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    Home » Recipes » 30 Minutes or Less

    Easy Gluten Free Orange Chicken

    Published: Aug 5, 2022 by Andrea · This post may contain affiliate links · 6 Comments

    Jump to Recipe Print Recipe

    Get ready for this mouth watering, sweet and tangy, easy Gluten Free Orange Chicken from scratch. Make your favorite Chinese Take-Out with this easy to follow, quick, homemade recipe. Using cornstarch and orange juice, this sticky glaze sauce is made to perfection and pairs perfect with our crispy chicken.

    Gluten Free Orange Chicken on a platter garnished with sliced green onion.

    This is a perfect dairy free, and egg free back to school meal for busy week days or lazy weekends. Serve on a bed of rice or quinoa! Make your favorite Panda Express copycat meal at home with this easy recipe.

    Be sure to check out our Gluten Free Chicken Nuggets. For more great asian inspired meals check out this great Korean Beef and Broccoli , and Chicken hot and sour soup.

    Jump to:
    • Ingredients
    • Instructions
    • Substitutions
    • Variations
    • Method
    • Equipment
    • Storage
    • Top tip
    • Recipe
    • Easy Gluten Free Orange Chicken
    • Food safety

    Ingredients

    Ingredients for gluten free orange chicken.
    • Yellow Cornmeal
    • Chicken
    • Table Salt
    • Ground Pepper
    • Soy sauce
    • Orange juice
    • White vinegar, or rice vinegar
    • Brown sugar
    • Cornstarch
    • Minced Garlic
    • Ground Ginger
    • Red pepper flakes
    • Olive Oil

    See recipe card for quantities.

    Instructions

    Cornmeal mixed with salt and pepper in bowl.
    1. Combine cornmeal, salt and pepper in a dish. Mix.
    Coating the cut pieces of raw chicken and rolling them in the cornmeal mixture.

    2. Coat each piece of chicken completely.

    Heated olive oil in a skillet with raw chicken cooking on one side.

    3. Heat olive oil in a medium sized skillet on medium heat. Add chicken in a single layer. That can touch be do not overlap.

    Flipping over the gluten free chicken  to the other side.

    4. After 3-4 minutes, or when the side is golden brown, flip each piece of chicken and cook until done.

    Mixed orange chicken marinade in a small mixing bowl.

    5. While the chicken is cooking combine the orange juice, soy sauce, white vinegar, ginger, brown sugar, cornstarch, minced garlic, ground ginger, and red pepper flakes in a small mixing bowl. Whisk until liquid is smooth.

    Marinade poured over the top of the cooked gluten free chicken on medium heat.

    6.Keeping the stovetop at medium heat, pour the orange sauce over the chicken, in the skillet, when the chicken is cooked all the way through.

    Gluten free orange chicken marinade thickened on the chicken to create a sticky sauce.

    7. Stir constantly until the sauce begins to bubble and thicken to a glaze. Remove from heat.

    Gluten Free Orange chicken on a plate with green onion.

    8. Serve over rice, quinoa or eat plain.

    Hint: Make sure to keep stirring while the sauce bubbles so it gets the desired thickness and doesn't burn. This keeps the chicken from burning as well.

    Substitutions

    • Almond Flour - instead of cornmeal, use almond flour at 1:1. The coating may vary from the original recipe.
    • Vegetarian - to make this vegetarian, use zucchini chunks instead of chicken and cook as directed.

    Variations

    • Spicy - add extra red pepper flakes to give it a stronger kick.
    • Zesty- Add orange zest to give it a zestier flavor.

    Method

    • Air Fryer-Cook the cornmeal coated chicken in the air fryer for 10 minutes at 400 degrees, or until all the way cooked through.
    • Baked- On a parchment paper lined baking sheet bake the cornmeal chicken at 400 degrees for 20 minutes or until cooked all the way through.

    Equipment

    You will need a 2 mixing bowls and a skillet or fry pan.

    Storage

    Store gluten free orange chicken in the refrigerator in an airtight container for 2-3 days. To reheat, heat in a microwave safe dish in the microwave.

    This meal does not freeze well.

    Top tip

    Don't forget to keep stirring when you pour the orange sauce onto the chicken so it doesn't burn and the chicken doesn't stick to the skillet and you loose the coating!

    Recipe

    Gluten Free Orange chicken on a plate with green onion.

    Easy Gluten Free Orange Chicken

    Andrea
    Gluten Free Orange Chicken is an easy meal from scratch. Make your favorite Chinese Take-Out with this homemade recipe. Sweet and tangy!
    Prevent your screen from going dark
    5 from 7 votes
    Print Recipe Pin Recipe
    Prep Time 10 mins
    Cook Time 20 mins
    Total Time 30 mins
    Servings 2 servings
    Calories/serving 696 kcal

    Equipment

    • Saute Pan
    • Mixing Bowl

    Ingredients
     

    Gluten Free Coated Chicken

    • 1 pound chicken
    • ½ teaspoon salt
    • ¼ teaspoon pepper
    • ⅓ cup cornmeal
    • 3 tablespoons olive oil

    Sweet and Tangy Orange Sauce

    • ¼ cup Soy sauce
    • ¼ cup Orange juice
    • ¼ cup white vinegar or rice vinegar
    • ¼ cup Brown sugar
    • 2 tablespoon Cornstarch
    • 1 teaspoon minced garlic
    • ½ teaspoon ground ginger
    • ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

    Instructions
     

    • Mix cornmeal, ground pepper, and table salt in a small dish. Coat the chicken pieces in the cornmeal mixture. 
    • Heat  olive oil in a medium skillet on medium heat. Add the coated chicken and cook each side for 3-4 minutes or until all the way cooked through and golden brown on each side. You may need to flip the chicken more than once. 
    • While the chicken is cooking, mix together the soy sauce, orange juice, white vinegar (or rice vinegar), brown sugar, cornstarch, minced garlic, ground ginger and  crushed red pepper flakes. Mix until the liquid is smooth. 
    • Once the chicken is cooked all the way through, pour the orange sauce mixture on top of the chicken, staying at medium heat. Stir and cook until sauce begins to boil and thicken about five minutes. Stir so the sauce and chicken doesn't burn. 
    • Once sauce is desired thickness, serve over rice, quinoa or plain.

    Nutrition

    Calories: 696kcalCarbohydrates: 61gProtein: 26gFat: 38gSaturated Fat: 8gPolyunsaturated Fat: 6gMonounsaturated Fat: 22gTrans Fat: 0.1gCholesterol: 82mgSodium: 2667mgPotassium: 457mgFiber: 2gSugar: 30gVitamin A: 371IUVitamin C: 18mgCalcium: 136mgIron: 4mg
    Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was in the comments below
    Tag us on Instagram!We love seeing people make our recipes. Mention @simplyscrumptiouseats_

    Food safety

    • Cook to a minimum temperature of 165 °F (74 °C)
    • Do not use the same utensils on cooked food, that previously touched raw meat
    • Wash hands after touching raw meat
    • Don't leave food sitting out at room temperature for extended periods
    • Never leave cooking food unattended
    • Use oils with high smoking point to avoid harmful compounds
    • Always have good ventilation when using a gas stove

    See more guidelines at USDA.gov.

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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

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      Recipe Rating




    1. Andrea

      August 05, 2022 at 5:16 pm

      5 stars
      This orange chicken has the perfect flavor and I love that I can make my favorite Panda express dish at home and gluten free. It's so easy and better than take-out!

      Reply
    2. Tayler

      August 08, 2022 at 6:32 pm

      5 stars
      We had this orange chicken for dinner last night and omg was it delicious! Thanks so much for sharing the recipe!

      Reply
    3. Dana

      August 10, 2022 at 8:24 pm

      5 stars
      So good! Made this when we had friends over for dinner, one being GF, and it was a hit for all of us!

      Reply
    4. tavo

      August 15, 2022 at 1:28 pm

      5 stars
      The recipe came out delicious! So yummy, we paired it with steamed rice.

      Reply
    5. Beth Pierce

      August 19, 2022 at 8:59 pm

      5 stars
      I have a friend who had to go gluten-free, and I've been having a hard time finding really great dishes to make when she comes over. This recipe did the trick! It tasted better than take-out!

      Reply
    6. Beth

      August 22, 2022 at 1:07 pm

      5 stars
      This is perfect! I recently went gluten free and was very sad to see some of my favorite dishes had to go, so I am super glad to have this easy, tasty dish still on my menu! And to make it even quicker, I was glad to see it works in the air fryer too!

      Reply

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    nicole and andrea

    Hi, we are Nicole and Andrea! As busy moms our favorite meals are easy, healthy and delicious. While we love eating nutritious meals, we also strongly believe in moderating them with yummy desserts! We love hiking, going to the beach and doing Spartans.

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