Easy Orange Chicken

This easy Orange Chicken recipe doesn’t require deep frying and has the same tangy, sweet, and salty flavor as your favorite Chinese take-out!

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OMG. This Easy Orange Chicken recipe is, without a doubt, STILL one of my all-time favorite take-out fake-out recipes I’ve ever shared on the blog! (I’m so happy I finally gave this recipe a try all the way back in 2017 😉 I’ve never looked back since!) The chicken pieces are tender, juicy, and lightly breaded, and the sauce is sweet, tangy, and spicy, with a whoosh of fresh orangey citrus flavor. It’s absolutely perfect and SO fast and easy!

Overhead view of homemade orange chicken in a bowl with rice.

“This is the best orange chicken I’ve ever eaten! I love how natural tasting it is, not like the gloppy, neon, super-sugary kind at restaurants. This is so fresh and delicious!”

Tom

Easy Orange Chicken Recipe

Orange chicken is a Chinese American dish with juicy chunks of crispy fried chicken drenched in a simple orange chili glaze. The sauce is sweet, tangy, salty, and savory, hitting all of the best flavors at once! My orange chicken recipe is the perfect dupe, but I’ve modified it a bit to make it easier for home kitchens.

I really don’t like deep-fried food, but I can’t deny that a little bit of fried flavor helps dishes like this feel more authentic (and by “authentic,” I mean tasting like your local take-out joint). So, for this recipe, I use the same pan-fry method as I do in my easy sesame chicken. I coat the chicken pieces in a thin cornstarch and egg batter, then fry them with a small amount of oil in a skillet until golden brown. This batter and pan-fry method gives the sauce something to grab onto and really helps flavor the chicken. It’s easy, delicious, and less messy!