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! A family FAVORITE chicken dinner recipe to put into your rotation!
Table of Contents
- Easy Slow Cooker Orange Chicken Recipe
- What’s in Slow Cooker Orange Chicken?
- How to Make Slow Cooker Orange Chicken
- What Size Slow Cooker Should Is Best?
- Can I Make Orange Chicken Without a Slow Cooker?
- Can I Add Veggies to the Orange Chicken?
- Tips for Making Slow Cooker Orange Chicken
- Slow Cooker Orange Chicken Recipe
- More Easy Chicken Dinner Recipes:
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)
Note: Scroll down to the recipe card section of the post for the ingredients with amounts included and for more complete directions.
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.
Slow Cooker Orange Chicken
Video
Equipment
- 1 6-quart slow cooker OR
- 1 slow cooker liners optional
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
- Optionally, line a 6-quart to 7-quart slow cooker with a liner if using one. I prefer to use liners for easy cleanup but it's optional.
- 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.
This has become a regular at my house. I also add fresh pineapple chunks and serve with oriental slaw……..absolutely delicious!
Thanks for the 5 star review Cathy and it’s wondering this has become a regular at your house! It looks delish and love the fresh pineapple and serving it with a slaw!
printed this recipe off in 2022. it is very good, but now in 2025 the calories per serving has changed dramatically even though the recipe is the same. in 2022 it listed a single serving at 722 calorie and now lists it at 359. i am wondering which is closer to accurate
I would say the newer is more accurate although I always mention that nutrition information is calculated by computer programs and is provided as a courtesy only so if this is a matter of true health, I would consult your health professional.
I made this a few days ago my husband loved it he’s usually not a crock pot fan but he gobbled it up and told me to make it again soon.
Thanks for the five star review Christie and I’m so pleased to hear that your husband loved this and you’ll be making it again soon!
This came out like it was supposed too instead of my comment earlier this evening. I stirred the rice into it omg so good!! Love this recipe and will make it again seeing how our Chinese restaurant went out of business last year
I dont have any rice vinegar is there something I can substitute it for or just will it taste good without it? im about to make it and realized it.
I’d probably go with Apple Cider Vinegar as the best substitute here. LMK how it turns out! 😍
Made this for lunch today and loved the fact it only took about 2 hours in the crockpot. Very nice flavor and even picky husband enjoyed it – will definitely make again!
Thanks for the 5 star review, Peggy, and I’m glad to hear that this was a winner even with picky eaters :)
Can I make the night before in a bag and dump into crockpot in the morning?
Probably but I haven’t tried. There is such a thing as over-marinating chicken because of the acids in some marinades but this one has very little vinegar so you should be fine but I haven’t tested it.
Very yummy. Used boneless skinless thighs, and did a double batch so it took about 4 hours on high.
Thanks for the 5 star review, Nadine, and glad to hear you were able to make a double batch and that thighs worked out well for you too!
I love this sauce recipe. It’s simple but I used a pressure cooker instead and it turned out great!
Thanks for LMK that the sauce is a big win for you!
I was planning on making this for a church activity so I made a test batch first, making it as is.
The sauce was good, but it was not spicy at all. It also thickened up a lot at the end, to the point where the texture was kind of gross.
So I made it again for my activity, making a larger batch. I made the sauce directly in the crock pot, adding red pepper flakes until it was to my liking.
For the chicken, I used a flour/cornstarch mixture, and then pan fried it for about 2 minutes each side. I didn’t cook it all the way – just enough to brown it and partially cook it. Then I added that to my sauce and let it go on high about 1 hour.
Turned out very good! Pan frying it got rid of a lot of the excess corn starch so that the sauce did not thicken too much, as well as giving the chicken a nice browning.
I am glad that you were able to find a way to adapt my recipe to your liking.
Marmalade chicken, delicious but can’t help being shocked that we should all be doing our bit – not just for health but for the planet that you line the bowl with plastic to save washing up!!
The recipe was originally posted February 15, 2016 so over 8 years ago at this point and it’s not a choice I would remake but hey, my family and I survived. We are currently in Greece where I am shocked to see the amount of plastic water bottles (can’t drink the tap water) everywhere, hundreds of thousands of people every day drinking and throwing away plastic bottles of all sizes. There are lots of parts of the US that don’t recycle or say they do but in reality, it’s not in practice or so difficult to do it, that no one does. Just sharing my experiences.
Do you even have a life? If you do not want to use a plastic bag, then don’t. Otherwise, why spend your life telling others what they should and should not do? Btw, climate change is a total hoax. I am sorry that you have not learned that by now.
100% :)
Super yummy and easy
Thanks for the 5 star review, Jillian, and glad this was super yummy and easy for you!
Absolutely Delicious! We had no left overs, which made me a little sad the next day. This recipe is definitely a keeper!
Thanks for the 5 star review, Sherry, and I am glad it was so delicious that you didn’t even have leftovers! Well at least you know it’s a keeper then for your family!
Delicious! I found the sauce a little thick, so I added some chicken stock and it still had a very good orange flavor. I will make this again for sure.
Thank you!
Thanks for trying the recipe and I’m glad you enjoyed it. Depending on how hot your slow cooker gets, that could be the reason the sauce got quite thick and/or you cooked it longer than it needed to. But sounds like you found a way to thin it out and that it had a very good orange flavor!
For anyone wanting to know if you can make this with NSA (no sugar added) marmalade you absolutely can and it turns out fantastic! Made this for my type 1 diabetic husband and his diabetic bestie, and let’s just say there were no leftovers. Served it with fried cauliflower rice and we had a very delicious low carb meal!