Orange chicken sauce

If you're making Chinese takeout and need a homemade orange chicken sauce, I've got a quick and easy recipe for you. The sauce is flavored with orange juice, zest, garlic, ginger, soy sauce, sriracha, and sesame oil if you have some one hand.

I found that using both orange juice and a little bit of broth makes the most well-round, smooth tasting sauce without any harsh edges. It allows the rest of the flavor to come through.

Once you prep the ingredients, the sauce easily cooks up and thickens in less than 5 minutes. It makes about 1 and ⅓ cups of orange chicken sauce, which is enough for 4 modest sized plates of chicken, or 2 large take-out sized helpings.

Jump to:

• Recipe
• Orange chicken sauce
• Making the orange chicken sauce
• Spiciness
• Oranges - which types to use
• Kumquats
• Zest
• Juicing oranges
• Is it healthy? Serving size & calories
• More recipes & resources

Recipe

Making the orange chicken sauce

A good homemade orange chicken sauce is tart, sweet, and salty. It's also thick enough to coat the chicken and vegetables you're probably cooking.

Thickening the sauce

Cornstarch is used to thicken the sauce. It's important to first mix it with a small amount of water to prevent it from clumping. It should be a bit runny (not paste-like) before adding it to the rest of the sauce ingredients.

If you've cooked the sauce for 5 minutes at a medium-high heat and it still isn't thick, you'll want to add more corn starch. Before you do that, always mix it with an equal(ish) amount of water.

If the sauce is too thick, add more orange juice or chicken broth to thin it out.

Spiciness

Orange chicken is normally pretty mild. If that's what you are looking for, try using only 1 teaspoon of sriracha. I like mine just a bit spicy, which 1 tablespoon of sriracha will do.

Both the ginger and sriracha add a spicy flavor. It is noticeably spicy, but doesn't make your lips burn and it doesn't linger.

It's hard to quantify spiciness for other people. I'd say this is similar spicy level to a medium-hot store-bought salsa. It's mild enough that hot-sauce lovers will won't bat an eye, but it will be too spicy for anyone who normally eats mild salsa or finds that too hot and prefers pico de gallo.

I'm not here to judge, just to help! If you're worried, don't add any sriracha or only add 1 teaspoon to the orange sauce. Taste it after it's cooked and add more if desired. Alternatively, add sriracha to the finished dish as a "garnish."

Oranges - which types to use

Most types of oranges are available throughout the winter months and any varieties will work out great. There are only minor differences in taste, while some are juicier than others.

Mandarin oranges

I like using mandarin oranges in winter when they are in season. They are sweeter than other types of oranges, but less juicy.

When I get some that are a little too bland for snacking, I cook with them instead - like in this orange chicken sauce. When using mandarins, you'll need 3-4 larger ones (like satsumas) or 6-8 smaller ones (like clementines).

Navel oranges

Navel oranges are one of the juiciest varieties in winter. They are medium in size and ripe, juicy ones can yield a half-cup of juice per orange. You would need 2-3 Navel oranges for this sauce recipe.

Cara Cara oranges

These look like navel oranges, but the interior is slightly pink or reddish. They taste more tangy than other varieties, which can be great for this sauce recipe. You'll probably need 3 of them to get enough juice.

Blood oranges

Blood oranges are actually well-suited for this recipe. Their red interior makes for a darker orange sauce. They taste a little sweeter and less acidic than typical oranges. They can have a hint of raspberry or strawberry when eaten raw, but it doesn't come through in this orange chicken sauce.

Valencia oranges

Valencia oranges are available in summer, thanks to Florida. They are probably the best orange for juicing, and you'll only need 2 of these to get enough juice for this recipe.

Kumquats

Kumquats are grape-sized citrus fruits. The entire fruit is edible, including the rind. They are a surprising little fruit - the rind is actually sweet and the juice is tart.

For a fun twist on orange chicken, slice up some kumquats into little rounds. Add them to the sauce when it is cooking or top the dish as a garnish.

They are in season in winter - keep an eye out at specialty markets or try your luck at Whole Foods.

Zest

The zest from any type of orange will be similar. When possible, I buy organic oranges when I know I'll be using the zest (most of the pesticide and herbicides are on the outside of the peels).

You can add more zest to the recipe if you want an even stronger flavor. However, the zest does add bitterness which will come through in the sauce. If that happens, you can add more sugar to counter it, since sugar masks the taste of bitterness.

Juicing oranges

Don't skip this section, even though it seems basic. I have several notes to help you along.

Fresh squeezed juice: prevent bitterness

"Fresh squeezed orange juice" usually refers to juice directly from an orange. But in this case, I mean it should be freshly squeezed and then used right away.

Orange juice can start to turn bitter even just an hour after it's squeezed. Some of the compounds in the juice react with oxygen and turn bitter. There's an entire set of industry research dedicated to debittering orange juice.

The zest can also add bitterness, but it usually isn't enough to notice with all of the other flavors, salt, sugar, and acid in this recipe.

If your homemade orange chicken sauce tastes a little bitter, try adding more sugar. Sugar masks our ability to taste bitterness. Alternatively, add more rice wine vinegar, as acid also counters bitterness.

Amount of juice

The amount of juice you get depends on the size and juiciness of the orange. That varies not only from one variety to the next, but also how ripe it was when it was picked from the tree.

How much juice per orange:

• Clementines: about 2-3 tablespoon of juice per orange, depending on their size. 4 tablespoon = ¼ cup.
• Larger mandarins: about ¼-1/3 cup
• Navel oranges: ¼-1/2 cup
• Cara Cara oranges: ¼-1/2 cup
• Valencia oranges: ⅓ - ½+ cup
• Blood oranges: ¼-1/3 cup per

Easiest way to juice oranges

To make oranges easier to juice, roll them back and forth on the counter to break the cells. You can also microwave for a super short spurt to help release the juices.

If you have a juicer, now's the time to use it. I don't have one, so I use my hand-held lemon juicer instead. It's the perfect size for mandarin oranges, but too small for larger Navel or Cara Cara oranges.

In those cases, I cut the larger oranges in half, then into quarters. I squish each quarter, one at a time, into the handheld juicer. You could also squeeze each quarter by hand.

Is it healthy? Serving size & calories

I have a mandarin orange chicken recipe to replace takeout that uses this sauce. It makes 4 lighter meals that are under 500 calories (as pictured above), or 2 large Chinese takeout portions.

The sauce is 123 calories per serving (assuming 4 servings). It's healthier than most sauce recipes because it's much lower in sugar.

Lower in sugar

Orange chicken recipes tend to have a lot of sugar. Most of them have about ⅓ - ½ of a cup of sugar for each cup of liquid.

If my recipe used that equivalent of sugar, it would have a ½ to ¾ cup of sugar! It tastes absolutely delicious, but I try to be healthier when cooking at home.

Instead, I use only 3 tablespoons of brown sugar and I think it's a perfect balance of tart & sweet.

Even with the lower amount of sugar, it still contains 21 grams of sugar, with 9 grams from the brown sugar. The rest is mostly from the fresh squeezed orange juice.

The daily recommended added sugar limit is 24-30 grams. There are currently no recommendations for total sugar, including fruit.

Calories

Almost all of the calories are from the orange juice, brown sugar, and sesame oil. Each of them contribute about 30 calories each (per serving), with the remaining calories coming from the corn starch and soy sauce.

• Orange juice: 31 calories
• Brown sugar: 34 calories
• Sesame oil: 31 calories
• Corn starch: 15 calories
• Soy sauce: 5 calories

More recipes & resources

Looking to make Mandarin orange chicken at home? Try this recipe, which uses the same sauce.