Ground Orange Chicken (1 Pan!)

Ground Orange Chicken is made in one pan and only takes 20 minutes using a Panda Express copycat sauce. So much healthier than the original!

Ground Orange Chicken is made in one pot and only takes 20 minutes using a Panda Express copycat sauce. So much healthier than the original!

Ground Orange Chicken was born in my head one evening about a month ago when we were preparing Korean Ground Beef as we have for years. I had a package of ground chicken and I was about to suggest making Korean Ground Chicken when I thought, “ooooorrrrrrrrrrrrr….” and a whole new world of ideas came flooding into my head. In the last month we’ve made them in four different flavors (which are all coming soon).

This Ground Orange Chicken is amazing because it still has the crisp texture because we brown it well before breaking the chicken apart and it still has that amazing Panda Express Orange Chicken Sauce that we all love. The only thing missing is the deep fat frying. Plus it takes literally 20 minutes to make, and that is at a leisurely pace. Maybe we can start a write in campaign to Panda Express and say hey, make this version for when we want the sauce but not the breading!

We LOVED this ground orange chicken, full of Panda Express Orange Chicken sauce and in just 1 pot and 20 minutes!

Set your rice to cook in the rice cooker, start cooking the chicken, and wash and cut up some broccoli to steam in the microwave (glass bowl, a bit of water and a wet paper towel over the top for 3 minutes). By the time the rice is done cooking, so is dinner.

Want more Chinese Food Recipes?

Ground Orange Chicken is made in one pot and only takes 20 minutes using a Panda Express copycat sauce. So much healthier than the original!

Tools Used in the making of the Ground Orange Chicken:
Wok: Great for high heat, quick cooking. This wok is a great addition to your kitchen if you love cooking Chinese food or stir fries in general.
Large Frying Pan: I use this Cuisinart for most of my non cast iron cooking unless I am going with a stainless steel option, then I choose my All Clad.
Soy Sauce: Nothing much to say here except Kikkoman has the best flavor overall and I always recommend reduced sodium.
Sesame Oil: The flavor of sesame oil in this dish is unmistakeable and not really able to be substituted. Some Asian grocery stores will try and sell less expensive options that aren’t actually sesame oil, so just be sure the one you’re buying is authentic sesame oil.
Rice Wine: Adds an authentic flavor to the sauce, in a pinch if you absolutely can’t find it you can substitute white wine, but it will make it taste slightly different.

Ground Orange Chicken is made in one pot and only takes 20 minutes using a Panda Express copycat sauce. So much healthier than the original!
4.93 from 78 votes
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Ground Orange Chicken

Ground Orange Chicken is made in one pan and only takes 20 minutes using a Panda Express copycat sauce. So much healthier than the original!
Course Main Course
Cuisine Chinese (sort of...)
Keyword Ground Orange Chicken (1 Pan!)
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 20 minutes
Servings 4 servings
Calories 248 kcal
Author Sabrina Snyder

Ingredients

  • 1 pound ground chicken
  • 1 tablespoons ginger root minced
  • 2 teaspoons garlic minced
  • 1/4 tsp hot red chili pepper crushed
  • 1 tablespoon rice wine
  • 2 tablespoons water
  • 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
  • 4 teaspoons soy sauce
  • 5 tablespoons sugar
  • 5 tablespoons white vinegar
  • zest of 1/2 orange
  • 1 tablespoon water
  • 1 tablespoon cornstarch

Instructions

  1. To make the sauce combine the rice wine, 2 tablespoons water, sesame oil, soy sauce, sugar, white vinegar, and orange zest.
  2. To make the cornstarch mixture, dissolve 1 tablespoon cornstarch in the remaining 1 tablespoon of water and set aside.
  3. To a large pan add 1 tablespoon oil and ground chicken.
  4. Cook until a good crust forms before breaking apart, then finish cooking by breaking it apart with a spatula and cooking for an additional 2-3 minutes.

  5. Once the chicken is cooked add the ginger, garlic and crushed red pepper and cook for about 10 seconds.

  6. Add the orange sauce and bring to boil.
  7. Add the cornstarch mixture to the pan and cook for just a few seconds, stirring until it thickens.

Recipe Video

Nutrition Facts
Ground Orange Chicken
Amount Per Serving
Calories 248 Calories from Fat 81
% Daily Value*
Fat 9g14%
Saturated Fat 2g13%
Cholesterol 97mg32%
Sodium 405mg18%
Potassium 604mg17%
Carbohydrates 18g6%
Sugar 15g17%
Protein 20g40%
Vitamin C 0.5mg1%
Calcium 10mg1%
Iron 1.1mg6%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
Ground Orange Chicken is made in one pot and only takes 20 minutes using a Panda Express copycat sauce. So much healthier than the original!
We LOVED this ground orange chicken, full of Panda Express Orange Chicken sauce and in just 1 pot and 20 minutes!
Ground Orange Chicken is made in one pot and only takes 20 minutes using a Panda Express copycat sauce. So much healthier than the original!

About the Author: Sabrina Snyder

Sabrina is a professionally trained Private Chef of over 10 years with ServSafe Manager certification in food safety. She creates all the recipes here on Dinner, then Dessert, fueled in no small part by her love for bacon.

Dinner, then Dessert, Inc. owns the copyright on all images and text and does not allow for its original recipes and pictures to be reproduced anywhere other than at this site unless authorization is given. If you enjoyed the recipe and would like to publish it on your own site, please re-write it in your own words, and link back to my site and recipe page. Read my disclosure and copyright policy. This post may contain affiliate links.

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Comments

  1. Thank you for this AWESOME recipe! Definitely a keeper! the flavor profile is good. I hope 2021 brings you and your family peace. Mahalo ?

  2. Great recipe! It was easy. I used less sugar and zest from the entire orange we enjoyed it I’ll make this again when I want a quick meal !

  3. Wow! This is so good and easy! My husband is literally scraping the pan to get every last tasty morsel of this dish. My only regret is that I didn’t double the recipe so we would have leftovers.

  4. This was surprisingly delicious and quite simple. I used monk fruit instead of sugar (would reduce to 4 tbl next time) and we had it over cauliflower rice. It was nice to fit this tasty satisfying meal into out low carb lifestyle. Thanks!

  5. I thought this recipe was great! Very simple to prepare and would hold it’s own at my fave NYC Chinese restaurant. Yes, the sugar could certainly be reduced, but it still tasted really good. Maybe next time I’ll use 2-3Tbs sugar. Oh, by mistake I used the zest of an entire orange but thought it was just right when I tasted it. Yum.

    I appreciated the direction to let the chicken get crusty before breaking it apart. Little hints like that make a BIG difference, so thank you to the chef.

  6. This was really good, although I would agree with others that I would reduce the sugar a lot more next time. What I liked also was that it was quick and easy to make and I already had all the ingredients.

  7. Loved this recipe. Super quick and easy. Some folks said it was bland. NOT! Full of flavor! I went easy and opted for the Uncle Ben’s instant brown rice, and it didn’t matter because the flavor profile of the sauce made it all wonderful (for those of you that aren’t fond of healthy brown rice). The only sub I made was to take the sugar amount and half it, and of that half, made half honey half sugar. Also served it with some microwaved steamed fresh broccoli, and married all the leftovers together for lunch the next day. Just super yummy without all the fat of frying. WAY TO GO, Sabrina!

  8. This was delicious. I used less vinegar and only 1 T sugar and olive oil and sesame seeds since I did not have sesame oil and the orange juice instead of water. Threw on a few pecans for crunch.

  9. This recipe is terrible. I am shocked by all of the great reviews. I used less than half the sugar because 5 TBSP seemed horrendous and it was still way too sweet! It looked, smelled, and tasted horrible. I put it over cauliflower rice and in the fridge for lunches this week hoping I won’t waste a whole pound of meat, but I honestly don’t think I’ll be able to bring myself to eat it. What a waste!

  10. This chicken was so good that I want more today. I had some ground turkey that I didn’t know what to do with and this fit the bill perfectly. I didn’t have any ginger so just used about 1/2 t. dried powdered ginger and it worked fine. I’ll be making this often!

  11. I just discovered ground chicken – I know where have I been. In searching for recipes I came across this one. It was a hit. It was perfect mixed with rice. I added orange juice instead of water in the sauce for a little extra kick. My chicken never really browned but will certainly be adding this to the rotation. Thanks!

  12. I absolutely LOVE this recipe! Gluten Free (With Gluten Free Soy Sauce) and Super Tasty. Made it for myself and My family couldn’t keep their paws off it, Ill be making it again tonight

    1. Really yummy! We had this tonight and all liked it. I used Monkfruit/erythritol sweetner in place of the sugar and it was perfectly sweet. Also used Coconut aminos for the soy sauce and added cauliflower rice and steamed veggies at the end. Thank you!

    1. I’ve not tested it that way before. If you decide to try, I’d love to know how it turned out. Thanks!

    2. Susan, as far as adding the 5 TBS of sugar, I used Monkfruit/Erythritol white sugar substitute and it was perfect.

  13. Thank you for this recipe! My husband and I are both nurses. This was so fast a flavorful!! We ate a healthy meal then relaxed.

    Also, I converted this easily to gluten free for our son with celiac. I swapped out the soy sauce for tamari. He loved it!

    1. Thank you for what you and your husband are doing every day for us. You’re both heroes. I’m thrilled to bring even a moment of happiness to your day. 🙂 Thank you for the comment!

  14. This was pretty good…. I was looking for a way to use ground chicken that I had and it was a nice change from my usual chicken meatballs. I did make some changes though…

    (1) IMO there is way too much sugar and vinegar and not enough soy sauce. I cut both the sugar and vinegar by half — the vinegar seemed right, but it was still too sweet for my taste.

    (2) I mixed the cornstarch/water into the ground meat and let it sit for a few minutes before cooking as cornstarch tenderizes ground meats.

    (3) Instead of the water in the orange sauce, I squeezed the juice from the orange after I zested it.

  15. Hi! We’ve made this a few times and have liked it, but realized last time I made it that I was using white wine vinegar instead of white vinegar… am I supposed to use distilled?? The color has been a little off (not deep amber) so I’m wondering if I’ve done something wrong. Would love to make it even better! Any advice?! Thank you!

    1. The recipe does use white vinegar (distilled) which will give it a stronger flavor than using white wine vinegar.

  16. It was ok. Used ground turkey since thats what I had on hand .I ended up adding more soy sauce, tangerine juice, hoison,extra ginger and garlic. There’s not much flavor to the turkey otherwise and no actual sauce was left in the pan unfortunately.

  17. I followed this recipe to a T. It was not good. Despite the number of robust ingredients this dish was incredibly bland (we could taste plain, ground chicken – not a good flavor!) I had seriously high hopes for this and wish it turned out better. We barely ate enough to be full and did not keep the leftovers. We served it with white rice and Asian style green beans.

  18. Is there a video of this being made somewhere? I was really excited about this dish, but the flavors seemed “off” to me and the consistency of the sauce never got to where I felt it should be. With so many positive comments, maybe I did something wrong?

  19. This was definitely enjoyed by my hubby, I used ground turkey, more OJ instead of vinegar and more soy sauce, to his liking. Served it over rice and he wants it again today in tacos! Thank you!

  20. Was super easy and amazing! Hard to find the Rice wine but managed to find it! super easy also. Next time I would double on the sauce so that way the chicken is not that dry, I like for my rice to have the sauce in it…. Im weird lol

  21. Great! I’m going to try diced chicken next time but I love the easiness of the ground chicken. I also used about 2/3 of the recommended sugar and the flavor was fine.

  22. This was delicious! Made it exactly to the recipe, bit found it a bit too sweet. So the next week, when my family demanded it again, I cut it back a bit.

    This is SO good and SO fast, I’m sharing it with everyone.

    Thank you for sharing it with US!

  23. I made this tonight for my sisters family, it was a hit. The only changes that I made where that I halved the sugar and I added the juice of half an orange. I also doubled the recipe, next time I’ll triple it!

  24. This was an awesome recipe! I would double the sauce recipe next time but other than that, would not change a thing. Thanks for a great recipe!

  25. Next time I will halve the sugar as it was a little too sweet for me. I also made the sauce a few hours ahead of time so that the flavors would have a chance to meld. Delishioso!!

  26. Delicious! Total hit with the family. I used white wine vs rice wine and added much more garlic and ginger. Topped with sliced green onions and paired with fried rice and broccoli. This one will definitely be made again.

  27. This was delicious! We ate it over white rice, roasted onion, zucchini and red pepper. Was so quick and easy to make!

  28. This is ridiculously good.

    I thought it would be a healthy-tasting imitation that would make me wish I was eating Panda Express. Instead, it was the exact same flavor without the guilt or the drive to the restaurant 🙂 AND it’s super-fast to boot?? So glad I made this! Thank you!

  29. Thank you for a really solid recipe! I made this with double the sauce (as others suggested) with twice the cornstarch slurry to account for the extra liquid. I also used 5 T of Lakanto sweetener instead of the 10 T sugar the larger amount of sauce would have needed. I felt that the Lakanto substituted well and the flavor was good. I will definitely be making this again!

  30. I so wanted to love this recipe but i really disliked it!! Cooking the ground chicken by itself first made it taste like boiled chicken. Adding all the flavor after the chicken was cooked never allowed the flavors to mesh with the chicken. I would marinate the chicken first at the very least. I almost threw it out but then decided to save it as well as I could by dumping all the cooked chicken and sauce in some egg and then tossing it in some flour and putting back in the pan with some oil and doing a quick fry. This added so much flavor and really helped this dish but I would only do that as a fix. Don’t think I’ll be making this again.

  31. I love Panda Express so was very excited to try this recipe! I used ground turkey. The sauce ingredients need to be quadrupled at least. This dish was ok. It’s a nice way to season ground turkey. I’ll try the other recipe that it actually says it’a a Panda Express orange chicken copycat.

    1. If you search the site, I do have a copycat version of Panda Express Orange Chicken if you’d like to try that next time. Enjoy!

    2. Hi Sabrina – thanks for the great recipe! Your chef experience shines through – I made this ground orange chicken and it was packed of flavor. Sweet, salty, tangy, and has texture too. My little picky eater (my toddler) and my big picky eater (my husband ?) love this recipe so much. We enjoyed it. So many adaptation can make. For extra veggies, I added chopped celery ? my picky eaters loves it and doesn’t mind the celery as oppose to adding it on other recipe. I have to double the serving portion because it doesn’t last long ? I have to try your Korean sloppy Joe next. Stay safe and take care!

  32. So easy and delicious! I omitted the red pepper flaked for fear they might be too spicy for the littles. We made sautéed green beans and cilantro lime rice as sides.

  33. So delicious! I omitted the red pepper flaked for fear they might be too spicy for the littles. 10 out of 10 recommend!

  34. Made this according to directions doubling the recipe and it was perfect. Easy to make and tasted just like take out, but better in my estimation. Thank you for the recipe

  35. Made this tonight for my family- it was delicious. I made a few adaptations as others did to lower the sugar, soy and corn content and increase the orange flavor. I doubled the recipe and made it in my wok.Used the frozen grated ginger cubes from Trader Joes and jar minced garlic. Plenty of flavor- I do prefer using fresh ingredients but was crunched for time. I wasn’t sure about the white vinegar so I used white wine vinegar. Used Coconut aminos instead of soy sauce, honey in place of sugar, potato starch in place of corn starch, the sake ( rice wine) was a great addition( in the recipe) to the sauce. I tasted it before and after I added it. I also quadrupled the sauce. Someone had mentioned that it needed more sauce, so I also added more potato starch, since I had more volume of liquid. At the end I stirred in some chopped green onions and garnished with fresh orange slices that tasted great with it too. So really not big changes at all. I used the Perdue Ground Chicken- which was all that was avail. as opposed to Whole Foods fresh ground- that was the appearance problem- they grind it in strands/ropes. Not very attractive. It looked just like the garlic vegetable fried rice I made. Really weird looking. It’s a keeper! Highly recommend. I don’t eat at Panda Express, but love fresh Asian cooking, as long as it is not in a heavy sauce. Thanks for the recipe.

  36. I have no rice wine, white wine or even red wine….can i just forego it and add in an extra Tbsp of rice vinegar? Obviously it will change the flavor profile, but would it effect the consistency of the sauce?

  37. I am very excited to try this recipe! I have ground turkey that I need to use – I’m wondering if that would change the flavor profile or the dish too much?
    Thank you!

  38. Wow! Just made this, so delicious ! Didn’t have some ingredients, used olive oil instead of sesame oil, flour instead of cornstarch, red cooking wine instead of rice wine and it was perfect! Definitely a keeper. Thanks!

  39. Delicious!!! It was easy too!! I did use 2 oranges for zest, more crushed red chili, cut sugar in 1/2 , added unsalted peanuts, water chestnuts and at end added cubed oranges to just warm them… So good. Love this recipe because you can add pretty much anything you have in kitchen and it will be terrific. Thank you!!

  40. so easy but so good! Orange sauce comes out fresh, not cloying and over sweet like store bought brands.

  41. I don’t have rice wine or any wine at all. Do you think I could work without any?

  42. This recipe is so amazing simple ingredients but delicious. NO LEFT OVER and my family want more. Thank you so much Sabrina for sharing 🙂

  43. Absolutely amazing!! I took the advice of others and cut the sugar in half, which still made a sweet sauce. I added extra soy sauce to balance it. Next time I’ll add veggies and double the sauce. Oh also the red pepper flakes def added a kick! Be careful if you don’t like spicy! I highly recommend this dish and will add this to my regular rotation!

  44. Hello –
    I have all the ingredients except the sesame oil. Will that make a huge difference?

    Thanks,

  45. HI, this tastes amazing, thank you for the recipe! Just wondering why my sauce doesn’t look orange glazy like yours? The ground chicken I used has only 5% fat so it looks on the greyish side, but thought sauce would add some color and it didn’t. Thoughts?

    1. Hmm, did you allow for it all to come to a boil once the sauce was added? My though is that maybe it didn’t cook long enough for it to darken. So glad it still tastes amazing as that’s the most important.

  46. Haven’t made this as of yet, it’s my menu plan tonight as I defrost my ground chicken. Any guesses on the measurements of orange zest? I have tangerines in the fridge I plan to use for the zest.

  47. Thank You for sharing this recipe! We loved it. I have to admit I just found it yesterday due to a mix up at the meat market, they gave me ground chicken instead of boneless, skinless breasts, so I looked up recipes for ground chicken and this one looked best. Glad I tried it. I didn’t have any oranges so I used orange juice (4TBSP) it was fantastic. Going forward, I will double the sauce (we’re just saucy people).

  48. My husband loved this one! I used 1/2 the sugar and substituted with honey and it was delicious and not overly sweet.

  49. I’m thrilled to find your recipe! One question – I only found toasted sesame oil at my regular grocery. Is toasted OK or do I need find the regular sesame at an asian market?

  50. This was SO delicious! Served over cauliflower rice and with broccoli. May try to cut back sugar a little next time. Don’t skimp on the orange zest…it makes the dish!

    P.S. I did sub Pinot Grigio for the rice wine because it was what I had on hand.

  51. This was amazing and my husband and daughter agreed! Definitely adding to my rotation! I followed the recipe exactly and serviced it with steamed broccoli and miso noodles, yum!

  52. Fabulous recipe!! So glad I found this. Just made it for lunch. I recommend doubling the recipe as this was not enough for four people since it’s so delicious, we gobbled up to the last morsel!!

  53. Made this last night because I was unable to find ground beef in the stores but could find ground chicken. I’ve never cooked with ground chicken before So I wanted to try something I know they would like. We all love Panda Express orange chicken. My family loved it. Great recipe. I don’t eat rice so I added half a bag of a chopped cabbage salad mix at the end of cooking. Worked well. Definitely a keeper. Loved it. Thank you.

  54. Is there something I can use as a substitute to the rice wine? I’d love to give this recipe a try, looks delicious! Thanks!

  55. If you want quick and delicious this is it!!! I doubled recipe for a family of four (with 2 guys that are big eaters) and I will triple next time. Also added broccoli. Family staple now!

  56. Easy to make & taste great. Everyone loved it – No leftovers is the only down side. We will definitely make a habit of this.

  57. Excellent recipe! I needed a larger portion so I used 3lbs ground chicken and quadrupled the sauce recipe. A few tweaks I did: used Coco Aminos in place of the soy sauce, Truvia for the sugar (and used half the amount the recipe calls for since you only use half as much truvia vs sugar) and Arrowroot flour in place of cornstarch. Turned out perfect and everyone loved it including my 3yr old.

  58. Could you freeze this? It was delicious! I doubled the sauce and yes, add veggies! I’m trying to get a good freezer meal list before baby #3 comes.

  59. This recipe was a hit with my husband and four year old son! Definitely an easy, yummy dish to add to the rotation.

  60. This Is absolutely amazing. The flavor is so Intense, but the orange doesn’t overwhelm. Will be making this often.

  61. My family loved this, especially my 11 year old son who orders orange chicken from Pei-Wei and Panda. Might try honey next time, as someone else suggested.

  62. I made this last night (1/28/20), it was awesome! Will keep in recipe binder for rotational dinners. Thanks!

    1. Because you’ll be cooking the sauce at a high heat, it allows for the alcohol to evaporate and makes it safe for kids. The sweet flavor will remain but not the alcohol.

    2. It’s 1 Tbsp of rice wine for a full recipe so even if the alcohol didn’t cook out (which it does), it would still be safe for kids….

  63. Excellent!

    The ground chicken sticks together and seems gummy. Weird.

    I followed the recipe with the following adjustments:
    • Increased orange zest to one whole orange.
    • Thinly sliced a couple green onions and stirred in right at the end.

  64. This was very yummy and quick to make. There isn’t much sauce and that worried me but it’s so flavorful a little goes a long way. This sauce would be good on a variety of meat or veggies.

  65. Wow! A great recipe for sure.
    I, too, doubled the sauce – so good.
    Is now on my “to have again” list.
    Warmed this Canadian gal up on a really cold night. ??

  66. I made this recipe last night for dinner because I had to make something with the ground chicken I had. This was truly delicious! My husband, who is not a ground chicken fan, had two servings and took the rest for lunch today. I tripled the recipe and the only thing I changed was adding some of the juice of the orange that I used for “zesting”. The flavor of the orange sauce was restaurant quality….truly. I love to read reviews, but seldom leave them, but I had to revisit this site to leave my comments. The only thing I would change if I could have is I would have used whole chicken slices instead of ground. Still a winning recipe! Thanks!!

  67. Such a keeper! I have a big household of 7 to feed and in a hurry most times. With cheer practices, football games, basketball games, soccer practices, soccer games, and more I’ve been experimenting with ground chicken recipes. Love Korean Beef w ground beef but want some other options. This is a winner! I added 2 Tblsp of orange juice to mine. Tbh I double everything so I really added 4 Tblsp. It’s very much the same Orange Chicken flavor as Panda ? ? You can adjust heat too which is nice. I gotta couple lil ones who aren’t quite there yet for spicy foods. Thanks for another great option!

  68. Orange chicken was good but next time I would cut the sugar in half it was way too sweet. I would also add broccoli and cashews.

    1. So sorry to hear it wasn’t to your taste – it sounds like you’ve got some great ideas to make it more to you liking! I’d love to hear how it turns out!

    1. I haven’t used that personally so I don’t want to give a recommendation. If you try it, let me know how it turns out.

      1. I used monk fruit sweetener and it was outstanding! I’m making it again tonight with chicken breast cut into bite sized pieces. Can’t wait to eat ?

  69. I am sitting here right now eating both this and your Kung Pao version. I had packages of both ground turkey and chicken that I needed to use and I googled ground chicken recipes and found yours. They are both very good. Hubby liked but said he would like more crunchy veggies in the kung pao. I did double the sauce. But again, both were very good. I will definitely make again.

    1. So happy to hear that! Some crunchy veggies I suggest would be water chestnuts or bean sprouts added in at the end. You can also dice instead of mince the peppers 🙂 Hope this helps and thanks for coming back and letting me know how it turned out!

  70. Absolutely terrific. I totally agree about doubling the sauce. I used rice wine vinegar instead of plain white vinegar. 5 stars. Easy. Delicious.

  71. Just made this today and it was awesome, quick, and easy! My local grocery store didn’t have rice wine and I didn’t have time to go to an Asian market, so I used a dry white wine. I doubled the sauce, replaced one of the tablespoons of sugar with honey, and added a bit more red pepper. I also threw in some peas and diced carrots and served it with jasmine rice. I’m definitely going to check out your other “ground” Asian dishes now!

  72. Good dish but a little too sweet for our taste. Next time I’ll cut the sugar in half, and add some garlic chili paste an extra kick.

  73. This is an awesome dish. Highly recommend it. I made them into lettuce wraps added cooked onion and pepper during the process of making the ground chicken. I did double the sauce but subbed out some of the white vinegAr for rice wine vinegar since I didn’t have regular rice wine. Sabrina is one of my favorite bloggers! Her recipes never fail.

  74. Thank you very much for this recipe. I’ve been looking for an orange chicken sauce recipe for such a long time and it was never quite right until I found your recipe. I made this last night with ground turkey and steamed veggies and brown rice and it was delicious and the sauce is absolutely delicious and spot on to what you would get at a Chinese restaurant. My family loved it so much and couldn’t stop raving about it. Thanks again.

  75. I made this recipe for the first time and was very pleased.
    I would add onions and peppers to the meat mixture and double the sauce.

  76. This is so good, and easy to make. The first time I made this, I followed the recipe exactly, and found there wasn’t quite enough sauce for my liking. I made it again tonight with an assortment of veggies and twice the sauce, and it was just as delicious, with all the sauce I love to use! We’re having pork loin roast tomorrow night, and I’m going to do a looser version of this sauce to use as a glaze for the roast. I expect it to be spectacular! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe.

  77. I tried this tonight with my family. It was really delicious. definitely something we would make again. Thank you so much for the healthy recipe. I took out the sugar and substituted some honey and added some crushed cashews and some snow peas very good

  78. This is excellent and so easy! I tweaked it very slightly, substituting arrowroot powder for the cornstarch, as well as Sukrin brown sugar substitute for the sugar. Ground chicken is so easy to get at Trader Joe’s, and this is a recipe with ingredients that I keep on-hand. Thank you for sharing! I loved it!

  79. Thank you for posting. This is a quick, easy dinner for enjoying a warm spring on the patio. As a long time cook, I rarely measure anything ad sub as I go along, usually because that’s what I have on hand (actually I taste as I go, and end up full before dinner!) I used ground turkey and browned in a combo of sesame and vegetable oils. your browning technique is right on for larger pieces. I have not tried that before. I added the ginger, garlic and used sambal oelek. If you don’t like spicy, I would recommend adding a tsp. at a time to taste. I added a Tbl. orange marmalade, skipped the sugar, and made the sauce with some chicken broth and OJ. Thickened it with the cornstarch, soy sauce and rice wine vinegar. Served over brown rice and steamed broccoli. Will definitely put this in my rotation and look forward to trying your other recipes.

  80. Thank you for posting this recipe! I had ground chicken on hand, but had to substitute a few of the ingredients – and it still came out really good! I doubled the sauce, and had to use these substitutes due to what I had on hand: ground ginger for the fresh, cayenne for the red pepper, cooking sherry for the rice wine, and olive oil for the sesame oil. Again, many thanks for helping change up our dinner menu! I’m so glad I found your website, Sabrina!

  81. Just made it. Amazing!! Quick AND easy. Did not have an orange so I used 1 teaspoon orange marmalade. Hints of orange still apparent. Definitely will make again and when company comes over. Side with some rice and broccoli for a quick meal that seemed like I did a lot of work.

  82. your recipe was absolutely amazing! It cooked up in no time and the sauce was delicious. Didn’t and wouldn’t change a thing. Thank you Sabrina for posting this wonderful and relatively healthy recipe. Do you have any suggestions for a sugar substitute for part of the 5 tablespoons as it would make it the perfect recipe for those who need to watch their sugar intake? Thanks again Sabrina, great recipe

    1. I’m so glad you loved it! If you’re looking for anothe recipe with a lower sugar intake, I would recommend my Ground Kung Pao Chicken recipe. Enjoy!

  83. This recipe is great. Love being able to make a sauce from scratch instead of using a bottled product full of “extra “ additives!
    The only thing I changed up was, I added 1 TBs of a fresh squeezed orange to the cornstarch instead of the water…
    Thanks for post this delicious meal!

  84. Made this for dinner for 2. Used half the chicken and all the sauce. (We like extra on rice). Very good! Except I used a little more time orange zest and it was too much. Didn’t measure it correctly

  85. I made the recipe with the exact measurements given but substituted dry sherry for the rice wine and olive oil for the sesame oil. Those were the suggested substitutions I found online for those products. Since the recipe specified “sesame oil” and not “toasted sesame oil” I figured that would be ok. My understanding is toasted sesame oil has a stronger flavor and there’s really no good substitution. Well, it was super yummy!!! My husband thought it was a little heavy on ginger, & I was concerned when making the recipe that it might be too much. After eating it I didn’t think it was, but I think it would be just as good with a little less ginger. I served it with broccoli and brown rice. Oh my, it was so good. I’m happy to have found something good to make with ground chicken. I’m not a fan of chicken in general or of any ground poultry, but I had it in the freezer and didn’t know what to do with it. This is something I will definitely make again. Thank you!

  86. thank you for this recipe, i’ve been looking for one that will put the ground chicken I’ve got to great use.
    in as far as the ingredients are concerned, i think that 5 tablespoons of vinegar is too much, i think 1.5 tbs is generous. and for a more kid-friendly taste, be unafraid to add more sugar.

  87. I made this for dinner tonight. I quadulpled the sauce and doubled everything else so I’d have sauce for rice and leftovers for tomorrow. It’s a hit! Thanks!

  88. I’m going to try this tonight. I went to the store yesterday, picked up ground chicken knowing I had no Idea what to do with it. (I don’t know why I did that. smh) Thanks girl, i’ll let you know how it comes out.

  89. Ooooh, I’m gonna have to try this! My toddler is so picky about the texture of meat and will only eat ground meat so I’ve been trying to figure out how to get her to eat chicken!

  90. AWESOME RECIPE! I had some ground chicken in my freezer and searched up recipes for ground chicken.. I’m so glad yours showed up. It was delicious (used brown sugar but definitely used too much) But otherwise really goodP.S. HAY NAME TWINS

  91. Fantastic recipe. We tripled the sauce as a previous poster advised. Next time, I will use less sugar as I found it a bit sweet. This was a family favourite and will definitely be part of our regular dinner rotation.

  92. Tried this and won’t be making it again. Too much vinegar taste, and added honey like someone suggested to curb the tanginess of this. Pretty much a waste of ingredients. Bummer.

  93. While the flavor was good the amount of sauce was lacking. My chicken was actually dry- and I even doubled the sauce. I’d definitely make it again because the flavors are so good, but needs much more sauce.

  94. This panda Express orange chicken recipecalls for rice wine, but if you click on it it takes you to white cooking wine on Amazon. Which is it supposed to be?

  95. Awesome recipe. Definitely double the sauce. I didn’t have orange zest but did use someone’s recommendation to add some orange marmalade. Would definitely make again.

  96. I’m going to try this Tonight but not having and ornage for the zest I’ll replace the water oj I think it should be fine. This sounds delicious though

  97. Made this recipe tonight and it came out really good. I didn’t have rice wine so I used dry white wine. For added flavor I squeezed a half of orange into the pan while it was cooking. I will definitely make this again.

  98. Yum.  We used honey instead of sugar. Also added chili garlic paste- we like it hot.
    Added onions and mushrooms and served with “lettuce bowls “ hit with my gal pals for a lite lunch….

    1. So glad you enjoyed it! Sorry I don’t have the nutritional facts for recipes on the site but I know there are a lot of free resources on the internet from when I’ve cooked for clients with low calorie diets.

  99. Loved it made some substitutions because of what I had available. Threw in some carrots, water chestnuts, red bell pepper and snap peas w the broccoli. Whole family loved it. Will definetly be making again!!!

  100. This was very good! Added a little sambal as we like it a little spicier. Will definitely make again and looking forward to trying your other recipes. Thanks!

  101. What oil is used to cook the chicken? Also, way too much sugar. Can it be cut back? Also, am I looking for rice wine in the food section of an Asian market or something drinkable as well, that part is vague.

    1. I used canola oil but you can use whatever cooking oil you have. You can definitely cut back on the sugar though it will change the flavor of the dish. Rice wine is found in the part of the supermarket where Asian cooking products are found. There’s also a link above in the post that takes you to where you can find it on Amazon. You can use white wine as a substitute but again, it will change the flavor of the dish. Hope this was helpful. Enjoy!

  102. This was delicious! I didn’t have any ginger on hand but it was still very good. Will definitely make it again. Thanks for the recipe!

  103. Dang! Sabrina! This is going down as one of my top 3 favorites on Pinterest! That flavor is so orangy and delicious! TO think it’s also healthy? Terrific! The only thing I changed was to replace the sugar with erythritol to keep the blood sugar under control.

    1. SO GLAD you liked it! We’ve been doing this with a few of the Panda Express recipes to cut down on frying and the whole family loves it. Thank you so much for leaving a comment! PS, I have a kung pao version going up in a week or so too. 🙂

    1. It’s similar but it’s a rice cooking wine which has a more distinct asian flavor and makes the dish more authentic in taste.

  104. This was a win for everyone in the family. I tripled the sauce as someone else recommended and lowered the sugar a bit. Awesome! Thank you, thank you!

  105. So good. I made this with ground turkey..had on hand. Turned this into a lettuce wrap topped with shredded carrots, green onion and sesame seeds. Will be making these often!

  106. Oh, this is brilliant! We love orange chicken, and this sounds like a fabulous rendition to make at home!