Baked Orange Chicken
This baked orange chicken is super easy and fast to make compared to most orange chicken recipes and is healthier because you aren’t frying the chicken.
The sauce is tangy and sweet with a little kick of spice. If you don’t want any spice just omit the red pepper flakes and it’ll still taste amazing.
I’ve made several orange chicken recipes and although they tasted delicious most of them were very time consuming, so I wanted to put together a recipe that was simpler to make when you’re craving orange chicken but are tight on time.
Most people don’t like deep frying because it can be dangerous, messy and it takes a lot of oil. This recipe is so much easier and still uses the delicious sauce you love and is easy enough to make for dinner tonight.
Classic orange chicken sauce is made with white sugar but some recipes call for brown sugar or marmalade. I use cane sugar when I make this but white or brown will work just fine. Most of the flavor comes from the garlic, ginger, orange juice and sesame oil.
To cut down on time I like to get the chicken prepped, in the oven and cooking while I make the sauce. This way the sauce is hot and ready when you pull the chicken out of the oven. I like to use chicken thighs because they tend to be more juicy when cooked but you can use skinless chicken breast instead.
For the chicken, first you want to grind up the panko bread crumbs until they are much smaller pieces. (I use a mini food processor) Put the diced chicken, flour, bread crumbs and the beaten eggs in separate bowls. Dip the chicken in the flour first, second the eggs, third bread crumbs and place on a greased baking sheet.
I’ll be honest, if I’m in a big hurry… instead of dipping each individual piece of chicken in everything I’ll dump the whole bowl into the flour, then into the eggs and bread crumbs and then lay them on the baking sheet. I like to also flip the chicken half way through the cooking process so that the chicken will be crispier.
To make the sauce I like to use my cast iron skillet but you can use any skillet or sauce pan. Put the oil, ginger, garlic and red pepper flakes and cook for a few minutes until fragrant.
Add the rest of the sauce ingredients, bring to a boil until it thickens then turn off the heat and wait for the chicken to finish cooking, then toss the chicken in the sauce. Garnish with green onions and serve.
We love to eat this baked orange chicken over rice. Broccoli or green beans are a great choice to serve as a side.
Baked Orange Chicken
Ingredients
For the chicken
- 1 cup Panko Breadcrumbs grind up into smaller pieces
- 2 lbs Chicken thighs cut into bite chunks
- 2 large Eggs beaten
- ½ cup Flour
For the sauce
- 1 tbsp Olive Oil
- 2 tbsp Ginger minced fresh or paste
- 2 tsp Garlic minced
- ½ tsp Crushed Red Pepper Flakes
- 1 cup White Vinegar
- ½ cup Orange Juice fresh or bottle works
- 1 tsp Sesame Oil
- ½ cup Sugar
- 1 tbsp Cornstarch
Garnish
- Green Onions sliced
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees and spray baking sheet with cooking spray. In a food processor add the panko breadcrumbs, pulse until the crumbs are much smaller, like regular breadcrumbs.
- In four separate bowls add the chicken chunks, beaten eggs, breadcrumbs and flour.
- Dip the chicken pieces into the flour first, then into the eggs and lastly into the breadcrumbs and place on prepared baking sheet. Spray with cooking spray or lightly brush with oil.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes. Half way through flip the chicken. While the chicken is cooking, make the sauce.
For the sauce
- In a skillet or sauce pan on medium heat add the oil, garlic, ginger and red pepper flakes and cook for a couple minutes until fragrant.
- Mix the cornstarch with the vinegar. Add the rest of the sauce ingredients along with the cornstarch vinegar mixture and bring to a boil. Cook until the sauce thickens then turn off the heat and wait for chicken to be done cooking. Toss the chicken in the sauce, garnish with green onions and serve.