Orange Chicken

4.53 from 21 votes
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Orange Chicken - Crispy, sticky chicken in tangy orange sauce that takes 30 minutes to make and is much better than Panda Express or takeout.

Delicious orange chicken in a bowl complete with lemons and sesame seeds, waiting to be served.
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What Is Orange Chicken

This chicken is the poster child of American-Chinese cuisine. If you walk into any Panda Express or Chinese takeout restaurant, you’re sure to find it on the menu. While sometimes called Orange Peel Chicken, it is the same thing.

However, General Tso’s Chicken is not the same. While both are deep fried, General Tso’s chicken is usually a lot spicier. Furthermore, this specific chicken is made with an orange peel.


How Does It Taste

Deep-fried orange chicken in a yummy sauce being picked up by chopsticks.

This chicken recipe is extremely delicious and flavorful. Chicken breast is used to make crispy deep-fried chicken coated in a batter, with a sweet, tangy and savory orange sauce.

It’s citrusy because of the orange juice and zest in the recipe. It’s also mildly spicy because of the chili sauce.


The Best Orange Sauce

Crispy deep-fried chicken coated in batter, with a sweet and savory orange sauce.

The key to the best orange chicken lies in, not surprisingly, the orange sauce. The ingredients are easy to find. It calls for orange juice, orange zest, soy sauce, sugar, apple cider vinegar and chili sauce.

Therefore, it’s sweet, sour and salty with a little bit of heat. You can make a big batch of the sauce and keep it in the refrigerator.


How Do You Prepare The Chicken

First, you prepare the sauce by mixing all the ingredients in the sauce. For the chicken, you want to deep fry using my special batter recipe.

Finally, using a wok or skillet, cook the orange sauce mixture until it thickens, then add in the deep-fried chicken. Stir to combine well and dinner is done!


Frequently Asked Questions

How many calories per serving?

This recipe is only 469 calories per serving.

Chinese orange chicken in a bowl. Delicious recipe that is better than takeout.

What To Serve With Orange Chicken

Serve this dish with other Chinese classics such as hot and sour soup. For a wholesome meal and easy weeknight dinner, I recommend the following recipes.

I hope you enjoy this post as much as I do. If you try my recipe, please leave a comment and consider giving it a 5-star rating. For more easy and delicious recipes, explore my Recipe Index, and stay updated by subscribing to my newsletter and following me on FacebookPinterest, and Instagram for new updates.


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4.53 from 21 votes

Orange Chicken

Easy Orange Chicken – crispy chicken in tangy orange sauce with vinegar, soy sauce, sugar and chicken broth. Takes 30 minutes to make and much better than Panda Express or takeout.
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes
Servings: 2 people
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Ingredients  

  • 10 oz (280g) boneless chicken breast cut into bite-sized cubes
  • Oil for deep-frying
  • 1 tablespoon cooking oil
  • 2 cloves garlic minced
  • Orange slices for garnishing
  • White sesame for garnishing

Orange Sauce:

  • 1/4 cup orange juice
  • 1/2 teaspoon orange zest
  • 1 tablespoon Rooster brand Huy Fong Garlic Chili Sauce optional
  • 3 tablespoons chicken broth
  • 1 tablespoon soy sauce
  • 2 tablespoons sugar
  • 1 tablespoon Apple cider vinegar red wine or Chinese white vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon corn starch
  • 1 pinch salt

Frying Batter:

  • 1 egg white
  • 1/2 cup all-purpose flour sifted
  • 1/4 cup corn starch
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/3 cup water ice cold
  • 1 tablespoon cooking oil
  • 1 pinch salt

Instructions 

  • In a bowl, mix all the ingredients for the Orange Sauce together. Whisk to combine well. In another bowl, whisk all the Frying Batter ingredients until the batter is smooth. Drop in the chicken cubes, coat well and set aside.
  • Heat up a wok or non-stick skillet with oil. Gently drop in the battered chicken cubes, one by one, making sure it is spread out to prevent sticking and over crowding the wok or skillet.
  • Deep-fry until the chicken pieces turn golden brown and become crispy. Remove using a strainer and drain on paper towels.
  • Transfer the deep-frying oil to a container and keep 1 tablespoon in the wok or skillet. Add the garlic and stir fry until aromatic or light brown in color. Gently pour in the Orange Sauce mixture, stir, and bring it to a light simmer.
  • Toss in the deep-fried chicken, stir to combine well. Dish out, garnish with orange slices, top with white sesame and serve immediately with steamed rice.

Nutrition

Serving: 2people, Calories: 469kcal, Carbohydrates: 36g, Protein: 29g, Fat: 24g, Saturated Fat: 2g, Cholesterol: 153mg, Sodium: 661mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 13g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Please rate and comment below!

About Bee Yinn Low

Bee is a recipe developer and best-selling cookbook author, sharing easy, quick, and delicious Asian and American recipes since 2006. With a strong following of almost 2 million fans online, her expertise has been featured in major publications, TV and radio programs, and live cooking demos throughout the United States and Asia.

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Recipe Rating





70 Comments

  1. Jaime says:

    3 stars
    I doubled the recipe and found trouble on the batter. I doubled everything and the batter was as thick as molasses. I had to add extra water to dilute it and make it thin enough. Tasted very good though

    1. Rasa Malaysia says:

      Hi Jaime, the batter shouldn’t be thick as molasses. If it does, some measurement must be off.

      1. Luis says:

        Hi Bee… I just did the recipe again and the batter was still very thick. I thought of adding water as well but I just followed instructions since all of your recipes have been perfect. But with 3/4 cup of flour/cornstarch and only 1/3 cup of water as liquid + the eggwhite… consistency IS quite thick. Could you please recommend a technique or post a picture of your batter? Or maybe even post the weight of the ingredients? Even with all that, it came out quite crispy, but then the batter became soggy quite quickly after tossing with the sauce. Flavors are great so hoping you could guide us for a better result. thank you

        1. Rasa Malaysia says:

          The recipe works. The batter is fine. I use this batter on all my fried recipes. The chicken will not stay crispy with sauce, it’s natural. You can add 1 tablespoon rice flour if you like to the batter and add a little bit water. Double fry.

  2. Kay Latrice says:

    5 stars
    I absolutely love this recipe. It’s easy to prepare and doesn’t take much time.

    1. Rasa Malaysia says:

      Thanks Kay, I am happy you love my orange chicken recipe.

  3. Julie Feirtag says:

    5 stars
    My 14 year old son loves to cook and we have trying new recipes together. We’ve had some hits and some misses. But this recipe was a 10 out of 10 success with all of my 4 kids and their equally fussy father. It was delicious. We can’t wait to try some of your other recipes. Thank you.

  4. Dan says:

    Your batter recipe looks like a classic Japanese Tempura batter except that the Japanese recipe uses Cake Flour (low-gluten) instead of All-Purpose Flour, Potato Starch (Jap. “Katakuri-Ko”) instead of Cornstarch, and ice-cold Sparkling Water or Club Soda rather than just plain old water.

  5. phel says:

    Orange chicken recipe, my to do recipes this year

  6. Jose says:

    amazing recipe

    1. Rasa Malaysia says:

      Thanks!

  7. eve says:

    i love this, am gonna try all these recipes

  8. Jessi says:

    Orange chicken is one of my favorite dish. It looks so delicious in those pictures. Definitely better than the restaurant version!!!

    1. Rasa Malaysia says:

      Yes Jessi, it is better. :)

  9. plasterer bristol says:

    i bet this tastes lovely. Thanks for sharing this, gonna give this a go later. Simon

  10. LeiaChester says:

    It’s 9h PM here and I still have to work, really look at this picture I am very hungry, it’s very attractive!. Anyway, I think this recipe is quite easy and I can cook themselves. Thanks for guide : D