Air fryer orange chicken
Crispy little chicken bites tossed in a bright, sticky sauce made from real oranges, like the takeout favorite with nothing deep-fried.
- 50 min total
- 30 min hands-on
- Follow-a-recipe easy
- Serves 4
- About $2.21 a serving
- 610 calories
- Good the next day
- Dairy-free
Dolly says: Make the full amount. It’s just as good for lunch the next day.
Ingredients
For 4 servings.
- 1½ cups long-grain white rice, rinsed
- 1¼ lb chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch pieces
- 1 large egg
- 2 oranges, zested and juiced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tsp fresh ginger, grated
- 2 green onions, sliced (optional)
- 1 tsp sesame seeds (optional)
From your pantry
- 2¼ cups water
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ cup cornstarch, divided
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 3 tbsp brown sugar
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp rice vinegar
- ¼ tsp red pepper flakes (optional)
Each serving has about 610 calories, 40 g protein, 89 g carbs and 9 g fat, and costs about $2.21 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No long-grain white rice? Jasmine rice or basmati rice works.
- No chicken breasts? Boneless chicken thighs or chicken tenderloins work.
- No green onions? Chives work.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
Put the rice and water in a medium and bring it over high heat.
Rinse. Rinsing means running cold water over rice or canned beans in a strainer while you swish them around. It washes off loose starch and can liquid, so rice cooks up fluffy and beans taste clean.
How you’ll know: The water running out goes from cloudy to mostly clear; it doesn’t have to be perfect.
Saucepan. A saucepan is a pot with tall, straight sides and one long handle. It’s for things that need depth, like rice, sauces or a few boiled eggs.
How you’ll know: The food fills it about halfway, leaving room to bubble without spilling over.
Bring to a boil. It means heating a liquid on high until it’s fully boiling before you move on. A lid on the pot gets it there faster, which makes it a good moment to chop something.
How you’ll know: Big bubbles break all over the surface, and they keep coming when you lift the lid.
High heat
once, cover, turn the heat to low and cook 18 minutes, then take it off the heat with the lid on. the air fryer to 400°F.
Stir. Stirring means moving food around with a spoon or spatula so it cooks evenly and doesn’t stick. Unless the recipe says constantly, every so often is plenty, and it gives food time to brown.
How you’ll know: When you drag the spoon across the bottom, nothing is sticking or scorching.
Preheat. Preheating means turning the oven on before you start, so it’s fully hot when the food goes in. Food that starts in a cold oven cooks unevenly and doesn’t brown the same.
How you’ll know: The oven beeps or its light clicks off, usually 10 to 15 minutes after you turn it on.
Low heatTimer: 18 min
Cut the chicken into 1-inch pieces and them with the egg and salt, then in all but 2 teaspoons of the cornstarch until coated. Wash your hands and board.
Stir. Stirring means moving food around with a spoon or spatula so it cooks evenly and doesn’t stick. Unless the recipe says constantly, every so often is plenty, and it gives food time to brown.
How you’ll know: When you drag the spoon across the bottom, nothing is sticking or scorching.
Toss. Tossing means gently lifting and turning food so everything gets coated, like pasta in sauce or vegetables in oil. It coats every piece evenly without mashing anything.
How you’ll know: Every piece looks glossy or evenly coated, with no dry spots hiding underneath.
Food safety: Wash your hands, the board and the knife with hot soapy water after touching raw meat, and don’t rinse raw chicken in the sink.
the oil over the chicken and air fry half of it at a time for 10 to 12 minutes, shaking the basket halfway, until and the biggest piece reads 165°F.
Drizzle. Drizzling means pouring a thin, slow stream over the top of something. A thin stream spreads a little flavor a long way.
How you’ll know: You see thin lines across the food, not a puddle collecting underneath.
Golden brown. Golden brown is the color of good toast, somewhere between yellow and light brown. It means the outside is cooked and crisp but not burnt.
How you’ll know: It looks like toast and smells toasty; dark brown with a bitter smell means it went too far.
Timer: 11 min
Dolly’s tip: Shake, don’t stir. The coating is fragile until it crisps.Food safety: Chicken and turkey are done at 165°F in the thickest part. A thermometer is the only sure check. Without one, cut into the thickest piece: it should be white all the way through, with no pink.
While it cooks, put the orange and juice, brown sugar, soy sauce, vinegar, garlic, ginger and pepper flakes, if you like, in a small and 3 minutes over medium heat.
Zest. Zest is the thin, colored outer layer of citrus peel, rubbed off on the smallest holes of a grater. It holds the fruit’s fragrant oils, so it adds bright flavor without the sourness of juice.
How you’ll know: You see bright flecks and smell citrus right away; stop when you reach the white layer, which is bitter.
Saucepan. A saucepan is a pot with tall, straight sides and one long handle. It’s for things that need depth, like rice, sauces or a few boiled eggs.
How you’ll know: The food fills it about halfway, leaving room to bubble without spilling over.
Simmer. Simmering means keeping a liquid just below a boil, with small bubbles rising gently. It cooks food evenly and lets a sauce thicken without scorching on the bottom.
How you’ll know: Small, lazy bubbles break the surface every second or so, and nothing is churning.
Medium heatTimer: 3 min
the last 2 teaspoons of cornstarch into 2 tablespoons of cold water to make a , stir it into the sauce, and bubble 1 minute, until thick and shiny.
Stir. Stirring means moving food around with a spoon or spatula so it cooks evenly and doesn’t stick. Unless the recipe says constantly, every so often is plenty, and it gives food time to brown.
How you’ll know: When you drag the spoon across the bottom, nothing is sticking or scorching.
Slurry. A slurry is cornstarch or flour stirred into a little cold water until smooth. Stirred into a simmering sauce, it thickens it within a couple of minutes without lumps.
How you’ll know: It looks like milk with no lumps, and the sauce turns glossy and thick once it bubbles again.
Medium heatTimer: 1 min
the chicken with the sauce in a big bowl.
Toss. Tossing means gently lifting and turning food so everything gets coated, like pasta in sauce or vegetables in oil. It coats every piece evenly without mashing anything.
How you’ll know: Every piece looks glossy or evenly coated, with no dry spots hiding underneath.
Crispy. Crispy means the outside is dry, firm and crunchy. It comes from high heat, a little oil and room in the pan, because crowded food steams and goes soft.
How you’ll know: It sounds crunchy when you tap or bite it, and it doesn’t flop when you lift it.
Dolly’s tip: Sauce it just before eating. Crispy chicken sitting in sauce goes soft.Serve over the rice with green onions and sesame seeds on top.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
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