Orange Chicken Stir Fry (Easy 20-Minute Recipe!)
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This Orange Chicken Stir Fry recipe is quick, easy to make, and bursting with bright citrus flavor. It makes an ideal dinner for busy weeknights, because it is ready to eat in just 20 minutes. Learn how to make homemade orange chicken with vegetables with this healthy recipe that tastes way better than takeout!
“>Why You’ll Love This Orange Chicken Stir Fry Recipe
Stir fry recipes are one of my absolute favorite meals to make on busy weeknights. They are full of fresh and nutritious ingredients and take no time to prepare. This orange chicken with vegetables recipe is a favorite in my house, because it is full of amazing orange flavor and makes a filling, well-balanced meal.
Traditional orange chicken recipes call for frying your chicken in copious amounts of oil, and then coating it with orange sauce that typically calls for at least half a cup of sugar or orange marmalade.
I made this homemade orange chicken stir fry healthier by lightly stir frying the chicken with bell peppers and carrots in a small amount of oil. The chicken and vegetables are then tossed in a sweet and tangy sauce made with fresh orange juice, honey, soy sauce, garlic, ginger, and a bit of cornstarch to thicken it up.
Orange Chicken Stir Fry with Vegetables Ingredients
To make this easy orange chicken stir fry recipe, you will need:
- Chicken breasts: Boneless, skinless chicken breasts are ideal for this recipe. But you can use boneless, skinless chicken thighs, if that’s what you have on hand.
- Soy sauce: This adds that signature umami flavor to the stir fry sauce. I always use traditional soy sauce, but you could use tamari to make the recipe gluten-free or coconut aminos to make it soy-free.
- Honey: This adds a touch of extra sweetness to the sauce, while making it thick and sticky. You could also use maple syrup. brown sugar, granulated sugar, or coconut sugar instead.
- Orange juice with zest: This is the liquid base for the stir fry sauce. It adds the most amazing citrusy flavor to the sauce. Always use fresh juice and zest, for best results.
- Cornstarch: This helps thicken the sauce to that glossy and syrupy consistency, so that it sticks to the chicken pieces.
- Garlic and ginger: These two aromatics enhance the flavor of the dish. Freshly minced garlic and ginger are best. However, if you don’t want to spend time peeling and grating, many grocery stores sell pre-made garlic and ginger paste, which will work in this recipe.
- Salt and pepper: These two seasonings are used to flavor the chicken when stir frying. You can use as much as you would like.
- Fresh vegetables: I used a combination of bell peppers and carrots in this recipe, but the options for veggies are truly endless. See my tips in the section below for more ideas!
- Vegetable oil: This is the neutral-flavored oil I like to use to stir fry the chicken and veggies. You could substitute it with canola, safflower, or avocado oil as well.
- Green onions: I like to garnish chicken stir fry with green onions (aka scallions), because they add extra flavor, color, and crunch to the dish.
As always, detailed ingredient information and amounts are included in the recipe card below.
The Best Vegetables To Use For Stir Frying
In this recipe, I use a combination of bell peppers and carrots, but you can use whatever vegetables you have on hand in your fridge. One of the best parts about stir fries is that they are a great way to use up leftover ingredients.
Some ideas for other vegetables to use in stir fry recipes are: Mushrooms, sugar snap peas, broccoli, green beans, water chestnuts, baby corn, spinach, bean sprouts, and yellow onions. You could also just use a package of frozen stir fry vegetables.
Just remember to add dense vegetables, like bell peppers and carrots, at the beginning of the cooking process, because they need more time to soften. Delicate vegetables, such as spinach and bean sprouts, should be added at the end, because they only need a short amount of time to cook.
How to Make Orange Chicken Stir Fry with Veggies
As a brief overview, here is how to make this easy orange chicken stir fry recipe:
- Make the stir fry sauce: First, whisk together a simple homemade stir fry sauce, made from orange juice and zest, soy sauce, honey, cornstarch, garlic, and ginger.
- Stir fry the chicken: Next, stir fry some sliced boneless skinless chicken breasts with some salt and pepper. Once the chicken is cooked, transfer it to a plate.
- Stir fry the veggies: Cook the vegetables just until tender-crisp. Then, return the chicken to the pan.
- Coat the everything with sauce: Pour the sauce over the chicken and veggies. Continue cooking until the sauce has reached a boil and has thickened to a consistency of a syrup.
- Garnish and serve: Top with green onions and serve with steamed rice.
Detailed ingredient information and instructions are in the recipe card below, as always.
Tips for Making Orange Chicken Stir Fry
Here are a few pointers that I have learned over the years from making this recipe:
- Prep beforehand: Make sure you have everything prepped before you being cooking. Stir fry recipes cook very quickly, so there’s no time to prepare ingredients once you start cooking. Having all your ingredients ready before you put anything in the pan will also help to ensure that none of the ingredients overcook, because you want the chicken to be juicy and the vegetables to be tender-crisp.
- Get your rice cooking: Before you begin stir frying, get your rice or quinoa started in a separate saucepan. That way, the rice and stir fry will finish cooking at the same time.
- Always test the oil: Lastly, ensure the oil is hot enough before the rest of your ingredients hit the pan. The oil should look shimmery and should flow easily when the pan is tilted. A quick readiness test is to add a drop of water to the oil. If it sizzles and evaporates on contact, you are ready to begin stir frying.
I recommend using my tips above to ensure that this healthy orange chicken stir fry recipe turns out perfect every single time!
How to Store Orange Chicken Stir Fry
Here are a couple of tips for storing orange chicken with vegetables in the fridge or freezer:
- Refrigerate: Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to five days. To serve, simply reheat on the stovetop or in the microwave until warm.
- Freeze: Leftovers can also be frozen and stored in the freezer. Place the chicken, vegetables, and sauce in a freezer-safe bag or container, and freeze for up to three months. To serve, simply thaw overnight in the refrigerator, then reheat on the stovetop or in the microwave until warm.
I have to say, whenever I make this recipe, it gets gobbled up fast. So, I usually don’t have to worry too much about storing leftovers. 😉
Where to Get the Best Organic Chicken Online
I always advise people to purchase free-range, organic chicken if possible. This is because organic and naturally-raised meat is way more healthy than conventional meat. For the best organic chicken and other meats, I recommend signing up for ButcherBox.
If you want to learn more about ButcherBox, I have written a detailed ButcherBox Review. However, if you would prefer to use another delivery service, check out this post: My Favorite Organic Meat Delivery Companies. In that post, I discuss other companies that sell organic meat that you might like better.
More Easy Asian Dinner Recipes
Craving more simple Asian-style dinner recipes? Here are some of my favorites:
- Chicken Stir Fry with Veggies
- Baked Honey Sriracha Salmon
- The Best Teriyaki Chicken Recipe
- Egg Fried Rice with Vegetables
- Orange Chicken with Cauli Rice
If you make this Orange Chicken Stir Fry recipe, let me know! Leave a comment with a star rating ★ below, because I love hearing from you! ♡
Orange Chicken Stir Fry (Easy 20-Minute Recipe!)
Ingredients
- 1 large orange, zested and juiced
- 3 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon grated ginger
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
- 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into thin strips
- Salt and pepper
- 2 bell peppers, thinly sliced
- 2 carrots, peeled and sliced
- 2 green onions, thinly sliced
Instructions
- Whisk together the orange juice, orange zest, soy sauce, honey, garlic, ginger, and cornstarch in a small bowl. Set aside.
- In a large wok or skillet set over medium-high heat, heat 1 tablespoon of the oil.
- When the oil is hot, add the chicken. Season the chicken liberally with salt and pepper.
- Cook the chicken for 3-5 minutes or until cooked through. Transfer the chicken to a plate and set aside.
- Add the remaining tablespoon of oil to the skillet. Add the carrots and cook for about 3 minutes until slightly softened.
- Add the bell peppers and stir fry further for 2-3 minutes or until tender-crisp. Return the chicken to skillet.
- Add the orange sauce. Stir fry everything, until the sauce is thickened and the chicken and vegetables are well coated.
- Sprinkle green onions over top. Serve warm with cooked rice or quinoa.
Nutrition
Notes
- I highly recommend using organic, pasture-raised chicken in this recipe for maximum health benefits.
- Leftovers can be stored in the fridge for up to five days or in the freezer for up to three months.
This post was originally published on August 7, 2017. It has been updated to reflect new information and helpful content.
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I am always trying to up my busy weeknight meal repertoire! I always find myself making the same few things on repeat! Gotta love the Chinese take-out fake-out faves for weeknights! This looks much less heavy and fried. YAY, for lightened up meals!
Hey Maria! Thanks so much! I have a few go-to dinner recipes that I make way more than others, so I am guilty of that as well! I try to avoid deep-frying as much I can, obviously because it is not healthy, but mainly because the idea of hot oil splashing scares the life out of me! Lol 🙂 Have a great week!!
I order the orange chicken every time I go to Panda Express. I love all the vegetables in your orange chicken recipe because it makes it very healthy.
Thanks so much! ♡ I always try to add vegetables to dinner recipes whenever I can, to make everything more nutritious!
I’m not a huge fan of take-out Orange Chicken. I love fried things, but I don’t really need my chicken to be fried in Orange Chicken, and the sauce is so sweet. This sounds much more up my alley, especially with the fresh orange!
Hello Heather! Yeah you can get as much flavor (and way less fat) without deep-frying. The fresh orange makes all the difference, you can really taste it in the stir fry. And yeah I only add a little bit of honey because I don’t like my dishes to be too sweet either! 🙂
That is such a great recipe! Love the addition of orange and honey to the sauce!
Hi Deepika! Thanks so much!! ♡
Your version of orange chicken sounds so much better that those sticky overly sweet ones we get in the restaurants. I made something similar today, just no orange. 🙂
Hi Kankana! Thank you! Yeah I like to make restaurant-style dishes myself, so that way I know exactly what goes into it! 🙂