Chinese Orange Chicken
by Chungah
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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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.