Making your own orange chicken at home is very simple, plus, it comes out so crispy in the air fryer and I pair it with my gluten free sauce.
Takeout is my absolute favorite cuisine (yes, it is totally a cuisine). Nothing even compares. But when your favorite dishes are a million points (not an
What You Need for Healthy Takeout Fakeout Dish!
First off, you will need an air fryer, you can use a basket type air fryer; but, I really like a rack type air fryer as well. If you do not have an air fryer, you can bake the orange chicken nuggets in the oven; however, it does not come out as crispy.
For the ingredients, it kind of seems like a lot of things, but it really is quite simple to make. I will give you all the tips and tricks how to make the orange chicken sauce to make this recipe a breeze.
For the battered Chicken:
- Chicken
- Corn starch
- Seasonings
I typically use chicken tenderloins when I need nuggets sized chicken, but you can use other cuts of chicken. Chicken tenderloins are already thin, so minimal cutting is required, which is why I like them. However, chicken breasts or chicken thighs can work well too. But, you can use beef, pork or even tofu if you are vegetarian. Any kind of protein will work great in this recipe. Remember to cut the chicken, or your preferable substitution, in the same size, so they are all cooked simultaneously.
Corn starch is really great in this recipe, but there are other ways to coat chicken. If you have flour, that works great here as well. Alternatively, a mixture of flour and breadcrumbs can work as well. If you do not want to make battered orange chicken, you can skip coating the chicken and just cook it to your preference.
For the Yummy Sauce
- Minced garlic
- Ground or minced ginger
- Sesame oil
- Teriyaki sauce
- Soy sauce
- Water
- White vinegar
- An orange
- Splenda
You can buy pre-minced garlic; however, I love mincing my own with this mini food processor. You can also use that for the onion depending on how small you want the pieces.
The same thing goes for the ginger. Sometimes I just use ground ginger if I forgot to buy the actual piece of ginger.
Just your typical sesame oil. However, if you are trying to cut back some oil, you can skip this ingredient and use cooking spray.
For the teriyaki and soy sauces, this is a gluten free orange chicken sauce; therefore, I use the gluten free substitutes. I also use the low sodium version as well. However, you are welcome to use whatever kind that you like.
Brown sugar replacement is a staple in my household, it is great on so many dishes. I use the Swerve brand; however, Splenda has a brown sugar blend, and, alternatively, you can use regular brown sugar.
For this recipe, grab your white vinegar; however, if you have apple cider vinegar, you may substitute that.
An orange, well, is an orange! Just your normal orange. Not a clementine or anything, we just squeeze a normal orange. I have never tried this with orange juice or anything, just as a heads up.
Finally, Splenda! I love Splenda for these types of dishes. It dissolves so perfectly into the sauces. However, if you do not want to use a sugar replacement, you can try real sugar. Make sure to use something that will dissolve.
For the Slurry
What is a slurry? It is a liquid-y mixture that makes the sauce thick! It just combines corn starch with some water. Add that into the sauce, after it is made, until you reach your desired thickness.
How to Make Orange Chicken
Add sauce, slurry and coating ingredients to three separate bowls. Stir each to combine.
How to Make Battered Orange Chicken Nuggets
Preheat your air fryer to 400 degrees and grease it with cooking spray. Cut chicken tenderloins up into bite size pieces, about 1 inch by 1 inch. One by one, add chicken pieces to the cornstarch mixture and roll chicken nuggets around the corn starch until evenly coated.
Once all the chicken nuggets are coated, place in the greased air fryer and air fry for 1 minute. Spray chicken with cooking spray (this will emulate actual frying, while keeping this orange chicken healthy) then air fry for another 3 minutes. Flip/shake the chicken and spray with cooking spray again. Air fry for another 4-6 minutes, or until thoroughly cooked.
How to Make the Gluten Free Orange Chicken Sauce
Then, let's go over how to make the gluten free orange chicken sauce. As mentioned, it does seem like a lot of ingredients but I promise it is so easy to make, and most importantly, so worth it.
While the chicken cooks, heat a medium sized pan over medium heat on the stove. Spray with cooking spray then add minced garlic and ginger and cook for one minute, until fragrant.
Add the sauce and stir until it comes to a boil. Turn down the heat to low/medium and let the sauce simmer for about 5-6 minutes, until thickening. Slowly stir the slurry into the sauce until desired thickness is reached.
There will be enough sauce to have some rice, you can either make my instant pot rice or my stovetop rice.
Other Ways to Cook Orange Chicken
If you do not have an air fryer, you can bake these in the oven at 425 degrees for 10-12 minutes. Be sure to follow the same instructions for spraying and flipping the chicken.
If you want to make a super easy version of this recipe, try out my easy orange chicken.
I also make orange chicken in my instant pot, it is not battered but is still amazing. Finally, the recipe that started this all, my ground orange chicken. It is also amazing over spaghetti squash.
Alternative Sauces
Not a fan of orange chicken? Try out my sweet and sour chicken, general tso chicken or sesame chicken. Alternatively, try my chicken fried rice recipe for an all in one dish.
Air Fryer Orange Chicken
Making your own orange chicken at home is very simple, plus, it comes out so crispy in the air fryer and I pair it with my gluten free sauce.
Air Fryer Orange Chicken
Ingredients
Sauce Ingredients
- 1 teaspoon garlic minced
- 1 teaspoon ginger minced
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 2 teaspoon teriyaki sauce low sodium
- 2 tablespoons water
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce low sodium
- 3 tablespoon white vinegar
- 1 orange
- 6 teaspoon Splenda (6 packets
Slurry Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon water
Coating Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
- â…› teaspoon paprika
Chicken Ingredients
- 8 ounces chicken tenderloins about 6 pieces
Instructions
- Add sauce, slurry and coating ingredients to three separate bowls. Stir each to combine
- Cut chicken tenderloins up into bite sized pieces. Coat each piece in the coating mix and set aside.
- Heat air fryer to 400 degrees, spray with cooking and then place coated chicken in the air fryer.
- Air fry for one minute, remove chicken and spray with cooking spray. Cook for another three minutes. Remove chicken and flip over. Spray with cooking spay again then air fry for another 4-6 minutes, until fully cooked
- While the chicken cooks, heat a medium sized pan over medium heat on the stove. Spray with cooking spray then add minced garlic and ginger and cook for one minute, until fragrant.
- Add the sauce and stir until it comes to a boil. Turn down the heat to low/medium and let the sauce simmer for about 5-6 minutes, until thickening. Slowly stir the slurry into the sauce until desired thickness is reached.
- Once chicken is cooked, add to the sauce and toss to coat
Nutrition
How many WW points is this now?! Click on the link and it will take you to the recipe I made within your own WW app. Your specific points will be calculated, and you can track that.
Sarah says
Can you use any other type of sweetener like swerve?
alliecarte says
Yes!
Victoria Cosgrove says
How do you add the orange? Like cut up or just zest the peel? Or just juice it? Thanks!
alliecarte says
Just the juice
Jenni says
Are you spraying the chicken or the air fryer with the cooking spray?
alliecarte says
Both