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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!
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
Servings: 4
Calories Per Serving: 553 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
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!
Great taste! Simple and quick to make. My only negative – is that the ground chicken did not “crisp” up. I used my cast iron skillet (as suggested) and high heat. Thought the addition of butter would aid in the crisping – but it didn’t. I did steam my broccoli prior to adding it at the very end. Will make again – without the expectation of “crispy ” organge garlic chicken” – just orange garlic chicken.
Thanks so much, Tracey:) I’m so glad to hear this recipe turned out nicely and appreciate you making it! XxT
Hello,
I really wanted this to like this as it’s something I had all the ingredients for. The ground chicken didn’t brown in step 2 it just turns white like ground chicken looks when it is cooked. It also didn’t get crispy at all and I turned the heat up to high for several minutes not sure what went wrong. I used the gochujang paste from Trader Joe’s and it was so spicy most of my family could not eat this. I would love to try this again any suggestions?
Hi Susan,
Thanks for trying this dish and sharing your feedback, so sorry to hear you had some issues! For the chicken, I find I get the best crisp and color when using a cast iron skillet, so I would recommend that for next time. For the spice, just use 1 tablespoon of the gochujang or even less! I hope this helps! xT
Have made this twice and my family loves it! My toddler grandson devoured it! Simple, flavorful, and delicious. Great for lunch the next day, too.
Hey Patricia,
Yay!! So glad to hear that this recipe was enjoyed, I appreciate you making it! Have a great week! xT
Hi! If I don’t have ground chicken, could I just use chicken breasts that have been cubed? Would I need to make any adjustments to the cooking of the chicken?
Hey Melissa,
Sure, that would work nicely for you! You may just need to cook the chicken a bit longer to make sure it is cooked through! I hope you love this dish! xT
Can you use ground turkey in this recipe?
Hi Caitlin,
Totally, that will work well for you! Please let me know if you have any other questions! xT
Can you substitute ground pork for ground chicken?
Hi Susan,
Yes, that will work well for you. Please let me know if you have any other questions! xx
This was really delicious! I followed the recipe except for when to add the broccoli, which is different in your commentary above as pointed out by another reviewer. As the commentary says, I added it with the butter and garlic to give it a better chance of getting cooked since I don’t like half-raw vegetables. Anyway, definitely one I’ll be making again!
Hi Helen,
Fantastic! So glad to hear that this recipe was a hit, thanks a lot for making it and your comment! Xx
This looks and sounds delicious! My daughter is allergic to sesame. Any recommendations for substitute oil?
Thanks so much Bre!! How about peanut oil? That would work well for you! xx