Sweet, tangy, slightly spicy and flavorful – this makeover Orange Chicken is a lighter and healthier version of the popular Chinese fast-food take-out dish
Easy Orange Chicken Recipe
I love taking popular fast food takeout dishes like this Orange Chicken and making them over! You have so much more control of what you’re consuming when you cook your own food. Chinese Orange Chicken is usually battered and deep fried, not a dish I would order because I’m not a fan of fried sweet dishes, but I was happy to tackle a lighter version. My solution was to skip all that frying, and make a flavorful orange sauce to simmer with chunks of lean chicken breast. The outcome was great, and my husband even gave it two thumbs up! A few favorite fast food makeovers are Chicken and Broccoli, General Tsos Chicken and Pepper Steak.
Chinese orange sauce is super easy and simple to make. It’s certainly a healthier option than using a bottled orange sauce with unknown ingredients and higher sugar content. And since there is no flour, this is naturally gluten-free.
Orange Chicken Ingredients
- chicken pieces: diced up boneless skinless chicken breast
- seasoning: cornstarch, salt
- aromatics: garlic and ginger
- flavor: orange zest, sesame oil
- garnish: chopped scallions or green onions and sesame seeds
Orange Chicken Sauce:
- fresh squeezed orange juice, for the orange flavor
- chicken broth
- soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons white or brown sugar
- rice wine
- rice vinegar
- sriracha or red pepper flakes (for a touch of heat)
- cornstarch (to thicken the sauce)
- white pepper
How To Make Orange Chicken
- Mix the orange sauce ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.
- Season the chicken lightly with salt and coat evenly with corn starch, set aside.
- Heat a large skillet or wok on high heat, add 1 teaspoon of sesame oil and cook the chicken in batches so it browns well, 2 to 3 minutes on each side, set aside.
- Add 1 teaspoon of oil and chicken and repeat cooking 2 to 3 minutes on each side. Set aside with the rest of the chicken.
- Add remaining teaspoon of oil and quickly stir-fry the minced garlic and ginger until fragrant.
- Add the orange zest then return the chicken to the pan.
- Quickly stir the chicken then add the orange sauce mixture and toss, cook until the sauce thickens.
- Divide between 4 plates and garnish with the scallion and sesame seeds.
Variations:
- You can swap chicken for a white fish like Tilapia or make it vegetarian with tofu.
- Add some sauteed vegetables like asparagus, bell pepper, or zucchini.
- If you prefer dark meat, use boneless skinless chicken thighs instead.
- To lower the sodium, use low-sodium soy sauce instead.
- If you can’t have sesame oil, you can swap it for peanut oil.
What To Serve with Orange Chicken
- It’s often served with steamed rice and broccoli or other steamed vegetables.
- Serve it over cauliflower rice or Cauliflower “Fried Rice”
- Serve it over brown rice for a healthier option.
- Try other vegetables like some sauteed bell peppers, snow peas, or asparagus.
Storage
Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for 4 days, or freeze up to 3 months. To reheat, thaw in the refrigerator overnight then microwave or heat in a skillet.
FAQs
Orange chicken is a popular Chinese-American dish that features bite-sized pieces of chicken that are typically battered and deep-fried until golden and crispy, then coated in a sweet, tangy, and slightly spicy orange sauce.
Traditional preparations of orange chicken involve battering and deep-frying the chicken pieces. And they usually add a significant amount of sugar. My healthier version, is light on sugar, and doesn’t use batter, and skips the frying so it’s high in protein and can fit into a healthy diet.
General Tso’s Chicken is a sweet and spicy dish with a reddish-brown sauce, often garnished with broccoli and dried red chili peppers. In contrast, Orange Chicken has a sweet and tangy orange-flavored sauce with a bright orange hue, typically lacking the spiciness of General Tso’s.
More Stir Fry Recipes You Will Love
- Chicken and Broccoli Stir Fry
- Tofu Stir Fry
- Garlic Ginger Chicken Stir Fry
- Chicken Zucchini Stir Fry
- Thai Chicken and Pineapple Stir Fry
Orange Chicken Recipe
Ingredients
For the Orange Sauce:
- 1/3 cup freshly-squeezed orange juice
- 1/4 cup reduced sodium chicken broth
- 2 tbsp soy sauce, Tamari for gluten-free
- 2 tbsp white or brown sugar, or sugar substitute
- 1 tbsp Chinese rice wine
- 1 tbsp sriracha, or more to taste
- 1 tbsp rice vinegar
- 1/4 teaspoon white pepper
- 2 teaspoons corn starch
For the chicken:
- 20 oz skinless, boneless chicken breast, cut into small cubes
- kosher salt, to taste
- 1 1/2 tbsp corn starch
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
- 4 cloves minced garlic
- 1- inch grated ginger
- 1 teaspoon grated orange zest
- 2 tbsp chopped scallions
- 1/2 tsp sesame seeds, for garnish
Instructions
- Mix the orange sauce ingredients and set aside.
- Season the chicken lightly with salt and coat evenly with corn starch, set aside.
- Heat a wok on high heat, add 1 teaspoon of sesame oil and add half of the chicken. Cook 2 to 3 minutes on each side until well browned, set aside.
- Add 1 teaspoon of oil and chicken and repeat cooking 2 to 3 minutes on each side. Set aside with the rest of the chicken.
- Add remaining teaspoon of oil and quickly stir-fry the minced garlic and ginger until fragrant, about 1 minute.
- Add the orange zest then return the chicken to the pan.
- Quickly stir the chicken then add the orange sauce and cook until the sauce thickens,about 1 to 2 minutes.
- Divide between 4 plates and garnish with the scallion and sesame seeds.
I love hot spicy food but this was too hot for my husband and almost too much for me. I suggest you start with 1 TEASPOON of Siracha instead of 1 TABLESPOON, then you can up the heat from there. Easy recipe and very tasty.
Really tasty. Couldn’t find chinese rice wine, so I used Mirin and diluted it with a bit of water. Next time I make I will decrease the amount of sriracha. It is kind of spicy.
This was delish!! Used chicken thighs …has a nice kick and throughly enjoyed!!
Excellent. Made recipe exactly as written. Will be making this again!
Hi! Is there anything you can sub for rice wine?
Rice Wine is MIRIN and easy to find in Asian section of grocery store. You can sub any dry white wine for rice wine.
Total winner. Easy and delish! Thank you!!
Full of flavor! I added egg drop soup as a starter.
Awesome!!!
Keeper recipe! This was delicious and reminded me of PF Chang’s Spicy Chicken. I served it with steamed riced cauliflower.
Loved this! I didn’t expect it to be great without the breading, but the sauce is where it’s at. I double the recipe because I like a lot of sauce, and I accidentally added more soy sauce than I was supposed to, but it didn’t really matter. Delish!
Quick and easy recipe and simply delicious!
Delicious skinnytaste recipe per usual! Worked a long day and don’t feel like cooking but so glad I did because this recipe is better than takeout and better for you. Don’t skip the green onions.
Tried this last night and we loved it! Orange Chicken is always the top ten products to buy at Trader Joes, so I purchased that one time as I love orange chicken. It was awful. Mostly breading and overcooked chicken. On a side note, my almost 70 year old husband just received his annual blood test results and his physician complemented him on what great shape he was in and that his results came out excellent. He told him his wife has cooked almost exclusively Skinnytaste recipes for years, so she knows how to adapt other recipes to make them healthier also. The physician recognized Skinnytaste saying her recipes are great. Keep it up!
Gina this is now my favorite of your chicken recipes. Love the stir fry ones but this was so good! Thanks for sharing!!
Very delicious. We will be making this one again!
We paired it with brown rice. Next time i think we will pair it with some snap peas.
Delicious!!! This is the second time we make it. The sauce is so good that we doubled the measurements and added a bag of stir fry veggies…sooooooo good!
So delicious. Just the right blend off slightly sweet and spicy. One dinner and two lunches in our two person household.
Excellent. Easy to make. I left out the rice wine because I didn’t have it already and didn’t want to purchase something I wouldn’t use again. Still came out great. I served it with rice and steamed broccoli.
Lauren did you try to replace it with anything? I read white wine or vinegar could be used but glad to know it’s still good without any replacement. I couldn’t find rice wine!
Followed this recipe to a T, except I added some scallions in with my garlic & ginger. This was SO GOOD. A new favorite. Had it with broccoli. Everyone was pleased!
Such an easy and excellent recipe that my kids asked me to make again. I replace the soy sauce with liquid aminos and the corn starch with arrowroot, due to food sensitivities. We like spicy but we use less than 1/2 the sriracha listed. Delicious and a satisfying. And also travels well in a thermos with rice for their school lunches.
Recipe was great. Came out perfectly!!! Will definitely keep this in my rotation
Nice spice and a good, light version of the original which I have made many times.
This was great! Will use less siracha next time!
Delicious! Better than take out!
Loved this recipe! Thank you!
Did everything according to Chef Gina’s recipe, except used less Sriracha (used half)
Perfect meal.
This was delicious, and I’ll be making it again. For our tastes, I need to cut way back on the sriracha. Thanks for sharing.
Great! I’m not a fan of restaurant orange chicken but this recipe was delicious. My son said it was the first orange chicken where he could actually taste orange flavor.
SO SO GOOD!! I couldn’t even believe it. I made this on a whim after getting an email for the recipe tonight I was a little worried how it would be when making the sauce but a huge home run. Would totally make this again
what if I don’t have a Wok? Can I just use a regular frying pan ?
Sure!
This was delicious! The only thing that I will do differently next time is lower the amount of siracha. Little too spicy for my tastebuds. I did it eat it anyway because the flavor was so good!
Made this several times. Tasty, even better than the “unhealthy” recipe.
Great blend of flavors and very orangey. I coat my chicken in cornstarch then spread on a tray in the freezer for 10 min before pan frying as it helps the chicken get a bit more browned. I also add bell peppers, serranos, and broccoli if I’ve got it. It’s a hit every time.
Awesome recipe Gina,
I have made it multiple times and always wonderful. It is fantastic to enjoy a
lightened version without the cost of a restaurant meal.
Please consider adding an addendum to your recipe. This time I cooked the chicken breasts (cut in halves) coated in cornstarch in the airfryer. This really cut back on the time. I mixed the sauce, fixed the cauliflower rice while the chicken cooked. I cut is up after
Thank you
Brilliant!
I’ve been hunting for an actually-tasty but healthier Chinese food recipe and you nailed it! Thanks! It turned out great.
Orange chicken was so good and easy to make. We ate it with rice and broccoli. I didn’t have mirin, but it was still delicious.
This dish is sooo yummy even my picky kids love it!! But question- can you make the chicken ahead and let it sit abs reheat in the sauce right before you serve it?
I was thinking the same question. Has anyone tried this?
Orange chicken is my sons favorite meal. I usually just make the frozen kind from Trader Joe’s. It’s a win win because it’s easy as heck and everyone loves it. But I knew I would t make it out to TJs this week so when he asked for orange chicken I decided to look up a recipe. This was fairly simple to make and turned out great. I doubled the sauce and added broccoli and served over rice. Halfway through prepping the chicken I ran out of corn starch and finished up with arrowroot powder. Worked just fine. I also used honey in place of the sugar. I’ll definitely make again when I can’t get to TD for theirs.
I’m betting this orange chicken version is MUCH healthier than the TJ!
Hubby and I loved it! I made it a little hotter than it should have been–I was out of siracha and used gojujang in place of it. Not bad, all things considered!
Does anyone know if it works with lemon?
This was soo good! My family loved it too. Will definitely make again. Thanks!
My family DEVOURS this recipe and have no clue it’s good for them. This is a staple dish now. Thank you for your amazing recipes and for sharing them!!
Tbh this was bomb
Awesome. During this pandemic time for our country, we are limiting meat meals. As with other recipes recently, I substituted cauliflower florets for the chicken and as you recommended, added stir fried broccoli, celery, carrots, pepper and onions. Served over rice! Will definitely make again.
Great!
SO delicious! I did not use the Chinese rice wine because I did not have any in the pantry. The flavour was still amazing! I took the advice to stir fry veggies: one head of broccoli, two stalks celery, two medium carrots, one red pepper, one orange pepper, and two cups sugar snap peas. Delicious flavour and lots for leftovers, perfect family pleaser meal!
We loved it!
Thank you for the cauliflower fried rice recipe. It wwas delicious Next time I make it I will double the recipe so that I can freeze some Doesn’t taste like cauliflower (though I like cauliflower)
Excellent…..I would recommend doubling the sauce – it’s so good!!
This is one of my favorites. A lot of flavor and you’d never know you were eating something meant to be a “healthier” version!
A new favorite! We make it weekly as stir fry with carrots, broccoli and red pepper (double sauce!)
Ok yes this ended up being delicious, but I just have to point out…. sesame oil is not intended for high heat cooking! The first time I tried this recipe my wok went up in flames when I added the oil!! Very scary. Not sure how this hasn’t happened to More people.
My family basically licked their plates dry! We all loved this!
Yay!!!
Some reason mine end up being super spicy! Don’t know what I could have done wrong…
Could I make this in the air fryer instead? Could I lightly coat it in the one teaspoon of sesame oil?
My foodie family loved this! The only thing we changed was to grill the chicken (becasue its Spring!) then we reduced the sauce in a pan and drizzled it over chicken, broccoli and sugar snap peas! Extraordinary. Awesome because I am on WW and they are not – so excited to have a great meal that we all loved! (I just had a 1/3 C of brown rice with mine). Thanks!
Do you know how much saturated and unsaturated fat is in this recipe per serving?
Could you use something in place of the corn starch? maybe coconut or almond flour?
Arrowroot is an alternate thickening agent
Thanks for the great recipe! Been making it regularly for a while but needed to print it out again so I figured I’d comment. 🙂
Thanks!
It’s funny because this was one of the first SkinnyTaste recipes I ever tried! I remember being in the kitchen just totally lost and struggling to bring all the ingredients together. I made it again tonight (five years later) and had dinner on the table in 40 minutes. Easy peasy. I made 1.5x the orange tangy sauce (delicious) and served it over udon noodles.
Made this recipe last night. Added red bell peppers and broccoli. Doubled it for my family. Was easy, fast and delicious!! Served over rice. Definitely will make again!
great!
I made this for my boyfriend’s son who only ever wants…wait for it….Panda Express. Well, he’s asking for orange chicken tonite. “Not from the store, Nichole’s.” Thank you Gina, picky 15 year old approved!!
I plugged this into my fitness pal app and it said that one serving of this recipe is 1,698 calories
did you divide it by servings?
How could you make this recipe in the instant pot?
I would halve the cook time.
We just had this for dinner for the first time and we all loved it! My son is on a restrict d diet for suspected food sensitivities and this recipe works perfectly for his restrictions! The flavors were amazing and we had none left! We will definitely have this regularly. Thank you, Gina!
You’re welcome!
Can you use vinegar in place of the rice wine? Would it be the same amount in the recipe?
I wouldn’t.
Cooking sherry makes a good substitute for rice wine. I realize this is an old comment but for anyone who happens to be reading through and wondering, thought I’d offer a solution.
Is this recipe 6 Smart Points or 8 Smart Points?
It says 6 at the top of post and 8 at the bottom.
Thanks!
Really great recipe! Added some red chillies and onions & green peppers when sauteeing the garlic The sauce was on point!
This was delicious! I made it with the Cauliflower Fried Rice and we really enjoyed this lighter, healthier version of a favorite. Thanks
Way too spicy.
I just made this tonight with the cauliflower fried rice and it was sooooo good! Orange chicken is my go to order when I get Chinese food but is not exactly Weight Watchers friendly. I made it for my mom and I and we couldn’t stop talking about how good it was while we were eating it. Like seriously, after every bite. I made both recipes as written except I left out the rice wine in the orange sauce as I didn’t have any. I didn’t substitute it with anything. So good and really filling for the points! I am really excited to eat this again tomorrow for lunch because it was so yummy.
I made this tonight with the cauliflower fried rice, and both recipes were so good! The orange sauce was perfect, and the dish was light, healthy, and delicious. My husband and I both loved it, and we will definitely make this again!
Can all of this be put in a crock-pot?
I have made this dish twice. The second time I cooked the chicken in a large non-stick skillet after burning the chicken the first time. I used light brown sugar instead of raw sugar and white wine instead of rice wine, and it turned out great. I served it with brown rice and roasted broccoli. Thanks for another amazing meal!
Hi there, I was reading through the comments to see if in fact anybody subbed the raw sugar. Did you use the same amount? And the same with the white wine…same amount? Thanks in advance.
My wife and I would like more of an orange flavor. Could we replace the orange juice and sugar with orange juice concentrate?
I bet grated orange zest would really help bump the orange flavor up!
Hi Gina! Loved this recipe. I'm a vegetarian so I just subbed a block of cubed & pressed extra firm tofu for the chicken and it turned out awesome. Other than that I followed the recipe exactly, it really satisfied our Chinese food craving. My fiancé only likes when I try one new recipe at a time so now that we know this is a winner we will be making your cauliflower fried "rice" with it next time. I love when I find recipes that are so easily adapted to my lifestyle. Thanks for another great one!
The whole family loved this recipe! My kids in particular loved it, much to my surprise. I added a bag of frozen stir fry veggies, but next time will leave them out and just serve steamed broccoli on the side. I'll also double the recipe next time so we can have leftovers.
What is the nutritional breakdown? ???
Skinnytaste
Mar 19, 2014
Orange Chicken Makeover
A lighter alternative to the popular Chinese take-out dish.
Sweet, spicy and flavorful – a lighter alternative to the popular Chinese fast food take-out dish and it's quick and easy to make!
I had a request a few weeks ago to make over this popular American-Chinese fast food dish which is usually battered and deep fried. To be honest, this is not a dish I would order because I'm not a fan of battered sweet Chinese dishes, but I was happy to tackle a lighter version. My solution was skip all that frying, and make a flavorful orange sauce. The outcome was great, and my husband even gave it two thumbs up!
I served this over cauliflower "fried rice" which I will post tomorrow but you could even saute some bell peppers, snow peas, broccoli or asparagus and add them at the end. Enjoy!
Orange Chicken
Skinnytaste.com
Servings: 4 • Size: generous 3/4 cup • Points +: 8 pts • Smart Points: 6
Calories: 288 • Fat: 9 g • Carb: 18 g • Fiber: 0.5 g • Protein: 32.5 g • Sugar: 9 g
Sodium: 463 mg • Cholesterol: 81 mg
Skinnytaste
Mar 19, 2014
Orange Chicken Makeover
A lighter alternative to the popular Chinese take-out dish.
Sweet, spicy and flavorful – a lighter alternative to the popular Chinese fast food take-out dish and it's quick and easy to make!
I had a request a few weeks ago to make over this popular American-Chinese fast food dish which is usually battered and deep fried. To be honest, this is not a dish I would order because I'm not a fan of battered sweet Chinese dishes, but I was happy to tackle a lighter version. My solution was skip all that frying, and make a flavorful orange sauce. The outcome was great, and my husband even gave it two thumbs up!
I served this over cauliflower "fried rice" which I will post tomorrow but you could even saute some bell peppers, snow peas, broccoli or asparagus and add them at the end. Enjoy!
Orange Chicken
Skinnytaste.com
Servings: 4 • Size: generous 3/4 cup • Points +: 8 pts • Smart Points: 6
Calories: 288 • Fat: 9 g • Carb: 18 g • Fiber: 0.5 g • Protein: 32.5 g • Sugar: 9 g
Sodium: 463 mg • Cholesterol: 81 mg
I make a lot of your recipes but I just got around to trying this one. Tasty! Was able to make this with what I had in the fridge (I used light brown sugar instead of raw sugar and dry Sherry instead of rice wine). Very filling with the Cauliflower Fried Rice and low calorie to boot. Thanks!
Gina! This is fabulous! My son and I had it for the first time tonight. My husband definitely missed out! I'll make it for him again soon. Thank you so much for already including the new Smart Points. I was so impressed that you already had them in there. Thanks! I so love your food!
This recipe is delicious — just perfect. Probably one of my favorites on the site, and we cook from this site and the cookbook several times a week. I couldn't find rice wine at our local store, so I substituted gin (!), which was recommended on some other sites. It worked out great
Hello Gina,
I love your site and recipes…..easy, delicious, healthy thank you so much. I love this recipe. Spicy Chinese, I can make this recipe with shrimp, chicken, salmon, scallops. I wish I could post a pic of my dish, so tasty. Have a happy, creative, day!
Joanne CC
This was so absolutely scrumptious! Tastes just like the sauce on a prawn dish at our favorite Chinese restaurant. Thanks so much!
I had everything except the orange juice so used lemon as others suggested– YUM! Served with a little brown rice and lot of steamed broccoli. Delish. I just ordered my cookbook, can't wait! I have been sticking all the recipes I print out into a binder.
This is great! Made it tonight with husband. He cooked the chicken in the cast iron in batches. We added a lot of zest and served it over black rice! It's a hit! A keeper! Thanks!
I just did this recipe and it turned out great! I did some changes though, I used honey instead of sugar and it still turned out great!
What does it mean for 1-inch grated ginger? how much Ginger is that?
This was so easy and Amazing!!! I ate the leftovers the next day and still taste amazing.
Did not have rice wine so i use white wine vinegar.
I replace the raw sugar with light brown sugar.
Didn't have white pepper so I just use black pepper.
Next time im going to make the orange sauce but leave out the corn starch, then freeze it. When you're ready to use it just add the corn starch and pour it in. Also I was thinking of taking the garlic and ginger put in ice tray, then pour oil in the same cube tray. This way you just pop it out the ice tray and cook it. The one cube will will have the oil, garlic and ginger all in one. Just something I was thinking of trying.
Made this last night… Amazing!! I couldn't find Rice Wine, but had the vinegar. I used Agave instead of sugar. I will surely make this again. Quick, Easy, Perfect!!!
Made right after you posted and we have had it once a week ever since. Love it so much.
This dish was awesome! Restaurant quality for sure! Whole family loved it and my picky son even liked it! I used the low sodium tamari also and the delicious cara cara oranges from costco….yum!
This own me over and made me feel like a pro cook! My boyfriend loved it and I was surprised at how good it was (shouldn't have been tho! =P) Thanks a bunch
Yet again, another fabulous dish! Made it last night for my Chinese-food lovin' hubby who ADORED it! Gina, I have so many of your recipes that are standard rotation in my house, thank you so much! This will just go in the mix now too, since it's something I will love and eat as well! Oh, and I love my zoodles….so glad you turned me on to that handy device!
Absolutely FABULOUS! Better than a restaurant chicken and had just the right amount of spice. You did it again!
You rock, I'm just thrilled to find you & your spin on healthy, yummy recipes…it's an obsession of mine! I've been morphing old school rich fatty crazy dishes into healthier choices! It's been a lonely journey, but 2014 seems to be alive with more of us, yup…even a nod to the sodium problem? Wow, I realized when I was in my late teens, that what I thought was free calories, like pickles, still made me swell up…A LOT! Well ya don't have to be old or have health issues to GET that's not good! I've been a chef for many years, but was a model & after a serious accident had gained a ton of weight, I did the fad diets…re-gained plus 20 more! That's when I got it, life-style change, I started eating 1/2 of my food…then reinvented myself! I'm disabled so move more, eat less sounds great in theory…not for me. Please, don't pity…I'm doing great, I've lost 150 lbs, all on my own, I'm out of a wheelchair, and cooking or my family & clients!
As far as this Orange Chicken, OMG YUM…I did one change, that was toasted the seeds, in a dry skillet…blessings to you & thanks, Andrea
Everyone at my house is super excited about this recipe…thanks a bunch, Gina!
Gotta love this!! I have been following your blog for quiet a while and have been trying most of your recipes, and I must say I am very pleased! I always end up finding great recipes and gorgeous photography on your blog.
Check out my blog if you would like to see some food recipes and photography as well:
http://elmarama.blogspot.com/
Have a great one :* <3
This was delicious! (Even though the chicken burned quite a lot when I put my wok on high – must have done something wrong, I guess, I'll use a skillet next time.) Had it with the cauliflower-rice, which was an amazing combination and so easy to put together. I'll definitely be making both of these recipes again!
For the sriracha , is it 1 tbsp or 1tsp you put in the recipe?
Could this be frozen, then stir fry the veggies and add them in right before you serve it?
Wow Gina! This was fantastic! Almost all my guys (3 little, one hubby) loved it. I still need the perfect chicken dish for my 6 year old chicken hater!! However, this one was a hit with the rest of us. Thank you!
Is this supposed to be pretty dang spicy? My hubs LOVES Sriracha and he was surprised how much kick it had. (cough, drink of water, cough)
It was definitely good but kinda burned. I want it again and can just use less Sriracha but I want to know if I did something wrong.
I don't know if it was the amount of garlic (I used three cloves but they were pretty big) or if I missed something ( I used granulated sugar instead of raw)
Please advise —–I love your recipes!!!!!
Sorry no need to reply. After reading all the other comments I can figure it out 🙂 You must just have tough spice tolerance!
Just fyi – Mirin is a sweet Japanese cooking wine, different than Chinese rice cooking wine. It probably won't change the flavor too much, but it isn't the same thing.
A quick trip to an Asian market and you'll find Chinese rice wine if you weren't able to find it at your super market.
I tried the recipe. Really delicious!
Just made this tonight. This was so great. When I sautéed the garlic and ginger I added fresh green beans and sautéed for a little bit and added a splash of water and cooked for a few moments. Then added the chicken and the sauce. So yummy. Next time I will add less of the hot sauce. Too much for my son. Thanks Gina
Is there something I can replace siriacha with? I live in a small town in Ohio and cant find that anywhere around me
Made this exactly like the recipe. Turned out fabulous! I've tried tons of your recipes and they always turn out great. Can't wait for the cookbook.
This was awesome! Added in some snow peas. Really yummy
just put a triple batch of this recipe in the crockpot!!! we'll see how/if it works out!
UPDATE: worked beautifully in the crockpot! i did quickly sear the chicken in the wok before putting it in the crockpot. i will cut back on the sriracha next time for the little ones' taste buds … but it was DELISH a big hit with the whole fam.
Finally got around to making this last night along with the cauliflower fried rice and it was outstanding! These two recipes are a keeper!!!
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I just finished cleaning everything up, and this meal was delicious! My sister and I didn't have any rice vinegar or Chinese wine, so we used the white wine vinegar we had on hand instead, and it was still so good. Thanks so much!
I tried this last night and was a keeper with the family. I too did not have Chinese rice wine vinegar so used Japanese. It was great.
My husband made this last night. Delicious. Paired with rice and sautéed baby bok choy. Better than Chinese takeout and we love Chinese take out!
This was delish! Made it tonight with a few modifications based on what I had: no rice wine, replaced with rice vinegar; no scallions; brown sugar; added a sliced bell pepper. Also reduced the corn starch (1.5 tsp in the sauce, 1 Tbsp for the chicken). Hubby loved it (as did I!). We'll add this to the regular rotation, swapping in different veggies. Thanks, Gina!
Thank you so much, Gina, for giving this a shot! After I read all of the terrible reviews of other orange chicken recipes online, I went straight to you, and was saddened that you didn't have one (yet!). I can always trust that you make a recipe work before you post it, so I'm so thankful that you took the suggestion and ran with it. From the comments here, I'm excited to try it! THANK YOU!
wonder if i could use cubed pork? what do you think…center cut lean pork chops boneless
Just made this tonight with the Cauliflower fried rice and it knocked my socks off. I actually can't believe I was able to achieve such a meal! I had no srirarcha so I substituted a red chilli but I am definitely going to buy some on-line!
Thank you so much for this recipe – an absolutely fantastic "fake away" and I will definitely make it again.
Made this last night and it was AWESOME! My boyfriend kept saying how this could have been from a chinese fusion restaurant.
I didn't have raw sugar nor know what it is so I just used regular white sugar. It turned out excellent in our opinion still. What difference would raw sugar make?
Also, it was borderline too spicy for us so I think I will cut down on the siracha next time.
Thank you for another great recipe! I made this with the cauliflower fried rice last night and it was a great dinner!
Made this tonight and was delicious!!! We made the following very minor modifications –
Added red pepper flakes to give it more heat
1 tbsp low-sodium tamari + 1 tbsp water to reduce the salt further
White wine in place of rice wine b/c that's what we had on hand
We will definitely be making frequently, thank you!!
I made this tonight and it was soo good! I added in some stir fry vegetable to bulk it up and it turned out great! I would upload a picture of my efforts if there was a place to do so …..
I can't believe how much money the hubby and I have been spending at Panda Express when I could've been making this all along! This recipe is bad ass! Gina, thank you for another amazing recipe!
This was great! I added frozen peas at the end to give it something green without the scallions. Even the picky 9 year old said it needs to go on the rotation. It's a winner!
I modified this to be lemon chicken, since that is my boyfriend's favourite. It was delectable! Thank you, Gina!
Made it and LOVED it 🙂
hi I just watched my mom make this! so yummy when you taste it you can taste the fresh flavors! it tasted better than the Chinese resteraunts! I know im going to ask my mom to mAKE IT AGAIN!
I was looking for a good recipe for Orange Chicken this week …thanks for this..and I plan to pre-order your cookbook.
We love orange chicken, but it is a lot of calories when you get it at Panda Express. This is definitely will be made. Thanks so much!!
Looks great! I was wondering if you could start posting the prep and cook times in your recipes. It would be a huge help!
Help me…what is siriacha? My local grocery store is very diverse and they probably have it but I'm not sure what department to look in or what, exactly, it is?
It's a type of asian hot sauce, made from a paste of chili peppers, distilled vinegar, garlic, sugar and salt. You can usually find it in the asian section of your grocery store or supermarket. It's quite spicy, so a little goes a long way, but it adds a lot of flavour to dishes and soups
This sounds so good! Do you think you could use a crockpot?
Ooo I would love to know if this could be made in a crockpot!
I make something similar without the orange juice/ orange zest and sugar (not a fan of the sweet and salty thing…) I also add ground mustard. My boyfriend is soooo in love with it.. His fav! I may have to try it this way to switch it up! Thanks
I will have to admit that I do LOVE battered chicken. However, one of the main reasons I don't eat it often is because the excess salt (MSG) and sugar combination makes me eat too much, and ironically, I feel like I'm starving a couple of hours later. This recipe takes care of both issues. Good job!
Make at home take-out food always tastes so much better than the real stuff. Love this idea!
This does look really good. May try it with shrimp or a combination.
I don't have raw sugar. Can I just use regular?
I'm not even sure what raw sugar is… Do you mean the brand "Sugar in the Raw"?
Go for brown dark sugar, or light brown sugar. White sugar will give you sweetness but will not contribute to the taste.
I will try using the light brown sugar tonight. Thanks for the tip!
I wouldn’t use sugar at all. The orange juice it self is really sweet. I left it out.
This looks great! ! What about sesame chicken?
This looks delicious!
This looks awesome and I'm pretty sure I have all of these ingredients. Can't wait for the cauliflower rice recipe tomorrow!
I may make this with your shrimp fried rice too. I love that recipe.
Can you use rice vinegar instead of Chinese rice wine? I'm afraid I won't be able to find this. I also don't have a wok. Can I just use a pan?
or even rice wine vinegar. I have this on hand.
use sherry in place of rice wine, or even white wine. Sure, a nonstick large skillet is fine!
We couldn't find the rice wine initially either, but when my husband Google'd it in the store, up popped an image of the bottle on the shelf. It was "Kikkoman Manjo Aji-Mirin Sweet Cooking Rice Seasoning" and on the shelf with the soy and teriyaki sauces.
Tammie, mirin is a sweetened rice wine most frequently used in sushi rice. If you are going to use that instead of regular rice wine I'd be very careful with the amount of sugar added into the recipe. It could get too sweet fast since it's got sugar added to it unlike regular rice wine.
Yum yum! Love this lighter spin on everyone's favorite takeout!
This looks incredible. I am pinning this because my husband adores orange chicken!
Yummy, I'm definitely going to try this! 🙂
I wanted to let you know that if you're using tamari, you may need to cut the amount in half and use 1 part tamari to 1 part water. Tamari is really, really salty. La Choy is also gluten free and not as salty, and kikoman has a gluten free brand as well now which isn't quite as bad. I don't know why the gluten free soy sauces are so much saltier, but I've ruined more than one dish by not adjusting for it.
I use the 'lower sodium soy sauce'. I watch salt in dishes too since it's not good for you and can eventually cause issues with high blood pressure. If it's not necessary then leave it out.
I just found tamari in low sodium! They have it at whole foods, but that's the only place I've seen it (I've searched everywhere in the dc metro area!). It is SO much better. I agree with you that tamari is way too salty, and salty things are my weakness.
Great tip. Thanks!
This looks delicious! Can't wait to try it out!
I am so excited about this recipe!
Gina, does it make a difference if you use an actual wok or regular pan? I do not have a wok at the moment. Thanks!
You can use a large skillet
My facebook link isn't working either.
Thanks I just posted a new link!
My daughter has been WAITING for you to do orange chicken!!!! And I have everything here to make it too! 🙂