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This 20 Minute Crispy Orange Garlic Chicken is inspired by everyone’s favorite restaurant-style orange chicken. It’s made quicker and with a few tweaks that make it slightly unique and even more delicious. The chicken (or use ground beef or pork) and broccoli are cooked in a golden buttery, sweet-spicy sauce until caramelized around the edges. Then served simply with steamed rice and plenty of green onions. The addition of butter and ginger (pickled sushi ginger) are the secrets. This dish is saucy, salty, tangy-sweet, and has just the right amount of spice. This dish is sure to become a favorite takeout-style staple!
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It’s that time of the year when the weather is finally nice, and literally all you want to do is be outside. It may not be this way in the Colorado mountains just yet (where winter/spring tends to run late into June), but in places like New York, the weather is perfect. I’m writing from my hotel where the sun is out and it’s around 60 degrees.
A little chillier than I prefer, but it’s the sunshine – it gives me so much energy, I really do crave it. As you might guess, when it comes to cooking at this time of year, I’m just like you all, keep it simple, fast, and effortless.
This is when the 20-30 minute dinners come into play.
This chicken is the easiest to prepare, but beyond the ease, I also love the colors and, even more importantly, the taste! Inspired by our favorite takeout style orange chicken, but made very easily at home with ground chicken and zero frying!
The ground chicken is the key. There’s no cutting up of raw chicken, and it cooks so quickly. That’s something we can all love.
These are the Details
Step 1: let’s mix the sauce
Keeping things basic, I use fresh squeezed orange juice, tamari, a small amount of honey, pickled ginger and ginger juice from the ginger jar, chili paste (use either Thai red curry paste or gochujang; I prefer gochujang), toasted sesame oil, black pepper, and chili flakes.
Give this a good mix before starting the chicken.
Step 2: cook the chicken
To keep the recipe quick-cooking and avoid frying pieces of chicken, I love to use ground chicken. I toss the chicken with cornstarch and black pepper. The cornstarch helps the chicken get crispy and gives it a slight “breading”.
Pan-cook the chicken, then toss in butter and garlic. Add the broccoli and let the butter caramelize and brown around the chicken pieces.
Step 3: add the sauce
Now, add the orange sauce and let it thicken around the chicken and broccoli. This should only take a few minutes, after which you can pull the pan off the heat.
If you enjoy fresh herbs mixed in you can add fresh Thai, sweet basil, and cilantro. If I have any of these on hand, I do like to add fresh herbs!
Step 4: serve over rice
Now, you really do need a side of rice with this dish. Spoon the chicken, broccoli, and sauce over a plate of rice.
Green onions and toasted sesame seeds on top are my favorite.
All the right flavors and they all hit so well together.
Plus, I really appreciate all the fresh colors – the best kind of recipe! Great for spring and summer!
Looking for other quick weeknight dinners? Here are some favorites:
20 Minute Thai Basil Beef Rolls
Chili Crisp Chicken Mango Cucumber Rice Bowl
30 Minute Sticky Thai Meatballs with Sesame Noodles
Better Than Takeout Sweet Thai Basil Chicken
Thai Basil Beef and Lemongrass Rice Bowls
Lastly, if you make this 20 Minute Crispy Orange Garlic Chicken, be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And, of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
20 Minute Crispy Orange Garlic Chicken
Ingredients
Sauce
- 1/3 cup orange juice
- 1/3 cup tamari or soy sauce
- 1-2 tablespoons honey
- 1 tablespoon chopped pickled ginger, plus 1 tablespoon ginger juice
- 3-4 tablespoons chili paste , (gochjang) (gochujang)
- 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
- black pepper and chili flakes
Chicken
- 3 tablespoons sesame oil , (or olive oil)
- 1 1/2 pounds ground chicken
- 1 teaspoon arrowroot powder or cornstarch
- 3 tablespoons salted butter
- 4 cloves garlic, chopped
- 1 1/2 cups chopped broccoli
- 2 tablespoons toasted sesame/peanuts
- 4 green onions, chopped
Instructions
- 1. To make the sauce. Combine all ingredients in a glass jar.2. In a large skillet, combine the oil, chicken, cornstarch, pepper, and chili flakes. Cook over medium heat, breaking up the meat as it cooks until browned, about 5 minutes. Add the butter and garlic. Cook 2 minutes, until the butter browns and the chicken gets crispy.3. Pour over the sauce. Cook until the sauce thickens slightly. Then, add the broccoli. Cook another 2-5 minutes. Remove from the heat.4. Serve the chicken, broccoli, and remaining sauce over bowls of rice. Top with sesame seeds and green onion. Enjoy!
Nutrition
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Did you make this recipe? Please rate & comment below.
SUPER spicy and never got crispy. Was VERY watery and had to cook almost 45 minutes on high to cook down to edible. Really bizarre sloppy-joe like texture. First flop on HBH! Cause we LOVE your recipes. Not sure where I went wrong here, but followed recipe.
Hi Hilary,
Thanks for trying this dish and sharing your feedback. So sorry to hear you had some issues. Did you use ground chicken? Was there anything you adjusted in the recipe? I would try using a cast iron skillet for something like this next time. I hope this helps! xx
Chicken never got crispy… good flavor though.
Hey Henry,
Thanks for trying this recipe and your feedback, glad to hear the flavors were enjoyed! Sorry to hear your chicken didn’t get crispy, I like to use cast iron to help with that! xx
My family is responsible for this rating. I used 4 Tbls of gochugang and it was so spicy that everyone was sweating at the table. They also said this was not anything like orange chicken. I wanted to like it but when I realized the second ingredient in gochugang is corn syrup I said this is the first and last time I will make this
Hi Jackie,
Sorry to hear this recipe was not enjoyed, thanks for sharing your feedback! xx
Wow! My family absolutely loved this meal. They want it more frequently! The chili spice paste gave it the zip zap that makes it absolutely delightful .
Thank you for sharing this, Tiegan!
Hey Pam,
Thanks so much for trying this recipe and your feedback! Glad to hear it was enjoyed:) xT
Is it okay to use chicken breasts cut up? Or should I use a different recipe?
Hey Melissa,
Sure, that would be just fine for you to use! I hope you love this dish, let me know how it turns out! xT
I realllllllllllllllllly wanna make this – it’s simple which is my favorite. But my husband isn’t a fan of orange anything. Would you have thoughts on a substitution for the orange juice that would still compliment the other flavors in this dish? TIA!
Hey Lara,
I would recommend trying this recipe:
https://www.halfbakedharvest.com/better-than-takeout-sweet-thai-basil-chicken/
It’s pretty quick and easy and no orange flavor:) Otherwise, I would just skip the orange juice. I hope this helps! xx
So tasty and quick and easy to put together. I always have pickled ginger around so I used extra. A great weeknight dinner! I look forward to trying it with the pork soon. Thanks!
Hey Deb,
Love to hear this! I appreciate you trying this dish and your feedback! Have a great day! xT
This was really good! Loved the flavors. I also used ground beef, since that’s what I had on hand, and I made cauliflower rice for the base, for a lower starch dish. Will try with chicken next time.
Hey Charlotte,
Happy Tuesday! Love to hear that this recipe turned out nicely for you and thanks for sharing the adjustments that were made. xT
This recipe was very tasty! My only issue was it did not come out crispy. I was afraid to cook the meat too long . Since I stay away from soy , I used coconut aminos, and tapioca flour instead of corn starch…. Could that be the issue? Anyway, I will gladly try again !
Hey Deedee,
Thanks so much for trying this dish and your feedback! What kind of pan did you use? I find that cast iron allows me to get a nice crisp on the meat. I hope this helps for next time! xT
I used a non stick… I will
Try the cast iron next time!!
Thanks so much!!!
Delicious! Adding to my rotation. Think I’ll double the sauce next time, it was so good! This recipe was my (easy) dinner solution tonight. Thanks, Tieghan!
Thanks so much, Diane!! I am thrilled to hear that you enjoyed this dish! Thanks for trying it! xT
Also in the Eurozone, like Louise. Made this for my family tonight, and while we aren’t used to these flavors, they were a huge hit. Will definitely make again! Thank you!
Thanks so much, Hanna! Love to hear that this dish was enjoyed! Have a great Tuesday! xT
Sounds great. Love orange chicken, but I think I’d zest the oranges before squeezing to get maximum orange flavor. Can’t wait to try.
Don’t engage with haters.
Thanks so much! Great idea to add some orange zest:) I hope this dish turns out well for you! xT
Wonderful recipe. I will be making this shortly. Thank you.
Thanks so much, Wilson! I hope you love this recipe! xT
Hi, you talk about adding ginger juice from the pickled ginger but it’s not listed in the ingredients list? Thanks!
Hey Jen,
You can add 1 tablespoon of the pickled ginger juice:) Please let me know if you have any other questions, I hope you love this dish! xT
I’m trying to eat more beef but I’m struggling. Do you think this will be as good with ground beef?
It is! I made it with ground beef for dinner (I’m in the Eurozone, so it’s 20:30 here) and it was amazing. She says you can use beef, chicken or pork. I only had lean ground beef and it was great. 🙂
Hey Kelly,
Yes, that think that would work nicely for you! Please let me know if you give this recipe a try, I hope you love it! xT