Chinese Orange Chicken

Name: Chinese Orange Chicken
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 27 min
Total time: 42 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Chinese
Ingredients: Zest of 1 Orange; 1/4 cup Orange Juice; 1/4 cup Soy Sauce; 1/4 cup Water; 1/3 cup Rice Vinegar; 1 tablespoon Cornstarch; 1 tablespoon Sesame Seed Oil; 1/2 cup Sugar; 650g Chicken Thighs; 2 large Egg; 1 tsp Salt; 1/4 tsp Black Pepper; 1/2 cup Cornstarch; 1/2 cup All purpose flour; 2 cups Vegetable Oil; 2 cloves chopped Garlic; 1 chopped Shallots; Sliced Scallions; Garnish Sesame Seed; To serve Rice

By The Spice & Simmer Kitchen · Published May 3, 2026

A one-pot Chicken recipe with Chinese flavors, built for busy weeknights when you want real food without a sink full of dishes. Comes together in roughly 75 minutes, serves about 4, and uses ingredients you can find at any normal grocery store. The technique is simple: build a base in your pot, layer in the main ingredients, simmer until everything has had time to talk to each other, and serve straight from the pan. If you're cooking for picky eaters, this one tends to land — the flavors are recognizable, the texture is comforting, and there's nothing weird hiding in the ingredient list. Perfect for the kind of evening where you want dinner on the table by 7pm and the kitchen empty by 7:30.

Ingredients

Makes 4 servings · 42 min total

Zest of 1 Orange
1/4 cup Orange Juice
1/4 cup Soy Sauce
1/4 cup Water
1/3 cup Rice Vinegar
1 tablespoon Cornstarch
1 tablespoon Sesame Seed Oil
1/2 cup Sugar
650g Chicken Thighs
2 large Egg
1 tsp Salt
1/4 tsp Black Pepper
1/2 cup Cornstarch
1/2 cup All Purpose Flour
2 cups Vegetable Oil
2 cloves chopped Garlic
1 chopped Shallots
Sliced Scallions
Garnish Sesame Seed
To serve Rice

Step-by-step instructions

Make the orange sauce: Whisk together sauce ingredients in a medium bowl. Set aside.
Prep the chicken: Cut chicken into about 1-inch cubes. Whisk eggs with salt and black pepper in a bowl and add chicken. Stir together.
In a separate bowl, whisk together flour and cornstarch. Remove chicken from eggs with a slotted spoon or tongs, letting excess egg drain off, then transfer to cornstarch mixture and coat well.
Fry the chicken: Add oil to a large 10- to 12-inch skillet. Heat over medium-high heat until it reaches 350°F. If you don’t have a thermometer, you can also test the temperature by sprinkling in some flour. If the oil is hot enough, it should fizzle immediately.
Once oil is hot, fry the chicken in two batches. The oil might not completely cover the chicken—that’s okay. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes. Flip the chicken pieces and cook until the chicken is cooked through, about 3 to 4 more minutes. Total cook time is about 6 to 8 minutes.
Remove fried chicken cubes and transfer to a plate lined with paper towels, so the chicken can drain. Repeat until all the chicken is cooked.
Simmer the chicken in the sauce: Once chicken is done, pour out hot oil and wipe pan clean. Add a fresh tablespoon of oil along with chopped garlic and shallot. Cook for a minute and then add the sauce. Simmer the sauce until it starts to thicken.
Once the sauce is lightly bubbling, add fried chicken and toss together to coat. The sauce should continue to thicken and stick to the chicken. Let simmer for a minute or two more. Serve orange chicken over cooked white rice, garnished with sesame seeds and fresh scallions.
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LEFTOVERS! The orange chicken keeps well in the fridge for 5 days. Reheat in a skillet with a splash of water over low heat. Freeze the orange chicken for up to 3 months, but be sure to thaw it before reheating so the chicken doesn’t clump together.

Why this works on a weeknight

Chinese Orange Chicken lands at about 42 minutes total — a little longer than our 30-minute target, but most of that time is hands-off simmering, which is why it earned a spot in our Skillet & One-Pan collection. The technique is forgiving, the ingredient list is grocery-store standard, and the active cooking time is short enough that you can answer a text message in the middle without ruining dinner.

Cleanup notes

This is a single-pan recipe, so the cleanup is exactly one pan, one cutting board, and one knife. While the dish rests, fill the pan with hot soapy water — by the time you are done eating, the residue lifts off with a single pass of a sponge. Skip the steel wool on cast iron; a stiff brush and warm water are all you need to keep the seasoning intact.

Make-ahead and leftovers

Leftovers keep covered in the fridge for up to three days. Reheat in a dry pan over medium-low with a splash of water or stock to loosen the sauce. Chinese Orange Chicken actually improves overnight as the flavors keep talking to each other, so doubling the recipe and packing tomorrow's lunch is a high-leverage weeknight move.

Filed under 🥘 Skillet & One-Pan Chicken Chinese