Chinese Orange Chicken (Baked, Paleo, Whole30)
Healthy Paleo Orange Chicken with crispy baked chicken coated in a Chinese orange sauce with a perfect sweet-and-tart balance. Pair the baked Chinese orange chicken with baby Bok Choy for a healthy and well balanced dinner!
Oven baked Paleo Orange Chicken
Orange chicken is a Chinese American dish. The reason it became so popular in the West is because it ticks all the marks that people love – crispy golden chicken that are almost like nuggets in a sweet and slightly tart orange-flavored sauce. I figured why not share my take on this popular orange chicken dish and make it healthier, easier, and use all real natural ingredients with no added sugar.
How to make baked crispy chicken
If you recall the Oven Baked Crispy Potato Recipe, I use similar techniques here to make the chicken golden crispy without deep-frying. This method is different from most of my Paleo chicken stir-fry recipes.
Preheating the sheet pan in a cold oven until the oven reaches the desired temperature will make the sheet pan extra hot – almost like a hot plate. The chicken pieces will crisp up quickly once they hit the hot surface thus sear the juice immediately.
How To Make Healthy Orange Chicken Sauce Paleo Whole30 friendly
To make healthy orange sauce, we’ll need fresh squeezed orange juice, orange zest, and grated ginger to highlight the orange sauce flavor. In my healthy Paleo orange chicken recipe I use apple cider vinegar instead of rice vinegar. It gives the orange sauce a nice balance between sweet and tart flavor.
Unlike most Chinese American dishes that taste pretty much the same, check out my sesame chicken, sweet and sour chicken, chicken Napa cabbage stir-fry, and Kung Pao chicken. I guarantee each of them tastes different from one another and will wow your taste buds!
Make ahead tips
Dice and season the chicken and prepare the orange sauce in advance. Store the sauce in the fridge and store the chicken flat in a ziplock bag in the freezer if you will not cook the chicken the next day. If you have time, I recommend you chop the aromatics and blanch the baby bok choy on the serving day. If you can’t, I recommend preparing them 1 day in advance and use them the next day for best flavor and freshness.
So my friends, this Paleo Orange Chicken is healthy, oven baked, with no added sugar, and uses all real ingredients. If you give this dish a try, please rate the recipe and leave a comment below. It’ll help me and my blog tremendously. Thanks so much in advance!
Want to make 10 Paleo meals ready in under 10 minutes each? Subscriber to my blog I Heart Umami and receive my 3-part video tutorial guide. You’ll also learn how to organize your shopping lists, how to get in-and-out the store fast, and my must-have items in my pantry to make healthy delicious food easily!
Also check out my Citrus Roasted Whole Chicken with Oranges, Mandarin Orange Chicken Salad, Whole30 Asian Peanut Sauce, and easy Instant Pot Strawberry Compote!
Paleo Orange Chicken (Whole30, Oven Baked, Healthy)
Ingredients
Chicken:
- 1.5 lbs. chicken breasts, , cut to bite size cubes
- ¼ tsp coarse salt
- ⅛ tsp ground black pepper
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp arrowroot flour or sweet potato starch/flour
Aromatics:
- 3-4 cloves large garlic , , finely chopped
- 2 thin slices ginger, , finely chopped
- ½ tsp red pepper flakes, (optional)
Whole30 Paleo Orange Chicken sauce:
- 1 tbsp orange zest
- ⅓ cup orange juice
- 2 tbsp coconut aminos
- 1 tsp grated ginger
- 3 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- ½ tsp arrowroot powder
Other/Garnish:
- Avocado or olive oil
- Half one whole Orange, , sliced into bite sized pieces
- 1-2 bulbs scallions, , finely chopped
- Baby bok choy, , quartered and blanched, as much as you like
Instructions
- Place a large rimmed sheet pan, unlined, in the bottom rack of the oven. Preheat the oven with the sheet pan inside to 425F (400F convection oven). In the meantime, dice and lightly coat the chicken with salt, pepper, baking soda, and arrowroot flour. Set the chicken aside in the fridge.
- Once the oven reaches the temperature. Carefully remove sheet from oven and grease with 2 tbsp avocado or olive oil. Place chicken pieces one-by-one over the sheet pan. Try not to overlap each other much. Bake at lower rack for 10 minutes. Use this time to prepare aromatics and make the orange sauce. Set them aside ready to use.
- Remove sheet from oven, using a metal spatula and tongs, loosen chickens from sheet and carefully flip each piece. Continue to bake until second side is golden and crispy, about 8-10 minutes longer.
- Right before chicken is done baking (about 5 minutes prior). Preheat a large skillet with 1 tbsp oil. When hot, lower the heat to medium, add garlic, ginger, and red pepper flakes. Season with a pinch of salt and saute until fragrant (about 10-15 seconds).
- Stir the orange sauce one more time then add it to the skillet. The sauce should become thicker pretty quickly, stir-often. Add baked chicken. Toss and coat the sauce over for about 30 seconds. Off heat, garnish with extra orange slices, scallions, and blanched bok choy.
Let me start by saying I’m not the best cook – however, this actually came out quite good, to my surprise. The only thing was that it was a bit dry whereas the picture looks like the sauce is more of a glaze. I did use coconut flour instead of tapioca, not sure if that made a difference? Any suggestions to make it more “wet” would be great! Thank you!
HI Marcie, thank you! Coconut flour is very different from tapioca or arrowroot starch written in my recipe so I wouldn’t use flour to substitute starch. Out of all flours, coconut is the most dry one – it has the most fiber and therefore drinks all the moisture. It also has the strongest flavor. I rarely use coconut flour in cooking. I’d say if you want, try it again with a starch ingredient and please follow the recipe.
Also, most Chinese American style takeout dishes in the west come with heavy sauce. This is not a common thing in Chinese dishes made in Asia. It is true that some dishes are naturally more saucy (we called those Wet dishes) and most of them emphasize crisp and concentrated flavor (i.e. Drier and more crisp) texture. Hope this helps!
This was so delicious! I can’t wait to make it again. It’s going on the regular rotation!
I made this tonight and the family loved it. Is there a spice we can add to this dish to bring out the flavours? Thanks 🙂
Hey Nathalie, not sure what you meant by more flavors – meaning more sweet or more tart, or saltier? If you prefer extra tart (and the fresh squeezed orange juice doesn’t work for you), try a tiny drop of orange concentrate. If it’s not sweet enough, then try using Keto brown sugar. If not salty enough, always season as you go or use more coconut aminos 🙂
This came out amazing!!! I used chicken thighs instead and loved it. Sauce is perfect and not overly sweet. Thank you!
Lovely!
This was really nice…my boys enjoyed it. Adults had cauliflower rice with broccoli while the little ones had rice with broccoli. My husband can’t believe it’s paleo! thanks for the recipe
So happy to hear!
This dish was incredible! We used thighs because that’s what I had defrosted. Also, my kitchen overheats quite quickly on warm days with the oven so I cooked the chicken in two batches in the air fryer! Truly amazing flavors!
I can’t wait to try them in air fryer! Chicken thighs are a great choice!
I didn’t like this one. I thought it was going to be a sweeter dish but it turned out more on the savoury side. I drizzled my own sauce over it afterwards. I don’t know if it was supposed to turn out this way?
Hi Agnes, this is a Whole30 friendly recipe and we use no added sugar and only the natural sweet flavor from fresh oranges so it tastes less sweet than most takeout version. Be that as it may, feel free to add some sugar to the sauce (if you aren’t following any specific diet), it should taste bright, refreshing, and little tart…just like fresh squeezed orange citrus flavor!
I love this recipe! It was also a hit for the whole family. I was able to prepare the chicken in the air fryer and it turned out great.
Thank you so much!
This is one of our favorites! We have an orange tree in our backyard, so it’s a great way to use oranges in our dinner. I love how the chicken gets crispy in the oven (no splattering!). We highly recommend this recipe!
Thank you, Carlie!
I found the chicken has a bitter after taste. I don’t know what caused it…I made sure there was no pith.
Hi Hinna, when you grate the orange, please be sure to only zest the colored part. If you zest the white colored part the flavor will turn bitter. Hope this helps! 🙂
The flavor is right on. Thank you. Love your recipes. I wanted more sauce so I added a cup of broth and 2 Tablespoons of arrowroot. Yum.
Thank you, Gail!
Amazing! Tastes as good as it looks. Yum
Hi! Can I use ground ginger instead of grated?
Yes! Please reduce the quantity by half. Ground chicken powder has stronger flavor than freshly grated. 🙂
I made this on Friday night, between my husband and I, we ate the entire recipe. I loved that it wasn’t sickeningly sweet, wonderful flavor and the chicken baking was awesome. Thank you.
Aww so very welcome, Diane! So happy to hear! XO!
This is a Restaurant Quality dish for sure. We couldn’t stop eating it. 😋
I used chicken thigh fillets but still followed the “velveting steps”. It turned out crisp, juicy and packed full of flavour. We Absolutely Loved This Recipe. ❤️
Thank you ChihYu! 🙏🏼
Thanks so much, Jojo!! Love you!
Absolutely lovely, this is easily the best orange chicken I’ve ever had. The fact that its paleo makes it perfect.
So lovely to hear. Thank you, Elle!
This was absolutely delicious I would recommend anyone to try it !
That’s awesome. Thanks for sharing, Lia!
Made it for dinner tonight and even plated it the same way lol!! “nailed it!” Definitely made the regular dinner rotation for my family!
That’s great. So happy to hear!
Loved it and so did the hubby!
Made this yesterday for my family. The chicken was done before it crisped on both sides thanks to my unreliable oven, but it still turned out delicious! Can’t wait to try your other recipes.
I made this tonight and my 2 year old and 4 year old loved it as much as well did! A new family fave. Thank you so much. Love your recipes x
I’m so so happy to hear that, Sonia. Thanks so much for sharing. Also very happy to hear the little ones love the meal, too! I know it can be difficult sometimes so kudos to you! :))
This recipe is so easy and chock full of flavor! I know the red pepper flakes are optional, but I thought they really rounded out the dish. Yum!!!
That sounds amazing, Courtney. Thanks for sharing!
Your recipes are absolutely scrumptious! Your chicken meatballs in a coconut sauce, so delicious and your paleo orange chicken that I made tonight is simply divine. I just made a little more sauce as I am a « sauce person » especially when it goes over rice which I eat in a very small quantity being on a SIBO diet and instead of garlic, I used garlic oil which is permitted on that diet.
Thank you for sharing, Lorraine. Garlic oil sounds great. I’ll have to try that next time!
Really easy recipe and great flavours, loved it!
Thank you, Kristina!
I absolutely love orange chicken, so I can’t wait to try this out!
I love crispy chicken with orange sauce – it has that special taste that makes me want to beg for more and more!
This one is a keeper, yum! I love your video and how you’ve made this so easy!
This is so good! I love this paleo twist on a favorite Asian dish!
This chicken looks so delicious! I love that it’s made in the oven.
Excited to make this recipe. Love the garlic, ginger and cayenne ‘aromatics’.
It looks delicious and the ingredients are all on hand… except the Bok Choy which is on my list for market day!
Thanks.
This dish is so special! I’m putting on our list for this week to make!
Love that sheet pan prep – I bet they get so yummy! My girls will like this sauce – can’t wait to try it!
What a great combination you have managed to put together.
Thank you so much!
I bet my kids will love this. I’m glad you made a classic dish paleo and i can’t wait to try it!
Thank you, Laura!
“Probably the best thing I ate in my life”, said my husband. That’s also what he commented when I made ‘Taiwanese beef stew’. 🙂 Kids love them as well. Thank you for sharing your recipe and video!
Thank you so much, Susan! I’m so happy to hear that. :))
This orange chicken dish tastes very different from the take-out version; it’s WAY more delicious. The recipe is easy to follow and it tastes so good! It tastes even better the next day for lunch (how is that possible)!? I will be making this on the regular, thank you!
Thank you so much M.L.! Making healthy yummy food is my specialty. I’m very happy to share. Thanks again!
This looks amazing, that chicken looks so good and as for the orange sauce- drooling! Have pinned to try over the weekend 🙂
This looks amazing! Orange chicken is one of my favorite dishes, and I love that you made it healthier.
I’m digging all of the flavors in here. This is a must try!
This looks so delicious! I love how simple the sauce is.
I don’t think I’ve ever had orange chicken before, but it looks absolutely delicious!
Girl! This looks absolutely amazing! I need this in my life.
Thanks, Cheryl!
That baking soda is such a great trick!! I’m all about baked chicken, this recipe looks great!
This recipe is a keeper! Made it tonight and my family loved it! Teenager and kid approved! I didn’t have arrowroot powder and used tapioca starch and added a half a teaspoon of xylitol. Thank you for a wonderful recipe!
Lovely! So awesome to hear that! XO!
Very good. The sauce is wonderful, not sickeningly sweet like most restaurant sauces. I think i will need more spices for my taste next time though.
Thank you, Mareen! Feel free to add more spices and increase the aromatics for stronger flavor if you like! Cheers, :))
I tried adding my chicken in the air fryer at the end which was a nice touch. Didn’t have arrowroot flour, but used some gluten free baking powder which worked fine (not sure if that’s paleo though). Thanks for the great recipe!
That’s so wonderful and I’m very happy to hear that. Thank you, Kayla for spending the time to share with us.
Made this tonight. Super easy, and everyone loved it. Iheartumami for the win!
Yay!! Thank you, Lisa! XOXO!
Made this tonight and it was delicious!!! My five year old loved it too! Will make again
I’m so happy to hear that, especially the little one loved it, too! Awesome!
Do you think a KETO version of this recipe using orange extract would work?… I am not sure how to approach this. Any ideas would be appreciated!!
Hi Carrie, that’s a great question. I don’t have orange extract in my pantry so am not sure how it tastes like compared to the fresh orange juice.
If you ever try it, please let me know. I’m curious to know, too!
Delicious and super easy! Thanks, Chihyu!
Thank you, Jacqueline!
Looks fantastic! Can’t wait to try this!!