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This Crockpot Orange Chicken recipe is easy to make in the slow cooker and uses basic ingredients. You’ll love this takeout flavor at home!
Crockpot Orange Chicken Recipe
When you think of orange chicken, Panda Express orange chicken may come to mind! 🙂
Usually, when you order orange chicken in a restaurant you’ll get a plate with deep fried chicken pieces coated in a sweet brown sugar caramelized orange glaze sauce. And it’s always delicious!
You can create this Chinese orange chicken meal at home today with this recipe using your slow cooker. It’s so good – I’m sure it will quickly become a family favorite!
🍴🍴MENU TIP: You can grab this Orange Chicken Recipe and 59 others with our freezer menu planning made easy set!
Can orange chicken be made in a slow cooker?
Yes, this orange chicken dinner is actually a crockpot recipe!
We skip breading and frying the chicken so our recipe for Slow Cooker Orange Chicken lightens things up a bit. We also don’t have to mess with frying in vegetable oil either with this recipe. If you have an instant pot at home, you can use the conversion for chicken to make this recipe there as well (or just use the slow cooker function). 
How do you make orange chicken in the crockpot?
It’s super easy to create this recipe, especially since we are using our slow cooker! Grab your ingredients and you’ll have dinner prepped in no time.
Ingredients:
- chicken breasts (boneless, skinless)
- orange marmalade
- barbecue sauce
- soy sauce
- red pepper flakes (optional)
You’re going to start with 2 pounds of boneless, skinless chicken breasts (you could also use boneless chicken thighs if you’d like. Just know they don’t *quite* shred like chicken breasts).
Add the chicken in a slow cooker. Add all of the ingredients for the orange sauce along with a couple shakes of red pepper flakes (go a little or a lot depending on your spice preference).
Give it a good stir to coat the chicken and cook on low 6 hours or on high 3 hours.
What is the orange chicken sauce made of?
Our sauce has a mix of orange marmalade, barbecue sauce, and soy sauce. You can also add red pepper flakes to taste.
When done, shred chicken and mix it in the yummy orange chicken sauce. I like to serve mine over brown rice, but fried rice or white rice are great too!
Can you make this ahead of time and freeze?
Sure can! In fact this recipe is included in our Freezer Menu Plan!
Just dump all the ingredients in a large zip-top bag, mash around and freeze. Thaw and follow the recipe directions to cook.
What do you serve with Orange Chicken?
I like to serve this over brown rice with some baked egg rolls. But, here are a few other suggestions.
- fried, brown or white rice
- snap peas
- edamame
- stir-fry veggies cooked in sesame oil and rice vinegar
- egg rolls
- Wontons with soy sauce dip
- gyozo potstickers
- sliced oranges (of course)
You can also check our sides box here! They pair perfectly with our other menu plans.
If you’re looking for a deal on chicken for this recipe, you can get this Perdue Chicken Breast delivered right to your door!
Crockpot Orange Chicken
Ingredients
- 2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 1 cup orange marmalade
- 1 cup barbecue sauce
- 3 Tbsps soy sauce
- ⅛ tsp red pepper flakes (optional)
Instructions
- Add chicken and remaining ingredients to slow cooker.
- Cover and cook on low 6 hours or on high 4 hours.
- When done, shred chicken and serve over rice, if desired.
Nutrition
Mouth Watering Good!!! 😍
Looking for more yummy meals? This recipe is from week five of our freezer menu plans, including this meal + 59 other AMAZING recipes (and 12 desserts too)! You’ll also get lifetime membership in our private Facebook group, full of other families encouraging one another to make dinner each night together too.
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Can you use frozen chicken?
Yes, you can Cheryl!
This was awesome. I made 1 1/2 times the “sauce” and cooked the chicken on low. Shredded chicken about an hour before serving to get flavor all over shreds and then 1/2 hour before serving mixed a bag of frozen Asian blend vegetables in. Served over rice. Yum!
So glad it was a hit! 🙂
I’d like to add some veggies Such as red cabbage and onions. Should I wait a little bit to put them in the crockpot
Great recipe My husband approves!!! 🙂
This is the best orange chicken I’ve personally ever had. I’m trying to make it in the instant pot next but need to figure out correct time and temp.
So glad to hear you love it Hannah! 🙂