I like to keep a number of easy recipes on hand that can be made quickly after a long day at work or school and this crispy orange chicken is one of them! This is a homemade version of the Chinese takeout orange chicken where crispy fried chicken is served in a tasty orange sauce! This recipe starts out by coating bite sized pieces of chicken in an egg and cornstarch batter before frying them in oil until crispy. The orange sauce is as easy to make as mixing all of the ingredients and simmering it in a pan for a few minutes before tossing it with the crispy chicken! This recipe takes about as much time to make as it takes to steam rice or boil some noodles making for a complete meal in about 20 minutes!
Crispy Orange Chicken
A light and tasty Chinese style orange chicken that’s so quick and easy to make at home!
ingredients
- 1 pound boneless and skinless chicken breasts or thighs, cut into bite sized pieces
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
- 1/2 cup corn starch
- 2 tablespoons oil (peanut or vegetable)
- 1/3 cup orange juice
- 3 tablespoons honey
- 3 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
- 1 teaspoon chill sauce (such as sambal oelek or sriracha)
- 1 tablespoon orange zest, grated
- 1 clove garlic, grated
- 1 teaspoon ginger, grated
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds
- 1/4 cup green onion, sliced (optional)
directions
- Mix the chicken into the egg until fully coated before mixing in the corn starch until just evenly coated.
- Heat the oil in a pan over medium-high heat, add the chicken, separate, and cook until golden brown, about 2-4 minutes per side, before setting aside, reserving the leftover oil in the pan.
- Meanwhile, mix the orange juice, honey, soy sauce, vinegar, chili sauce, orange zest, garlic, ginger and cornstarch and set aside.
- Add the sauce mixture to the pan, bring it to a boil and simmer until it thickens a bit, about a minute.
- Add the chicken, toss to coat, remove from heat, mix in the sesame oil, sesame seeds and green onions and enjoy over rice or noodles.
Note: The egg and cornstarch batter on the chicken is a wet batter that will crisp up when cooked in the oil!
Option: Omit the cornstarch and egg batter for a lighter version. (Also cut down to 1 tablespoon of oil from 2.)
Option: Add some veggies, such as snap peas, sugar peas, diced bell peppers, broccoli, etc. Saute them, in the same pan, after cooking the chicken and set aside before adding them back to the thickened sauce along with the chicken to toss and coat. You may need to add more oil to cook the veggies in.
Option: Start cooking rice or noodles before you start making the chicken and it will be ready at about the same time!
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