Air Fryer Orange Chicken
The best, crispy air fryer orange chicken recipe with the perfect aromatic sauce. A healthier, gluten-free alternative to classic orange chicken.
What you need to make this recipe
- Chicken. I used skinless boneless chicken thighs but you can use chicken breasts too.
- Egg white.
- Soy sauce.
- Fresh ginger.
- Fresh garlic cloves.
- Cornstarch. Potato starch can be used as substitute.
- Salt.
- For the sauce: Ginger, garlic, fresh orange zest and orange juice, soy sauce, sugar (white sugar or brown sugar can be used), rice vinegar and cornstarch. Honey can also be used as substitute for the sugar. If you like spice, add a teaspoon of red pepper flakes/chilli flakes to the sauce.
How to make air fryer orange chicken
Slice the chicken into bite-size pieces then add to a medium bowl. Add the egg white, a few tablespoons soy sauce, minced garlic and ginger. Mix well and allow to marinate for at least 10 minutes but up to 2 hours in the fridge. Season the cornstarch with salt then dip the chicken pieces in the cornstarch mixture then transfer to a greased air fryer basket in a single layer. Spray with a little more oil spray/cooking spray than air fry at 200°C/400°F for 15 minutes, flipping over halfway, until the chicken is golden brown and crisp.
To make the sauce, combine all the ingredients and whisk until smooth. Cook the sauce over medium heat until thick and glossy then add the cooked chicken and toss well in the orange sauce and stir fry for a minute or two to coat the chicken in the sauce. Serve with noodles or steamed rice and garnish with green onions/spring onion and sesame seeds (optional).
FAQ
The crispy chicken is great served with noodles, steamed rice or cauliflower rice. Vegetables are another great side dish option. I like serving air fryer orange chicken with broccoli, green beans or sugar snap peas.
Orange chicken sauce consists of soy sauce, fresh orange juice and zest, fresh minced garlic and ginger, rice vinegar and some sugar cooked into a thick, glossy sauce.
To thicken the sauce, add a tablespoon of corn starch to the sauce ingredients before adding to a saucepan and cooking until the sauce easily coats the back of a spoon. A cornstarch slurry can also be used if you want to thicken the sauce more.
Easy Chinese-American chicken recipes
I always use my Instant Pot Vortex Plus Air Fryer with ClearCook when developing air fryer recipes. It is by far the most efficient air fryer I’ve used and the basket size is excellent for a family of 4. I am partnered with Instant Pot South Africa.
Air Fryer Orange Chicken
Ingredients
- 750 g (1lb) skinless boneless chicken thighs
- 1 egg white
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tsp minced ginger
- 2 garlic cloves crushed
- 2 cups cornstarch
- pinch of salt
For the orange sauce
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1 cup fresh orange juice
- ¼ cup soy sauce
- 1 tbsp orange zest
- 1 tsp minced ginger
- 4 garlic cloves crushed/minced
- 1 tbsp rice vinegar
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
Instructions
- Cut the chicken into bite-size pieces and add to a medium bowl.
- Add the soy sauce, egg white, ginger and garlic and mix well. Allow to marinate for at least 10 minutes or up to 2 hours in the fridge.
- Combine the cornstarch and a pinch of salt in another bowl then coat the chicken in the cornstarch mixture.
- Grease the basket of an air fryer then add the chicken in a single layer. Spray with oil spray.
- Air fry the chicken for 15 minutes at 200°C/400°F until crisp and golden, flipping over halfway through cooking.
- To make the sauce, whisk together all the orange sauce ingredients then transfer to a large frying pan set over medium heat.
- Cook until the sauce is thick and glossy then add the crisp chicken and stir fry for a minute or two until the chicken is coated in the sauce.
- Serve with your side dishes of choice.
I just made this and OMG! Very delicious! I added a bag of frozen stir fry vegetables that I steamed in the microwave. I would definitely double the sauce recipe as well. Thanks for the recipe!
Awesome! I’m so happy to hear that.