Tender chicken fried crisp and tossed in a magical copycat Orange Chicken sauce! You’ll save a fortune and skip the lines!
If your family loves this incredible recipe, they’ll also enjoy these other unbelievable Copycat Recipes, like our homemade In-N-Out Double Double Animal Style, the flavorful Taco Bell Nachos Bell Grande, and the mouthwatering Cheesecake Factory Tex Mex Egg Rolls!
Panda Express Orange Chicken is the most popular recipe on the Panda Express menu, and for good reason! Sweet and zesty citrus coated chicken covered in a thick and tangy sauce have become a standard of flavor in the food world. This recipe will make you dance a little in your chair as you eat it because it tastes just like your favorite restaurant, some even say it’s better!
While there are a few steps to make this recipe at home, once you’ve done it you’ll be amazed at how simple the process really is. You’ll be making the sauce in one batch, then frying the chicken, and then the grand finale of putting it all together and serving with a side of rice or noodles.
This recipe is different than our 3-Ingredient Orange Chicken recipe 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.
How to Make Panda Express Orange Chicken
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. 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! Check out how to make Panda Express Orange Chicken at home!
- The Sauce: Mix all the sauce ingredients together and let the sauce sit while you’re making the chicken.
- The Chicken: To make the fried chicken, mix the breading ingredients together, coat the chicken pieces, and fry the chicken in batches. Set to the side until the very end.
- The Finale: This step is where the magic happens! Fry the fresh garlic and ginger and optional red pepper flakes in the bit of oil that is left over from cooking the chicken. Make sure to drain most of the oil first. Add in the orange sauce and bring it to a boil then immediately turn the heat off. Carefully add in the chicken making sure to not splatter the sauce. Dinner is served when the chicken is fully coated in the sauce! Enjoy!
More Homemade Panda Express Recipes
Frequently Asked Questions
Sure! Just put the raw chicken 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 to thicken.
Yes, absolutely. Make the small chicken nuggets, bread them in panko or flour, then freeze them and cook them the same way described below. The sauce can be made a few days in advance and kept in the fridge. Once you’re ready, reheat the chicken, sauté the fresh ginger and garlic, add in the sauce and heat to a boil. Then add in the chicken, mix, and serve!
Orange Sauce is a mixture of vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil, sugar, orange zest, and crushed red peppers that thicken in a pan with deep fried battered chicken with cornstarch that will help thicken the sauce. As you can see from the recipe below, it is super easy to make!
General Tso’s Chicken is probably the closest tasting dish to Orange Chicken. Although 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. So good!
Sesame Chicken definitely has a similar flavor profile to Orange Chicken, but it is normally made with chicken broth, sugar, vinegar, dark soy sauce, and sesame oil which is cooked down in the pan to thicken before being added to the chicken.
Orange Beef is the far less known version of Chinese food with orange flavors. Since Orange Chicken is so popular, most people don’t order the beef version. Simply purchase the best beef you are comfortable buying (I prefer ribeye. Chuck roast works good too.) and freeze for 30 minutes. Slice VERY thinly against the grain and cook it just like you would the Orange Chicken.
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Key Ingredients in Copycat Panda Express Orange Chicken
While most, if not all, of these ingredients can easily be found in the international section of large local grocery stores, if you have trouble find anything, the local Asian store will have them for sure, like the Wok which is the perfect stir fry pan and the best way to cook quickly and over high heat for Asian dishes.
- Chicken: We are using boneless and skinless chicken thighs that we cut into 1-inch pieces. You can use any cut of chicken though, as long as it is cut into pieces.
- Flour: Regular all purpose flour is great for this recipe.
- Orange Zest: Fresh orange zest is what makes this recipe so yummy. You’ll want to get a dedicated Citrus Zester which makes the process so much easier. This zests your citrus perfectly without getting any of the bitter white pith in the recipe.
- White Vinegar: Surprisingly, this is the secret ingredient that makes this recipe so addictive. And yes, we are using a full 10 tablespoons! The vinegar cooks down and blends with the other ingredients to make the perfect sauce.
- Rice Wine: Rice wine is NOT vinegar. It is a fermented rice beverage, or condiment. Look in the Asian section for rice cooking wine or mirin.
- Soy Sauce: Nothing much to say here except we think Kikkoman has the best flavor overall.
- Sugar: You can use any sugar, like granulated sugar or even brown sugar which gives a deeper flavor.
- Oil: There are two kinds of oil used in this recipe. One is sesame oil to add a depth of flavor, and the other is regular cooking oil. You can use canola or vegetable oil. Peanut oil is great too.
Substitutions for Panda Express Orange Chicken
- Cornstarch: You can use a different sauce thickener, like cornflour, or substitute equal parts with regular flour. If you prefer to not have any wheat or corn products in the mix, you can try tapioca starch or arrowroot powder.
- Rice Wine: You can substitute with equal parts white cooking wine, Japanese mirin, or Japanese saké. If you prefer to have nonalcoholic then try white grape juice or apple juice which are both good substitutes for this recipe and add a bit of sweetness.
- White Vinegar: If you just can’t find regular white vinegar (which is specifically made from cane sugar), you can use apple cider vinegar, or even white wine vinegar. Also, distilled white vinegar (which can be made from any type of sugar) works great too.
- Ginger: You can use equal parts ginger purée or pre-minced ginger. Also, in a pinch, 4 teaspoons of ginger powder work well. If your paste is a ginger/garlic combo, you can substitute with a total of two tablespoons of the ginger/garlic paste instead of the amounts listed in the recipe.
- Water: A great idea is to substitute orange juice for the water in this recipe. It’s not required to get the full Orange Chicken flavor, but if you do you won’t be disappointed.
Variations on Panda Express Orange Chicken
- Spicy Orange Chicken: If you would like to kick up the heat a little bit and make this a spicy Orange Chicken, add ½ tablespoon of Sriracha into the sauce. Sriracha is quite possibly the king of all pre-made hot sauces. It adds heat without overwhelming you and can be used in almost every cuisine. Try mixing with mayo to make a perfect spicy mayo!
- Ground Orange Chicken: If you’re looking to make your Orange Chicken healthy we have the exact same Panda Express Orange Chicken recipe adapted for a much healthier meal in our Ground Orange Chicken.
- Sautéd Orange Chicken: If you prefer to not deep fry your chicken, you technically don’t have to bread it and fry it. A simple sauté with a bit of oil will work great, just add the cooked chicken to the sauce like you would normally do in the recipe. Keep in mind that it won’t have the same flavor or consistency as the breaded kind. Either way, it will be delicious!
- Orange Chicken Burrito: Most people make a version of baked/sautéd Orange Chicken to lighten the calories. You can do it instead with ground chicken which is browned really well first to give the crispy texture without the breading. Then just roll it into a burrito for on the go!
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How to Store Panda Express Orange Chicken
- Serve: Serve your Orange Chicken while it is hot and ready. Refrigerate any leftovers within two hours.
- Store: You can keep any leftovers in the refrigerator for 4-5 days in an airtight container. Be sure to reheat fully to 165ºF internally before eating.
- Freeze: You can freeze extra Orange Chicken for up to 3 months. Simply thaw and reheat to an internal temperature of 165ºF or more. You can also make and freeze the chicken separately and the sauce separately and then cook and combine them when ready.
Ingredients
For the Sauce
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 2 tablespoons rice wine
- 1/4 cup water
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 3 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce
- 10 tablespoons sugar
- 10 tablespoons white vinegar
- orange zest , from large orange
For the Chicken
- 2 pounds chicken thighs , boneless, skinless, cut into 1-inch pieces
- 1 large egg
- 1 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 tablespoon vegetable oil divided, plus more for frying
- 1/2 cup cornstarch
- 1/4 cup flour
To Finish
- 1 1/2 tablespoons ginger , freshly minced
- 2 cloves garlic , freshly minced
- 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
Instructions
- To make the sauce, combine the 1 tablespoon cornstarch, rice wine, water, sesame oil, soy sauce, sugar, white vinegar, and orange zest.
- To coat the chicken, add the egg, salt, pepper and 1 tablespoon oil into a large bowl and whisk together.
- In a separate bowl, add ½ cup cornstarch and flour and mix well.
- In a large frying pan or a wok, heat oil to 375ºF.
- Dip chicken pieces in the egg mixture, then dredge in the flour mixture.
- Fry the chicken for 3 to 4 minutes or until golden and crisp.
- Transfer to a cooling rack and repeat with remaining chicken.
- When you are done with the chicken, drain most of the oil from the pan (leave about a tablespoon).
- Add the ginger, garlic, and crushed red peppers, cooking for about 10 seconds.
- Add the orange sauce and bring to boil.
- Turn off the heat, add cooked chicken, and stir until well mixed.
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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.
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!
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.
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.
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!
Thank you so much for coming back and telling me how you enjoyed it! You made my day!
Thank you for the amazing recipe! I am now looking at your site for new, future recipes 🙂 Thanks again!!
Aww thank you! Welcome! I hope you enjoy even more of them. 🙂
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? ????
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 🙂
That didn’t take long! Here you go:
//dinnerthendessert.com/pats-philly-cheese-steak-copycat/
Love panda does it take long to make
Nope, if you have cooled, cooked white rice it is done in 15 minutes from beginning to end 🙂
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?
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 🙁
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.
I totally agree with you Sharon! Anytime I take a bite of a piece I’m always disappointed to look inside the bite!
Just send that plate over to my house and I’ll eat it right up, thank you.
Haha, on its way!
Looks delicious. I look forward to trying this recipe very soon.
OMG, this looks amazing. I really love their orange chicken. Bookmarked!
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.
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
Orange Chicken is one of my favorites from Panda Express! That and their veggies. You are making me hungry!
Mission accomplished 😉 haha.
We don’t have a Panda Express here but we love their Orange Chicken! Yum!
I live near one but still try and stay away as much as I can!
The orange chicken looks mouthwatering. am definitely trying this.
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!
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!
I love to try to make copy cat recipes at home. This sounds amazing and I love that you can control what you are putting in it.
Me too! That is my favorite part of copycat recipes!
I must admit I get the orange chicken when I go to Panda Express. What a great recipe and dinner idea!
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.
Wow, this looks delicious. I’ve never tried their orange chicken but I would definitely try yours!
Aww how sweet! Thanks Liz!
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.
Me too!
Looks badass Sabrina! Sorry for the bad word 🙂
Hahaha. That was awesome. Thanks 🙂
Oh, I cannot wait to make this! My family loves Panda Express.
Yep! Same here!
What?! 36 WW points?! Glad you found a way to enjoy this w/out so many points 🙂 This looks so amazing! And I’m a huge Rubio’s fan, too 🙂
I know, heartbreaking right? 36 points!
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! 🙂
Thanks Nancy! I hope you love it!
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!
Thanks Kathy! I hope you love it!
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!
I know right? I live less than 2 miles from the mall too and I can’t avoid it every time I go.
I am all over this! Congrats on your five month blog-o-versary!! Nice work. 😉
Thanks Erin! Can’t believe it has been five months already!
Wow, so I can now make most of their recipes at home! I love the addition of the orange chicken.
Thanks Shelley! I have some more to make but this one was already overdue!
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.
My pleasure Shauna! I hope you love it!
I love orange chicken. I have to try this recipe some time.
Hope you love it!
Yours looks better than from Panda, thanks for sharing this!
Aww how sweet! Thanks Jennifer!
This orange chicken is one of my favorites. Can’t wait to make this in the comfort of my own home! Thanks for the recipe!
My pleasure! I hope you love it!
I too am a big fan of the Panda Express food. I cannot wait to try this as it is one of my favorites.
Hope you love it!
I am all about orange chicken! In fact it is my son’s favorite dish, but I had no idea how to make it! This is an awesome recipe that I need to try out with my family!
If my mom made this for me that would be major brownie points!
Who doesn’t love Orange Chicken. This looks especially yummy!
Thanks Stacie!
i am starving now after reading this!! I love panda express and now that I can make it at home, I probably will be wayyyy too often! Thank you for sharing!
My pleasure Kristen! Hope you love it!
All of your Panda Express recipes make my mouth water. This one is no different. It looks fantastic.
Aww thanks Donna! That is so sweet!
This orange chicken looks so amazing and delicious! I need to try this.
Awesome! I hope you love it!
I think you just saved me from standing in a few lines – I’m such a sucker for orange chicken! Looking forward to making it at home 😀
😉 I do what I can, haha! I hope you love it!
Yum! I can’t wait to try this. I made the Chow Mein, and it was fantastic!
AWESOME! So glad to hear you enjoyed it!
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 😉
Awesome! Thanks so much for the pin! I hope you love it!
Yum! We had panda orange chicken on friday night! We love making it at home too though! We’ll have to try your recipe soon!
Awesome! I hope you like it as much as the original!
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!
Aww thanks Jenna! I would totally eat this every day too, haha. I will say I am totally guilty of making this dish too often!
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!
Thanks Amy!
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!
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.
The orange chicken looks so good. I love Chinese food and would love to make this at home.
Thanks Lisa!
This is more American Chinese. Orange chicken is not real Chinese Food. If you want real Chinese food, take a trip to china
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!
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!!
I am loving these Panda Express copy cat recipes you’ve been giving us. They are so good!
Thanks Jennifer! Glad you’re enjoying them!
hello. can i use something else instead of the rice wine? perhaps rice vinegar?
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.
Panda Express is so good, but we always spend so much money there. I can’t wait to try this at home so that we don’t have to go broke eating there! LOL
Seriously!! I can make all four recipes for probably 15$ and it would make 8 or more three item plates!
Oh my goodness this is my husband’s FAV. I can’t wait to make this at home for him!
Awesome! I hope he loves it!
We don’t have Panda Expresses around here, so this is the only way I will get to try it 🙂 Sounds awesome.
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!
Oh yum! This looks so good! I love Panda express myself! I am pinning this recipe and can’t wait to try it later! Thanks for sharing!
Awesome thanks so much for the pin! I hope you love it!
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.
oh interesting! I will have to give this another shot and test out orange extract instead! Thank you so much for the info 🙂
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.
Do u know how much orange extract I? need for this recipe?
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.
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
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.
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.
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.