3 Ingredient Orange Chicken is made in less than 20 minutes! Easy orange marmalade bbq sauce with just 3 ingredients and crispy chicken makes a quick and tasty dinner!
It’s no secret that we are huge fans of Orange Chicken. From our classic Panda Express Copycat to Ground Orange Chicken, we are constantly on the hunt for new versions of this popular Chinese Recipe.
3 INGREDIENT ORANGE CHICKEN
What do you get with 3 simple ingredients and your favorite frozen popcorn chicken? Microwave magic also known as the easiest version of Orange Chicken ever. It’s been floating around Pinterest for as long as Pinterest has been around.
If you’ve tried any of our other recipes of Orange Chicken, you know by now that we know our way around creating a zesty, sweet orange sauce with a bit of kick. If we could make this popular Chinese takeout dish every night, we absolutely would.
But life gets busy and sometimes we just don’t have time to bust out the wok and gather all the ingredients to make our favorite dish. This recipe is so easy, you can even put your kids in charge of it. It makes a great after school snack that they can make on their own.
One of the best parts of easy dishes like this Orange Marmalade sauce is that you can customize it to your taste. We have some suggestions of how to alter the flavors by just swapping or adding an ingredient or two.
This recipe uses frozen popcorn chicken, but we also like to make a big batch of Chicken Nuggets and freeze them for quick dinner recipes like this one.
Serve your 3 Ingredient Orange Chicken sauce (note: the 3 ingredients is for the sauce, since the chicken is variable depending on if you make your own or use frozen) with your favorite Chinese sides like our super easy Fried Rice for an easy weeknight meal in less than 30 minutes total!
MOST POPULAR PANDA EXPRESS RECIPES:
Panda Express Orange Chicken (Copycat)
Panda Express Chow Mein (Copycat)
Panda Express Beijing Beef (Copycat)
Panda Express Kung Pao Chicken Copycat
HOW TO MAKE 3 INGREDIENT ORANGE CHICKEN
- Cook the chicken nuggets according to the directions on bag (or make Homemade Chicken Nuggets.)
- Mix together the bbq sauce, orange marmalade, soy sauce and sesame oil (optional) in a microwave safe bowl and cover with a damp paper towel.
- Microwave for 45 seconds.
- Toss the hot, crispy, chicken nuggets with the orange bbq sauce.
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VARIATIONS ON 3 INGREDIENT ORANGE CHICKEN
- BBQ Sauce: We like to use Sweet Baby Ray’s Barbecue sauce but you can substitute your favorite brand instead. Choose a spicy version for more of a kick.
- Spicy: If you are fan of heat, you can add a tablespoon of Garlic Chili Sauce, Sriracha, or crushed red peppers to your sauce.
- Vegetarian: Make this with fried or baked tofu for an easy vegetarian version. A tip for making tofu is press between two plates, with the top one weighted. Line plate with paper towels and leave in the fridge pressing for a few hours before baking or frying.
- Lighten Up: Try this sauce with turkey meatballs or chicken meatballs served on top of Steamed Rice and Mixed Veggies for a healthy, quick lunch or dinner.
- Asian Flavors: Play around with ingredients you might have on hand like teriyaki sauce, sesame seeds, or hoisin sauce to give slightly different Asian inspired flavors. Hoisin sauce is generally regarded as an Asian bbq sauce, so swapping it in here would be a great option.
HOW TO USE 3 INGREDIENT ORANGE MARMALADE SAUCE
You don’t have to stick with just your traditional easy Orange Chicken with this sauce. Use it for:
- Shrimp: Toss some popcorn or Tempura Shrimp in the sauce for a delicious party appetizer.
- Chicken Wings: Use this easy sauce for some sticky sweet chicken wings. Mix in your favorite hot sauce for a spicy version.
- Dip: Instead of Sweet and Sour Sauce, use this recipe as a zesty dip for Egg Rolls or Crab Rangoons.
More Delicious Chinese Food Recipes You NEED to make:
Sweet and Sour Pork
Chinese Lemon Chicken
Easy Mongolian Beef
Chicken Lo Mein
HOW TO STORE 3 INGREDIENT ORANGE CHICKEN
- Serve: Orange Chicken is okay to leave at room temperature for up to 2 hours.
- Store: Keep leftovers for 3 days in the fridge in a sealed container.
- Freeze: You can freeze your chicken for up to 2 months in an airtight container.
- Make Ahead: Mix the sauce ahead of time and freeze in airtight containers next to your frozen chicken nuggets so you can make this with no extra effort needed!
3 Ingredient Orange Chicken
3 Ingredient Orange Chicken made in less than 20 minutes! Easy orange marmalade bbq sauce and crispy chicken come together for a quick and tasty dinner!
Ingredients
- 5 cups chicken nuggets , precooked
- 1/2 cup BBQ Sauce (we used Sweet Baby Ray's)
- 1 cup sweet orange marmalade
- 3 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 teaspoons sesame oil , optional
Instructions
- Cook the chicken nuggets according to the directions on bag.
- Mix together the bbq sauce, orange marmalade, soy sauce and sesame oil in a microwave safe bowl and cover with a damp paper towel.
Microwave for 45 seconds.
- Toss the hot, crispy, chicken nuggets with the orange bbq sauce.
Found a cherrywood Chipotle bbq sauce and tried it with this recipe. YUMMY and so easy
Sounds amazing, Kaelene.
Just tried this. Used what BBQ sauce we had on hand (hickory smoke … hey, I’m in TX) and it would have been perfect without the smoke addition. Picking up some non-smokey BBQ sauce to have on hand.
One other choice for the chicken is to use the frozen popcorn chicken. It’s the perfect size for chopsticks and cooks up in the oven right about exactly the same amount of time it takes our rice cooker to finish the rice.
For another chicken alternative, pick up a few orders of popcorn chicken from Sonic or Popeye’s on your way home. Make the rice, whip up the sauce, and pop the takeout in the microwave for a minute before tossing with the sauce.
Looking forward to making the orange chicken, but no recipe for preparing the chicken. I have fresh chicken breasts that I planned to use.
You can use this recipe to make your nuggets.
https://dev.dinnerthendessert.com/chicken-nuggets/
Enjoy!
Absolutely delicious! Better than take out.
Thanks for the 5 stars, Justine.
The sauce was delicious! I would make this again using shrimp or pork or chicken. Served this over rice with a side of steamed broccoli. It made us all very happy!!
I’m so happy to hear that you all enjoyed it, Ginny!
I made your Homemade Chicken Nuggets which were awesome! I fried my nuggets in Coconut oil. They were delicious even without the sauce! For the sauce, I used Kikkoman Reduced Sodium Soy Sauce, but only 2 TBSP because I was afraid it would overpower. Will add more next time. Used Sweet Baby Ray’s Honey BBQ sauce, because that was what I had. Next time , I will use Original or maybe even Spicy. Did not have any Sesame Oil. In spite of my tweaks, this 3 Ingredient Orange Chicken got 5 stars from the family. I can’t wait to try it again with the extra heat! Thank you!
Thanks for the suggestions! I appreciate the 5 star rating, Linda.
Excited about making this bought the orange marmalade sauce and barbecue sauce yesterday opened the recipe to find out this calls for chicken nuggets or frozen chicken. I don’t have either and was going to use fresh chicken and just dice it up do you think that will work?
You could though it might be good to put some type of breading on the chicken too.
This recipe was perfect. I can’t wait to make it again.
I’m glad you enjoyed it, Jay.
This looks delicious and so easy! What size bag of chicken did you use for the 5 cups?
I actually had a big bag from Costco and measured out 5 cups. Enjoy!
not to be picky but I believe in concise wording and your three ingredient orange chicken looks to me to be five ingredients not that it is more difficult but honesty honesty honesty
No, it’s 3! In the blog, she states that the 3 is for the SAUCE. The oil is optional so it wouldn’t be counted ??
I love this recipe. I have added pineapple chunks sometimes for some thing different. Ty
Sounds like a delicious addition.
I’ve added mandarin oranges, it was excellent!!! I am going to try pineapple this time.
Sounds delicious!
Yum – Great for the whole family!
So glad everyone enjoy it!
Sooooo easy — my kids loved it!
Yay!! Thanks for the 5 stars.
I am so excited to find this recipe. This is my family’s favorite and I just so happen to have all the ingredients! So easy!
Yay!! I hope you all enjoy it.