How to Make Orange Chicken | Better Than Take Out

Can you make Orange Chicken at home and have it turn out better than takeout? I’ll let you be the judge of that once you make this recipe! Orange Chicken is one of my favorites when we get takeout, however I don’t like dark meat, so I tend to never order it. Now don’t get me wrong, you can definitely use dark meat/chicken thighs if you prefer that instead of chicken breast. The sauce is perfection, tasting just like the orange sauce should from takeout and has just a tiny bit of heat from the red pepper. Hopefully you’ll have extra so you can use it to top your rice or use it for dipping other stuff because in this sauce there isn’t any crazy ingredients that you have no idea what they are. So, if you want to make your own Orange Chicken at home, follow along step by step and watch the video tutorial. Let’s go!

Supplies

Step 1: Ingredients

Orange Sauce

1 cup orange juice
½ cup sugar
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
4 tablespoons soy sauce
¼ teaspoon ginger grated
2 garlic cloves minced
¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon cornstarch
2 tablespoons of water
Zest from 1 orange

Chicken

2/3 cup cornstarch
2/3 cup flour
2 teaspoon salt
3 eggs whisked
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts cut into 1-inch chunks (about 2 lb)
Oil for frying

If you need to convert the measurements: https://unitconverter.net/cooking-measurement

Step 2: Orange Sauce

To a medium saucepan, add orange juice, sugar, rice vinegar, soy sauce, ginger, garlic, and red pepper flakes.

Step 3: Simmer and Add Cornstarch

Bring this mixture to a simmer. Combine cornstarch and water and add it to the orange sauce. Cook until mixture thickens, whisking constantly.

Step 4: Add Zest

Once mixture has thickened, remove from heat and add orange zest and stir to combine.

The mixture shouldn't be super thick.

Step 5: For the Chicken

Add oil to a heavy bottom pot over medium heat, about 2 inches up the sides and heat it up to 350 degrees F. Meanwhile add cornstarch, flour and salt in a shallow dish and combine.

Make sure you are using cornstarch with the flour because it gives it that take out texture we all love!

Step 6: Whisk Eggs

Add whisked eggs to a small bowl.

Step 7: Assemble

Add chicken chunks to eggs and then to cornstarch mixture, place on a clean plate. Try to keep your chicken from touching.

Step 8: Fry Chicken

Working in batches, cook the chicken 2-3 minutes or until golden brown. Place chicken on a clean plate that has been lined with paper towels. Repeat until finished.