7 minutes with the oil at the right temp. Even with that, they were juicy and crsipy…etc. Honestly, I thought nothing of it last night – just blamed it on my pan not conducting evenly or well enough:)
Ironically, I also used Peanut Oil instead of Vegetable Oil….perhaps Peanut Oil has a unique impact on the frying time? I am more curious than anything…it would not prevent me from making this again, either way — IT WAS THAT GOOD!!!
I made this today. The flavor was great. My question is how do you fry the chicken and have it turn out smooth and not lumpy? I don’t fry things often, so I guess I just need some good pointers.
Kristy, a little bit of “lumpiness” is actually normal!
Wow made this for dinner tonight, used a chilli and garlic sauce as no Sriracha that I could easily find in New Zealand, but was delicious! Will definitely be making this again, thanks for the recipe 🙂
I made this for the first time and my family flipped for it! I used red pepper flakes because I didn’t have sriracha, and it gave it some heat. Cut up and marinated the chicken the night before, so when I got home from work, I just breaded and cooked the chicken, made a veggie and rice and finished the sauce! It was fantastic!
Can you use olive oil instead of vegetable oil? Great recipe by the way! Can’t wait to try it out soon!
Unfortunately, due to the difference in smoking points, olive oil is not an appropriate substitute.
I tried the recipe yesterday – I used beef broth instead of chicken, tabasco instead of sriracha and skipped the orange zest (I was too lazy to go to the store, so I used orange juice from a brick).
It was really delicious! I had to coat the chicken pieces in starch twice (the first pieces had started to absorb the starch while I was coating the others) – the result was extra-crispiness! I will definitely make more of these soon.
I was not real crazy about this recipe. I expected it to be a little sweeter. Maybe because I used coconut sugar instead of the white. Maybe next time I’ll use unpasteurized honey. I will also use a bit more orange zest. My husband really liked it and found no problems with it and said it was perfect.. So tonight, I’m trying ‘quinoa stuffed bell peppers.’ Thanks for the recipes. Sheila
Sheila, I recommend using the listed ingredients to obtain optimal results. If certain ingredients are substituted, I cannot speak for the change in flavor/texture of this dish.
Hands down, ah maaaay zing! It has just the right amount of orange to the taste for you to appreciate, but not so much so that it becomes overwhelming.
A few things I’m going to change the next I work on this, though, are:
a) Let the chicken marinade for longer than 30 minutes. Even with the marination, my folks said that the chicken sans sauce had no taste to it.
b) Before frying the chicken, I’m going to coat them all with eggs/cornstarch to save time rather than fry a few ,then coat a few, then fry a few. Also, frying does not take 1-2 minutes and cannot all be done in one frying (no matter how big you think your saucepan is…unless you’ve got pro chef gear), so time accordingly.
I’m just sharing this for my fellow first-time chefs and the “but I make cereal really well” kinda folks. A few other pointers to keep in mind when cooking this:
a) When mixing corn starch for the sauce, be sure to mix the starch in cold water instead of hot/lukewarm! It must be cold, trust me guys. I had to make it twice so. Some science-y thing to it.
b) Also, what I did, and I felt this made a difference, was that with the sauce cooking (after adding the cornstarch), I added the green onions to cook for a minute, and then I added the pre-cooked chicken to give it more flavor.
All in all, family left the dining table happy, so this recipe is gonna stage a comeback soon in my household.
Thanks for sharing the recipe, Chung-Ah! Happy eatings (:
When you call for vinegar, do you use white vinegar or something more flavorful like apple cider vinegar? I use apple cider vinegar for making a sauce for sweet-n-sour chicken, so I am wondering if it would be good in this recipe.
Amanda, white vinegar was used for this recipe. You can use apple cider vinegar but I cannot speak for how much this was will change the taste of this dish.
Has anyone tried making this in the crock pot?
Just made this and it is great this is my second thing from this website that I have made so far (the first was Mac and cheese) and so far I am really impressed. I did add orange extract and a little more soy sauce to this recipe.
Delish! I made this for the family tonight and my kids devoured it (5, 3, 18mos)!
It’s nice to find something not loaded with sodium or msg to enjoy at home for a fraction of the cost. Thanks! I’m sooo glad that I found your blog. Going to add some other recipes to this month’s menu plan!
This looks absolutely divine! I will definitely try this recipe very soon, like tomorrow! One question: Does it matter if I use powdered sugar instead of granulated sugar for the marinade? The reason why I ask is because powdered sugar contains cornstarch (at least the package I have does) and I wonder if this would alter the taste/consistency of the chicken.
Thanks!
Vic, I honestly can’t say if the powdered sugar will alter the texture/taste of this dish. I do recommend using granulated sugar as noted in the recipe for optimal results.
The only thing that was good about this was the marinade. The breading fell off almost every piece. I had to use flour on a few since the cornstarch wasn’t sticking. Though that didn’t seem to help either.
Panda express from here on out! To heck with cooking! Lol
Cloyd, the breading should stay on during the cooking process. I recommend really coating the chicken pieces in the egg before dreding in the cornstarch. It is is normal for some breading to come off. I hope that helps!
This tastes really good (I’m eating as I type)! The only problem I had is that most of the breading came off the chicken pieces when I fried them. I am pretty sure I followed your directions faithfully. Any suggestions to help the breading stay on next time?
I suggest making sure that the chicken is completely dipped in the eggs before dredging in the cornstarch. Hope that helps!
I was browsing recipes for orange chicken and came across this, thank goodness. It was Devine! I didn’t change anything just added steamed broccoli and shredded carrots and shook it with the sauce and chicken. Will be making this again!
This looks great! Can’t wait to try it.
Any idea how many calories are in it?
X
Please use online resources such as Calorie Count to obtain nutritional information.
KARLA — I use vinegar in many things and do not find it leaves an odour or affects the taste. I add it to water when poaching eggs but the finished products has no vinegar taste. I use vinegar in my laundry as opposed to fabric softener and again, no scent remains. I also wash all my floors with vinegar as it is not injurious to my pets’ paws, unlike bleach or other disinfectants.
Is it ok to use all purpose flour rather than cornstarch? How will that be different? I am also not a fan of vinegar because I don’t like the way it smells so I wonder if this recipe smells like vinegar once it’s done. I’ve always wanted to make this recipe but afraid to try it because of the vinegar in it but I would not mind it having vinegar if the dish will not smell like vinegar once its done. Thanks
I highly recommend using cornstarch because it thickens faster and leaves virtually no taste behind unlike all-purpose flour. This dish does not smell like vinegar but I cannot speak to how sensitive your sense of smell is for this ingredient. I hope that helps!
My mandarin tree is leaning under the weight of all the fruit. I have tried juicing and freezing but find the juice bitter when I defrost. Was looking for recipes to use some of the juice and hit on this. A true winner. The flavour was so good and can’t wait to make again. I am always looking for recipes using fresh mandarin juice so all suggestions appreciated.
Came across your recipe this evening. Looked divine. And I have no idea what panda express is. I had all ingredients on hand except I used chicken thighs. Also am marinating overnight only because it’s almost 9 pm. I wanted to ask you though if it would be ok to marinate the chicken that long and fry it in a deep fryer?
It’s definitely fine to marinate for that long – the longer the better! And I don’t see a problem with using a deep fryer. Hope that helps!
Made this tonight using organic ingredients… Everyone was happy even the picky one!! Thank you!
My Fav Orange chickens.. Never tried at home… worth trying recipe. Thanks for sharing 🙂
Is the 1/4 teaspoon ginger supposed to be fresh grated or from a jar? Thanks!
The 1/4 teaspoon ginger refers to dried ginger powder. Hope that helps!
Thanks I kind of I figured that, by the small amount, but only had fresh ginger root on hand. So I used about a tablespoon of that zested/grated and it came out fine! Next time I am going to try spraying with a touch of olive oil then baking on a pyramid silicone baking mat for less fat. Hopefully easier cleanup too. 🙂
No hot sauce in the house…adding a few red pepper flakes..
Making it tonight,,,stay tuned
Is there anything I can use instead of the Sriracha, I don’t have any on hand and don’t feel like going to the store :).
Do you have any other kind of hot sauce on hand? You can also omit the Sriracha completely. It just won’t have that hint of spiciness.
I substituted Chinese chili pepper sauce since I didn’t have the Sriracha, but it was super yummy, a little too much orange taste though. I will use less zest next time and add more chili sauce. Thanks for the great recipe…my kiddos had 3rds!!!
My Chinese Hawaiian great gramma made Orange Chicken using a box of frozen Banquet Fried Chicken, a Box of Orange Jello, and White Vinegar. I would love to know how to re-create that sauce!
Just had this for dinner. It was delicious!!
Made this last night for a party but I skipped the battering process and simply put the marinated pieces on a baking sheet and baked it at 350. It was very good and many people were asking for the recipe.
Is that supposed to be plain vinegar or rice vinegar, or does it really matter?
Using different kinds of vinegars depends on every recipe. This recipe calls for distilled white vinegar.
Fyi…I made mine with plain rice vinegar and it turned out amazing!
I’m definitely going to try this! I hope it doesn’t have a strong soy sauce-like flavor. It always seems like that’s how all chicken recipies on the internet taste. But something tells me this one is going to be different. I’ll have to come back and comment again after I’ve tried it.Thanks for the great looking recipe!
Please do let me know how it turns out!
Sorry, this is the 3rd time ive tried to get the comments to work, i’m going to make this short! This recipe was amazing! We are going to make it again tonight, I think it will be even better than the first time! here are some pictures of the first time! I doubt you’ll be interested, but feel free to check out my youtube channel if you would like! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-L1hDsn35TQD78gFlYAzRw?feature=watch Thanks again!
Chung-Ah, the flavors of this dish are absolutely wonderful. So many recipes I’ve tried don’t live up to the hype but this one does. I used only a couple tablespoons of oil in a nonstick pan to sauté the chicken so it’s also much healthier than anything that can be bought. Next I’m going to try your sirichia wings recipe but swap out the wings for chunks of white chicken or thighs. Keep on bloggin’ !!
Thank you for the kind words, Connie! Let me know how the Sriracha wings turn out!
I made this tonight for dinner for my picky kids and it was a hit! I loved it more than Panda Express because I knew what was in it and I could actually taste the orange in the orange chicken! I love your food site! Keep up the good work and thanks for sharing!
Thank you! And I’m so glad you had a chance to make this! 🙂
Made this tonight. Served it with blanched carrots and broccoli and steamed rice. Complete and utter success! Even my health-conscious brother who cringes at the word “fry” had a second helping!
Thank you! Oh, and forget Panda Express… it turned out better than PF Changs’!
Thank you again.
This is really good if you marinate chicken breast and then throw it on the grill. Save some of the marinade before soaking the chicken in it and brush on while grilling
I found this recipe on pinterest and couldn’t wait to try it. I made it tonight for dinner and it got rave reviews even from my very picky teenage daughter. I have been trying lots of new recipes lately and this, so far, is the biggest winner. I didn’t have powdered ginger so used fresh minced, also didn’t have sesame seeds but that doesn’t make or break this dish. I also didn’t use the Sriracha sauce since no one in our family likes spicy food. I will have to make this again in the next week when my oldest daughter gets home from college, she is a huge Chinese food fan. Thanks for posting this recipe, love it.
What is white pepper and orange zest and where do I find them?
White pepper is a spice (you can find this in the spice section of your local grocery store – if not, you can always purchase through amazon.com) and orange zest is the top layer of an orange peel. You can find oranges in the fruit section of your local grocery store.
Thank you. I figured that White Pepper was a spice, but I have never had a recipe call for it, before. I honestly had never heard of orange zest before. Thank you for letting me know. I made this tonight and it was amazing!!! My family loved it. I may try it with a tad less orange zest, next time, but overall, it was fantastic!!!
This definitely looks like homemade takeout at it’s finest!
I have been searching for a replacement to the wanchai ferry orange chicken for a while and even though I didn,t have sriracha (which I bought tonight for a future attempt), it was out of this world! Wow! Can’t wait to try it again. We served it with poorly cooked rice ( bad night) and brocolli. YUMMMMM
Wow! Just simply wow.. Amazing quality recipe you have for this one. I’m just about to finish my plate and I want more! But I gotta leave some for my sister and brother-in-law haha. Everything came out perfect. Thanks once again!
Every time I go to the U.S., I always get orange chicken because it’s not available where I live! This is such a delicious recipe and now I can eat it whenever I feel like! Thanks so much, I’m havng a bowl right now… Yummmmm
Hi instead of vinegar could I substitute it for Mirin instead?
You can try it but since I haven’t done it myself, I can’t say how much it’ll change the taste of the dish.
oh okay thanks! 😀
This is the best orange chicken I’ve ever made (or had) Well done!
Hello, I just want to say that I came across your site by accident the other day, and because we had a lot of oranges in the house I decided to make this dish for my husband and myself. I was absolutely blown away with the results. This is by far the BEST Chinese food I have ever made in my life! It was incredible. I never thought I could make restaurant quality food, but this turned out so delicious like I had ordered it from a fancy restaurant. My husband was over the moon and he said I could make it again anytime! I will definitely be checking out your other recipes.
I’m so glad you like the recipe! This is my absolute favorite homemade Chinese recipe!
Yes, we both loved it! Thanks for sharing your great recipes! I never thought I could cook Asian food well and now I have confidence that I can do it. I’m so excited about this dish that I am going to make it the next time we have guests over. You have amazing recipes and I will keep coming back to this site! Thanks again! 🙂
Hi there
I also came across your blog by accident a few days ago. I was given a load of oranges and didn’t want them to go to waste. I made this dish for dinner as I had all the ingredients. It was so delicious! I’ve checked out your other recipes too – they all look amazing and around my level of capability. I can’t wait to try them all!
First time try at homemade orange chicken, it was a hit everybody loved it not a piece left over. definitely making this again! yum yum 🙂
This looks SO delicious! I have an orange chicken problem and maybe it isn’t best to know I can make it at home and it looks so good. Also having a Sriracha obsession – what do they put in that stuff?!
Yum – this looks so good. Will definitely be giving this recipe a try soon!
I am not familiar with Sriracha. What is it and where can I find it
Sriracha is an Asian-style hot sauce. You can find it in the ethnic foods aisle of your local grocery store.
This is SO GOOD! We are currently in the middle of loving this! I am allergic to soy so I had to Create a substitute and it is wonderful! Thank you!!!
I’m so glad you were able to create a substitute!
Yesterday we got some singapore noddles & orange chicken… It tasted soo good that i wanted to eat more and more…. So i decided to look for a recipe and make itmyself! I found yours and everyone looooved it!!! Mmmm it was sooo good!
Thank you so much for this recipe. I made this for dinner tonight and my family and I loved it. I have a wheat allergy so I instead of the soy sauce I used tamari sauce. Thanks to you, I can now enjoy orange chicken again. You are fantastic!!!!!!!!!
I’m so glad you had a chance to make this!
My son has a wheat allergy also so I made this with La Choy soy sauce which doesn’t contain wheat 🙂
Delicious! The other day I saw a recipe for teriyaki chicken. My husband said I should make orange chicken instead. I search for recipes online and came across yours. I made it for dinner last night, and everyone LOVED it! I had to leave a few pieces plain for my 4 year old, but she ate it too! I was told I have to make this again! 🙂
Love orange chicken. Please keep me from stopping by Panda Express on my way to the mall; I need to make this instead!
Love your recipes!!! How could you even print the words Panda Express. that is the poorest excuse for a FF chain. I don’t know how they have the nerve to call what they sell – food!!!!!
I have to admit I made a few mistakes with the recipe (too much chicken, forgot to add water to the marinade immediately), so I will try it again in the near future. But the result was still delicious, just not as beautiful orange as your photo. We did have leftover Sriracha Cream Sauce (from the salmon dish) and dipped the chicken in there – amazing combo!
Hi, I had PWITM (pinned with intention to make) a couple of weeks ago. But work has kept me away from the homefront until tonight. I had bought all the ingredients Wed.
I made it am loving the taste and how easy it is to make the marinade (sauce).
I do have a request. I think your chicken bites looked beautiful. Next time you make it could you add pictures of the battering process. I think I may be doing something wrong. They don’t look as pretty as yours.
Thanks again for your lovely blog, pictures and recipes.
Greetings from Denmark.
I’ll be honest with you – my battering process wasn’t very pretty either! But once you toss it in the glaze, the “unpretiness” gets hidden!
The thickiness of my marinade wasn’t a big hit. Any recommendations? ???????
Was the marinade too thick or thin for you? The marinade is supposed to be a bit thick when heated through, which is what the cornstarch helps to achieve.
Add more cornstarch mixed with water until it is thick enough!
I have been looking for a good orange chicken recipe and I think I found it! Pinned!!
Debbie
Alright we have been trying to find an orange chicken recipe for a while. Living in Hawaii I have numerius restaurants looking for that POW flavoring.
We found it in this recipe. We made it last night and it was amazjng. Can’t sing your praise enough. Thank thank you!!!
Top ten recipe of all time!
Hi, just made your orange chicken for dinner tonight!! O my god, beautiful absolutely wonderful. I am a vegetarian so I made it on my vegy quorn strips. Wow loved it. Thank you
I’m so glad the vegetarian version worked out so well!
i just made this and it was AWESOME! Served it over brown rice noodles.
One thing that made it easier was instead of dredging each piece in egg & cornstarch, I put a handful of the chicken in egg, and put all of it in a ziplock bag with the cornstarch in in, then shook it up & pressed for quick & even coating.
thanks for the recipe!
Thanks for the tip – I’ll have to try that next time!
Two nights ago I made this organge chicken. My 10 year old son had three servings. Yummy! Thanks for the recipe.
I made this last night, it turned out good but it didn’t turn out as crispy as I thought it would. I’m probably doing something wrong. Maybe press more corn startch into the chicken. Any advice?
This depends on a couple of factors. How hot was your oil? How long did you cook it in the oil? Letting your oil preheat to the desired frying temperature is very important to obtain that crispness.
I have a weakness for orange chicken and yours looks great!
I’ve been looking for a great orange chicken recipe. This looks delish!
This was delicious!! I only had 1 orange, so had to substitute with some juice from a can of mandarin oranges. Served the dish with white rice, the actual mandarin oranges, and sugar snap peas. My prep time was fast because I used the Dorot brand pre-cut garlic and ginger squares – those things are life savers if you don’t have time to spend peeling and chopping! The cook-time for my chicken was much longer, but that could be because I was afraid of getting my oil too hot & burning everything. I cook the chicken cubes about 8-10 minutes on each side. Thanks for posting this recipe, it was a hit for our company potluck. It’s now been pinned and added to our repertoire!
I just want to say that I love to cook…..but usually don’t go to food blogs just because they post such amazingly long, hard, expensive recipes that I just dot have time. I have tried your orange chicken and the siracha salmon, both delicious and quick!! Love your blog and will be visiting more!
I made this for my brother’s birthday (he is a huge orange chicken fan). It was delicious. It turned out great and my whole family fell in love with this recipe!
Oh man, I just discovered your site today and I gotta say
you have a wonderful food/recipe blog c; so clean, neat
colorful layout as well!
Even tho, I’m semi-vegetarian and I don’t eat chicken
this dish reminds me of what I used to eat at home!
Xx
I’ve tried many recipes for orange chicken. This is the first one my 6 year old grandson would eat. He is a Panda Express fan.
Ohhhh this looks just too deelish! I’m definitely making this for the fam! They will love it! Thanks for sharing!
Blessings!
This recipe looks “damn delicious!” If it is nearly as good as it looks it will be yummy.
oh my! I used to get orange chicken from panda express almost every day after school…years ago! haha This looks SO much better! Definitely pinning this for dinner soon!
What kind of vinegar did you use in this recipe? It looks delish!! I can’t wait to try it!
I used distilled white vinegar.
Trying out this recipe tonight. I substituted sugar for brown sugar so hope that’s ok!
I love panda express orange chicken so I am just so excited to try this recipe, yum 🙂
Could you cook this with whole breasts and whole legs and thighs rather than cutting it up? Thank you
You definitely can but you won’t be able to obtain the crispness that you would get from the bite-sized chicken pieces.
This really looks damn delicious and perfect!!
I think this orange chicken would change any mood right around!
This is by far the very best Orange Chicken recipe I’ve ever made. Thank you so much. We just finished dinner and everyone loved it!
THANK YOU to someone who FINALLY cooked this recipe!!!
Just found your blog through Iowa Girl Eats. Amazing! Will be following you now, so nice to meet you! : )
This orange chicken looks better than Panda Express, can’t wait to try it. Thanks for sharing!
My boys absolutely love the orange chicken at Panda Express…I am totally going to be a rock star mom when I serve them this chicken! It looks amazing!!
Question: recipe calls for 1/4 teaspoon ginger .. is that grated fresh ginger or powered ginger?
Powdered ginger.
This looks so delicious! I’ve always loved Orange Chicken, but I’ve never tried making it for myself. Glad to see that I already have all the ingredients on hand. Thanks for the inspiration — can’t wait to try this!
Your version seems edible! I cannot stand the Panda version. Maybe they use too much corn stacrh, because something in it makes my teeth squeak! GREG
Better than take out! It’s gorgeous!
Another killer take-out favorite! I absolutely love this, Chung-Ah. This is a must-make for soon.
I love Panda Express’ orange chicken! This recipe has save my life. Thanks! 🙂
Wow this looks good, I’ve never had orange chicken but now I definitely want to try it!
I always make fun of my husband because he is obsessed with Panda Express’s orange chicken, even though we both agree it’s mostly corn syrup and chicken-flavored meat byproduct. Can’t argue that it’s tasty! I think I need to make this for him, he will be so psyched!
Jason and I joke about the same thing! I mean, there’s gotta be some sort of crack in there, right?
Looks ahmazeballs! Sorry you had a rough day but I’m glad to see you are doing so well. We need to catch up when you have a free sec…which is like probably never nowadays! xoxo
Oh, and I will be making this! Orange Chicken (aka I can get my hubby to do anything) is a favorite!
Yes, we definitely need to catch up!
Looks so good! I used to be addicted to orange chicken from Panda Express when I was in grad school. I haven’t had it in a while. I need to give this a try!
Oh girl, you are just killing me with all of your take out meals! Love orange chicken.
And I know what you mean about bad days. (esp bad photoshoot days!) When it rains, it pours! I just remind myself that tomorrow is a new day. Keep truckin’ along!
I love how crispy the chicken looks, mouthwatering!
Looks delicious! I love the use of Sriracha, one of my favorites! I can’t wait to try this recipe out. I’m sure it’s better than anything from a restaurant…isn’t homemade always better?
What is Sriracha? I’ve never heard of that. Help please?
Sriracha is a type of hot sauce and can be found in the Asian section of your local grocery store.
Nice recipe. Thank you.
Why must you serve immediately ? Because there is cornstarch in the recipe ?
This dish tastes best when it’s immediately served as the chicken may not remain as crisp when reheated as a leftover.
And the sauce regulates when it’s in the refrigerator and doesn’t seem to snap back out into a sauce
We had half of the recipe left over and reheated it in the oven. 375 for 20 minutes. It came out just as good as the first time around. Great recipe! Definitely a keeper! Thanks!!
Oh man, bad days just plain BAD! I have had a few this week and am ready for some good ones! Starting with this orange chicken. It look incredible!
Yet another awesome looking recipe, can’t wait to make. I look forward to receiving your new posts everyday, you’re a great inspiration.
Thank you for your sweet words – you made my day!
Pinned! I’m so making this for dinner tonight. It looks awesome, and you’re right: there’s nothing better than a bowl of homemade goodness after a long exhausting day 😉
Let me know how it turns out!
do u have to use cornstarch?! ..is there a replacement i can use..and if so how much of tge replacement do i use
There really is no substitute for cornstarch here. The cornstarch really helps to obtain that crispness of the chicken bites.
do your cooking step & product record in video?
Irene, I do not provide video recordings – only food photography.
I have made this with rice flour and arrowroot and it came out just as good (just FYI)
Can you substitute coconut oil for the vegetable oil?
Yes, absolutely.
Arrowroot can be substituted
If you are avoiding corn, you can try arrowroot powder or tapioca starch. I haven’t tried it with this recipe, but I would imagine they would do the same job almost as well.
Used whole wheat flower instead and I thought it was really good
You can use arrowroot in the same quantity as cornstarch and it will turn out just fine.
What is arrowroot? I don’t remember ever seeing it in the grocery store.
You can definitely use arrowroot powder in place of cornstarch, same amount. I use it whenever I want to thicken anything I make and it works perfectly. =)
There are many substitutes: arrowroot powder, potato starch, graham flour (Indian “besan”), a lighter coating of wheat flour, even garbanzo flour. Ar eyou allergic to cornstarch?
Bu tI think that, for this type of dish it is even better to leave out the egg and fry the chicken in Japanese ‘karaage’ style. Just toss in starch, then fry.
You can use potato or rice starch. They both make excelent substitutes. Potato is cheaper.
Hi new to your site I found this recipe because I wanted to try something new and this turned out great my boyfriend loved it and he asked if I could make it again and its better then the take out which it was ;). What was best was that I had all of the ingredients expect the sesame seeds but it still was the greatest orange chicken I had ever had. I will make this again I did add red pepper flakes and more hot sauce. We like our food hot.:) thanks again for a great recipe I am looking forward to trying out more. P.S.:do you have a YouTube channel? ??
Peggy, I am so glad you had a chance to try this out. This definitely trumps take-out! 🙂
And unfortunately, no, I do not have a youtube channel. The camera and I do not get along all that well!
Can I use chicken drumlettes
That should be fine but you may have to adjust cooking time as needed.
Wow this recipe is a keeper! Can’t wait to make it again for the family, nothing is better than a savory dish from scratch.
The Orange Chicken turned out great. It was exactly the way I hoped it would be.
The cornstarch makes the chicken crunchy and the sauce is perfect just as it is.
Wiill make it again!
any more recipes? to bad you cant come cook for me. i have a bunch of southern Louisiana recipes.
Chung Ah : You are a blessing to me and love cooking oriental dishes … thank you for the recipe … I know that it will be delicious
What brand of broth did u use??? If u made it at home is there a recipe
I prefer to use Swanson.
Whatever brand you choose, always check the sodium content.
Orange peels in the chicken batter should be added to this recipe. Small to diced squares cooked in with chicken.