Panda Express Orange Chicken (Copycat)

August 3, 2017 243 Comments

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Panda Express Orange Chicken with tender chicken thighs fried crisp and tossed in a magical perfect-copycat sauce!

Panda Express Orange Chicken with tender chicken thighs fried crisp and tossed in a magical perfect-copycat sauce!Panda Express Orange Chicken is the most popular recipe on the Panda Express menu and I’m sure you all know why! This recipe will make you dance a little in your chair as you eat it because it is just right on the money!

This recipe is different than the orange chicken recipe with orange marmalade that is SUPER popular online because the sauce in that recipe is based on a mixture of barbecue sauce and orange marmalade. While some of the pictures may look slightly similar, this Panda Express Orange Chicken is going to taste a lot different.

Looking for the ENTIRE Panda Express Recipe List? I have recreated the entire menu on the blog and have a Panda Express Recipe Index so you can easily access them! I have an entire section of the site dedicated to your favorite copycat recipes too!

Want some of the most popular Panda Express recipes?

This Panda Express Orange Chicken Copycat is spot on and is SO EASY. PLUS theres a video!

Here’s a video of this Orange Chicken being made (I added green onions in the video, but that’s just for personal taste, the copycat doesn’t actually contain green onions).

It may seem like there are a lot of ingredients at play here and a lot of dishes to dirty, but it really does come together pretty quickly and at the end of the cooking when you have a plate of this chicken waiting to be eaten you’ll forget all about that pile of dishes left behind!

If you would like to kick up the heat a little bit and make this a spicy orange chicken, I suggest about 1/2 tablespoon of Sriracha mixed into the sauce. Any additional heat you can add with crushed red peppers.

If you’re looking to make your Orange Chicken healthy I have THE EXACT SAME Panda Express Orange Chicken recipe on the blog adapted for a much healthier meal. Look at Ground Orange Chicken (1 Pan!) and I even make it into a burrito (which was AMAZING) —> Orange Chicken Burrito. Most people make a version of baked orange chicken to lighten the calories, I do it instead with ground chicken which is browned really well first to give the crispy texture without the breading.

Panda Express Orange Chicken with tender chicken thighs fried crisp and tossed in a magical perfect-copycat sauce!

You all have loved this recipe so much since I posted it originally in 2015, I made a Q&A section of the most popular questions I was asked:

Orange Chicken Recipe for Crockpot/Slow Cooker?

I used to actually make this recipe in the slow cooker when Tyson made raw chicken tenders. I’d just put the tenders in the slow cooker with the sauce, cook on low for 3 hours, then add in a bit of cornstarch/water slurry and cook an additional hour. Now, I make small nuggets, bread them in panko then freeze them and cook them the same way. This recipe is coming soon on the blog.

Orange Sauce is a mixture of vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil, sugar, orange zest and crushed crushed red peppers that thicken in a pan with deep fried battered chicken with will help thicken the sauce, It is super easy to make.

What is in General Tso’s chicken?

General Tso’s Chicken (you can find it here on the blog) is probably the closest tasting dish to Orange Chicken. Though it doesn’t contain any orange, it does have many similar ingredients including soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, cornstarch as well as dried red chili peppers and garlic. It is tossed with deep fried chicken pieces as well.
Tools used in the making of this Panda Express Orange 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.
Soy Sauce: Nothing much to say here except Kikkoman has the best flavor overall and I always recommend reduced sodium.

Recipe

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Panda Express Orange Chicken with tender chicken thighs fried crisp and tossed in a magical perfect-copycat sauce!
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Panda Express Orange Chicken

  • Yield: 6 servings
  • Prep Time: 15 minutes
  • Cook Time: 15 minutes
  • Total Time: 30 minutes
  • Course: Main Course
  • Cuisine: Chinese
  • Author: Sabrina
Panda Express Orange Chicken with tender chicken thighs fried crisp and tossed in a magical perfect-copycat sauce!

Ingredients

FOR THE CHICKEN:

  • 2 lb boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1" pieces
  • 1 egg
  • 1 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 pinch black pepper
  • 2 tbsp oil divided, plus more for frying
  • 1/2 cup cornstarch
  • 1/4 cup flour
US Customary - Metric

FOR THE SAUCE:

US Customary - Metric

TO FINISH:

  • 1 1/2 tablespoons ginger root minced
  • 2 teaspoons garlic minced
  • 1/2 tsp hot red chili pepper crushed
US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Note: click on times in the instructions to start a kitchen timer while cooking.

  1. To make the sauce combine the 1 tablespoon cornstarch, rice wine, water, sesame oil, soy sauce, sugar, white vinegar and orange zest.
  2. To coat the chicken add the egg, salt, pepper and 1 tablespoon oil into a bowl and whisk together in a large bowl.
  3. In a separate bowl, add 1/2 cup corn starch and flour and mix well.
  4. In a large frying pan or a wok, heat oil in a wok 375 degrees.
  5. Dip chicken pieces in the egg mixture, then dredge in the flour mixture.

  6. Fry the chicken for 3 to 4 minutes or until golden and crisp.

  7. Transfer to a cooling rack and repeat with remaining chicken.
  8. When you are done with the chicken, drain most of the oil from the pan (leave about a tablespoon).

  9. Add the ginger, garlic and crushed red peppers, cooking for about 10 seconds.

  10. Add the orange sauce and bring to boil.

  11. Turn off the heat, and add cooked chicken and stir until well mixed.

Nutrition Information

Yield: 6 servings, Amount per serving: 419 calories, Calories: 419g, Carbohydrates: 36g, Protein: 36g, Fat: 12g, Saturated Fat: 2g, Cholesterol: 122mg, Sodium: 1171mg, Potassium: 601mg, Sugar: 20g, Vitamin A: 0.8g, Vitamin C: 0.4g, Calcium: 1.5g, Iron: 8.1g

All images and text © for Dinner, then Dessert, Inc.

Keyword: Panda Express Orange Chicken (Copycat)
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The pictures above are from a newly photographed, but here were the originals from 2015:Panda Express Orange Chicken with tender chicken thighs fried crisp and tossed in a magical perfect-copycat sauce!

Panda Express Orange Chicken with tender chicken thighs fried crisp and tossed in a magical perfect-copycat sauce!

Panda Express Orange Chicken with tender chicken thighs fried crisp and tossed in a magical perfect-copycat sauce!
Panda Express Orange Chicken with tender chicken thighs fried crisp and tossed in a magical perfect-copycat sauce!
This Panda Express Orange Chicken Copycat is spot on and is SO EASY. PLUS theres a video!

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Comments

      1. to achive the maximum orange flavor. intead of orange zest. use orange extract. trust me i worked at panda. 2tbs of it would flavor 8qts of the sauce they use.

        Reply

        1. oh interesting! I will have to give this another shot and test out orange extract instead! Thank you so much for the info 🙂

          Reply

          1. I made it just as you said and we loved it – and I would use orange zest over extract every time! Won over my restaurant preferring food son. Thanks!

            Next up, I’m going to try this sauce as a base for sweet and sour, using pineapple instead of orange, as I’ve yet to like a sweet and sour recipe I’ve tried.

          1. I would suggest about 1/4 teaspoon to start and add more to taste from there. Honestly though, I didn’t feel like the flavor lived up to this recipe using the extract so I would recommend sticking with using the zest.

        3. Hey Sal, is there any secret ingredient that is used in the orange chicken at Panda Express? and do you know who their supplier is for their food or what company supplies their food thanks

          Reply

          1. Instead of soy sauce at Panda we use a “secret sauce” It’s basically soy sauce with other ingredients, it’s what gives it a signature flavor we add it into everything, chicken, rice, etc…can’t really tell you what’s in it though because I don’t know.

        4. I used an orange infused oil.. ( purchased a lemon and orange oils)
          A little bit goes a long way.. it’s very potent.
          I think it came out awesome. I didn’t have all the ingredients so I asked GOOGLE HOME ™ lol .. and it gave me substitutes for the ingredients I didn’t have. and I improvised on the oil using my orange infused oil.

          Reply

    2. I just tried this recipe tonight and it was AMAZING!! I have never had Panda Express’ Orange Chicken but, I don’t have to now. My hubby loved it and will be taking leftovers to work tomorrow. This is totally new territory for me and I will be trying more of your wonderful recipes. Thanks again.

      Reply

  2. We don’t have Panda Expresses around here, so this is the only way I will get to try it 🙂 Sounds awesome.

    Reply

    1. Part of me wishes I didn’t leave near one! It is so addicting! But then again you guys have Wahlburgers so that makes me pretty jealous!

      Reply

        1. No, the rice wine adds a sweet flavor, which you’re not going to get from a vinegar. If you’re having trouble finding it, you can use Mirin, which is a kind of rice wine.

          Reply

    2. This is more American Chinese. Orange chicken is not real Chinese Food. If you want real Chinese food, take a trip to china

      Reply

      1. Well, I think “American Chinese” is what many of us here in America actually enjoy. I like authentic and I like the Americanized versions. Variety is the spice of life!

        Reply

      2. I have been to China, and the food there is not at all what we have in America, and quite frankly, I’ll admit that “Chinese” food in America is geared towards American tastes, and not at all Chinese, thank God! I was at a buffet in Guangzhou and of 30+ items, I could not identify a single one except chicken feet. Lot’s of chicken feet. Yay for Panda Express and copycat recipes!!

        Reply

  7. This looks delicious! I better not tell my husband I found this recipe or else he will be asking for it all the time! He loves orange chicken. But I like how you can choose your serving size when making it at home vs. served a huge serving at the restaurant!

    Reply

    1. Yup! That is another awesome thing about it, I load up 80% of my plate with healthy options and take a small portion of the more decadent options.

      Reply

  8. Wow does this look really amazing! I am a sucker for Orange Chicken so this recipe is going to have to be recreated in my kitchen!

    Reply

  9. Yum, I think I’d eat this every day if I had the ingredients on hand! Their Kung Pao is also one of my favorites- you’re making me hungry over here with your delicious photos!

    Reply

  11. I’m just now tackling how to cook, and I will admit I am a little intimidated, but I absolutely love Panda’s orange chicken! I’m pinning this and gunna try it… someday 😉

    Reply

  23. Oh my goodness, this is one of my favorite recipes… and I have never made it. I am totally going to try this recipe. thanks for sharing. It sounds delicious.

    Reply

  26. Sabrina I always get the orange chickened from panda express. I literally live one block walking distance from a huge mall (its a blessing and a curse lol) and I get it all the time I go. My gallbladder hurts as crazy after, probably from all the processed ingredients, thats why I am going to try your homemade version!

    Reply

  27. This looks so good! I love Chinese food and I love Panda Express too! I’ll have to make this recipe very soon. Chinese is one of my favorite foods. Yum!

    Reply

  28. I used to have a Panda Express near my home and loved their Orange Chicken. I will have to give this a try tomorrow as I can’t wait for the weekend to make it! Looks amazing! You did a wonderful job! 🙂

    Reply

  32. I love trying copycat recipes. This looks so delicious i will have to make it this week. I am sure my family will love it.

    Reply

    1. It is SO hard to resist it!! Now I try and settle for the sample they almost always offer and get the lower fat options to eat, haha.

      Reply

  36. I’ve never had the pleasure of trying Panda Express, given that they can’t be found in my part of the world. And now that I’m vegan I’ll never get to try them!!!! Still, this copycat recipe looks FANTASTIC!! Very happy to have paid a visit. Thanks for sharing!

    Reply

    1. I have totally made this with tofu, tofu puffs (not sure if you’ve ever seen those, they look like giant light brown marshmallows) and the vegan chikn at Trader Joes!

      Reply

  40. What about the type of noodles you use? I can not seem to find the right ones that taste as good as the restauranst serve! Cannot wait to try this recipe !! Thanks so much for all that you do.

    Reply

    1. I use the dried Yakisoba noodles that you would find near the Cup o Noodles in the grocery store. I have it detailed here: //dinnerthendessert.com/panda-express-chow-mein-perfect-copycat/ and they taste spot on! 🙂 Hope that helps

      Reply

  44. This is great because this way you’ll know that there’s actually chicken in the recipe. I just had the orange chicken from Panda Express tonight and as I bit into every single piece I saw NO chicken. It was clumps of dough! The next time anyone orders the orange chicken cut each piece in half and see if you see any chicken.

    Reply

  45. The directions say to add the rice wine and orange sauce, but the ingredient list doesn’t have orange sauce listed. How much orange sauce is needed for this recipe?

    Reply

    1. The orange sauce is the mixture of the wet ingredients in the first line of the directions: “To make the sauce combine the soy sauce, 3 tablespoons water, sesame oil, sugar, white vinegar, and orange zest.” Sorry for the confusion 🙁

      Reply

  47. How do you read my mind every post I click? I love a great cheesesteak, it’s a weakness in our house. Still new here, any chance a cheesesteak recipe will Surface in the future? ????

    Reply

    1. Yes!! It is on the short list for ingredient shopping in the next couple of weeks actually! Right now the closest I have is the Cheesesteak Egg Rolls on the blog 🙂

      Reply

  48. Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner!! When I can get my 3 year old, 6 year old, husband and myself to all agree that we love a meal, it’s a definite winner!! My 3 year old hugged my arm and said, “Mommy, I love this chicken” 🙂 Thank you so much for the recipe. Hubs says to start putting this in the meal rotation!

    Reply

  49. Just want to make sure it’s right that the sauce has 10 TABLESPOONS of sugar? That’s a lot of sugar! I’ve never had Panda Express before but my daughter loves it and wants me to try this recipe.

    Reply

    1. Mindy, I wish I was kidding or wrong about that! Yes, 10 tbsp. This sauce is very sweet. I’ve experimented with less sugar and the flavor is completely off from the original, so to stay true to the copycat, I kept the sugar in. It is a similar sort of thing with the PF Changs Orange Peel Chicken recipe I have on here too. Lots of sugar. A much healthier option I also made were the kung pao and mushroom chicken copycats from Panda Express too. Those are 95% healthier, haha.

      Reply

  50. This was good but it had way too much orange zest in it. I used 2 oranges as the directions state and it was overpowering. Perhaps you could make it more clear what size oranges you used or change the measurement to state how many teaspoons or tablespoons to use.

    Reply

    1. Thats a really good idea Casey. I did use two normal bagged oranges but I will reduce to 1 orange in the recipe and test it again for a specific measurement. Thanks!

      Reply

  51. Question, there are three bowls set up in the mixing station but you only mention putting the chicken in the egg mixture and the flour mixture… when do I use the third bowl?!?! Help!

    Reply

    1. Yikes, I see what you mean, that was written in a confusing manner. That third bowl is the cornstarch mixture that comes into the pan at the very end, it isn’t part of the dredging station. Sorry for the confusion! The station is bowl of chicken, bowl of egg mixture and bowl of flour mixture.

      Reply

  52. Unfortunately this recipe just didn’t work for us. When making the orange sauce I thought there was way too much sugar but didn’t trust my inner “cooking force” and went with the recipe. We found this was too sweet for our taste. Thank you for sharing though! You have given me a great starting point to find the right blend of flavors for our family. It’s a fabulous recipe it just needs some tweaking for our personal taste. We are all looking forward to trying your other recipes.

    Reply

    1. Did you find it to be sweeter than Panda’s? Doing a side by side test I thought they were both equally sweet…which is to say like chicken candy, haha. There is a lot of sugar in the recipe, that is no lie! Thanks for the kind words, I’m glad you’re going to work with the recipe and make them again!

      Reply

  53. I made it!!!my girls love panda express,so I thought I should at least try to make it. I put a little spin on it. I marinaded the chicken the the mixture first then fried it. I didn’t even get to make the sauce. They devoured it before I got the chance.lol. I will definitely follow the recipe next time.lol

    Reply

  54. We made your king pao chicken and it was awesome!! Trying this one next for the kiddos and can’t wait. No Panda Express where I live now, so we love these recipes 🙂

    Reply

  55. I can’t thank you enough. I love Chinese food very much. The problem is we eat Kosher meat, so at Panda Express I have no choice, but to eat veggies, shrimp and chow mein. Orange Chicken looks really good. Now with this recipe, I can try at home. I also need the recipe of Hot and Sour Soup, that’s my favorite as well.

    Reply

    1. One of my best friends is Kosher, so she was really excited to see this recipe too! I’m working on the hot and sour soup, but it’s hard to do recipe testing now that it’s not on the menu anymore!

      Reply

  56. I just came across these recipes and it looks good! I fell in love with Panda Express when in the States but sadly there aren’t any in South Africa so I’ll have to try and duplicate these recipes here?

    Reply

  57. Hi,
    I’m going to try this recipe. Please give me a substitute for rice wine. What would you use if you really really had to use something else? I can’t use rice wine 🙁

    Reply

  60. This was a lot of work. The chicken was great, the sauce was great but WAY TOO STRONG with orange flavor. Next time I make this, I would actually use lemon zest instead (probably just personal preference). I added a little brown sugar to the sauce, as well.
    Will definitely try again, with a few minor tweaks…

    Reply

    1. I bet it would be amazing with lemon! I am testing it currently on the amount of orange zest. A current Panda employee told me “orange” quantity used (although they use extract) and mathematically I feel like this should be spot on but I find some oranges are just so much more flavorful in their zest it may need a bit of tweaking. Still working on it while trying to avoid the extract because I’d rather whole ingredients be used. Thanks for the review though, it is a huge help!

      Reply

  61. Just finished doing this. I used avocado oil and only 7 table spoons of sugar, and instead I added the orange juice to make it sweeter. Couldn’t find any rice wine so I used apple juice and the results were incredible. Really good recipe! My whole family loved it. I’m thinking maybe next time I will just do the chicken without dipping it in flour, because the taste of the sauce on its own is amazing.

    Thanks for sharing this incredible recipe!

    Reply

  62. Hi Sabrina,

    Greetings from Denmark. :o)

    Just wanted to tell you that I made some of your copycat Panda Express dishes, and they are absolutely spot on! Everybody in my Family loved it. I had to translate your recipes to kilograms instead of cups and ounces, but that worked out fine.
    I made the Orange Chicken, Kung Pao and the Chow Mein, and it was like sitting at Panda Express again. I made the extra effort and went to a Chinese Grocery here in Copenhagen to get some of the more specific ingredients, but that was worth it.
    We travel a lot in The States, and sure have our favorite food from there and have made a lot of other copycat recoipes, and I am always glad when the recipe is spot on, or if I can see how I can change something to make it absolutely right. Didn´t have to change anything here. :o)

    Thank you very much.

    I will follow your blog in the future.

    Thanks, Flemming

    Reply

  64. Just Made Orange Chicken. My Son Loves this Dish. I was Missing two ingredients. 1). The Wine, And 2). The Green Onions. Also In the ingredients where you say to use 10 Table Spoons of white vinegar, I Utilized my oranges and juiced them. It produced about 5 Table Spoons of Juice, I then used the other 5 Table Spoons of Vinegar to keep the Total volume to equal 10 Table Spoons to the Sauce. Besides all that……I Followed it to the “T” …..This Recipe came out DELICIOUS…. 🙂 Thank you. And I will make it again in the Future. By the Way about 1 week ago I made your fried Rice with EGG copy cat recipe.. And it also came out Great. Every one Loved it. I Did make it again for this Orange Chicken Dinner. Thanks Again

    Reply

  66. holy. crap. friggin’ delicious!

    our kids (16 and 17-yrs-old) are Panda junkies; especially the orange chicken.

    I doubled the recipe because the kids were having friends over for Halloween. I was nervous making something for the first time for a bunch of people; especially a dish they would all measure up to what they regularly get from Panda.

    daughter and her three friends ALL gave it 10-out-of-10

    when I asked my son what he thought, he told me to shut up and serve him some more

    we had a couple of groups of trick-or-treaters come to the door and they IMMEDIATELY yelled, “you’re making orange chicken!?!”

    the only addition I made was 1/2 teaspoon of orange extract ONLY because I bought some oranges that didn’t want to cooperate with the zesting process — 1/4 teaspoon per regular recipe, 1/2 teaspoon for doubling like we did.

    so delicious, Sabrina — thanks so much — definitely will be making this multiple times and my son is dying to see how the honey walnut shrimp comes out!

    Reply

  67. this was so good! You can really taste the orange and I added more red flakes to add more spice. I had to double up the recipe for 2 large chicken breast, but it was a major hit and everyone enjoyed it.

    Reply

    1. Yes, you can use breasts instead 🙂 It just won’t be as authentic tasting but definitely a smidge healthier.

      Reply

  70. Sabrina, this was perfection. Everything in the recipe is perfectly balanced and tastes just like panda express. I made the orange chicken and the chow mien. I absolutely loved it. I can’t wait to try more of your recipes. Thank you so much.

    Reply

  71. I absolutely love this recipe, as do everyone I’ve made it for. I’ve always loved panda express’ version and can’t thank you enough for figuring it out for all of us! But, I do have one question, is there any reason for adding the rice wine separate from the orange sauce, after sautéing the garlic, ginger etc..? Wouldn’t it be easier just to add the rice wine to the sauce when you add everything else?

    Reply

    1. Thank you so much! I’m so glad you all are enjoying it!! It’s so funny that you mention this because I was just looking at this recipe today and was thinking the same thing. It definitely would be easier so go right ahead!

      Reply

  73. Hi I just have a little questions. In the video shown after the soy sauce what next putted, is it the vinegar or water? If its the vinegar should be dissolve the 1 tablespoon of cornstarch to the 1/4 cup of water or its dissolve separately? 🙂

    Reply

    1. You can just put it all in together, no need to dissolve the cornstarch first. I hope this helps clear up any confusion. I hope you enjoy! It’s one of my favorites!!

      Reply

  74. We fell in love with dish whilst visiting the States but as we live in the UK there are no Panda Express here and all our Chinese takeaways sell lemon chicken not orange. This is now a firm favourite in our house and I’m making it weekly so thank you so much for this recipe.

    Reply

    1. It’s such a great copycat and I’m so happy you’re now able to enjoy it at home! Thank you for the 5 stars Sharon!

      Reply

  76. i havent made this yet, but i will. and ill tell you why. you say its not like the crock pot one made with BBQ sauce. i made that version of orange chicken (which i love) earlier this week and it was absolutely DISGUSTING. so the fact you say this is not that…. well, it certainly cant be worse LMAO!

    Reply

  77. Hi – Am planning to make this tonight and am wondering how far ahead of time I might be able to fry up chicken and have it stay crispy (ish?) before tossing into sauce? Would 30min or so be too long?
    Am trying to time things so that all I have to do when everyone gets home is throw chicken and veg into warmed sauce, give it a bit of a twirl, then onto rice:)
    Thanks so much

    Reply

    1. I’d say if you put it on a cookie sheet you can toss with heated sauce about 30-45 mins ahead? Let it stay in the pan for 30-45 seconds to warm through though. 🙂

      Reply

  78. I made this recipe tonight, I’m obsessed with Panda Express orange chicken but unfortunately it’s an hour away from me and I can now say I no longer have to wait to have it and it might even be better!! Thank you for the recipe it’s amazing!

    Reply

  80. I’ve made this 4 times, always gluten free with the Pillsbury GF all purpose flour blend and GF soy sauce. The adjustments I made were due to not wanting to go to the store for just 1 or 2 things as well as my Celiac disease requirements. Instead of rice wine I’ve been using plain unspiced Mead and have been using toasted chipotle pepper flakes instead of the chili pepper listed. I also prefer to use raw sugar instead of refined, but that may not change the recipe at all. So far I’m loving it every time and am about to make it again.

    Reply

  81. This was a really easy recipe. It was absolutely delicious. For The past month I have been using Pinterest recipes for Sunday dinner and everything has turned out great!

    Reply

  83. Hi. You mentioned you were working on slow cooker recipe for orange chicken. I’d like to give it a try–any advice? Thanks.

    Reply

  84. I just made this tonight and loved it! My 2 toddlers did, too! I thought the recipe called for too much sugar so I omitted 2 of the 10 tablespoons. The sauce was still very sticky, which I love. Also, I didn’t see rice wine at the store so I omitted that. I added orange juice instead. (Sidenote: I’ve never understood why people leave comments when they hadn’t made the dish)

    Reply

  85. This was good, but definitely doesn’t taste like Panda Express unfortunately. It tastes like every other orange chicken recipe I’ve tried… Very orangey, very vinegary. Even with all that sugar it’s very pungent, my husband said it tastes like orange peel (bingo!), a little bitter or something. Used one average sized orange for the zest as written. A little disappointed because the chicken came out wonderful and tasted amazing before I put it in the sauce! We all liked it, but were pretty bummed at the same time. Followed the recipe exactly as written. Gonna try some of the other Panda Express recipes on here though. Made this with the fried rice and it was delicious.

    Reply

  86. I made the Orange Chicken with fried rice for dinner. It turned out great. Our place smelled like Panda Express. Thank you again for sharing.

    Reply

  87. I made this following the recipe and I will never eat out Chinese again! Boy it was good.  I fixed a jasmine fried rice to eat the orange chicken on.  Thanks for the recipe.

    Reply

  88. Made this tonight with your Panda Express yakisoba recipe and my husband LOVED it. Said it’s my best meal yet, so you can take credit for that. 🙂

    It’s pretty close to Panda Express’s orange chicken. Whenever I get a craving, I’ll save money and make it at home from now on. So yummy!!

    Reply

  89. Absolutely love your site. So glad I found it. I get to make orange chicken at least once every two weeks. My family is crazy about it. Thank you 

    Reply

  92. Loved it! tried yesterday, was missing one or two ingredients, but came out perfectly. I also used blender on the sauce ingredients to mix those really well. thanks a TON!

    Reply

  93. My 11 year old daughter decided she wanted to make dinner last night, and she made this recipe. I’m not a huge fan of Panda Express. But I thought this was better than Panda Express!

    Reply

  94. Delicious! I served it over jasmine rice. Just the smallest amount of sauce gave the rice a wonderful zing. I thought the orange zest provided the right amount of flavor. I would definitely make this again. Can’t wait to try your other recipes, especially if they are as good as this one is. Thank you, Sabrina.

    Reply

  95. This recipe was AMAZING! Enough so that I’m stealing it and calling it my own. (My family will never know). But in all seriousness, this recipe actually impressed one of the pickiest eaters I’ve ever met. My wife!

    Reply

  96. This was amazing. Made it without the sugar but it was still so tasty , in my opinion there was no need for the sugar anyway. Paired with home made fried rice.

    Reply

  98. Can you make the orange sauce a day before? I’m going on a trip and if i can make it/bottle it up the day before then I won’t have to bring all the little ingredients!

    Reply

    1. Yes, you can make it up before hand but you’ll want to keep it refrigerated so if you’re going on a trip I would keep it cool in an insulated cooler bag.

      Reply

  99. I agree I saw how much sugar was required and I decided to only add three and a half tablespoons and liked it but still found it very sweet. I bet the ten tablespoons tasted just like Panda’s though because their orange chicken is extremely sweet. Thanks for sharing the recipe is great and altering it to my taste was so easy!

    Reply

  102. Recipe was delicious! My son is a picky eater and he asked for seconds and thirds! I didn’t have all the ingredients on hand so I had to substitute the orange zest for 2teaspoons of Orange juice and less white wine vinegar since I added OJ instead of Zest. I also added less sesame oil and ginger because I find it too overpowering and less crushed chili pepper since my son doesn’t really like spicy food.
    I will definitely be making this recipe again .

    Reply

  105. Unfortunately, I followed a comment and added orange juice. Way way way too citrusy. Makes me sad because this recipe took quite some time – that’s what I get for changing it up before even trying it! Will have to try again lol

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  106. 95% of the ratings are from people who haven’t even made the recipe; they just mostly say it LOOKS good and they can’t wait to try it. it really throws off the ratings, and because i’m looking for copycat recipes, i’d like a comparison to the original recipe. there was only one person that stated it was very close to Panda Express.

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  108. Made this last night and it was wonderful! The only thing I changed was I added the juice of the orange as well. Had a great orange flavor that’s even better than what Panda Express offers! ?

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  109. I usually don’t rate the recipes I make but I just had to rate this one
    because it was so simple to make and was ABSOLUTE the best. I
    wanted you to know just how much my family and I enjoyed your
    recipe it was so tasty I didn’t have an orange so I use OJ and added a little to the egg mixture also I used agave THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH. All the best to you and yours.
    Now I’m going to try some of your other recipes.

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  110. Sorry I’m not sure if I forget to click on the stars so I’m sending another posting I give it 5 stars all the way. Even if I had made it without substitutes I’m sure it would be the best. Thank you again. Yes I made this recipe

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  111. I made this recipe for my first daughter and her husband after their baby was born and they raved about it. When my second daughter came home with her new baby, she and her husband requested this recipe. I make it just as it’s written. Everyone loves it!
    It is a keeper!

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  115. This is a great recipe! I made this today and I didn’t have any rice wine, but the sauce came out fine! I have to say the orange flavor is VERY strong but I like it (I used the zest of a whole orange – maybe my orange skin was very flavorful). I also used a little bit over a pound of chicken and then added steamed broccoli and sauteed mushrooms which I tossed in the sauce. It tastes AMAZING!

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  116. You mentioned using sriracha in the “tools used in making this orange chicken”, but I don’t see sriracha in the ingredient list. Where does it come in?

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    1. I haven’t tested it using one so I’m not comfortable giving a recommendation. You might be able to find a recipe online using similar ingredients and follow that as a guideline. Sorry.

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  119. Made this tonight for the fam and all agreed it’s even better than Panda Express! Thanks so much for sharing this amazing recipe!

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