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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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!