Updated on December 5th, 2022
Today I’m back with yet another Chinese-American dish – Orange Chicken. It seems as though you can find orange chicken almost anywhere you want to eat these days. It is most commonly found at fast food restaurants, but don’t worry, this is so much better than anything you will find there. What really makes this recipe stand out is the combination of both orange and lemon juice. Once again we are also using the deep fryer for cooking the battered chicken. Now I get a lot of questions from people wondering if they can use a wok instead. The answer is yes; a wok would work just about as good as a deep fryer and can be used without a problem. Just be sure to add enough oil. Great oil for frying this battered chicken would be peanut oil. Using peanut oil will give you the most flavorful chicken. If you’re looking for a simple Chinese dish for dinner this evening be sure to give this recipe for orange chicken a try.
Orange Chicken Recipe
Ingredients
- Chicken-
- 2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts (cut into 1–1/2” cubes)
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 egg (beaten)
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- Oil (for frying)
Orange Sauce- - 1 ½ cups water
- 2 tablespoons orange juice
- ¼ cup lemon juice
- 1/3 cup rice vinegar
- 2 ½ tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon orange zest (grated)
- 1 cup packed brown sugar
- ½ teaspoon ginger root (minced)
- ½ teaspoon garlic (minced)
- 2 tablespoons green onion (chopped)
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 3 tablespoons cornstarch
- 2 tablespoons water
Instructions
- Combine flour, salt, and pepper. Dip chicken in the egg mixture and shake in flour mixture to coat. Deep fry chicken in batches at 375 degrees in a deep fryer (or use a wok) until completely cooked.
- Meanwhile, in a large saucepan combine 1 ½ cups water, lemon juice, orange juice, rice vinegar, and soy sauce. Blend well over medium heat for a few minutes. Stir in brown sugar, orange zest, ginger garlic, and onion. Bring to a boil.
- Combine 3 tablespoons of cornstarch with 1/4 cup of water and mix thoroughly. Slowly stir cornstarch mixture into sauce until it thickens. Pour sauce over breaded chicken, and if desired add red pepper flakes and garnish with green onions. Enjoy.
Tristan- Peanut oil is the best for frying this chicken.
this looks so tasty. I want to make it for my family tonight. How many does it serve?
Serves 4
I made this recipe last night and it was exceptional! The orange chicken was very flavorful and delicious. One could actually taste the orange. Instead of using a lemon, I used a lime because I am a lime-fanatic. I also used canola oil instead of peanut oil. This is one of the best recipes I’ve ever made and I will be making this again soon. Thanks so much for sharing!
I also squeezed juice from a fresh and ripe orange and grated the skin to create my own “orange zest.” I think this is much better than using store-bought orange juice.
This is my favorite recipe ever. I cook it all the time and everyone always tells me it’s the best orange chicken they’ve ever had in their life. Seriously, this is the perfect orange chicken recipe. Thanks a ton!
i see that you said it will work with a wok or frying pan, but do you mean to fill it with oil and fry it in the pan in replace of a deep fryer? or just saute the meat?
daniel- put about 1″ of oil into the wok and fry.
I used this recipe for my foods class and it was great!! Thanks so much, also i love the pictures for each step they really helped me out on what it should look like.
It looks amazingly delicious, i’m gonna try it right now!
I used this recipe today and the chicken came out sooo delicious, very good recipe!
I used the recipe today & my family loved it . Thanks
I bought the Panda Express Orange Chicken sauce from Costco. Instead of using a frying pan, I rolled chicken pieces in egg and flour and cooked them fondue style and dipped them into the sauce.
We have been using this recipe for a while and its just perfect every time, and soooo easy! We make it everytime we invite friends over and they always tell us how nice it is!! Thank you for sharing it, its just amazing!
why it took me so long to meet this site….
What a GOOD recipe. Thanks you so much
Thanks so much for this recipe. I have been searching for the perfect orange chicken recipe. I need to look no further!! My children are very picky about their food…but, this dish was a big success!! One of my daughters will only eat chicken in nugget form (like frozen chicken nuggets)…. she actually tried this and ate 3 HELPINGS!!! She loves it. We had it tonight for supper and afterwards, the kids all asked if I could make it again tomorrow night!!! I guess we have a new favorite. Thanks so much for the recipe. 5 stars from The Jones Family!!!
Tried this today, it turned out great, It is a must do again and again. Did a double recipe and the kids and adults just craved about it. Thanks for the recipe!!!!!!
I just made this and it taste so gooood! i love it!
made this a few times. i love oranage chicken and this one comes out really good. although breading the small piece of chicken is time consuming, but well worth it.
Oh my…..this is SO GOOD! I didn’t have any green onion so I used some dried chives in the sauce and just tossed a little of the crushed red pepper in there too. We will certainly be keeping this recipe handy! Thanks so much for sharing it:)
oh my god i just dot done cooking it its taste wonderful
This orange Chicken came out awesome!! I would’nt change a thing.Thank you for the recipe!
Made this for the family last week along with some beef and broccoli chow mein. They REFUSE to ever go to a chinese restaurant now lol
I love this blog! I’ve made this two months ago and my brothers and now they want it again! You’re amazing!
We tried this substituting the chicken with chickette ( veggie meat ) was delicious and i dont usually eat orange flavored food
I made the new recipe a few nights ago…it was the best Chinese I’ve ever had. I already have people demanding the recipe from me just off of how much I talk about it!
my boyfriend took me to this buffet and i wanted food i was soooo hungry and i ate about 4 plates its my favorite 🙂 so we about go there likes everyday.
How many does this recipe serve?
Angelica- serves 4-6
I made this for my family Friday night. It was so much better than take out! Thanks.
i found this online and it looks great im going to use it for my GCSE assessment 🙂
how many people does this serve ??
thanks
lyndsey- serves 4-6.
wow i just found this recipe online and it is the bomb. My boyfriend after he ate it he asked me to marry him omg lol……..and guess what i said yes……
Ive been lookin at the recipe for a month an skeptical of tryin it I tend to mess up everything I make the first time but I followed your directions which are simple an made it last night well ill finish this off by sayin the hubby an son want it again tonight lol thanks bobby
This is an awesome recipe!
It’s pitch perfect!!! 😀
Wow!!! This is absolutely delicious. …and pretty easy to make.
my husband and I LOVE this recipe. My husband loves orange chicken and its flavor is better than the restaurants!! Thanks for sharing!
I LOVE orange chicken….it’s my FAVORITE! I can’t wait to try this recipe! TFS!
It was to bomb tasted great and the sauce was da best part do u think it would taste good on eggrolls
Young menice- yes, it would taste good on egg rolls I think!
I made it for the family – it was great! Thanks for sharing the recipe
This recipe was great ! Ever since moving away from California to Sweden I have missed eating orange chicken at chinese restaurants. I made this for some friends and my family and it was a big success. Everyone loved it ! Thanks !
Thank you for sharing your reciped. Made this tonight and wow! The picky 18 year old girl got seconds even after eating her foot long from Subway.
OH MY GOODNESS!!! THIS WAS FLIPPIN FRIPPIN AMAZING!!! THANK YOU SOOOO VERY MUCH YOU ARE THE BEST!!!
Thank you so much for this recipe! I can count on 1 hand all the dishes my family agrees on but EVERYBODY asked me to make more after the first night, it was great! Thanks again!! 😀
I just cooked Orange Chicken and it was a huge success. Thanks for the recipe!
i love this i tried this and it was so easy to make
AMAZING,the chicken turned out wounderful(:thank yu so much,iv been lookin for the ingredients to make this for a long time and I found the perfect one:)
loved this!..im mexican so 90% of the time the food i cook is mexican ive been giving other countries a try latley…and i have to say this was amazing i did add a lil more spice though
I made this recipe but I didn’t use that much sugar. I used only 1/4 cup sugar. I should have used less vinegar because the sauce was very strong with vinegar.Overall the recipe is not bad but if any one try this recipe just minimize the amount of those 2 items I mentioned.