Ground Orange Chicken is made in one pan and only takes 20 minutes using a Panda Express copycat sauce. So much healthier than the original!
Ground Orange Chicken was born in my head one evening about a month ago when we were preparing Korean Ground Beef as we have for years. I had a package of ground chicken and I was about to suggest making Korean Ground Chicken when I thought, “ooooorrrrrrrrrrrrr….” and a whole new world of ideas came flooding into my head. In the last month we’ve made them in four different flavors (which are all coming soon).
This Ground Orange Chicken is amazing because it still has the crisp texture because we brown it well before breaking the chicken apart and it still has that amazing Panda Express Orange Chicken Sauce that we all love. The only thing missing is the deep fat frying. Plus it takes literally 20 minutes to make, and that is at a leisurely pace. Maybe we can start a write in campaign to Panda Express and say hey, make this version for when we want the sauce but not the breading!
Set your rice to cook in the rice cooker, start cooking the chicken, and wash and cut up some broccoli to steam in the microwave (glass bowl, a bit of water and a wet paper towel over the top for 3 minutes). By the time the rice is done cooking, so is dinner.
Want more Chinese Food Recipes?
- Honey Orange Firecracker Shrimp
- Cheesecake Factory Mandarin Cashew Chicken
- PF Chang’s Orange Peel Chicken
- California Pizza Kitchen’s Kung Pao Chicken Spaghetti
- General Tso’s Chicken
- Easy Mongolian Beef
- Panda Express Recipes… every single one in fact: Panda Express Recipes Index
- Many more Chinese food options…
Tools Used in the making of the Ground Orange Chicken:
Wok: Great for high heat, quick cooking. This wok is a great addition to your kitchen if you love cooking Chinese food or stir fries in general.
Large Frying Pan: I use this Cuisinart for most of my non cast iron cooking unless I am going with a stainless steel option, then I choose my All Clad.
Soy Sauce: Nothing much to say here except Kikkoman has the best flavor overall and I always recommend reduced sodium.
Sesame Oil: The flavor of sesame oil in this dish is unmistakeable and not really able to be substituted. Some Asian grocery stores will try and sell less expensive options that aren’t actually sesame oil, so just be sure the one you’re buying is authentic sesame oil.
Rice Wine: Adds an authentic flavor to the sauce, in a pinch if you absolutely can’t find it you can substitute white wine, but it will make it taste slightly different.
Recipe
Ground Orange Chicken
- Yield: 4 servings
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Course: Main Course
- Cuisine: Chinese (sort of...)
- Author: Sabrina Snyder
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground chicken
- 1 tablespoons ginger root minced
- 2 teaspoons garlic minced
- 1/4 tsp hot red chili pepper crushed
- 1 tablespoon rice wine
- 2 tablespoons water
- 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
- 4 teaspoons soy sauce
- 5 tablespoons sugar
- 5 tablespoons white vinegar
- zest of 1/2 orange
- 1 tablespoon water
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
Instructions
Note: click on times in the instructions to start a kitchen timer while cooking.
- To make the sauce combine the rice wine, 2 tablespoons water, sesame oil, soy sauce, sugar, white vinegar, and orange zest.
- To make the cornstarch mixture, dissolve 1 tablespoon cornstarch in the remaining 1 tablespoon of water and set aside.
- To a large pan add 1 tablespoon oil and ground chicken.
Cook until a good crust forms before breaking apart, then finish cooking by breaking it apart with a spatula and cooking for an additional 2-3 minutes.
Once the chicken is cooked add the ginger, garlic and crushed red pepper and cook for about 10 seconds.
- Add the orange sauce and bring to boil.
- Add the cornstarch mixture to the pan and cook for just a few seconds, stirring until it thickens.
Recipe Video
Nutrition Information
Yield: 4 servings, Amount per serving: 248 calories, Calories: 248g, Carbohydrates: 18g, Protein: 20g, Fat: 9g, Saturated Fat: 2g, Cholesterol: 97mg, Sodium: 405mg, Potassium: 604mg, Sugar: 15g, Vitamin C: 0.5g, Calcium: 10g, Iron: 1.1g
All images and text © for Dinner, then Dessert.
This was delicious and was so spot on for Panda Express orange chicken, sauced thickened so well!! I substituted stevia for sugar and used brown rice as we are on Weight Watchers. Thank you for this recipe, we will be adding to our monthly rotation.
Thanks for the substitution swap, Sara. I know that will be helpful to others as well.
I made this for dinner tonight. It was amazing. I used it and the rice as filler for lettuce wraps. I also added green onion. Will definitely be adding it to our rotation. Thank you!
Good but too sweet. Cut the sugar in half
Can I substitute the ground chicken for ground beef to make orange beef instead?
Of course!
Made this tonight & mine was not orange colored at all, how does yours look like that? I couldn’t find rice wine, tried 4 stores so had to use white wine otherwise followed the directions but unfortunately nobody liked.
So easy and delicious –
I don’t know where all the negative reviews are coming from. This was SOOOO good. I reccommended it to two family members after eating it. I made a few modifications, I used lemon zest in one batch of sauce and the juice of half a lemon in the second batch because I didn’t have any oranges/oj. I used rice vinegar instead of wine because I just didn’t have any. I also omitted the sesame oil because I detest it. I used ground ginger because that’s what I had. I will definitely make this again and again. It was so good!!! The second batch was used solely for the carrots and asparagus to add to the chicken and rice. It was the perfect amount of sauce with both batches, veggies, chicken and rice.
Thanks, Kelly.
Loved it. This is my go to ground chicken recipe. Easy to make and great flavor
This was delicious and quick to make!
I tried this but the flavors
were underwhelming and didn’t blend together well. If you try it I’d suggest cutting the sugar in half, doubling the amount of sauce + seasoning, and blooming the chili, garlic and ginger in oil first.
We really like the orange chicken bought at Trader Joe’s but I decided to make your recipe with a pound of ground chicken I found in the freezer. Your orange chicken recipe made a wonderful meal! Easy to put together and easy to eat. My husband was very pleased and asked for me to make it again next week. Thank you for posting a very good recipe that was not only delicious but easy to make.
You’re welcome, Laurie.