Homemade Baked Orange Chicken

Orange chicken is a universal favorite. And it’s the #1 item in our kiddo’s school cafeteria.

I had never made orange chicken sauce from scratch because it seemed too complex. Plus, frying anything with a little one running around feels like a disaster ready to happen.

This orange chicken recipe has a simple, yet phenomenal sauce. Sweet and aromatic, with just the right level of stickiness. It’s super clean, with orange juice and chicken stock as the main ingredients, followed by a short list of standard pantry staples. By baking the chicken, there are no fears about scalding oil on the stove top.

While developing this recipe, I tried a bunch of different sauce and cooking options. This is the only one that our 6-year-old approved of. “Yeah, normal orange chicken!” The right texture, color and flavor for her, the best ingredients and baked preparation for me. Now that’s a well-balanced meal.

Ingredients

Chicken

4                     boneless skinless chicken breasts

1                     egg, whisked

¼ cup             flour

1 cup              panko breadcrumbs

Sauce

3/4 cup            freshly squeezed orange juice (or the juice from 2 large oranges)

1 tsp                orange zest

1/2 cup            chicken stock

1/2 cup            brown sugar

1/4 cup            seasoned rice vinegar

1 tbsp              soy sauce

1/2 tsp             fresh ginger paste (available in tubes in the produce section or you can zest fresh ginger root)

1 tbsp              shallots, minced

1/4 tsp             red chili flakes

1/4 tsp             salt

1 tbsp              cornstarch

1 tbsp              water

Instructions

Chicken

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
• Put the flour, panko and whisked egg in separate bowls.
• Cut the chicken into one-inch cubes.
• Dip each piece of chicken (1) into the flour, (2) into the egg, and (3) into the panko. Make sure to thoroughly coat the meat in each step.
• Place chicken on a non-stick baking sheet and bake for 20-25 minutes until golden brown

Sauce

• Add all the ingredients except the cornstarch and water to a small sauce pan.
• Heat over medium heat, stirring occasionally until the sauce begins to bubble. Simmer for about 5 minutes.
• In a separate small bowl, mix the cornstarch with the cool water until completely smooth.
• Reduce heat to low and slowly stir in cornstarch and water. (If added too quickly, it can clump.)
• Continue to stir the sauce as it thickens. Keep the sauce warm until the chicken is ready.

Place the chicken in a serving dish and drizzle the sauce over the meat, stirring gently, until each piece is well-coated.

Serve over steamed rice.

(You can make the recipe vegetarian by substituting vegetable stock in the sauce and extra firm pressed tofu for the chicken). To make it vegan, use a flax egg.)