P.F. Chang’s Orange Peel Chicken is crispy chicken pieces in a spicy, sweet sauce with orange flavor. Healthier than the restaurant version!
P.F. Chang’s Orange Peel Chicken is crispy, spicy and sweet, with notes of orange flavor and even healthier than the restaurant version!
P.F. Chang’s Orange Peel Chicken is one of the dishes we always order at P.F. Chang’s because like most people orange flavored stir fried Chinese American food is pretty much always going to be a winner! In close second would be Orange Peel Beef because well… yeah.
This was one of my first posts on the blog back in 2015. It was a recipe I couldn’t wait to post and since then I’ve gotten better at taking photos. So there is a fun new set of photos for the recipe. Same delicious flavors though!
This dish is the first I ever tried there, and as I am sure you know about me (or will learn soon enough) when I love a dish, it becomes my go-to. At PF Chang’s it is this Orange Peel Chicken, at The Cheesecake Factory it is the Spicy Cashew Chicken (with no cashews). 
I am a loyal fan, only deviating from my favorites to taste a bite of my husband’s dish. He is, luckily for me, the opposite of me when we go out to eat and loves to try new things. So I end up with the best of both worlds.
Now if only I could convince him not to eat from my plate as I am eating from his…
The one change I made to this recipe is that I skipped the breading and deep frying process and used cornstarch in place of flour to keep the chicken as crispy as possible. 
You can definitely add that back in if you would like, but with just a coat of cornstarch (or flour if you prefer), you will still have a completely delicious dish. I made it both ways at home for the same meal so we could compare, this version won by unanimous decision.
We normally serve this P.F. Chang’s Orange Peel Chicken with Perfect Brown Rice, Every Time and Roasted Garlic and Ginger Carrots. 
If you’d like to try out another P.F. Chang’s favorite you should try my Easy Mongolian Beef which is a delicious and easy copycat of the original!
P.S. Did you know I’ve recreated every Panda Express recipe on the menu? Head over and check out all the copycat recipes now!
Tools Used in the making of P.F. Chang’s Orange Peel Chicken:
Wok: The best way to cook quickly and over high heat for Asian dishes, this wok is the perfect stir fry pan.
Sriracha: Quite possibly the king of all pre-made hot sauces as far as I’m concerned. Adds heat without overwhelming you and can be used in almost every cuisine. Try mixing with mayo to make a perfect spicy mayo!
Citrus Zester: This zests your citrus perfectly without getting any of the pith in the recipe.
Ingredients
- 2 lb chicken breast , cut into 1-inch pieces
- 1/4 cup cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 4 tablespoons minced garlic
- 4 green onions , sliced
- 1 cup tomato sauce
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon Sriracha sauce
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons canola oil
- peel from 1 orange , half zested and half julienned
- Perfect Brown Rice
Instructions
- Cut the chicken into 1 inch chunks. Put in a bowl and coat with cornstarch.
- Add two tablespoons of oil to your wok.
- Heat oil on medium high and add the chicken.
- Cook until browned on both sides.
- Remove chicken from pan. If you have about a tablespoon of oil in the pan go ahead and use it without wiping your pan clean. If not, add a tablespoon of oil, minced garlic and green onions and let cook for about 1 minute, but don't let your garlic burn.
- Add tomato sauce, water, sugar, Sriracha and soy sauce.
- Bring to a boil and then simmer for about 5 minutes or until the sauce thickens.
- Remove from heat and set aside.
- Add the chicken back into the pan with the sauce.
- Top with the orange zest and orange strips and mix until all coated, letting it cook for another 20-30 seconds for the chicken to heat back up.
- Serve with Perfect Brown Rice, Every Time and some Roasted Garlic and Ginger Carrots.
Notes
3.3.3077
Nutrition
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We’ve made this recipe so many times it’s a staple in our house now 🙂 Instead of water I juice the oranges I use for zest. And the diced chicken thighs are more tender if you sear them in a cast iron pan and then let them finish cooking in the sauce. Thank you again for this fabulous recipe! It’s one my husband usually asks for on his birthday 🙂
does the calories facts include the rice? or no
Yes, the rice is included in the calorie facts.
I’m actually going to try this recipe tonight. I was a line cook at PF Chang’s in 2000 so I remember every recipe but I used to. We actually used to do just a dry, light coat of potato starch on the chicken before we fried it but you can use whatever you want. Nostalgia,lol thank you
Easy and delicious!!
I want to make this without the tomato sauce, is it absolutely necessary? Is that what they use at pf changs? Any ideas for a substitute?
I wish I could say yes, swap it out, but I wouldn’t be able to give you a good substitute that actually would preserve the copycat flavor. Even a PF Chang’s ex employee told me how spot on this was when I first posted it to the email list.
This was delicious, just like PF Chang’s maybe better! My husband’s favorite dish which we order at PF’s but we are now 2 hours away from PF’s and this was the answer to our craving. I too added juice from half an orange as per tips by other cooks! 😉 Thanks so much.
I’m glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for the 5 stars.
My family loves this dish! I even sneak in some veggies (cut up small bell peppers & carrots-water chestnuts if I have them). The sauce is spot on! We have egg rolls (frozen cooked in air fryer) with rice-quick weeknight meal.
I really liked this recipe! My family did too. My husband said he’d buy this from a restaurant. We’ve never eaten at PF Chang’s. We live in Latin America. I did make some minor modifications. I was worried about all the sugar. I added it all
But next time I may use less just to see.
I used boneless skinless chicken thighs. I put a splash of soy sauce and garlic powder on the chicken and let it sit for a few minutes to absorb before coating with cornstarch. I felt like that helped a little with the flavor of the chicken.
I pan sauted green beans, sliced thin carrots, & red pepper with some of the garlic to mix in at the end with the sauce and added some water chestnuts too. I used oyster sauce instead of soy sauce and only had garlic chili sauce and no sriracha. I feel like oyster sauce gives a little umami but I think I’ll add or try the soy sauce next time to see the difference. I was worried because I put soy sauce on the chicken too. The tomato sauce I used was skinned and blended fresh tomatoes. I added about 1/2 cup fresh orange juice instead of water. I was nervous to add too much zest because the orange’s skins can be more bitter than other types of oranges sold in the states. I did go easy on the zest and I’m glad because the citrus bitterness definitely came through in some bites. I know it sounds like I made many changes but maybe it may help others wondering how this recipe can be used. I think it’s a really great recipe. Thanks so much!
Over the top delicious….thank you so much for an amazing dish
I’m glad you enjoyed it enough to give it a 5 star rating. Thanks!
This turned out fantastic. It tastes just like the restaurant recipe. Being in Canada, P.F. Chang’s is a long way to go for this dish. My only changes to the recipe were that I used peanut oil to give it a more authentic Chinese feel and I added juice of 1/2 the orange in the sauce. Holy Moly, we’ll be making this again!
Thanks for the 5 stars, Bob.
We make this almost every week except with shrimp. FANTASTIC recipe! I crave it now. Best orange chicken/shrimp we’ve made…and we’ve tried a lot! Easy, straightforward, quick, yummy. What’s not to love? Pair it with steamed broccoli and brown rice! Great as leftovers too.
I’m having trouble printing your recipes. Any suggestions?
You can use the print option on the recipe card or print directly from your browser. Hope this helps!
Can this be converted to a crock pot recipe ?
I’ve not tested it yet but thanks for the suggestion.
This was delicious!! Will definitely make this again, thanks for this recipe.
My husband did this. Awesome dinner! Thanks for this great recipe.
Just made this recipe and loved it!
I did make a few changes. I squeezed about 2 oranges and added it to the sauce as well as put the orange zest so it could simmer. I thought it added more of a fresh orange taste.
Sounds perfect!
I made this last night and it was really delicious! I did everything exactly as stated in the recipe. Thanks for a delicious one! ?
This is just amazing.. I have been eating PF Chang’s orange chicken my whole life and this was by far better in my book! Excellent recipe!!! I will be making again! and again.. and again.. and again.. and again..
Thank you!!! 🙂
Thank you so much for the nice compliment!
This recipe was delicious! I was a little skeptical when it didn’t call for any orange flavoring other than zest so I did end up adding a splash of orange juice before the sauce began to simmer. We accidentally bought sriracha mayo so we used a tbsp instead of regular sriracha. Our family of 5 with a 13 yo, 2yo, and 1yo ate every bite!
I’m so glad you guys enjoyed it! I know how hard it is to please everyone at dinner. Thanks for coming back to let me know!
Wow, just made this tonight and it turned out AMAZING! Thank you for such a great recipe, I will definitely be making this often! I used to love the orange peel chicken at P.F. Chang’s until I found out it contained mushroom and oyster sauce (I am super picky, I know) so I am thrilled to have found a substitute. Like others have mentioned I was nervous about the addition of the tomato sauce– but it turned out wonderfully. My husband says he wants me to make this every week!
Yay!! Such an honor to be put into weekly rotation!!
5 star recipe, as always. 1 star website. Why is there ALWAYS a window playing the audio to the embedded video on every recipe? I can’t listen to music while having your page open because the embedded videos auto-play for a recipe I’m not making. This can’t possibly be monetized, so what gives?
That is a fault in the video player, not at ALL intentional. I’m forwarding it to my tech person. Thank you for letting me know, it hasn’t done it to me.
Glad you enjoyed the recipe though!