Baked Chinese Orange Chicken
Savor this easy, delicious Baked Chinese Orange Chicken. It is sticky, crispy, and zesty. In 30 minutes, serve it with vegetables, rice, or noodles.
Jump to:
Healthier, oven-baked orange chicken, tossed in a delicious sticky orange citrusy sauce! For this recipe, I used orange juice (freshly squeezed or shop-bought). Orange chicken is usually served with white rice, broccoli, green beans or noodles.
Chef Andy Kho created orange chicken at the American restaurant Panda Express in 1987. It is inspired by flavors from the Hunan Province in China and has been on the menu ever since! Unsurprisingly, the mouthwatering orange-flavored chili sauce has led to so many 'copycat' recipes.
You may also enjoy this Beef Ramen Recipe, Vietnamese Rice Paper Rolls and Easy One Pan Beef and Broccoli.
Why This Recipe Works
- This sticky copycat Panda Express Baked Chinese Orange Chicken is sweet, citrusy, and delicious.
- It can be served with white rice, noodles or vegetables.
- You can create your buffet and serve it with Chinese Takeaway Salt and Pepper Chicken Wings, Chinese Vegetable Spring Rolls, Quick Chinese Beef Noodles Recipe and Singapore Rice Noodles.
- It can be prepared in various ways. For example, you can air fry or pan fry them.
Ingredients
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
- Chicken: For this recipe, use chicken breasts. If the chicken is frozen, let it defrost overnight in the fridge before preparing it.
- Soy sauce: Select good-quality soy sauce for this recipe.
Tips and Substitutions
- Oven tray: To prevent the chicken chunks from getting stuck to the oven tray, grease the tray with oil and lightly brush oil on top of the chunks that are facing upwards.
- Sauce: Taste the orange sauce as you go along because everyone has different tastes. The beauty about making things at home is that you can make them to your taste.
- Spice level: Alter your heat level! If you are a spicy food lover like me then double the amount of chilli you add! If you want a sweeter sauce then add more brown sugar. It is up to you!
- Protein: You can also try this dish with different proteins. For example swap the chicken chunks with prawns, pork, squid and beef. Vegan options: tofu, tempeh and broccoli!
How to Make Baked Chinese Orange Chicken
- Set your oven to 160°C/320°F. Grab a baking tray, grease it lightly, and line it if you like. Set it aside. Chop up the chicken fillets into bite-sized pieces, then sprinkle on some salt and pepper to taste.
2. In a bowl, mix flour and cornstarch. Add salt, pepper, and garlic seasoning and stir well.
3. Crack the eggs into a separate bowl and whisk them up.
4. Dip the chicken pieces into the egg, then into the flour mix, ensuring each piece is well-coated. Place the coated chicken pieces on the tray so they're not touching. Spray them with cooking oil quickly, then pop them in the oven for about 25 minutes, flipping them halfway through.
5. While the chicken is baking, grab a pot and mix orange juice, soy sauce, brown sugar, rice wine vinegar, garlic seasoning, red chili flakes, and the zest of one orange. Give it a taste and adjust the seasoning if needed. Heat the sauce over low heat for 5-8 minutes, stirring now and then until it thickens.
6. Once the chicken is done, toss it in the sauce so it's fully coated. Sprinkle on some sesame seeds and chopped spring onions.
7. Serve this tasty Baked Chinese Orange glazed Chicken with plain rice or Carrot Salad with Asian Dressing.
Recipe FAQs
Sticky orange chicken can be stored in the fridge for 2-3 days. When serving again, microwave or heat in a saucepan.
More Tasty East Asian Recipes
Thanks for reading this recipe; comment below if you made this and let me know how it went! Follow @simshomekitchen on Instagram, take a photo, tag and hashtag it with @simshomekitchen.Â
Stay connected and follow me for more recipes on Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram and TikTok for my latest recipes!
Baked Chinese Orange Chicken
Equipment
- 1 Bowl
- 1 Sauce pan
Ingredients
- 3 chicken fillets
- Salt to taste
- Pepper to taste
- ½ cup flour
- ¼ cup cornstarch
- 2 eggs beaten
- ½ cup orange juice
- 1-2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 3 tablespoons brown sugar
- 3 tablespoons of rice wine vinegar
- A pinch of garlic seasoning
- A pinch of red chilli flakes
- ½ zest of one orange
- sesame seeds
- ½ spring onions
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 160°C/320°F. Line and grease an oven tray lightly with oil and set aside.
- Chop the chicken fillets into bite-size pieces and sprinkle salt and pepper to taste on the chicken chunks.
- Add flour and cornstarch into a bowl. Next, add a pinch of salt, pepper, and garlic seasoning and stir well.
- Crack eggs into a separate bowl and whisk.
- Then, dip the coated chicken pieces into the egg and cornstarch mix, ensuring they are fully coated. Place the chicken pieces on the greased tray, ensuring they are not touching. Spray the chicken pieces with cooking oil and bake in the oven for 25 minutes or until done, turning halfway through.
- While the chicken is baking, add orange juice, soy sauce, brown sugar, rice wine vinegar, garlic seasoning, red chili flakes, and the zest of one orange to a pot, and stir all ingredients together (taste and adjust seasoning if necessary).
- Heat the stove and cook the sauce for 5-8 minutes on low heat, stirring occasionally until it thickens. Once the chicken chunks have finished baking, add them to the sauce, toss, sprinkle sesame seeds and spring onions on top, and serve!
Notes
- Alter your heat level! If you are a spicy food lover like me then double the amount of chilli you add! If you want a sweeter sauce then add more brown sugar. It really is up to you!
- You can also try this dish with different proteins. For example swap the chicken chunks with prawns, pork, squid and beef. Vegan options: tofu, tempeh and broccoli!
