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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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.