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Crockpot Orange Chicken
Enjoy orange chicken at home with this easy copycat crockpot recipe. It's delicious, sweet, spicy, and tangy.
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Have delicious Orange Chicken for dinner without ordering takeout! Sweet with just the right amount of heat -- because you make it, you can customize how spicy you like it. Impress your dinner guests and take all the credit while leaving the work to the crockpot.
Sweet, spicy, and tangy orange chicken is a popular takeout order that you can now make at home in your crockpot. In just a few steps, you’ll have orange chicken bubbling in a delectable, aromatic sauce. Since it’s made in a slow cooker, you don’t have to worry about the chicken drying out and will be sure to have tender, juicy pieces.
Turn the dish into a complete meal by adding chopped vegetables such as carrots, broccoli, or whole pea pods to the crockpot in the last 30 minutes or so. Garnish with chopped green onion, white sesame seeds, and even add fresh orange slices for a juicy burst of orange tang. Serve over steamed rice, lo mein, or Szechuan noodles.
Crockpot Orange Chicken Ingredients
- Chicken breast
- Orange marmalade
- Ketchup
- Brown sugar
- Rice wine vinegar
- Low sodium soy sauce
- Ginger
- Red pepper flake
- Cornstarch
- Water
- Chopped green onion
- White sesame seeds
This recipe does not call for breading the chicken, which makes it much simpler to put together, but if one desires a coating more similar to restaurant-style orange chicken, then the chicken pieces should be breaded and browned before adding to the slow cooker. Either way, the orange chicken turns out delicious.
The fragrant orange sauce gets its orange flavor from orange marmalade. You can also add orange zest or even thinly sliced rind to the sauce to intensify the orange flavor. Likewise, if you prefer a spicier dish, try adding a dried red chili pepper.
How to Make Crockpot Orange Chicken
FIRST STEP: Add chicken pieces to the crockpot.
SECOND STEP: In a bowl, stir the orange marmalade, ketchup, brown sugar, vinegar, soy, ginger, and red pepper flakes together until combined. Pour over the chicken. Cook on low for 4 hours or on high for 2 hours.
THIRD STEP: Mix the water and cornstarch together. Pour mixture into the crockpot during the last 10 minutes of cooking, replace the lid so it comes up to a slight boil and thickens. (If you are cooking on low, switch over to high for the last 10 minutes).
FOURTH STEP: Serve over rice and garnish with white sesame seeds and green onion.
Cooking Tips
If you like a lot of extra sauce to serve with the orange chicken, double the sauce ingredients.
Mix the water and cornstarch very well before adding to the sauce. This ensures there will not be lumps and that the cornstarch will be evenly distributed.
Use a crockpot liner for easier cleanup.
Storing this Recipe
Orange Chicken is best when warm and freshly made, but will keep in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Crockpot Orange Chicken
Enjoy orange chicken at home with this easy copycat crockpot recipe. It's delicious, sweet, spicy, and tangy.
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 2 hours
Total Time 2 hours 10 minutes
Servings 4
Ingredients
- 1 ½ lbs chicken breast cut into bite size pieces
- ½ cup orange marmalade
- ¼ cup ketchup
- 1 tbsp brown sugar
- 1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
- 3 tbsp low sodium soy sauce
- 1 tsp grated fresh ginger or ½ tsp dried
- ¼-½ tsp red pepper flake
- 2 tbsp cornstarch
- ¼ cup water
- Chopped green onion for garnish optional
- White sesame seeds for garnish optional
Instructions
- Add chicken pieces to crockpot.
- In a bowl, stir the orange marmalade, ketchup, brown sugar, vinegar, soy, ginger, and red pepper flakes together until combined. Pour over the chicken. Cook on low for 4 hours or on high for 2 hours.
- Mix the water and cornstarch together. Pour mixture into the crockpot during the last 10 minutes of cooking, replace the lid so it comes up to a slight boil and thickens. (If you are cooking on low, switch over to high for the last 10 minutes).
- Serve over rice and garnish with white sesame seeds and green onion.
Notes
Pro tip: As you’re serving your chicken there will be some sauce left at the bottom of your slow cooker. Don’t forget to spoon this out and drizzle it over your chicken and rice!
Nutrition
Calories: 318kcal | Carbohydrates: 31g | Protein: 37g | Fat: 4g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 109mg | Sodium: 754mg | Potassium: 708mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 24g | Vitamin A: 219IU | Vitamin C: 4mg | Calcium: 20mg | Iron: 1mg
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Comments
Linda Jewell says
Best yet "home made" Orangen chicken sauce - and we tried a lot of recipies, because we can not buy orange chicken in Denmark / Europa