This Skillet Orange Chicken Recipe is so easy to make — it comes together in 30 minutes or less! Serve it with rice and steamed vegetables or salad and you have an easy weeknight meal.
This recipe for Orange Chicken has a crispy exterior and a sweet, sticky, tangy sauce that comes together all in one pan. It’s loaded with flavor and sure to please the whole family!
I don’t know about you, but Chinese food is one of our favorite things, especially when it can be made completely in 30 minutes!
Takeout can be a lifesaver some days when you just can’t get dinner on the table but I love having a wide range of easy substitutes on hand for when I need something quick but still want something homemade and relatively healthy.
If you’re looking for the Panda Express orange chicken, this Skillet Orange Chicken Recipe is so easy to make — it comes together in 30 minutes or less! Serve it with rice and steamed vegetables or salad and you have an easy weeknight meal.
This Homemade Sweet and Sour Sauce, one pan Chicken Chow Mein, and Meatballs in Orange Sauce are a few more of my favorites!
This easy Orange Chicken recipe is a pan-fried version of the traditional deep-fried Orange Chicken often found in Chinese restaurants.
We like to serve it with this Easy Fried Rice or instant rice to cut down on time, but long grain rice works just as well, and cauliflower rice can be a great option if you’re looking for a low carb substitute.
How to Make Orange Chicken
- First, I lightly coat the chicken pieces in corn starch to ensure a crispy exterior without breading or deep frying. We brown just the outside with a little oil, and then add the sauce.
- The Orange Chicken sauce is made of orange juice, orange marmalade, soy sauce, garlic and a few other tasty ingredients. I like adding a bit of orange marmalade because it makes the sauce extra sticky and it really clings to the chicken!
- If you like things extra spicy, feel free to add an extra pinch or two of red pepper flakes — I like to keep things pretty mild so the kids will enjoy it too!
How to Make Crockpot Orange Chicken
This recipe can easily be adapted to the crockpot! Here’s how:
- Coat and brown the chicken in a frying pan according to the original instructions.
- Add the chicken and the sauce mixture to the crockpot, and cook on high for 2 hours or low for 3-4 hours until the sauce has thickened and the chicken is cooked through. It couldn’t be easier!
- This is a great way to prepare orange chicken for a potluck because it is so easy to keep warm without overcooking. And I guarantee it will be one of the first things to disappear!
Skillet Orange Chicken Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts cut into 1″ cubes
- 3 tablespoons cornstarch
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 2 tablespoons canola oil or vegetable oil
- ½ cup orange marmalade
- ½ cup orange juice unsweetened
- ⅓ cup soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon white vinegar
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger
- 1 pinch red pepper flakes
- ⅓ cup reduced sodium chicken broth
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
Instructions
- Place chicken pieces in a large bowl and add 3 tablespoons corn starch, salt and pepper. Stir to coat.
- Heat a large pan over high heat and add oil (add more oil if needed to coat the bottom of your pan).
- Add chicken to the pan and cook over high heat, turning once, just until browned, about 2 minutes per side.
- Meanwhile, make the Orange Chicken sauce. Whisk together the marmalade, juice, soy sauce, vinegar, garlic, ginger, pepper flakes, chicken broth and 2 tablespoons corn starch.
- Once chicken is browned, reduce heat to medium and add the sauce. Cook and stir until sauce has thickened and chicken is cooked through (165° F minimum), about 10 minutes.
- Serve over rice as desired.
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Main Course
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Tried it…loved it….has become a weekly go to!!
Looks yummy , will try
You’ll be so glad you did Cheryl!
Great recipe, came out great! Tastes much better than Chinese takeout. I also added some blanched broccoli and red bell pepper while I was browning the chicken.
Oooh, I love the addition of the broccoli and pepper Jay! So glad you loved the chicken!
This was simple and absolutely delicious. Nice and light due to the corn starch and no heavy batter plus gluten free! Definitely a keeper.
So glad you loved it Daniela!
I rely on the comments section for information regarding substitutions, changes, etc. so I figure I should contribute! I followed the recipe as written, with the addition of chopped Anaheim peppers which I threw in the pan at the same time as the sauce. The sauce is fantastic and the chicken was cooked perfectly after 10 minutes. As for the peppers, I loved the slight crunch that they lent to the dish; however the flavor was a bit too sharp to really blend well with the sauce, so next time I will try a bell or Italian frying pepper.
I can’t wait to make this with eggplant from the garden – I’ll let y’all know how that goes in about 6 months!
I am so glad you loved it Shirley! Eggplant sounds delicious, can’t wait to hear how it turns out.
WAY sweet! Okay flavor but way too sweet and sticky for my taste. I also added carrots, peppers, shrooms and onions.
Great additions Joan. You could try using a less sweet marmalade or cutting back on the marmalade next time. Did you use unsweetened orange juice?
This was really tasty. I found the recipe because I made a batch of orange marmalade that was too dry. It worked great for this. Will definitely be making this recipe again. Thank you.
Great idea Sue! So glad you enjoyed the orange chicken recipe!
This will be my second time making this recipe. It was delicious the first time and my mouth is already watering as I get ready to make it again. And my husband said he likes it even better without heavy breading. Thank you for this great recipe!
I am so glad you guys loved it Candace, enjoy!
I made this recipe tonight for my family. I doubled the ingredients and WOW! A truly fantastic orange chicken. I also passed it along to several friends. Thank you. This will be a favorite in my recipe box.
Yay Leane!!
The Chinese delivery in my area is not great, and this reeeeally hit the spot. I used fresh oranges for the juice and added a little zest to the sauce, and also added a little more ginger/garlic than she called for…. about 1.5 tsp. of each. Both modifications were to adjust for my own flavor preferences, I think it would have still been great without changing a thing. Really delicious! Now I just need the General Tso’s version of this and I’m set :)
So glad you loved it Sidney, thank you for sharing your updates!
Easy, quick and very tasty. Great recipe, thank you!
So glad you enjoyed it Amy!
Super tasty! Haven’t heard from the kids but the husband and I like it! Fairly easy to make, but for a large family can be time consuming to fry all the chicken. Or, it was for me anyway.
So glad you enjoyed it and thank you for your feedback!
Just made this skillet orange chicken recipe. Just delicious. Thank you!!!
I’m so glad you loved it Patty!
I just made this recipe, and I love it! I added garlic leaves and used mandarin orange pulp because I didn’t have any marmalade on hand! I can’t wait to make it again. Next time, I might try it with tofu instead of chicken!<3
So glad you loved it Claire!
This looks fabulous! We are grain free and are going to try it over cauliflower rice.
I’m sure you’ll love it Joyce!
This looks so tasty. I love sweet and savoury can’t wait to try this!
Thank you Nathan! It’s the perfect balance of sweet and savory!
Orange chicken is my absolute fav! And I like how you can make it in a crockpot on super busy days! This will definitely be added to my weeknight menu.
This recipe IS great for weeknights (and weekends too!). Enjoy, Jessica!
Thank you Elaine. Enjoy!
It is quick, and easy! Thank you Annemarie!
Enjoy, Tara!