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.
Video
Nutrition
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Made this tonight for dinner. Really enjoyed it. I’ll make it again for sure
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!
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!
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.
I had loved this dish
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.
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!
Haha, love it! I’m so glad you guys enjoyed it! Thanks for coming back to let me know!
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.
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!
Love it!
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!
Great idea Anna!
After coating chicken w/ egg/flour mix do you let it sit or immediately begain frying ?
You’ll want to begin frying immediately. 🙂
Now I know how to deal with the leftover chicken and oranges in my fridge. Thank you for this recipe.
You’re welcome Stacey!
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
How awesome!! Thanks for taking the time to come back and let me know!
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!!
I love to hear stories like these from my readers! My hope is that everyone can learn that it can be easy to make delicious food at home!
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.
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.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! The smell is the best!!!
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.
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)
I’m so glad you all loved it, especially the kids! I know how hard it is to please everyone!!
Hi. You mentioned you were working on slow cooker recipe for orange chicken. I’d like to give it a try–any advice? Thanks.
It’s still being tested. I appreciate your patience!
Made this yesterday – was absolutely AMAZING!
thanks so much for sharing
You’re welcome! So glad you loved it!
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!
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.
Thanks for all of you GF suggestions! I’m so glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for coming back to let me know!
This was an awesome recipe! Easy to follow and very yummy!
I’m so glad you guys enjoyed it! Thanks for coming back to let me know!
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!
Glad I was able to bring it to you! So happy to hear you loved it.
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
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. 🙂
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!
I’d love to know what you think after trying it!
Can you use chicken breast instead for f thighs and get the same results?
Sure! It will be a little dry if you fry too much as white meat is less forgiving but it would still be delicious!
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.
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!
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? 🙂
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!!
Could this be made if I used precooked and breaded chicken tenders? Love the thought but I loathe dredging!
Absolutely!
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?
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!
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.
So glad you enjoyed it!
what type of oil should i use for frying?
I prefer canola oil 🙂
Can I use chicken breast instead? That’s what I have in the freezer.
Yes, you can use breasts instead 🙂 It just won’t be as authentic tasting but definitely a smidge healthier.
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.
Awesome! So glad it was a hit! I add more pepper flakes usually too 🙂
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!
Just wanted to say that I made this and blew some minds. It came out perfect.
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
So glad you’re enjoying my recipes! Thanks for coming back to let me know about it!
I’m going to try making this recipe tonight. It looks sooo good! Did you use rice wine or rice wine vinegar?
Rice wine!
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
Thanks, Flemming! I’m so glad I was able to help you recreate a dish you really enjoyed!
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!
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…
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!
i bet this tastes lovely. Thanks for sharing this, gonna give this a go later.
This was one of the best recipes I’ve tried. Tasted as good as any orange chicken I’ve had.
Awesome! Thank you for coming back and letting me know how you enjoyed it!
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 🙁
White wine would be an okay substitute here 🙂 Not a perfect swap, but pretty close.
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?
Thanks! Hopefully these recipes are able to give you that experience where you live!
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.
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!
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 🙂
Fantastic!! So glad you enjoyed it!
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
Thanks, Karolann! I’m glad you guys enjoyed it!
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.
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!
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!
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.