Orange Chicken (Panda Express Copycat)

You can make delicious, homemade Orange Chicken, just like Panda Express! This recipe is easy to make, healthier, and less expensive too. Breaded and fried so it’s extra crispy and tossed with the perfect Asian flavors. Orange Chicken will be on your must-make list from now on.

The orange chicken from Panda Express is what all orange chicken should aspire to be. It’s tender, crispy, tangy, salty, and all around perfect on a bowl of rice.

If you spent a lot of time at malls as a teen, you might recall being offered samples of orange chicken on toothpicks in the Mall food court. That was excellent marketing, because one taste always made you want more! Orange chicken is Panda’s signature dish, and everyone loves it.

This copycat Panda Express Orange Chicken is just like what you get from the genius fast food chain, but it’s better because you’re making it at home, from scratch, and with simple ingredients. Make it a whole Panda Chef experience and have orange chicken with a batch of Cream Cheese Rangoons too!

See all of my restaurant copycat recipes and learn to make more of your favorites!

Why You’ll Love this Recipe

1. Ingredients You Understand: The chicken at Panda Express includes a whole bunch of additives, many of which are “proprietary” and not even listed. The ingredients in this recipe are common, easy to find things.
2. Healthier Takeout: Because you’re making homemade orange chicken, you can control what goes into it, automatically making it healthier than takeout.
3. Budget Friendly: It is so much cheaper to make your own chinese chicken than it is to order out. You can feed the entire family for less than a combo meal.
4. So Tasty: The sauce on our Orange Chicken is packed full of all of the best Asian flavor enhancers. Orange juice, soy sauce, ginger, and garlic are cooked with vinegar and sugar to make a balanced and delicious dish.

Key Ingredients:

Complete list of ingredients and amounts can be found in the recipe card below.

• Chicken Breasts: Panda Express and many Chinese takeout recipes use dark meat chicken to make this dish, but I like using chicken breasts. They are easier to cut into pieces without needing to trim much, and they’re generally healthier. You can use boneless, skinless thighs if you prefer.
• Cornstarch and Flour: The crispy breading for our chicken is a combination of these. PS. Cornstarch is called cornflour in the UK and Australia.
• Egg: Egg helps the flour and cornstarch stick to the meat and create a nice crust when frying.
• Vegetable Oil: You’ll need oil for frying, as well as a bit to include in the chicken breading.

For the sauce:

• Orange Juice and Zest: The orange zest is optional, but it really gives an extra bit of orange flavor that I like. Orange juice from a carton will give great flavor, it doesn’t need to be freshly squeezed. 
• Vinegar: Both distilled white vinegar and rice wine vinegar are added to the sauce to give it the perfect tangy flavor.
• Soy Sauce, Sesame Oil, Granulated Sugar: These three are the big flavors in the sauce. Soy adds salt and umami flavors, while sesame oil is warm and nutty. The sugar balances the vinegar perfectly.
• Red Pepper Flakes, Ginger, Garlic: the final flavor layers come from these seasonings. Use fresh ginger and garlic for best results. Red pepper flakes can be left out to reduce the spice level of the dish if you like.
• Cornstarch and Water: The thicken the sweet and tangy orange chicken sauce, this combo works magic.

How to Make Orange Chicken

1. Bread Chicken: Season the chicken with salt and set aside. In a bowl, whisk the egg with oil. In a shallow dish, combine the flour with the cornstarch. Now dip the chicken pieces in the egg mixture, then dredge in the flour mixture. Shake off any excess.
2. Fry Chicken: Add the breaded chicken pieces to a dutch oven of oil that has been preheated to 350°F/180°C. Fry the chicken for 3-4 minutes. Remove from the oil when the internal temperature of the chicken reaches 165°F/74°C. The chicken will be a little pale in color. Drain on a wire rack and keep in a warm oven as you fry the rest of the chicken. 

1. Mix Sauce: In a bowl, combine all of the sauce ingredients except for the ginger and garlic.
2. Cook Sauce: To a pan, add 1 tablespoon of oil (you can use the same oil you used for frying) and sauté the garlic and ginger for 30 seconds. Add the sauce mixture, and bring it to a boil. Reduce the heat to simmer and cook until the sauce has thickened.

1. Finish: Remove the sauce from the heat, add the fried chicken pieces to the sauce, and mix until the chicken is well coated. Serve over rice, garnished with fresh chopped green onion.

Top Tips

• Cut Uniform Pieces. Try to cut the chicken into bite sized pieces that are all the same size. This way they will cook at the same time. 
• Use Thighs if you like. Use chicken thighs if you want to make this recipe a real copycat, because that’s what Panda Express uses. 
• Shallow Fry, or Deep Fry. You can fry the chicken using a deep fryer if you have one, or use a dutch oven like I’m using here to keep things a bit less messy. You can also shallow fry the chicken, using a smaller amount of oil. Be sure to rotate the chicken pieces to brown each side.
• Don’t Overcook. Keeping the chicken crispy and tender and juicy in the middle means that you need to cook it all the way, but not too much. 
• Switch the Sauce. The sauce from my General Tso’s chicken can be used to make this crispy chicken a little bit different. 

What to Serve with Orange Chicken

Your copycat Panda Express Orange Chicken will go beautifully with your favorite Asian style sides!

Go Basic: Serve with Jasmine or Basmati rice and steamed vegetables like green beans or broccoli.

Go Nuts: Create a takeout-style feast! Make Instant Pot Fried Rice, Instant Pot Shrimp and Broccoli, and Honey Garlic Salmon, and let everyone build their own plate. Asian Chicken Salad or Daikon Radish Slaw will add a healthy element to the mix.

FAQs

You are going to flip when you taste this Orange Chicken recipe! It’s better than Panda Express and so simple to make from scratch. Don’t forget to pin this recipe!