Air Fryer Orange Chicken is acidic, sweet, flavorful, and the best Chinese takeout imitation meal. The air fryer makes preparing a wonderful Orange Chicken supper simple!
I adore creating Asian take out dishes at home! You can view my Instant Pot Pad Thai dish, Sweet and Sour Tofu dinner, or my quick Air Fryer Frozen Eggrolls recipe if you need evidence!
I also cook Asian dumplings in the air fryer all the time
At my family we have a few different food tastes and demands, therefore I like to prepare my own Chinese food so I can be sure that everyone is pleased. DIY Air Fryer Orange chicken is healthier than anything you’ll get out, yet just as tasty.
If you’re accustomed to making Asian cuisine, you probably have all of these items already. Instead, take a trip to the supermarket and get ready to utilise your air fryer to produce the ultimate orange chicken meal.
INGREDIENTS FOR ORANGE CHICKEN AIR FRYER
A considerable amount of ingredients go into this dish, but every single one of them is worth it!
Chicken – Chicken breast, chopped into 1-2 inch chunks is my favourite when cooking this, although trimmed, boneless chicken thighs would work as well.
Cornstarch – Used extensively in Asian cookery, cornflour functions as a thickening for sauces and a crispy breading for meat a veggies.
Orange Juice – This is what gives orange chicken it’s orange taste! Fresh or shop purchased is OK.
Orange Zest – use a microplane or fine grater to remove the orange coloured zest off the exterior of an orange. This retains the orange’s essential oil, and offers tonnes of flavour to the meal.
Brown Sugar – You may determine how sweet you want your sauce to be. I normally add 2-3 teaspoons, depending on my mood.
Honey – This provides sweetness, but also a sticky, thick texture to the sauce.
Soy Sauce – The ultimate salty, umami flavour enhancer, soy sauce is the basis of most Asian meals.
Rice Vinegar – This may be bought in the Asian area of your supermarket store. If you don’t have it, replace your preferred vinegar instead.
Red Pepper Flakes – Dried crushed red peppers may give a lot of heat! Add as much as you want, depending on how spicy you prefer things.
Garlic Powder – Although fresh garlic might be used, I am simplifying the procedure a little by using dried.
Ground Ginger – Again, using powdered ginger eliminates a couple of steps, making this air fryer dish fast and simple!
If you have any questions, please leave a comment below and I will get back to you Immediately!
HOW TO MAKE AIR FRYER ORANGE CHICKEN
Put the chicken in a bowl, and sprinkle with 2 tablespoons cornflour, tossing to coat and mix thoroughly.
Put the chicken in the air fryer. Spray with oil and cook as specified, shaking the basket once while frying.
While the chicken is cooking, make the sauce on the burner. In a saucepan, stir together the orange juice and zest, brown sugar, honey, soy sauce, vinegar, red pepper flakes, garlic, and ginger. Set over medium high heat.
Bring the sauce to a boil, then lower to a simmer, cooking as suggested and whisking periodically. While cooking, mix together 1 tablespoon of cornflour with cold water in a small basin.
Add the cornflour slurry to the sauce, stirring well, and simmer until the sauce is thick. Remove the sauce from the heat.
Take chicken from the air fryer and mix with the sauce.
Serve the juicy orange chicken over rice, topped with sesame seeds and orange slices.
WHAT TO SERVE WITH AIR FRYER ORANGE CHICKEN
All this meal requires is a fork or a pair of chopsticks! I wouldn’t blame you for eating this up, straight out of the bowl, but it will be especially wonderful with some sides too. Want to eat with chopsticks at home, to fully appreciate the takeaway experience?
White or Brown rice, to absorb up all of this amazing sauce, with a vegetable side dish would be the easiest and most delicious way to serve Air Fryer Orange Chicken.
You may use your instant pot to create Jasmine Rice or Brown Rice, extremely rapidly while your air fryer is frying the chicken.
Or prepare some Fried Rice with the Air Fryer! If you have more than one air fryer, this is incredibly simple. Instead I’d cook the fried rice first, then make the chicken as you keep the rice heated.
Air Fryer Green Beans, Air Fryer Broccoli, or Air Fryer Zucchini are easy and rapid cooking vegetables that will create a delightful side dish with this dinner.
HOW CAN I MAKE THE SAUCE THICKER?
If your sauce isn’t as thick as you desire, you may add extra cornstarch/water to it. Start with an extra ½ tablespoon of each, and simmer each in the sauce before adding more.
HOW DO I MAKE MORE ORANGE CHICKEN SAUCE?
Maybe you want a little extra sauce to add to your rice, or you’re preparing additional chicken. No problem! Double all of the sauce ingredients to produce a double batch.
CAN I MAKE AIR FRYER ORANGE CHICKEN WITHOUT CORNSTARCH?
The cornflour is an important component here, since it crisps up the chicken and thickens the sauce. If you can’t have cornflour, you may need to be inventive. I haven’t done it personally, but I would assume you could omit the cornflour on the chicken and then use arrowroot as an alternative thickening. If you attempt it, let me know how it worked out!
SUGAR FREE AIR FRYER ORANGE CHICKEN?
If you’re monitoring how much sugar you consume, or simply want a less sweet meal, you may alter the quantities of both brown sugar and honey in the recipe. You may also swap the sugar with a low carb sweetener of your preference.