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Easy Orange Chicken Recipe

Easy Orange Chicken Recipe

4.79 from 340 votes
Created by Mariam Ezzeddine
Why buy orange chicken takeout when you can make it at home in less than 30 minutes? Grab this super Easy Orange Chicken Recipe (with homemade sauce).
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Course Main Dishes
Cuisine Asian
Servings 4 servings
servings

Ingredients

  • 6 whole boneless chicken thighs or 2 lbs. of chicken tenderloins
  • ¼ cup all purpose flour
  • 1 tbsp. corn starch
  • 1 tsp. black pepper or less to taste, fresh ground
  • 1 tsp. onion powder
  • 1/2 tsp. ginger powder
  • 1/2 tsp. salt
  • 1 tsp. paprika to add color to the chicken
  • Vegetable oil for frying

Orange Chicken Sauce

  • ¾ cup fresh orange juice
  • tbsp. corn starch
  • 2 tbsps. vegetable oil
  • 3 tbsps. low sodium soy sauce
  • tbsp. rice vinegar or white vinegar
  • 2 tbsps. brown sugar
  • ½ tbsp. grated ginger
  • 2 cloves fresh garlic minced
  • ½ tsp. black pepper fresh ground
  • 1 tsp. orange zest
  • Chili flakes optional to add heat

Instructions

  • Dice the chicken into ½ inch cube pieces and place in a bowl. Add in the flour, corn starch, salt, black pepper, onion powder, paprika, and ginger powder to coat the chicken.
  • In a deep frying pan, bring the oil to medium-high heat. Fry the chicken until golden brown. Takes about 2-3 minutes. Do no over cook or else it will become chewy.
  • Meanwhile, whisk all the sauce ingredients and a bowl. Transfer to a hot non stick skillet or frying pan and cook on low-heat, simmering until the sauce thickens up.
  • Transfer the fried chicken to the sauce and mix to coat well. Let the sauce and chicken simmer together for 1-2 minutes and then remove from heat.
  • Serve with homemade Lo Mein Noodles or white rice. Garnish with toasted sesame seeds and chopped green onions. (optional)

Video

Notes

  • Use a large non-stick pan/skillet or wok.
  • Opt out for skinless boneless chicken tenderloins if you don't like thighs.
  • Cut your chicken into even, bite sized, pieces. This way they'll cook evenly.
  • If you prefer a milder sauce flavor, you can easily adjust the amount of orange zest in the recipe.
  • You can reserve some of the sauce to place on rice or double up on the sauce ingredients to make it extra saucy.
  • Make sure your skillet is nice and hot.
  • You can use store bought orange juice is you have to but don't skip the orange zest.
  • If you really have to, to make this Easy Orange Chicken recipe even easier, you buy frozen popcorn chicken and cook them so you don't have to go through the effort of cutting up the raw chicken.
 

Nutrition

Calories: 567kcal | Carbohydrates: 31g | Protein: 30g | Fat: 36g | Saturated Fat: 14g | Cholesterol: 166mg | Sodium: 745mg | Potassium: 527mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 12g | Vitamin A: 832IU | Vitamin C: 24mg | Calcium: 38mg | Iron: 2mg
Tried this recipe?Rate the recipe below and mention @cookinwithmima and tag #cookinwithmima so I can see your recreations.