A recipe for an easy 3-ingredient orange chicken recipe that will turn boring leftover stuff at home into restaurant-quality meals. These crunchy golden bites of chicken are mixed in a sweet and tangy, incredibly delectable orange sauce that will make those cravings for takeout feel satisfied. Just spread them over your white, fluffy bowl of rice and sautéed vegetables and have a quick and healthy meal. Absolutely perfect for dinner at weeknights, showing just less is more!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Three sauce components and everyday pantry stuff for the chicken-it’s quick to whisk everything together.
Quick and Tasty: And the beauty of a dish such as this one, as it can be done in less than 30 minutes and fastly becomes the best OC relief you can get for a short time.
Customizable-best things: The sweet stuff, spicy matter, and it goes really well with almost everything else you’d like to make it into.
Amicable meal: even your kids will love this light seasoning unto awfully bold, tangy, sweet flavors.
Key Ingredients
BBQ Sauce: Use Sweet Baby Ray’s to sweeten up a nice, smoky barbecue sauce; he always gives us a good, well-rounded flavor of barbecue sauce-good and not too tangy-hot tangy, spicy, well, unless you adapt it a bit in taste.
Orange Marmalade: One could say orange marmalade is the soul of the sauce, speaking in terms of orange sweetness with a whisper of zest. You can even go for a low-sugar or no-sugar-added marmalade substitute for a less sweet option.
Soy Sauce: Residues of that salty taste to studs in sugar from soy sauce.
Chicken: While this orange chicken recipe goes best with boneless skinless chicken breasts, juicy chicken thighs are also not forbidden.
Complete list of ingredients with quantities and instructions is located in the recipe card below
Would you like to save this?
We'll email this post to you, so you can come back to it later!
Instructions
1. Prepare the Sauce
In a medium saucepan, combine:
1 cup BBQ sauce
1/2 cup orange marmalade
2 tablespoons soy sauce
Simmer: Cook on low heat for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally to blend the flavors and thicken the sauce.
2. Prep the Chicken Coating
In one bowl, beat 2 large eggs until smooth.
In another bowl, mix 1 cup flour and/or 1/2 cup cornstarch. This will create a crispy coating.
3. Coat the Chicken
Dip: Take bite-sized chicken cubes and dip them in the beaten egg.
Coat: Roll each chicken piece in the flour mixture, ensuring it’s fully coated.
4. Fry the Chicken
Heat about 1/2 inch of vegetable oil in a frying pan over medium-high heat.
Fry: Add the coated chicken pieces to the hot oil. Cook for 3-5 minutes per side, or until golden brown and cooked through.
Drain: Remove the chicken and place it on paper towels to drain excess oil.
5. Combine Chicken and Sauce
Once the chicken has cooled slightly, toss it in the prepared BBQ-marmalade sauce until evenly coated.
6. Serve
Serve the saucy chicken over white rice for a complete meal.
Optional: Pair with sautéed vegetables like green peppers or broccoli for added flavor and nutrition.
Serving Suggestions
Pair it with the following to round out your orange chicken:
Steamed Rice: White rice, jasmine rice, or brown rice is really generously served with this meal to help soak up the flavorful sauce.
Vegetables: Sautéed broccoli, bell peppers, or snap peas add a fresh crunch and balance the richness of the dish.
Noodles: Serve over stir-fried noodles for that different take on a classic.
Spring Rolls or Dumplings: Add a few appetizers that would make this dish whole takeout-style meal.
Storage and Reheating Tips
Storage
Keep your leftover orange chicken in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
Reheating
Remember these points while reheating orange chicken:
If it’s spoiled, it is not good for your food-or your body.
Stovetop: Simply pan- fry on medium heat with a splash of water or chicken broth to refresh the sauce.
Microwave: Pop individual portions into the microwave in 30-second intervals, and you should be good to go.
Oven: Turn your oven to 350°F, put them in a baking sheet, and leave it there for 10-12 minutes. Look for a crispy finish.
Variations
Spicy Orange Chicken: Add a pinch of red pepper flakes with an order of sriracha to set a fire in your mouth.
Air Fryer Chicken: Save on the frying and bake up the same chicken in an air fryer. Put the oiled coated chicken inside and cook for 10-12 minutes at 400°F. Once you flipped halfway, the chicken should be done perfectly.
Gluten-Free Option: Just put out regular soy sauce for gluten-free soy then replace flouring with some gluten-free flour blend or cornstarch.
Sticky Sesame Chicken: Sprinkle the dish liberally with toasted sesame seeds for added texture and flavor.
Extra Zesty: Add a teaspoon of orange zest to the sauce to give it a light, fruity, citrus forward flavor.
Conclusion
3-Ingredient Orange Chicken is a seamless marriage of convenience and taste – an at-home twist on a takeout favorite with crispy bits of chicken coated in a sweet, tangy sauce. This is something you would like to make over and over.
Pro Tip: Make sure you coat all bites with that delicious glaze when you sauce up your warm chicken.
Well then, get that skillet hot and easy orange chicken in the pan-so you can enjoy all that takeout-quality yumminess in your kitchen.
3-Ingredient Orange Chicken
Ingredients
- 1 cup BBQ sauce e.g., Sweet Baby Ray’s
- 1 cup sweet orange marmalade e.g., Smucker’s
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 3-4 chicken breasts cut into cubes
- 1 cup flour or cornstarch or a mix of both
- 2 eggs beaten
- vegetable oil for frying
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan, combine BBQ sauce, orange marmalade, and soy sauce. Simmer on low heat for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally to blend flavors and thicken the sauce.
- In one bowl, beat 2 eggs until smooth. In another bowl, mix flour and/or cornstarch to create a crispy coating.
- Dip the chicken cubes in the beaten egg, then roll in the flour mixture to ensure full coverage.
- Heat about 1/2 inch of vegetable oil in a frying pan over medium-high heat. Fry the coated chicken pieces for 3-5 minutes per side, or until golden brown and cooked through. Drain on paper towels to remove excess oil.
- Once the chicken has cooled slightly, toss it in the prepared BBQ-orange sauce until evenly coated.
- Serve the saucy chicken over white rice for a complete meal. Pair with sautéed vegetables like green peppers or broccoli for added flavor and nutrition.
