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3 Ingredient Orange Chicken is a quick and easy dinner idea that is flavorful and simple to make. This recipe is ready in less than 20 minutes.
This Easy Orange Chicken Recipe has only 3 ingredients. It is quick and easy Main Dish that your family will love. The crispy chicken texture mixed with the sweet and tangy sauce makes this a family favorite. We love this meal for a quick dinner.
Chinese Orange Chicken is a popular Chinese Food Take Out recipe but now you can save money and make it at home. This is the perfect meal to use pre made chicken nuggets or leftover chicken nuggets.
Also try Instant Pot Orange Chicken and Crockpot Orange Chicken.
What's in this post: 3 Ingredient Orange Chicken
What is Orange Chicken?
Orange Chicken is a popular Panda Express Chinese Take Out food that consists of deep fried chicken bites that are covered in an orange sauce. It is a thick sauce that thickens as it covers the orange flavored chicken.
Ingredients
- Pre-made Chicken Nuggets – Feel free to use any type of fried chicken nuggets or chicken tenders
- Orange Marmalade – Gives the sauce a hint of sweetness
- Barbecue Sauce – Use jar BBQ Sauce or make Homemade Barbecue Sauce
- Low-Sodium Soy Sauce – If you out, see Best Soy Sauce Substitute
Scroll to the bottom for the full recipe in the recipe card.
Variations
Feel free to change the meat and make this recipe with cooked beef, pork, or shrimp for a delicious variations. You can also make Air Fry Fried Chicken until they are golden brown or with chicken thighs for this delicious recipe.
How to Make Orange Chicken
- Step 1 – Prepare the chicken based on the package directions.
Step 2 – In a large saucepan over medium high heat, add the orange marmalade, 1 cup bbq sauce and 2 tbsp soy sauce. Stir together and simmer on low for 15-20 minutes. Add in ½ teaspoon of red pepper flakes for a hint of spice.
Step 3 – Remove from heat, toss in the bite-sized pieces of chicken nuggets until the chicken pieces is well coated with the sauce.
- Step 4 – Serve as is or over white rice garnish with sesame seeds and green onions and enjoy!
Recipe Tips
- Use any type of chicken – We love making this recipe with premade popcorn chicken for a quick and easy meal for your family but any type of chicken nuggets or chicken breast would work great in this recipe.
- Make Orange Sauce – We love to make this sauce with these 3 ingredients. But it can also be made with fresh orange and then mixed with orange zest. Add in some honey, soy sauce, ginger, garlic and rice vinegar in a large bowl.
- BBQ Sauce – Use any flavor of BBQ Sauce that you prefer. There are options that have extra spice or sweetness in the sauce.
- Lighten Up – If you prefer you can pour this sauce of turkey meatballs or chicken meatballs for an amazing twist to this easy recipe.
How to Serve Orange Chicken
- White Rice – We love to serve this orange chicken over Instant Pot White Rice or Microwave Brown Rice.
- Cauliflower Rice – If you prefer, this recipe served great over cauliflower rice.
- Steamed Broccoli – Serving orange chicken with rice and steamed broccoli or Sautéed Green Beans completes this meal.
- Noodles – Serve the orange chicken over Homemade Egg Noodles Recipe.
Frequently Asked Questions
There are many ways to make orange chicken. But we like to keep things easy, so we took pre made chicken nuggets and added a three ingredient orange glaze.
The glaze is easy to make with orange marmalade, BBQ Sauce, and Soy Sauce. The sauce is tangy and sweet but we love it even more as it taste amazing.
Yes, you can easily make this dish in the slow cooker. Use uncooked chicken or the pre made chicken nuggets and place in the slow cooker. Then combine the three ingredient sauce together and then pour over chicken.
Cook on low for about 5 hours. It may take longer if you are putting frozen chicken in the slow cooker.
This would be a perfect meal to make for a weeknight meal or to feed a crowd. If you have your kids friends over, this would be the perfect meal to make.
Store the leftovers 3 ingredient orange chicken recipe in an airtight container for up to 5 days in the refrigerator.
Reheat the leftover 3-ingredient orange chicken in the microwave or the sauce pan until heated through. If you have a lot leftover, you can place the fried chicken in a baking dish and reheat in the oven at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes.
More Skillet Chicken Recipes
Easy Stove Top
Cheesy Chicken and Rice Skillet Recipe
Easy Stove Top
Cast Iron Skillet Chicken Fajitas
Easy Mexican
Easy Skillet Salsa Chicken Recipe
We love to hear from you. If you make Orange Chicken with 3 Ingredient Recipe, please leave us a comment or a star review.
3 Ingredient Orange Chicken
Ingredients
- 1 pkg Pre-made Chicken Nuggets 24 oz bag
- 1 cup Orange Marmalade
- 1 cup Barbecue Sauce
- 2 Tablespoons Soy Sauce
Instructions
- Prepare the chicken based on the package instructions.
- In a large saucepan over medium high heat, add the orange marmalade, barbecue sauce and soy sauce. Stir together and simmer on low for 15-20 minutes.
- Remove from heat, toss in the chicken nuggets until the chicken is well coated with the sauce.
- Serve as is or over white rice and enjoy!
Recipe Notes
Refrigerate the leftovers in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
So good for how easy this was to make!
Our family loved this spin on orange chicken!! 5 stars!!
Loved this recipe , 5 stars
Such a good and easy recipe!
Was so easy to make!
Super easy to make and so delicious! Even my picky daughter liked it. I will definitely be making this again.
So glad you loved it!
I am saving this recipe anytime I want take out!
This is definitely waaaay better than the ones I order online. They’re juicy and so delicious!
Best dinner I have made for my family!
I can’t believe how delicious this was! Super easy to make and tastes amazing too.
Loved this. Its going in my go to files, Thank You.
Thank you Sharon – I’m so glad you enjoyed the recipe!
Hi, I’d like to know, if there’s a certain brand, of chicken nuggets, that you used, and what kind of barbecue sauce, like honey flavored or some other? Thank you.
You can use any brand of chicken nuggets for this recipe. When I made it, I used Tyson Popcorn Chicken nuggets and they worked great. On the barbecue sauce, I use an original barbecue sauce (not a flavored one).