Make restaurant style orange chicken at home! The sauce is made from orange marmalade, bbq sauce, soy sauce and water. Poured over crispy home-fried chicken bites. So delicious you won't believe how simple it is to make this popular recipe for your family.
You might also like our homemade egg rolls, chicken chow mein or steak and vegetable stir fry!
Watch our step by step video!
That feeling when you nail your family’s favorite Chinese takeout dish—it’s a GREAT feeling. With a large family we can't afford to eat take out at our favorite local Chinese food restaurant, and definitely can't visit Panda Express regularly. I tried SO many methods over the years. Low-fat recipes, recipes that used frozen chicken breasts, chicken nuggets, sauce recipes from scratch, bottled sauces, you name it we tried it.
Restaurant Style Orange Chicken
The sauce recipe is one that’s been around online for years using bbq sauce. I first saw it on a Facebook cooking page and was skeptical. Bbq sauce, orange marmalade and soy sauce? No orange zest or orange juice? Would the orange flavor come through? We tried it, made some modifications, and the taste was legit. When you think about it, it makes complete sense though. The orange flavor and zest are packed into the marmalade and the brown sugar, vinegar, salt, garlic and onion are in the BBQ sauce. We just needed to figure out a better way to serve it since we didn’t care for it being poured over chicken nuggets like most recipes called for.
I ultimately went with the method for frying chicken pieces from Made It Ate It Loved It and it was perfect! She uses this method for making her sweet and sour chicken and pineapple chicken. I made some slight modifications, but the technique is basically the same. Batches and batches later, we still aren't tired of this easy recipe!
The Secret To Making Chinese Take Out Chicken Dishes
The KEY to achieving restaurant quality Chinese chicken is BAKING the sauce onto the chicken. Don't just pour it over the hot chicken and serve. Baking it creates a delicious glaze and the SAME texture as take out.
Orange Chicken Ingredients
(scroll down for printable recipe)
- 3 chicken breasts
- 1 cup cornstarch
- 3 eggs, beaten
- 1 cup bbq sauce (we like Sweet Baby Ray)
- 1 cup orange marmalade
- ¼ cup soy sauce (regular or low sodium)
- ⅓ cup water
- vegetable oil for frying
Directions
- Pour enough oil into your pan (fry pan or sauce pan) so that it is about 2" deep. The amount of oil you will need will depend on the size of your pan. Heat the oil on medium-high heat to 350 degrees.
- Cut chicken into bite sized pieces (1-inch cubes). Place chicken in a ziplock bag with corn starch and shake to coat evenly.
- Dip chicken in beaten eggs, coating both sides.
- Place chicken in oil and fry until golden then flip each piece over to cook the other side.
- Place cooked chicken pieces into a 9x13" baking dish.
- Whisk bbq sauce, orange marmalade, soy sauce and water together in a bowl. Pour orange sauce over chicken. Stir to coat evenly.
- Bake in an oven at 350 degrees for 30 minutes, turning the chicken over half way through.
- Serve with white rice, brown rice or cauliflower rice. Optional: sprinkle with a few red pepper flakes for a bit of spice.
Easy Orange Chicken Recipe
Restaurant Style Orange Chicken
Ingredients
- 3 chicken breasts
- 1 cup corn starch
- 3 eggs beaten
- 1 cup bbq sauce (Sweet Baby Ray)
- 1 cup orange marmalade
- ¼ cup soy sauce
- ⅓ cup water
- oil for frying (canola or vegetable)
Instructions
- Pour enough oil into your pan (fry pan, skillet or sauce pan) so that it is about 2″ deep. The amount of oil you will need will depend on the size of your pan. Heat the oil to 350 degrees.
- Cut chicken into bite sized pieces. Place chicken in a ziplock bag with corn starch and shake to coat evenly.
- Dip chicken in beaten eggs, coating both sides.
- Place chicken in oil and fry until golden then flip each piece over to cook the other side.
- Place cooked chicken pieces into a 9x13 baking dish.
- Mix bbq sauce, orange marmalade, soy sauce and water together. Pour over chicken. Stir to coat evenly.
- Bake in an oven at 350 degrees for 30 minutes, turning the chicken over half way through.
- Serve with white rice.
Notes
Nutrition
Now all we need to do is find a good General Tso's chicken sauce and we'll have yet another favorite dish to make at home!
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