How to Make Copycat Panda Express Orange Chicken
Whether it’s rolled up as a lunch wrap or served over rice for dinner, this is the best at-home orange chicken out there. In this video, Nicole shows you how to make a copycat recipe for orange chicken that’s as good, if not better, than what you’d get at Panda Express!
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00That is good looking.
00:04Now that is the two-for-one special.
00:09It seems like nobody wants to eat out anymore.
00:11Everybody's a homebody like me.
00:13You got me out here creating all these copycat recipes
00:16and today it is copycat Panda Express orange chicken.
00:20I did my research on a lot of variations of this
00:22and I am certain that I can make it as good,
00:26if not better, than the original.
00:29We're using chicken thighs so you know we're also
00:31going to save a lot of money in this recipe.
00:34Let's get started.
00:35I did learn that Panda Express is the originator
00:38of the orange chicken.
00:39And why do people love it?
00:40Because it is crispy, crunchy chicken
00:43that is coated in this sweet and sour type sauce.
00:47So everybody likes a good old sweet and sour chicken.
00:50Who doesn't?
00:50You're gonna get like about one to one and a half inch
00:53pieces of chicken thigh and it's gonna shrink
00:56a little bit as it cooks.
00:57I'm gonna trim off some of the excess fat.
01:00But I'm gonna leave some little nubbins on there
01:02because those are the crunchies.
01:04So the batter.
01:05The batter is again the most important part.
01:07Starts with a combination of flour and also cornstarch.
01:11The cornstarch is what's going to help it
01:13become a little bit airy and get really crispy.
01:16All right so I'm gonna start with a couple cups of flour.
01:19So there's a wet component and a dry component.
01:21This is the dry component.
01:23And then about a half cup or two thirds cup of cornstarch.
01:28Couple teaspoons of salt.
01:30I always use kosher salt because I just love it.
01:34White pepper.
01:35About a half a teaspoon of that
01:36and then we just whisk that together.
01:39Now I'm gonna add the wet ingredients
01:40just right into the center.
01:41All right so I'm gonna add in an egg.
01:43We'll start with one.
01:46So about a cup of water.
01:48So it starts out like this and then you stir in the oil
01:51and it'll thin it back out.
01:53Oil is key in this batter
01:54and that's something kind of unusual in a batter.
01:57It's gonna kind of make it almost like
01:59a crispy, fluffy pancake.
02:03I don't know if I need another egg or not.
02:07Okay I'll leave it.
02:08All right and so now what I saw is that
02:11we're just going to add our chicken into our batter
02:14and let it sit while we heat up our oil
02:16but for at least you know 20 to 30 minutes.
02:20Yes I said get up in there.
02:22Get up in there.
02:24Yeah I think that's what we want.
02:27Gloopy and sticky.
02:28Okay so I'm just gonna cover this and refrigerate it
02:31for about 20 to 30 minutes and we'll make our sauce.
02:36Okay for the sauce this is where the orange comes in.
02:39It's a very simple just sweet and sour sauce
02:42that's a combination of sugars and vinegar
02:45and then of course fresh orange juice.
02:47This is basically how a lot of you know
02:49Asian style sauces start out.
02:52And there's always ginger.
02:55And then I'm just gonna finely mince that up.
02:56You want enough ginger to taste it
02:58but this is not a time where you want it to overpower.
03:01We really want orange to be the primary flavor here.
03:05I'm gonna do a couple cloves of garlic.
03:07You want everything to be cut really small
03:09so that it disperses throughout the sauce.
03:13I hate chopping garlic though.
03:16It's so sticky.
03:17And I'm also going to use the zest in there.
03:20I just love the flavor of fresh zest.
03:23Okay I'm looking for about a quarter cup of orange juice.
03:29We're good.
03:30Like I said this does require the frying
03:32but it's going to be totally worth it.
03:33You don't need a ton.
03:34You can do this in a smaller pot and just do batches.
03:37Push that back here to heat while we make our sauce.
03:40Okay.
03:45I'm gonna go in with just a little oil
03:47and also a little bit of sesame oil for the flavor.
03:51This is one of those flavors that
03:53you just can't really replace it.
03:57I forgot crushed red pepper.
03:58All right.
04:01See, I put the crushed red pepper with the C's
04:05but maybe it's with the R's.
04:07Oh, it's with the C's.
04:12I'm gonna add in my ginger and garlic
04:14while the oil is heating up.
04:16That way those flavors really infuse the oil
04:19and then you use that oil to transfer the flavors
04:22throughout the whole dish.
04:23Okay, to that I'm going in with a little bit
04:25of crushed red pepper for a little heat.
04:27A quarter cup of brown sugar and white sugar.
04:30That's gonna be the sweet.
04:32We're gonna go in with our orange juice.
04:35So all equal parts.
04:37And then vinegar.
04:38Vinegar's going to give it that sour to the sweet.
04:43Oh, I forgot the soy sauce.
04:44So now you have all the things going on.
04:46You've got sweet, tangy, and salty.
04:49So I'm gonna stir this and cook it
04:51until all that sugar dissolves.
04:52It's gonna slightly thicken and then I'm gonna
04:54thicken it up just a little bit more
04:56with a cornstarch slurry.
04:58All right, I've got some cold water.
04:59I'm just gonna start with a tablespoon of cornstarch.
05:03You want it to dissolve in cold water first
05:05before you add it to the hot liquid
05:07or else it just doesn't activate the same.
05:09It gets clumpy if you just add it straight to hot liquid.
05:12Cornstarch is going to thicken it, obviously,
05:14but it's also gonna help it get kind of shiny.
05:17Oil's at 350.
05:18Our chicken's been soaking.
05:20So we don't wanna overcrowd our pan,
05:22but we just wanna get one good layer in there.
05:24And then we fry it for like six minutes,
05:25five to six minutes, or until it's golden brown.
05:29Set four minute timer.
05:31Why can't I hear anything?
05:32Four minutes, counting down.
05:35Oh, I can already feel it.
05:38So crispy.
05:39This hack alone, this batter,
05:42I can already say is kind of magical.
05:44It crisps up immediately.
05:47Now, I might've cut some of my pieces
05:48a lot bigger than Panda Express.
05:51Note to self, are you really gonna complain
05:53about a meatier piece of meat?
05:56You know, another benefit to making this at home
05:59is that you have a cocktail or a glass of wine
06:02to go with it.
06:03I don't know if you can get that at Panda Express.
06:06And it really completes the meal
06:07and elevates the meal experience.
06:11I am impressed with this batter.
06:23You can tell how crunchy that is.
06:25Listen.
06:29It's the sound of happiness.
06:31I'm gonna heat my sauce back up.
06:32You can see how thick and rich it got.
06:35And then the final step to the sauce
06:38is to add in some of our orange zest
06:41and a little bit of sesame oil.
06:43Oh, that smells so good.
06:46All right, in goes the chicken.
06:53Look at there, look at there.
06:57That is good looking.
06:59I'm gonna show you two ways that I'm gonna serve this up.
07:01First, the classic way.
07:03Simply over just some plain rice
07:07with a little sprinkle of green onion.
07:10My mouth is doing that thing where it waters right there.
07:15Cause you can look at this and see the flavor.
07:21Mm.
07:23It's like happy dance time.
07:26The coating on that chicken is like a vacuum to that sauce.
07:30It just soaks it up and makes it so flavorful.
07:34The inside is still so moist and tender.
07:39Look at that.
07:40Perfectly cooked chicken.
07:40This is why we use the chicken thigh.
07:44If you had done this with the chicken breast,
07:45it would be dried out right now.
07:47It's A plus.
07:49This homemade version of Panda Express
07:51original orange chicken is a 10 out of 10.
07:54Now, if you're like me,
07:56you're going to make a lot to begin with
07:58and you're gonna have leftovers.
08:00What about an orange chicken wrap?
08:03Doesn't that sound delicious?
08:05All you need is one more ingredient, two more ingredients.
08:07You can pick up a bag of chopped Asian style salad.
08:16Toss it up.
08:22Mix your chicken in.
08:26And roll it up.
08:31Now that is the two for one special.
08:33Make the Panda Express orange chicken.
08:36Enjoy it for dinner and for lunch the next day.
08:41Mm.
08:44I should have started with this.
08:45This has everything going on.
08:46You've got the crunch, cold crunch from the slaw
08:51and then the chicken's so saucy and tender.
08:54This is also how you can have lunch.
08:56I mean, you saw how fast it was to whip up that salad
08:58and you've already got the chicken made.
09:00This is a lunch you can make in under three minutes.
09:05So whether you enjoy it the classic way,
09:06over rice or rolled up as a wrap,
09:09Panda Express orange chicken needs to be one
09:12you keep on following.
09:17Thank you, thank you.