Ok you guys, how fabulous does that chicken right there look?!?! This Orange Chicken is so much better then takeout and I love that making it at home means we control the quality of the ingredients! Lets be honest, we all do it, order in on those crazy days but really the amount of salt in Chinese take out is crazy and I know it because my fingers turn fat! Tender pieces of chicken breast in a very light coating, fried until golden and tossed in an incredibly yummy homemade asian orange sauce!
I know, typically i’d skip the frying and bake but certain things just need that hot oil to cook up right and this Orange Chicken is one of those times. The coating is simple; the chunks of chicken breast as tossed in a mix of milk and egg then into cornstarch seasoned with salt, pepper and garlic powder. The sauce honestly couldn’t be any easier! I used an all natural orange marmalade, bbq sauce, soy sauce, water, garlic powder and a little cornstarch. You pop everything into a pop, blend together with an immersion blender and simmer for about 10 minutes until thickened.
As soon as you toss the hot chicken into that sauce, oh the aroma is wonderful!!! I finished the chicken off with some fresh sliced scallions. Served along with steamed broccoli and brown rice. This was a grew dinner and I hope you all give it a try.
Ingredients
- For the chicken:
- 6 chicken breasts, cut into bite sized pieces
- 1/4 cup milk
- 1 egg
- approx 1 1/2 cups cornstarch
- 2 tsp pepper
- 1 Tbsp salt
- 1 Tbsp garlic powder
- For the Sauce:
- 1 cup orange marmalade
- 1/2 - 3/4 cup water
- 2 Tbsp basic bbq sauce {I used Sweet Baby Rays original}
- 2 Tbsp soy sauce
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1 Tbsp cornstarch
- vegetable oil for frying
- sliced scallion for garnish
Instructions
- Place several inches worth of oil into a large pot. Heat it up to about 375 degrees. {Note: no worries if you don't have a thermometer to use, you can tell when the oil is read by placed the end of a wooden spoon in to the bottom of the pot, if small bubbles start forming around it then you are good to go}
- In a small bowl whisk together the milk and egg.
- In a bowl or sip up plastic bag, mix together the cornstarch, salt, pepper and garlic powder.
- Coat the chicken in the egg mixture then into the cornstarch mixture. Coat well.
- Shake off any excess cornstarch and gently place a small batch into the oil. Cook until golden and cooked through {if you aren't sure, test out a piece by cutting it in half.
- Place onto a paper towel lined baking sheet to absorb any excess oil. Continue until all the chicken is cooked.
- While the chicken in cooking you can get the sauce going. Place the orange marmalade, water, bbq sauce, soy sauce, garlic powder and cornstarch into a pot. Blend with an immersion blender and simmer for about 10 minutes until thickened enough to coat a spoon.
- Toss the chicken in with the hot sauce, garnish with fresh sliced scallions and serve over brown rice and a side of broccoli.
J @ Bless Her Heart Y'all
I bet that this is better than take-out orange chicken. I completely agree that eating in is so much better, knowing what is actually going into our bodies! I am going to for sure make this recipe. It sounds easy enough for me to make and my hubby LOVES orange chicken. Thanks so much for linking up with Celebrate Southern link up today! I hope to see ya and other amazing recipes of yours next week! xoxo
Angela LeMoine
Thank you for hosting! It’s so important to take care of ourselves & our families. Thank you so much for stopping by & I do hope you enjoy this as much as we did
Julie V. (Somebody's Dinner)
What a cool trick with the wooden spoon to check the oil temperature. Thanks for sharing this. I make a liter version of orange chicken that isn’t fried, but I also sometimes do something similar when I’m craving the take out. Thanks for the recipe and thanks for coming by the Retro Re-pin Party. We’ll see you next week on Weds. at 8 p.m.