Easy Orange Chicken Recipe- On the Table in 20 Minutes! (2024)

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This Easy Orange Chicken Recipe. is made in the skillet and uses a shortcut ingredient that puts this delicious chicken dish on the table in 20 minutes.

Easy Orange Chicken Recipe- On the Table in 20 Minutes! (1)

20 Minute Orange Chicken Recipe:

Mmm, yummy, that looks good, doesn’t it? My kiddos love Orange Chicken! It’s one of the few dishes they request all the time and I know they would be thrilled if I made this dish every week.

They even make it a point to check the school lunch calendar, so they can be sure to not bring lunch on the days the school cafeteria serve orange chicken… This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Tyson Foods. The opinions and text are all mine.

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You might think making Orange Chicken from scratch is too much work, especially if you’re in a rush to get dinner on the table, but I have a sneaky shortcut to whip up the yummiest orange chicken that everyone will love.

My secret is to use the Tyson® fully cooked Crispy Chicken Strips! Since the chicken prep is done, all you have to do is cook the rice and put together this quick sauce. The recipe does include dicing a bit of carrot and red bell pepper, but you could totally leave that out, it’s mainly for color.

Make sure you use the Tyson fully cooked chicken strips (they look like this), NOT the nuggets. While my kids do like the nuggets, they are not great in this particular recipe. You need all the extra batter in the chicken strips for the orange sauce to stick to and be absorbed.

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Ingredients in this 20 Minute Orange Chicken Recipe.

Want to give this Easy Orange Chicken Recipe a Shot? Here are the ingredients to add to your shopping list. (Looking at the ingredient list, this recipe looks like a lot of work, but it’s super easy, I promise!

  • 24 ozof Tyson®Crispy Chicken Strips
  • Sesame oil
  • Baby carrots
  • Red bell pepper
  • 1garlic clove
  • Fresh orange zest
  • 2 cups orange juice
  • Teriyaki sauce
  • Soy sauce
  • Sugar
  • Salt
  • optional: pinch of red pepper flakes
  • Cornstarch
  • Cooked rice

How to Make this Easy Orange Chicken Recipe:

Scroll Down to get the printable recipe card.)

  1. Cook chicken strips according to package directions, set aside.
  2. In your largest skillet, over med-high heat, add oil and sauté carrots and bell peppers for about 3 minutes. Add garlic and sauté for another minute or two.
  3. Add orange zest, juice, teriyaki, soy, sugar, salt red pepper to the skillet. Bring to a boil.
  4. Mix cornstarch with a bit of orange juice and add to pan, stirring in thoroughly.
    Reduce heat and simmer for about 5 more minutes until the sauce has thickened.
  5. Chop some of the larger strips into more manageable sized pieces. Add chicken to the skillet and toss to coat.
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A few questions I see over and over:

Can I Make this Orange Chicken Recipe Ahead of Time?

You can make the sauce ahead of time, but I recommend not adding the sauce to the chicken until you are ready to serve.

Can I Freeze this Easy Orange Chicken?

I wouldn’t recommend it. It only takes a few minutes to make.

Can I Use Cut up Chicken Breasts in this Recipe?

You definitely can, it will be healthier and fewer calories, but then you will also be missing that delicious breading to absorb the orange sauce.

Can I Double this Orange Chicken Recipe?

Of course! If you are trying to stretch a dollar, I recommend doubling the sauce and then stretching the meal by adding broccoli and double the rice. (the sauce is amazing on the rice.)

Looks amazing, doesn’t it?

Pin this Easy Orange Chicken recipe for later here:

Easy Orange Chicken Recipe- On the Table in 20 Minutes! (5)

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Easy Orange Chicken Recipe- On the Table in 20 Minutes! (6)

20 Minute Orange Chicken

★★★★★5 from 2 reviews

  • Author: Jamie Sanders
Print Recipe

Description

Easy 20 Minute Orange Chicken Recipe that you can have on the table in a flash!

Ingredients

Scale

  • 24 oz of Tyson®Crispy Chicken Strips
  • 1 tbsp Sesame oil
  • 1/2 cup thinly sliced carrots
  • 1/2 cup diced red bell pepper
  • 1 garlic clove
  • 1 1/2 tsp fresh orange zest
  • 2 cups orange juice (reserve just a bit to mix with cornstarch)
  • 2 tbsp teriyaki sauce
  • 2 tbsp soy sauce
  • 3 tbsp sugar
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • optional: pinch of red pepper flakes (Only add if you want a bit of heat.)
  • 1/2 tsp cornstarch
  • cooked rice

Instructions

  1. Cook chicken strips according to package directions, set aside.
  2. In your largest skillet, over med-high heat, add oil and sauté carrots and bell peppers for about 3 minutes. Add garlic and sauté for another minute or two.
  3. Add orange zest, juice, teriyaki, soy, sugar, salt red pepper to the skillet. Bring to a boil.
  4. Mix cornstarch with a bit of orange juice and add to pan, stirring in thoroughly.
    Reduce heat and simmer for about 5 more minutes until the sauce has thickened.
  5. Chop some of the larger strips into more manageable sized pieces. Add chicken to the skillet and toss to coat.

Serve over rice and enjoy!

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About the AuthorJamie Sanders is a wife and mom of 2, located in the heart of Texas. She founded Scattered Thoughts of a Crafty Mom in 2011 as a place to share creative ideas and family friendly recipes. Her work has been featured on Martha Stewart, Woman’s World, HuffPost, TODAY, Pioneer Woman, HGTV, CNET, Good Housekeeping, Yahoo, Oprah Daily, and Redbook, plus many other publications. To date, she had given away just under a million free pdf sewing patterns.
Easy Orange Chicken Recipe- On the Table in 20 Minutes! (2024)

FAQs

What cooks fastest on a chicken? ›

Boneless chicken breasts are a go-to because they cook quickly, faster than chicken thighs and bone-in chicken breasts. They're often found skinless, which makes them leaner than their bone-in counterpart, which usually comes with the skin on.

How to cook large amounts of chicken? ›

Simply add your seasoned chicken to the slow cooker with a bit of chicken broth or water, set it to low heat, and let it cook for about 4-6 hours. Grilling is another tasty option, especially during the summer months.

How many calories are in Trader Joe's orange chicken sauce? ›

There are 20 calories in 1 tbsp of Trader Joe's Mandarin Orange Chicken Sauce.

What is the easiest method of cooking a chicken? ›

Poached Chicken

Whether you're just poaching chicken breasts or you're poaching a whole chicken, poaching is an easy and delicious method for cooking chicken. Poached chicken is naturally low in fat and always comes out moist and juicy.

How to make chicken breast taste good? ›

Here are 7 tricks to make chicken breasts taste better and even totally delicious.
  1. Cook them right. Most people get scared and overcook chicken breasts, cooking out all the moisture and leaving them tough and dry. ...
  2. Marinate them. ...
  3. Cut them thin. ...
  4. Fry them. ...
  5. Stuff them. ...
  6. Shred them. ...
  7. Use the right pan.

How to cook chicken breast without drying it out? ›

Make the chicken thinner

Thinner breasts or cutlets are less likely to dry out, as they won't spend as much time in the pan. A simple option is to pound the chicken until it is 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick, using a meat mallet/pounder, heavy skillet or even a hammer. This is best done between parchment paper or plastic wrap.

How do you make chicken extra tender? ›

The best tenderizer though, is a salted yogurt marinade. The salt has the same effect as in a regular brine, but the lactic acid in the yogurt further tenderizes the meat. A 15-minute marinade with one cup of yogurt and one teaspoon of salt makes for the most tender chicken breasts imaginable.

Is Trader Joe's orange chicken fully cooked? ›

Is Trader Joe's Orange Chicken Pre-Cooked? Yes! Because it's pre-cooked, we only need to cook the chicken long enough to heat it through and ensure the outside gets nice and crispy. That's why this recipe is so quick to make!

How much does Trader Joe's orange chicken cost? ›

We're selling each 22-ounce package of Trader Joe's Mandarin Orange Chicken for the WOW price of $4.99*, everyday.

How long to air fry orange chicken from Trader Joe's? ›

Preheat the air fryer to 400°F. Mine takes about 10 minutes to preheat, but check your air fryer's manual for preheating recommendations. Then add the whole bag of chicken pieces (without the sauce) to the air fryer. Cook for 10 minutes.

What part of a whole chicken cooks fastest? ›

The breast cooks faster so it should be positioned away from the heat source. This position of the whole chicken ensures that the whole chicken cooks at the same rate. It will also avoid uneven cooking wherein some parts are cooked while others are still raw or underdone.

How can I speed up the cooking time of chicken? ›

Add Fat. Any kind of fat—like butter and oil—is a heat conductor, so it'll help the chicken cook faster. Plus, fat helps give flavor to cuts like chicken breasts. So go H.A.M. on that butter.

Do thighs or drumsticks cook faster? ›

Cooking times are different for each cut: whole legs take longer than thighs, drumsticks cook the fastest, and boneless chicken cooks more quickly than bone-in cuts. If you're substituting different chicken pieces than a recipe calls for, you'll need to adjust the time and use a thermometer.

What is the fastest laying chicken? ›

The chicken breeds that can start laying eggs around the 16-week mark are Leghorns, Golden Comets, Sex Links, Rhode Island Reds, and Australorps. If you're in a hurry to start your backyard flock and get those eggs, these breeds will work best for you!

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