Orange Chicken Sauce - A Beautiful Mess

A lot of the weeknight dinners we make at our house are pretty basic. We make some kind of protein (meat or plant based) with rice or pasta.

That’s pretty much the formula. So I like having easy ways to flavor this up. And that’s where this Orange Chicken Sauce recipe comes in.

Orange chicken is similar to sweet and sour chicken in that it’s a tangy sauce that has some sweetness. The sauce’s base is orange juice, but it contains many other ingredients that balance the sweetness and flavor.

This Orange Chicken Sauce can be served over baked chicken, roast chicken, or air fryers. You can add steamed rice, fried rice, or cauliflower rice to complete the meal.

Related: Check out Cashew Chicken Sauce and Sweet and Sour Sauce for more homemade sauce options!

Ingredients Orange Chicken Sauce:

olive oil
Ginger
Garlic
orange juice + zest
Granulated White Sugar
rice vinegar
soy sauce
cornstarch
Red pepper flakes

directions:

Sauté the chopped ginger and garlic in the olive oil over medium/high heat for a minute or two. Then add the orange juice, zest, sugar, rice vinegar and soy sauce. Stir until the sugar dissolves. Stir in the pepper flakes.

In a small bowl or jar, mix the cornstarch with a tablespoon of water. This creates a thick mud mixture. Pour this slowly into the sauce while stirring.

Continue cooking until the sauce thickens. Taste and add more soy sauce or red pepper flakes if needed.

Tips & Replacement:

You can substitute honey for the granulated white sugar if you like.
If you don’t have rice vinegar, you can use white vinegar instead.
Gravy is like gravy in that if it doesn’t thicken as much as you’d like after adding the cornstarch, turn up the heat a bit and continue cooking. Keep an eye on it, however, as it can thicken quickly.
You can store Orange Chicken Sauce in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week – simply reheat before using.

Serving suggestions:

You can use this Springfield-Style Cashew Cauliflower Recipe and swap out that orange and chicken sauce for a vegetarian-friendly option.
When we make rice I always use a rice cooker because it’s so easy and then I can focus on making the chicken and sauce while the rice cooker does its job.
I like to toss some chopped scallions over this sauce just before serving.

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sweet and tangy orange sauce for chicken

yield 4

Preparation 5 minutes

Cook 10 minutes

In total 15 minutes

instructions

In a sauce pan, sauté the chopped ginger and garlic in the olive oil over medium/high heat for a minute or two.
Then add the orange juice, zest, sugar, rice vinegar and soy sauce.
Stir until the sugar dissolves.
Stir in the pepper flakes.
In a small bowl or jar, mix the cornstarch with a tablespoon of water. This creates a thick mud mixture.
Pour this slowly into the sauce while stirring.
Continue cooking until the sauce thickens. Taste and add more soy sauce or red pepper flakes if needed.

Remarks

You can substitute honey for the granulated white sugar if you like.
If you don’t have rice vinegar, you can use white vinegar instead.
Gravy is like gravy in that if it doesn’t thicken as much as you’d like after adding the cornstarch, turn up the heat a bit and continue cooking. Keep an eye on it, however, as it can thicken quickly.
You can store Orange Chicken Sauce in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week, simply reheat before using.

Nourishment

nutritional information

Orange Chicken Sauce

amount per serving

% Daily Value*

*Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Note: Nutrition is automatically calculated using Spoonacular for your convenience. Where appropriate, we recommend using your own nutritional calculations.

Orange Chicken Sauce – A Beautiful Mess