Easy Orange Chicken {Soy Free}
This Orange Chicken recipe is delicious, and so easy to make. It makes the perfect dinner served over cauliflower rice or jasmine rice, and steamed broccoli. You won’t believe how Popular this recipe is in the SKS community. Try it and let me know what you think in the comment below!
Better than the Chinese Take-Out version, this orange chicken doesn’t disappoint.
Coated with sweet and citrusy sticky orange sauce, the Orange Chicken are lightly breaded and pan fried to crispy golden brown.
It is so easy and yet packed with flavors. The perfect recipe to meal prep for the week, for the whole family to enjoy.
Orange Chicken is more of an American-originated Chinese food. I have never had this dish growing up in China. But now I love it!
As delicious as the takeout version, it is deep-fried and heavy on sugar and salt. So I decided to make my own healthier version!
Now the chicken is crispy but without deep frying, and sweet without conventional white sugar or corn syrup, yet tastes even more delicious!
I am super excited to share this recipe with you. It’s bursting with all of the traditional orange chicken flavors you love.
Why I Love This Orange Chicken
Note: The photo shown above is served with jasmine rice. you can also try cauliflower rice.
This orange chicken recipe really nails the flavor of the takeout orange chicken we all know and love so much!
It’s so easy to make and doesn’t require a lot of time or fancy ingredients.
The perfect recipe for meal prep, this orange chicken recipe saves well. Therefore you can make a big batch of it, and then serve it with a variety of sides.
It’s also an affordable recipe to make, so it’s great for feeding large crowds of people.
Last but not least, this delicious orange chicken recipe makes a nutrient-dense meal.
How to Make this Orange Chicken Recipe
For the Chicken:
Let the chicken marinate for at least 30 minutes for the best flavor result.
Remove the chicken from the marinade and discard the leftover liquid (if any).
Do not overcrowd the chicken when you are pan-frying them. You may need to cook the chicken in separate batches.
Once all the chicken are cooked, remove them from the pan to a piece of paper towel.
Note: I used eggs in the breading in the original recipe. I have simplified this recipe using starch only without any eggs. And shaking the chicken with starch in a ziploc bag makes the process so much easier and mess-free.
In the same pan, add another 1-2 tablespoons of neutral cooking oil, once shimmery,
Once the sauce becomes thick and a little sticky,
Tips to make The Best Orange Chicken
- Make sure you purchase the orange juice only has ONE ingredient – Orange.
- Once you pour the orange sauce in the pan, it will thicken up over time. If it doesn’t become thicker for a couple of minutes, turn the heat to simmer, and add more arrowroot flour 1 tsp mixed with 1 tsp of water, at a time while continuing to whisk.
- Coconut aminos or soy sauce itself is salty. So take that into consideration when you add additional salt. (I don’t usually need much extra salt if any at all.)
Ways to Serve this Orange Chicken
The chicken is the star of this recipe (obviously), but it just serves as the base of a balanced meal.
Additionally, try roasted veggies, zoodles, or a combination of all of the above!
This recipe is best served fresh to fully experience the perfectly sticky orange sauce, but it still makes great leftovers and reheats well.
To reheat, gently warm on the stovetop in a saute pan. Add a little bit of fresh-squeezed orange juice or sesame oil if the chicken has absorbed too much sauce or has become dry.
Serve with your desired side and you have a perfectly delicious better-than-takeout Orange Chicken!
I hope you love this recipe as much as I do!
What’s your favorite Chinese takeout dish? Leave a comment below!
I LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING YOUR CREATIONS! YOU CAN USE “TRIED IT” ON PINTEREST OR SHARE ON INSTAGRAM BY TAGGING #SHUANGYSEATS
Get the recipe:Easy Orange Chicken {Soy Free}
Ingredients
Chicken Marinade
- 1.5 lbs chicken breast or thighs
- 2 tbsp coconut aminos
- 1 tsp Salt, or to taste *
Breading
- 1 cup tapioca starch
Orange Sauce
- 1/3 cup orange juice, no pulp
- 1/4 cup coconut aminos
- 2 tsp sesame oil
- 2 tbsp rice vinegar
- 3 tbsp filtered water
- 3 tsp arrowroot starch
- 2 cloves of garlic minced
- 1 inch of fresh ginger sliced
- 3 stalks green onion, chopped, green and white part seperated
Garnish
- Zest of 1/2 an orange
- green part of chopped scallions
Equipment
Instructions
- Cut the chicken into cubes **. In a big Ziploc bag or medium bowl, marinate the chicken with coconut amino, shaoxing wine and salt *. Make sure the chicken is completely coated.
- In a small bowl, whisk together orange juice, arrowroot flour, coconut amino, rice vinegar, sesame oil, and water. Set aside.
- Once the chicken is done marinating, remove from the marinade, disregard any liquid that is left.
- In a big ziploc bag, add the starch, add the chicken in. Shake vigorously until all the chicken is evenly coated in the starch.
- In a frying pan, heat up a thin to medium layer of neutral oil (like avocado oil). Once the oil is shimmering (about 1 minute), gently place the breaded chicken in the hot oil. Make sure not to crowd the chicken.
- Cook about 3 minutes each side **until crispy and golden brown on all sides, and cooked through.
- Transfer the chicken to a paper-towel-lined plate.
- Return to pan, add ½ tbsp avocado oil, sauté minced garlic, white part of the green onion and ginger for about 45 seconds without burning the garlic.
- Turn the heat to low, add the orange sauce. Gently stir it until it thickens and becomes sticky.
- Add the chicken into the pan and combine thoroughly with the sauce. Stir in orange zest.
- Sprinkle with orange zest, green part of the chopped green onion, and/or sesame seeds.
Notes
- *Coconut amino itself is salty, so take that into consideration when you salt the chicken.
- ** The smaller you cut the chicken, the faster they cook.
- *** Add more arrowroot starch, 1/2 tsp at a time if you are making a bigger batch that needs more sauce. See more tips in the "How to Make Section" in this Post.
The Nutrition Facts above are specific to the ingredients I chose to use for this recipe, which may vary.
In Step 1 it refers to marinating the chicken with shaoxing wine. I’d like to make this recipe tonight. It sounds delicious! Could you please tell me how much should be used?
Thanks!
Hi Liz-
The Shaoxing wine is optional- however you can use about 2 tbsp for marinating!
Hope this helps!
-Constance
Made this last night for my husband, and our 1 year old! It was SO GOOD! I had to swap out the arrowroot for AP flour since we didn’t have any, and can confirm it turned out great!
This was a very tasty and I love the crispness of the chicken! I added the chili flakes to personal plates for the adults and my son loved it! My daughter ate the chicken without the sauce which was also amazing as little healthy chicken nuggets. Thank you for this recipe!
Wondered if you’ve ever tried it in an air fryer?
Hi Julie,
I haven’t tried it but def could be done and then add the sauce afterwards!
Shuang
Thank you! Can’t wait to try this!
Hi Anita,
I can’t wait for you to try either!
Shuang
Hi! Thank you for this recipe. Thrive Market just shared it and I would love to try it but I’m confused about the orange juice. You mention it in the directions for both the marinade and the sauce, but I don’t see orange juice listed in the marinade ingredients list.
Thanks for your help!
Melody
Hi Melody,
It is one of my favorites! There is actually only orange in the orange sauce. Sorry if there is any confusion in the post. Hope this helped. let me know if you have any other questions and enjoy!
Shuang
Absolutely loved this recipe!!! Will definitely make again! For the orange sauce, how much arrowroot flour and coconut amino go in (it’s not specified in the ingredients)?
Hi there!
So glad you love it! I just updated the recipe! Can’t wait for you to make it again 🙂
Shuang