Air fryer orange chicken is the best tangy, fruity, savory, sweet dish for your next family dinner! It’s just as easy as takeout Chinese food, takes just about the same amount of time, and it’s way better for you! This healthier version uses much less oil and sugar, but is the same crunchy, sticky, restaurant-quality meal you know and love.
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📋 About the Recipe
This air fryer orange chicken recipe is a copycat of everyone’s favorite Panda Express orange chicken, but it has a fraction of the fat, sodium, and sugar! It’s healthy, quick, easy, and packed full of delicious asian-inspired flavor.
In less than 30 minutes, you’ll have a protein-packed dinner ready to be devoured by your family. Even better, there are no preservatives or processed ingredients that you’d typically find in restaurant or grocery store versions. So with minimal effort and good-for-you ingredients, this recipe is far superior than the rest!
🛒 Ingredients
For the Chicken
For the Orange Sauce
A few notes about the ingredients:
- If you’d prefer to make air fryer lemon chicken instead, just substitute the orange juice and orange zest for lemon juice and zest.
- Substitute the chicken breasts for wings to make air fryer orange chicken wings instead! Follow all the same directions, but separate the wings into wingettes and drumettes (throw away the flapper), cook the wings at 400 degrees F for 16 minutes, giving them a toss halfway through. Click this link for more information on how to cut chicken wings.
- Though the recipe doesn’t originally call for it, you can add in 1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger to give the sauce a little extra punch of flavor.
- For a less tangy sauce, add an additional 1 tablespoon of brown sugar to make it sweeter.
- If your sauce becomes too thick, slowly add in a little more water until you get the consistency you need to fully coat the chicken.
📓 Instructions
For the Chicken
Prepare the air fryer basket or tray by spraying it with nonstick spray.
Cut the chicken into 1 inch cubes. Place the cubes in a bowl and set it aside.
In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs, water, salt, and pepper. Set it aside.
In a third bowl, stir together the flour and cornstarch. Set it aside.
Dip the cubed chicken into the eggs, then into the flour and cornstarch mixture. Place the coated chicken cubes in the bottom of the air fryer basket or tray in a single layer. (Do not overcrowd them.) You might need to coat and cook the chicken in batches, depending on the size of your air fryer.
Once the bottom of the air fryer basket is full, spray the chicken with nonstick cooking spray or brush with a light coat of olive oil. Then, air fry at 400 degrees F for 12 minutes, giving them a toss halfway through so they brown on all sides.
Once cooked, place the chicken cubes in a medium bowl and continue the process with the rest of the chicken until it is cooked through and crispy.
For the Orange Sauce
Combine the orange juice, orange zest, soy sauce, rice vinegar, brown sugar, garlic, and ½ cup of water in a saucepan over medium heat. In a separate bowl, combine the cornstarch with ¼ cup water. Once the sauce starts to simmer, whisk in the cornstarch slurry.
Continue to whisk the sauce until it starts to thicken. It should stick to the whisk or the back of a spoon. Once it gets to the desired consistency, take it off the heat. The sauce will thicken more as it cools.
Putting It All Together
Pour the orange sauce over the air fried chicken. Give it a gentle toss to fully coat. Scoop the chicken onto a serving plate and garnish with sesame seeds, green onions, and freshly grated orange zest.
To make it a complete meal, serve with white or brown rice and stir fried veggies, or incorporate both into one hearty side dish by pairing this recipe with this instant pot chicken fried rice!
Check out the how-to steps in this web story!
🔍 FAQs
The main difference between general tso’s chicken and orange chicken is the sauce. The chicken itself is traditionally prepared the same way by deep frying, or as a modern version, using an air fryer to create crispy chicken nuggets.
However, the sauces vary in that general tso’s is typically spicier, does not use any orange, and often uses a hoisin or teriyaki to create a salty, sweet sauce for the chicken. Whereas orange chicken focuses more so on a sweet and tangy sauce mainly from oranges themselves.
Traditional orange chicken from Chinese restaurants or the freezer section of your grocery store generally is not good for you. These dishes are packed full of salt, sugar, deep fried oils and fat, as well as processed and preservative-filled ingredients. So, this light and healthy air fryer orange chicken is the perfect substitute as it uses way less salt and sugar, minimal amounts of oil, and no processed ingredients.
You can buy cubed and breaded chicken or pre-packaged orange chicken from the freezer section of your grocery store. Though I do not fully recommend doing this, since these frozen versions typically aren’t the healthiest options, you can still throw them into your air fryer and create a tasty dish.
Place ONLY the chicken into the basket or tray of your air fryer and cook it at 400 degrees F for 2 to 5 minutes. As the chicken warms up in the air fryer, make the orange sauce. Once the chicken is defrosted and warmed through, place it in a medium bowl and toss it with the homemade sauce.
Yes! To make crispy orange chicken in the oven, follow the same instructions, making sure to spray the coated chicken with the nonstick spray, then bake the chicken on a sheet pan at 400 degrees F for 20 to 25 minutes. While the chicken is in the oven, prepare the sauce. Once the chicken is done, either pour the sauce on top or place it in a bowl to coat.
💭 One More Tip
Just like most Chinese carryout, this air fryer orange chicken is great leftover the next day. Just reheat it in the microwave or give it a quick 2 to 4 minute whirl at 350 degrees F in the air fryer. The sauce may thicken a bit as you reheat it, so you may need to add a little splash of water over the top before reheating.
🍴 Related Recipes
Share your cooking with me! If you make this recipe, I'd love to know! Tag @yourhomemadehealthy on Instagram or leave a comment with a rating and some feedback at the bottom of this page!
📖 Recipe
Air Fryer Orange Chicken
Equipment
- air fryer
Ingredients
For the Chicken
- 3 chicken breasts (around 2 pounds)
- 2 eggs
- 1 tablespoon water
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- 1 cup flour
- ½ cup cornstarch
- nonstick spray
For the Orange Sauce
- 1 orange juice and zest
- ¼ cup low sodium soy sauce
- 2 tablespoon rice vinegar
- 2 tablespoon brown sugar
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 2 tablespoon cornstarch
- ¾ cup water separated into ½ cup and ¼ cup
Instructions
For the Chicken
- Prepare the air fryer basket or tray by spraying it with nonstick spray.
- Cut the chicken into 1 inch cubes. Place the cubes in a bowl and set it aside.
- In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs, water, salt, and pepper. Set it aside.
- In a third bowl, stir together the flour and cornstarch. Set it aside.
- Dip the cubed chicken into the eggs, then into the flour and cornstarch mixture.
- Place the coated chicken cubes in the bottom of the air fryer basket or tray in a single layer. (Do not overcrowd them.) You might need to coat and cook the chicken in batches, depending on the size of your air fryer.
- Once the bottom of the air fryer basket is full, spray the chicken with nonstick cooking spray or brush with a light coat of olive oil. Then, air fry at 400 degrees F for 12 minutes, giving them a toss halfway through so they brown on all sides.
- Once cooked, place the chicken cubes in a medium bowl and continue the process with the rest of the chicken until it is cooked through and crispy.
For the Orange Sauce
- Combine the orange juice, orange zest, soy sauce, rice vinegar, brown sugar, garlic, and ½ cup of water in a saucepan over medium heat.
- In a separate bowl, combine the cornstarch with ¼ cup water. Once the sauce starts to simmer, whisk in the cornstarch slurry.
- Continue to whisk the sauce until it starts to thicken. It should stick to the whisk or the back of a spoon. Once it gets to the desired consistency, take it off the heat. The sauce will thicken more as it cools.
Putting it All Together
- Pour the orange sauce over the air fried chicken. Give it a gentle toss to fully coat. Scoop the chicken onto a serving plate and garnish with sesame seeds, green onions, and freshly grated orange zest.
- To make it a complete meal, serve with white or brown rice and stir fried veggies, or incorporate both into one hearty side dish by pairing air fryer orange chicken with this instant pot chicken fried rice!
Notes
- If you’d prefer to make air fryer lemon chicken instead, just substitute the orange juice and orange zest for lemon juice and zest.
- Substitute the chicken breasts for wings to make air fryer orange chicken wings instead! Follow all the same directions, but separate the wings into wingettes and drumettes (throw away the flapper), cook the wings at 400 degrees F for 16 minutes, giving them a toss halfway through. Click this link for more information on how to cut chicken wings.
- Though the recipe doesn’t originally call for it, you can add in 1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger to give the sauce a little extra punch of flavor.
- For a less tangy sauce, add an additional 1 tablespoon of brown sugar to make it sweeter.
- If your sauce becomes too thick, slowly add in a little more water until you get the consistency you need to fully coat the chicken.
- To make crispy orange chicken in the oven, follow the same instructions, making sure to spray the coated chicken with the nonstick spray, then bake the chicken on a sheet pan at 400 degrees F for 20 to 25 minutes. While the chicken is in the oven, prepare the sauce. Once the chicken is done, either pour the sauce on top or place it in a bowl to coat.
- Just like most Chinese carryout, this air fryer orange chicken is great leftover the next day. Just reheat it in the microwave or give it a quick 2 to 4 minute whirl at 350 degrees F in the air fryer. The sauce may thicken a bit as you reheat it, so you may need to add a little splash of water over the top before reheating.
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Becca
The air fryer orange chicken was excellent! The steps were easy to follow and the ingredients were simple to use.
Alana Lieberman
Thanks Becca! Glad you enjoyed it 🙂