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?
Tag @damn_delicious on Instagram and hashtag it #damndelicious!
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.