What do you do with a tin of mandarin oranges and a pile of chicken thighs? You turn it into a dish of orange chicken thighs with a tangy sauce, and surprise the family with a delicious new twist on chicken thighs!
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🍊Orange chicken thighs - a new twist on chicken
Succulent sticky chicken thighs, with a crispy baked skin, covered in a delicious orange and onion sauce. This chicken is so full of flavour that it should be illegal.
The key to all the flavour lies in a simple tin of mandarin orange segments. The chicken is placed on a bed of chopped vegetables, covered with the contents of the entire tin, including the juice, and then baked in the oven. As it bakes the orange juice permeates the chicken, giving it a delicious citrus flavour and the juice combines with the vegetables and chicken juices to form a mouthwatering, delicious gravy.
You can serve this with baby potatoes and your favourite vegetables, or why not pile the chicken on a bed of rice and cover it with the sauce? Either way, you will have a meal that will have the whole family coming back for seconds.
If you were looking for a Chinese chicken recipe, you may like to try this sticky orange chicken recipe instead.
🔪How to make orange chicken thighs
You can get the complete list of ingredients and full instructions on how to make orange chicken on the printable recipe card at the end of this post.
Ingredients
You will need the following ingredients:
- Chicken thighs - you could also use chicken drumsticks. If you want to use chicken breasts I would recommend you get the ones with the skin still on, as the crispy skin is an essential part of this dish. Depending on the size of the thighs, I would allow 2 to 3 per person.
- Mandarin orange segments - you will need a 312-gram (11-ounce) tin of Mandarin oranges, including the juice.
- Carrots and onions - the chicken is placed on top of the chopped carrots and onions to keep it above the juices. Once cooked, the carrots are transferred to a serving dish and served as a side vegetable, and the onions are blended with the cooking juices to form a gravy.
- Garlic and ginger - you can use fresh if you prefer. I find that bottled works just as well, and is much more convenient.
- Soy sauce - this is dark soy sauce which adds a unique umami flavour.
- Honey - not too much, just enough to add a slight sweetness. If your Mandarin segments are very sweet you may want to leave this out.
- Chilli paste - I like to add a small amount of chilli paste for a little heat. If you don't want the extra heat or are feeding this dish to children, you may want to leave this out.
- Salt - for seasoning - to your own taste.
- Depending on how thick you prefer your gravy, you may also need some cornflour (or cornstarch) to thicken it.
Preparation
- Start by peeling and chopping the carrots and onions. Chop the carrots and onions into large pieces.
- Cut any excess skin away from the chicken thighs, trim any visible fat and discard.
Assemble and bake
Drain the orange juice into a jug and add the crushed garlic, ginger, soy sauce, chilli paste, honey and salt. Stir to combine.
Place the chopped carrots and onions in the bottom of a roasting pan and arrange the chicken thighs (skin side up) on top.
Pour the sauce over the chicken and arrange the orange segments on top.
Cover the dish with a tightly fitting lid and bake at 200C/400F for 40 minutes.
If your baking dish doesn't have a lid you can cover the dish with tin foil. If your tin foil is very thin, use a double layer.
Remove the lid from the baking dish and turn the oven up to grill (or broil). Place the chicken back into the oven and leave for another 5 minutes until the skin is crispy and golden. Don't place the dish too close to the element or the chicken will burn.
Transfer the chicken and carrots to a serving dish and keep warm.
Pour the cooking juices (including the carrots and oranges) into a saucepan.
Blend the juices with a stick blender to thicken. If the gravy isn't thick enough, make a slurry with a tablespoon of cornflour and 2 tablespoons of water and stir it slowly into the gravy over low heat. You may not need all the cornflour mixture.
Serve the chicken with rice or mashed potatoes, and cover with plenty of gravy. In addition to the carrots you may like to add additional vegetables of your choice.
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🥗Serving suggestions
Visit my vegetable recipes page for other delicious vegetable side dishes. Here are a few you might like to serve with the orange chicken:
📋The recipe
Orange Chicken with a tangy sauce
(Click the stars to rate this recipe)
Equipment
- Sharp Knife
- Chopping Board
- Saucepan for the sauce
- Dutch oven for the chicken
Ingredients
- 8 large chicken thighs allow 2 thighs per person or 3 if the thighs are small.
- 1 large onion
- 4 medium carrots If not serving the carrots as a side dish then use less.
- 11 ounces / 312 grams tin mandarin oranges including the juice
- 1 teaspoon crushed garlic
- ½ teaspoon crushed ginger
- 2 tablespoons dark soy sauce
- 1 to 2 tablespoons honey or to taste
- ½ teaspoon chilli paste or to taste
- ½ teaspoon salt or to taste
- 1 tablespoon cornflour / cornstarch mixed to a thin paste with a little water. optional
Instructions
Preparation
- Peel and chop the carrots and onions into large pieces.1 large onion, 4 medium carrots
- Trim any excess skin and fat from the chicken thighs.8 large chicken thighs
- Drain the orange juice into a jug and add the crushed garlic, ginger, soy sauce, chilli paste, honey and salt. Stir to combine.1 teaspoon crushed garlic, ½ teaspoon crushed ginger, 2 tablespoons dark soy sauce, 1 to 2 tablespoons honey, ½ teaspoon chilli paste, ½ teaspoon salt
Assemble and bake
- Preheat the oven to 200°C / 400°F
- Place the chopped carrots and onions in the bottom of a roasting dish and arrange the chicken thighs (skin side up) on top.
- Pour the prepared orange juice over the chicken then arrange the orange segments on top11 ounces / 312 grams tin mandarin oranges
- Cover with a lid or a sheet of tinfoil and bake in a preheated oven (200°C/400°F) for 40 minutes.
- Remove the lid from the baking dish and turn the oven up to grill (or broil). Place the chicken back into the oven and leave for another 5 minutes until the skin is crispy and golden. Don't place the dish too close to the element or the chicken will burn.
- Transfer the chicken and carrots to a serving dish and keep warm.
- Pour the cooking juices (including the carrots and oranges) into a saucepan.
- Blend the juices with a stick blender to thicken. If the gravy isn't thick enough, make a slurry with a tablespoon of cornflour and 2 tablespoons of water and stir it slowly into the gravy over low heat. You may not need all the cornflour mixture.1 tablespoon cornflour / cornstarch mixed to a thin paste with a little water.
- Serve the chicken with rice or mashed potatoes, and cover with plenty of gravy. In addition to the carrots, you may like to add additional vegetables of your choice.
Notes
Nutrition
I am not a nutritionist. The nutrition information has been calculated using an on-line calculator, and is intended for information and guidance purposes only. If the nutrition information is important to you, you should consider calculating it yourself, using your preferred tool.
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