Slow Cooker Orange Chicken — The easiest orange chicken ever because your slow cooker does all the work!! Super juicy, tender, and coated with a sweet-yet-tangy orange glaze that’s irresistible!!
Easy Slow Cooker Orange Chicken Recipe
When I asked on Facebook what kind of recipes you want to see, I was overwhelmed with slow cooker responses. So slow cooker orange chicken it is today with more slow cooker recipes in the upcoming weeks. Make sure you’re following me on Facebook and chime in.
This is the easiest orange chicken recipe ever and there’s no breading, browning, or frying involved. Your slow cooker does all the work for you. The chicken is so tender, juicy, and layered with complementary flavors from the orange marmalade, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, sesame oil, ginger, garlic, and green onions.
It reminds me of Panda Express Chinese Orange Chicken except with this copycat recipe, there’s no frying.
Along with rice and steamed broccoli and peapods, my family loved this meal and it couldn’t be any easier for me. I used a slow cooker liner and cleanup was as easy as tossing the liner.
There’s plenty of cooking sauce leftover in the bottom of the slow cooker, which I spoon generously over the chicken, rice, and veggies. I love the sweet-and-tangy, savory flavor and don’t let a drop go to waste.
What’s in Slow Cooker Orange Chicken?
To make this orange chicken recipe with orange marmalade, you’ll need:
- Olive oil
- Boneless skinless chicken breasts
- Cornstarch
- Salt and pepper
- Orange marmelade
- Low-sodium soy sauce
- Rice wine vinegar
- Sesame oil
- Ground ginger
- Garlic powder
- Sesame seeds
- Green onions
- Orange slices (optional)
How to Make Slow Cooker Orange Chicken
Drizzle the bottom of your slow cooker with olive oil. Then, place the diced chicken, cornstarch, salt, and pepper in a zip-top bag and shake to coat. Place chicken in slow cooker.
Next, add the remaining ingredients to the slow cooker and gently stir the chicken to coat it evenly in the sauce.
Cook covered on high for about 2 hours or on low for about 4 hours. If cooking on high, start checking at 90 minutes and if cooking on low, start checking at 3 hours. All slow cookers vary, so just cook until chicken is done (reaches 165F on an instant read thermometer).
I like serving my CrockPot orange chicken over rice garnished with chopped green onion and sesame seeds.
Can I Make Orange Chicken Without a Slow Cooker?
I haven’t made this recipe without a slow cooker, so I can’t give specifics about how to tweak it if you don’t own one. I have other chicken recipes listed in the Related Recipes below that you can try until you can make this with a slow cooker.
Can I Add Veggies to the Orange Chicken?
I’ve only made this recipe as written, but a few readers have reported success with adding chopped vegetables to the slow cooker in the last 30 or so minutes of cooking. Play around with it and see what works for you!
Tips for Making Slow Cooker Orange Chicken
Some readers have asked if they can use sugar-free orange marmalade in this easy orange chicken recipe. I’ve only made this recipe using regular orange marmalade (i.e. full sugar), so I can’t speak to how the sugar-free kind will cook down in the sauce and if it will affect the overall flavor of the dish.
I’ve only made this orange marmalade chicken recipe using chicken breasts, but I’m sure you could get away with boneless skinless chicken thighs instead. Just be sure to dice them into even-sized pieces so the chicken cooks through evenly.
If you have a sesame allergy, you’re welcome to use additional olive oil in the orange chicken sauce instead of sesame oil. And skip the sesame seed garnish.
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Slow Cooker Orange Chicken
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
- 1 ½ to 2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch pieces
- ⅓ cup cornstarch
- ½ teaspoon salt, or to taste
- ½ teaspoon pepper, or to taste
- 1 cup orange marmalade
- ¼ cup low-sodium soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- ½ to 1 teaspoon ground ginger, or to taste
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder or 2 garlic cloves, finely minced
- 2 tablespoons sesame seeds, lightly toasted if desired (add to a dry skillet and cook over medium heat for about 30 seconds or until fragrant)
- 2 tablespoons green onions, sliced thin for garnishing
- orange slices, optional for garnishing
Instructions
- Line a 3 to 6-quart slow cooker with a liner if using one. I prefer to use liners for easy cleanup.
- Drizzle 1 tablespoon olive oil over bottom of the liner or slow cooker.
- To a large, gallon-sized ziptop plastic bag, add the chicken, cornstarch, salt, pepper, seal bag, and toss to coat chicken evenly. Add chicken to slow cooker, evenly distributed; set aside.
- To a 2-cup measuring cup or medium bowl, add the orange marmalade, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, sesame oil, ginger (I prefer 1 teaspoon but some people are sensitive to ginger), garlic, remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil and stir to combine.
- Pour mixture over the chicken, using a spoon to distribute the sauce as necessary, making sure all pieces are coated.
- Cook covered on high for about 2 hours or on low for about 4 hours. If cooking on high, start checking at 90 minutes and if cooking on low, start checking at 3 hours. All slow cookers vary so cook until chicken is done (reaches 165F on an instant read thermometer).
- Add chicken to a plate with as much extra cooking sauce spooned over the top as desired, garnish with sesame seeds, green onions, optional orange wedges, and serve immediately.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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More Easy Chicken Dinner Recipes:
Healthier Orange Chicken – Stop calling for takeout or going to the mall food court and make this HEALTHIER orange chicken at home in less than 10 minutes!! EASY, authentic, and so INCREDIBLE that you’ll never miss the fat and calories!!
One-Skillet Orange Chicken with Vegetables — Easy, ready in 15 minutes, healthy (no breading, no frying), and the orange flavor just pops! Perfect for busy weeknights, a family favorite, and you’ll make this over and over!
Chinese Chicken Pasta Salad – Big juicy chicken chunks and texture galore from the rainbow of crispy veggies! Fast, easy, fresh and healthy! Great for picnics, potlucks, and easy dinners!
Chicken Teriyaki and Vegetable Bowtie Pasta – Juicy chicken coated in teriyaki sauce with crisp, crunchy veggies! Healthy, easy, 20 minute meal that’s perfect for busy weeknights!
15-Minute Orange Chili Chicken and Broccoli – The orange chili sauce is spicy, tangy, and sweet all in one!! The PERFECT sauce to jazz up chicken and broccoli! A FAST and EASY dinner with great Asian FLAVOR!!
Chinese Sweet and Sour Chicken — This sweet and sour chicken recipe takes just 15 minutes to make and tastes way better than takeout. Perfect for a weeknight dinner!
Sheet Pan Ginger Orange Chicken and Vegetables – Fast, EASY, HEALTHY, and loaded with great orange ginger flavor!! A DELISH one-pan meal with zero cleanup that’s perfect for busy weeknights!!
Mandarin Chicken Stir Fry — An EASY Asian stir fry with tender chicken, juicy oranges, and veggies!! Skip takeout and make this ONE skillet recipe that’s ready in 15 minutes and perfect for busy weeknights!!
Originally posted February 15, 2016 and reposted January 10, 2020 with updated text.
Thanks Averie, I just wanted to make sure. I’m making it for my mom tonight for Mother’s Day because she likes orange chicken. Thanks for posting this great recipe!
Ok enjoy and nice of you to cook for mom on Mother’s Day!
Would it be okay if I used rice vinegar instead of rice wine vinegar? Are they the same thing? I was not able to find rice wine vinegar.
I think they are interchangeable and you will be fine. (I had to google it to make sure, but yes it’s just a labeling thing) Enjoy!
How important is the rice wine vinegar? I don’t have it on hand and was wondering how much it will affect the recipe without it?
If you don’t have it but have apple cider vinegar, I’d go with that. Otherwise at last resort a white vinegar, but it’s harsher than the other two choices.
This was excellent! I made it with pork loin and doubled the recipe. It was done in about four hours on low. Everyone loved it, a keeper for sure!
Wonderful! Glad it worked great with pork loin! Will be helpful to others reading this is the future no doubt.
This turned out really well! I threw in some green beans once this was done and set the slow cooker to warm, and started the rice. It all went really well together! Totally forgot the green onions and sesame seeds because of how tired I was, though, oops.
Good for you for working in the green beans – oh well about the green onions and sesame seeds :) Glad you enjoyed the recipe!
This looks delicious! I was wondering if you had any calorie information on the servings? I don’t see it, but maybe I’m missing it. Thanks!
https://www.averiecooks.com/faq Item #4
Ah, thank you. My apologies for asking, I had pinned the recipe directly from Pinterest, so I did not see your FAQ’s. Thanks again! Going to try this meal tonight :)
No worries! Enjoy dinner and LMK how it goes!
I made this for dinner last night (I followed the directions exactly) and it was delicious!!! The only problem we had was that we needed more rice to soak up all the fabulous sauce, but that’s my fault, not yours! This recipe tastes almost exactly like the orange chicken from The Cheesecake Factory which is one of my favorite dishes! Thanks so much for such a fantastic recipe!
Thanks for trying the recipe and I’m glad it came out great for you! Glad you think it tastes like the CF’s version!
Just made this tonight… used gluten free soy sauce and love the rest is naturally gluten free! Was worried because confession…I HATE orange. Citrus grosses me out. However I’m eating it right now and it’s to DIE FOR!
I agree that it’s not ‘orange-ey’ even though it’s orange chicken which makes no sense but it somehow works. Glad you’re loving it!
i bet this tastes lovely. Thanks for sharing this, gonna give this a go later. Simon
Hi! I am so excited to try this recipe! I got seville orange marmalade from trader joes, will this work ok?
Thanks so much!
Haven’t tried with that exact marmalade but as long as it tastes similar to your average marmalade, I’m sure it will be fine!
Hi Bre,
I used that same exact marmalade you described…don’t do it. It turned out burnt. Overall, it would have been delicious, but this type of marmalade has a distinct flavor that does not compliment this dish. I would definitely make this again, but use a different brand. I also skipped the corn starch, I am not a fan of thickeners unless it’s natural.
Thank you to Averie for posting this recipe.
I have a really long work day and my slow cooker can only be programmed for 4 or 6 hours on high or 8 or 10 hours on low. Any suggestions for the cook time? Do I need to alter the recipe at all?
I think that even on low, 8 to 10 hours is just too long for this recipe. I would opt with the 4-6 hour range BUT if that’s on high, I also worry about that because that seems too long to be cooked on high. Not sure what to tell you as the only way I’ve made this is how I’ve written it.
I have a question about the orange marmalade. I found Smuckers Sweet Orange Marmalade (like jelly) and then there was Orange Sauce by Kikkoman. Which one do I use?
Amy
Go with the Smuckers.
This looks great! I love that there’s no breading or frying–Chinese food at home is great, but deep frying stuff really puts me off my meal. Can’t wait to try this out!
-Claire
tallgirlbigworld.com
I try to avoid frying as much as possible too. An extra step that takes time, makes your house smell, and isn’t healthy!
Have this in the slow cooker right now with pheasant instead of chicken. Looking forward to eating it! Surprised by the bubbling right away…did yours get almost fizzy? Smells great!
I really wasn’t ‘monitoring’ it while it was slow cooking because I was out so can’t say for sure if it was fizzy. Maybe the pheasant reacts a bit differently than chicken? Hope you enjoyed it!
This turned out lovely….really reminiscent of the Cheesecake Factory’s Orange Chicken except not breaded. For those asking, I made it in a skillet, sautéing the cornstarch dredged chicken until lightly browned and halfway cooked, then added the rest of ingredients. It thickened up beautifully after 5 minutes of simmering, after which the chicken was fully cooked. I added the green onions at the end, along with some cashews. Will be serving with broccoli and brown rice and it is FAB! Thanks for the idea, Averie!
Thanks for trying the recipe and glad it came out great for you – in a skillet! Glad the sauce thickened up beautifully and that the dish reminds you of the Cheesecake Factory orange chicken, minus the breading. Cashews would be great with this I’m sure!
Averie, would be OK to do the cooking in this recipe, in a Dutch oven? I do not have the slow cooker you recommend… but I love chicken, and reading about it makes me want it for our dinner tonight: -)
Thank you!
I haven’t tried the recipe any other way than the way I wrote it so can’t say for sure how it will turn out. Let me know if you try it in a Dutch oven and how things go!