Orange chicken is a dish popularized by Panda express. It’s one of the most popular fusion Chinese American dishes out there, and for good reason. The tangy and umami flavors fused together with crispy chicken is absolutely mouthwatering.
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💭 Why Make The Air Fryer Orange Chicken
Orange chicken traditionally consists deep fried chicken tossed in a zesty orange flavored sauce. The combination of orange with umami soy sauce results in a delicious balance of flavors.
So why make this with an air fryer?
It's a much healthier cooking method, since it results in much less oil usage.
There's no need to deep fry anything, making it a lot easier to clean up afterwards.
It tastes just as good, if not better, than take out, at a fraction of the price and calories.
Air frying chicken always results in such delicious healthy results with such easy clean up, and I'm so excited to share another air fryer chicken recipe.
If you liked this recipe, check out the following:
🍏 Calories and Nutrition – How to Make It Healthy
A serving of Panda Express’s orange chicken clocks in a whopping 380 calories with only 14 grams of protein. Most of the calories come from the 18 grams of fat and 45 grams of carbs from deep frying the chicken in batter.
Thankfully, you can still enjoy this dish by using a few ingredient swaps and cooking techniques. Here’s what I did to make this healthy:
- Omitted usage of any batter. Air frying the chicken makes it quite crispy already.
- Portioned 6 ounces of boneless skinless chicken thigh to ensure ample protein content
- Used cooking spray instead of oil. A tablespoon of olive oil can have a whopping 120 calories mainly from fat.
- Air fried instead of deep frying the dish, which requires much less oil usage (only need the oil from the cooking spray)
For a detailed breakdown of each ingredient, their portioning, and how they make up the nutrition profile of this air fryer orange chicken recipe, you may refer to the table below:
📋 Ingredient Notes
To make the air fryer orange chicken, you’ll need the following.
Orange Chicken Sauce
- Garlic and Ginger – Staple aromatics that will enhance the sauce flavor
- Fresh Orange– The fresh juice and orange zest will give the sauce a nice orange flavor
- Orange Juice – Essential for giving the orange chicken it’s beloved tangy orange flavor.
- Lemon – Gives the sauce an additional kick of freshness
- Sugar – Balanced out the saltiness of the dish and gives it a delicious umami flavor.
- Soy Sauce – For an additional boost of savoriness
- Oyster Sauce – For an additional boost of umami
- Rice vinegar – Essential for balancing out the sauce
- Cornstarch – Gives the sauce a thicker consistency
Chicken and Rice
- Boneless chicken thighs – I opted for boneless skinless chicken thighs since it has enough fat for the flavor but not too much so that it would make the dish unhealthy.
- Rice – I used white rice, but brown rice would also work.
- Salt and Black Pepper – Additional seasoning for the chicken
- Garnishes – Garnishing the dish with some scallions and sesame seeds.
🔪 Step by Step Instructions
Prepare the ingredients – Mince the garlic and ginger. Cut the chicken thigh into small, bite-sized pieces, trimming off any excess fat. Season the chicken with salt and pepper.
Air fry the chicken – Line the air fryer basket with parchment paper. Spray cooking spray on the parchment paper, add the chicken pieces in a single layer in the basket, and spray more cooking spray on top of the chicken. Air fry the chicken for 10 minutes at 370F. Then flip the pieces to the other side and air fry for an additional 8 minutes at 370F.
Make the orange chicken sauce – In a saucepan or small pot, bring the stove to medium heat and spray cooking spray. Sauté the garlic and ginger. Then add all the sauce ingredients except the cornstarch into the pan.
Make cornstarch slurry – In a separate small bowl, mix the cornstarch with water to make a slurry. Mix the cornstarch slurry into the sauce to thicken it.
Coat the chicken – Once the chicken is done being air-fried, toss them into the sauce and coat the pieces thoroughly.
Garnish and serve – Serve the orange chicken with white rice and broccoli, or sides of choice. Garnish with sesame seeds, scallions, and oranges if desired.
🍽 What To Eat It With
In this orange chicken recipe, I paired it with a side of white rice. This is a super versatile dish that can be paired with several other options including the following:
- White rice or brown rice – It’s a great way to make this a well-rounded meal and the rice
- Fried rice – This would orange chicken would also be delicious with a side of healthy fried rice.
- Garlic noodles – Switch it up and eat this orange chicken with some delicious garlic noodles
- Roasted Broccoli, Brussel sprouts, or Bok Choy – Serve this with a side of greens for a well-balanced meal. My personal favorite are these Thai Roasted Brussel Sprouts
💭 Frequently Asked Questions
To thicken the sauce, follow the steps in the recipe instructions to mix in the cornstarch slurry and let the sauce simmer for a few minutes. The sauce should begin to thicken as it simmers, just keep in mind this may take a few minutes. Just half a teaspoon of cornstarch did the trick for me.
If the simmering and cornstarch still does not achieve the desired thickness, feel free to add a bit more cornstarch.
Orange chicken is not usually a very healthy dish given its high fat content from deep frying the chicken and high carb usage from the breading. However, by using an air fryer to cook the chicken and omitting the breading, we’re able to cut the calories of this dish significantly while still retaining the delicious flavor of the dish.
I would not recommend making this dish in advance as the crispiness of the chicken will not retain for much longer after cooking. To simplify the process, you can pre-make the sauce and cook the chicken and toss it when you’re ready to serve the dish.
💭 Expert Tips
Air fry the chicken in one layer – Stacking the chicken pieces on top of each other will result in uneven cooking. Keep in one layer for best results.
📖 Substitutions and Variations
Use boneless chicken breast – The chicken won’t be quite as juicy but this is a good substitute.
Make it on the stovetop – If you don't have an air fryer, you can still make this recipe on the stovetop. Check out my healthy orange chicken recipe to see the stovetop instructions.
Make it spicy– Saute some chili flakes or Thai chilis with the aromatics to add a kick to it.
Make it with batter – To make the orange chicken with batter, dip the chicken in egg yolk, then cornstarch before frying. Note that this will add a sizable amount of calories from the cornstarch.
🥡 Storage
You can store this dish in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.
🍳 Recipe
Air Fryer Orange Chicken Recipe (Healthy and Easy)
Equipment
- 1 Air Fryer
Ingredients
Orange Chicken Sauce
- 2 tablespoon Orange Juice
- 1 Zest of Orange
- 1 clove Garlic
- 1 slice Ginger
- 1 teaspoon Sugar
- 1 tablespoon Soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon Rice Wine Vinegar
- ½ teaspoon Cornstarch
- ½ tablespoon Oyster Sauce
- Lemon Juice
Chicken and Rice
- 6 oz Chicken Thighs (Boneless, skinless)
- Salt and Pepper
- ¼ cup Brown Rice
- Scallions (For garnish)
- Sesame seeds (For garnish)
Instructions
- Prepare the ingredients – Mince the garlic and ginger. Cut the chicken thigh into small, bite-sized pieces, trimming off any excess fat. Season the chicken with salt and pepper.
- Air fry the chicken – Line the air fryer basket with parchment paper. Spray cooking spray on the parchment paper, add the chicken pieces in a single layer in the basket, and spray more cooking spray on top of the chicken. Air fry the chicken for 10 minutes at 370F. Then flip the pieces to the other side and air fry for an additional 8 minutes at 370F.
- Make the orange chicken sauce – In a saucepan or small pot, bring the stove to medium heat and spray cooking spray. Sauté the garlic and ginger. Then add all the sauce ingredients except the cornstarch into the pan.
- Make cornstarch slurry – In a separate small bowl, mix the cornstarch with water to make a slurry. Mix the cornstarch slurry into the sauce to thicken it.
- Coat the chicken – Once the chicken is done being air-fried, toss them into the sauce and coat the pieces thoroughly.
- Garnish and serve – Serve the orange chicken with white rice and broccoli, or sides of choice. Garnish with sesame seeds, scallions, and oranges if desired.
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