Orange Chicken Recipe

Name: Orange Chicken Recipe
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 25 min
Total time: 35 min
Ingredients: 14 oz skinless boneless chicken thigh (chunked); 2 eggs (beaten (*)); 1/3 cup cornstarch; 1/4 cup all-purpose flour; 1/4 tsp salt; 1/2 tsp ground black pepper; 1 cup olive oil (*); 1/3 cup fresh orange juice; 2 tbsp reduced-sodium soy sauce; 1 tsp oyster sauce; 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes; 1/2 tsp ginger (grated); 2 tsp garlic (minced); 1/2 tsp black sesame seeds; 1/2 tbsp apple cider vinegar; 1 tbsp brown sugar; 2 tbsp leek (chopped); 5 oz orange (diced); 3 cups cooked white rice

Last Updated: October 21, 2020

This content is created following our Recipe Development Procedure, and reviewed by our RDNs. However, the content does not constitute a medical or nutritional consultation. Read our Medical Disclosure.

Recipe developed by Luna Regina on October 21, 2020

Today’s orange chicken recipe will introduce you to a well-known dish that has been a part of many Chinese banquets.

In this recipe, you’ll have bite-sized chicken chunks tossed with a sweet, sticky, and glossy orange marmalade. Together, they make a super tasty staple that’s done in 35 minutes.

What Is Orange Chicken?

Orange chicken is a popular Chinese-American dish that consists of fried chicken pieces coated in a sweet glossy orange-based sauce. Nowadays, orange chicken is easily found in the north America and considered as a variation of General Tso’s chicken.

Is Orange Chicken Healthy?

With 66.4 grams of carbohydrate per serving, orange chicken might not be the choice that low-carb dieters will go for.

However, as we’ve carefully tested and calculated all the nutritional values, this recipe still satisfies our healthy requirements. Accordingly, you’re safe with the total fat of 2.6 grams of fat and less than 600mg of sodium.

How to Make Orange Chicken

Step 1: Coat the chicken

Prepare 2 shallow plates, the first one with the beaten egg, and the second one with a mixture of cornstarch, flour, salt, and ground black pepper. Coat the chicken pieces successively with the two mixtures, go slowly with one piece at a time only.

Step 2: Refrigerate the chicken

Cover the coated chicken with cling film and refrigerate for 10 minutes.

Step 3: Deep fry the chicken

Heat 1 cup of olive oil over medium heat. Deep-fry the coated chicken for 5 minutes. Make sure the pan is not overcrowded.

Step 4: Make the sauce (1)

Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat, then add ginger, garlic, and red pepper flakes.

Step 5: Make the sauce (2)

Continue to add orange juice, soy sauce, apple cider vinegar, brown sugar, and oyster sauce to the pan. Stir frequently until the mixture thickens.

Step 6: Add chicken to the pan

Transfer the fried chicken back to the pan, toss to coat with the sauce. Add fresh orange cuts to the pan, turn off the heat. Stir.

Step 7: Serve:

Sprinkle some black sesame seeds and chopped leek. Serve with hot steamed rice.

Orange Chicken Sauce

The sweet sauce lends a tangy and zesty touch to this dish and is super easy to make. It’s a combination of ginger, garlic, pepper flakes, orange juice, soy sauce, apple cider vinegar, brown sugar, and oyster sauce.

The mixture is cooked until thickens and caramelizes to a glaze. It’s then tossed together with the crispy fried chicken, resulting in a sweet and sour orange-flavored dish.

Spicy Orange Chicken

For this recipe, it’s easy to kick up the heat. You can either mix Sriracha into the sauce or sprinkle some red pepper flakes on top before serving.

Please make sure that you go easy with these spicy ingredients. Try adding just a little of them at a time until you get the best taste.

What Goes with Orange Chicken?

As chicken thighs are more tender and cook better over high heat, we believe they’re the best choice for this orange chicken recipe. However, battered chicken alone can hardly make it a complete dish without the help of the below extra ingredients.

1. Rice

Orange chicken is always delicious on a bed of steamed white rice. This is pretty much the most basic combo in Chinese cuisine— serving a protein-rich dish on white rice.

If you’re trying to cut down the carbohydrate, simply swap regular white rice with cauliflower rice for the similar mouthfeel.

2. Noodles

Aside from white rice, noodles are the second great choice to side along orange chicken. In that case, this dish should be called “orange chicken lo mein.”

Correspondingly, fresh egg noodles with stretchy texture will be what you need for a lo mein. They break down to three most common types: the thin and chewy yi mein, the flat noodles, and wonton noodles.

3. Honey

In this recipe, we replaced honey with brown sugar and orange juice.

We think that honey might be too bold that it could overshadow the orange flavor. However, please feel free to alter the sauce to your taste or try adding honey for an attempt.

4. Broccoli

create a hearty salad that had a mix of fresh fruit, crisp veggies and lots of protein!

Whenever you are in mood for something light, healthy but still delicious this chicken, avocado and orange salad might be one of the best options. This is by far one of the best chicken salads ever.

The soft avocado in combination with crunchy almonds, crispy salad, sweet orange and grilled chicken makes such a wonderful comforting dish. The dressing made with orange juice, Dijon mustard and honey is genial.

Calories in Orange Chicken with White Rice

As displayed in the images, one serving of this dish includes both battered chicken and a portion of white rice.

Accordingly, you’ll get 497 calories from consuming a single serving of this recipe as mentioned.

How Long Does Orange Chicken Last?

If staying on the counter, orange chicken is edible and safe within the same day that it’s cooked. When stored in the fridge, it can lasts up to no more than 2 days, as orange juice goes bad pretty quickly.

We honestly don’t recommend freezing fried chicken that’s already battered with the orange sauce, though. High chance is that both the flavor and the sauce consistency wouldn’t be there anymore after reheating— so why making the dangerous bet?

What to Serve with This Recipe

Served with white rice and topped with fresh orange slices, this orange chicken already makes a lovely dinner with delightful flavors. These following recommendations will give you more ideas to wrap it up a complete meal.

1. Salad

Leftover orange chicken can be thrown with nuts and leafy greens to make a homemade veggie-based salad.

In the same vein, dried fruits or feta cheese could also be added. Drizzle over some oil-free salad dressing and there you have a light and fulfilling salad.

2. Miso Soup

Miso soup is a comforting and quick-to-make Japanese soup that we believe is a wonderful pair for orange chicken.

Miso soup comes with the soft tofu and the savory salmon and shrimp in every scoop. Together with orange chicken, it wraps up an easy and delicious homemade meal.

3. Carrot Orange Pineapple Juice

Last but not least, this carrot orange pineapple juice will be all you need to create a complete meal with this recipe.

With fresh carrot, orange, and pineapple, this three-ingredient drink is a nutritional powerhouse with a refreshing mouthfeel. Surely is a fantastic antioxidant boost at the end of the day!

About the author

Luna Regina

Luna is an advocate for balanced eating and healthy living. Through Healthy Kitchen 101, she wishes to promote true wellness by sharing wholesome recipes, helpful cooking tips and kitchen tool reviews for busy individuals and families.