15-Minute Spicy Orange Chicken with 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!!
Table of Contents
I am always all about the sauce. I firmly believe sauce can make or break a recipe, and in this case the spicy orange chicken sauce is so good that I want to drink it.
It’s made with orange juice, chili garlic sauce, soy sauce, brown sugar, sesame oil, and rice vinegar for an Asian-inspired flavor profile. A little spicy, a little tangy, a little savory, and a little sweet all in one.
It packs some heat because of the 1/3 cup chili garlic sauce. And then I used nearly 1/3 cup brown sugar to add some sweet to that heat, so good.
This is a fast, easy, 15-minute dinner that’s perfect for lazy summer days when you don’t want to turn on your oven and anything more than 15 minutes sounds like way too much work for dinner.
Actually, I’m like that all year long so this recipe will keep me toasty from the inside out during the winter months.
Ingredients You’ll Need
To make the spicy spicy orange chicken stir-fry with broccoli, you’ll need:
- Orange juice
- Chili garlic sauce
- Low-sodium soy sauce
- Light brown sugar
- Toasted sesame oil
- Cornstarch
- Rice vinegar
- Olive oil
- Chicken breasts
- Broccoli florets
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 Spicy Orange Chicken
- Make the spicy orange chicken sauce: Add the sauce ingredients to a small saucepan and bring to a boil.
- Let the mixture simmer until thickened, about 3 minutes total. Set the sauce to the side while you make the chicken and broccoli.
- Cook the chicken and broccoli: Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the oil and chicken and cook until the chicken is about 90% done.
- Push the chicken to the side of the skillet and add the broccoli.
- Add about half the orange sauce to the skillet, cover, and cook until the broccoli is crisp-tender.
- Serve immediately over rice, cauliflower rice, or enjoy as is.
Recipe FAQs
Of course! The spicy orange sauce pairs perfectly with most veggies. Depending on what veggies you use, you may need to adjust the cook time.
You can use less chili garlic sauce than I did if you’re sensitive to heat, but the sauce is not excessively hot after it cooks with the chicken and the natural water from the broccoli waters it down a bit.
Of course, it’s your kitchen and you may adjust how spicy or sweet you want the orange sauce to be.
You will also only use about half or the spicy orange sauce. It keeps very well in the fridge for at least a week. It would be great on grilled chicken as either a marinade or as something you brush on during grilling. Or you can pair it with shrimp, or use to make this grilled Orange Salmon recipe.
My family and I love it! We’ve made it 3 times in a week and a half.
Jax68
What to Serve with Spicy Orange Chicken
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15-Minute Spicy Orange Chicken with Broccoli
Ingredients
Orange Chili Sauce
- ½ cup or slightly more freshly squeezed orange juice (from about 1 large, very juicy orange)
- ⅓ cup chili garlic sauce, or to taste
- ¼ cup low-sodium soy sauce
- ¼ cup light brown sugar, packed; plus more if desired
- 2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, or to taste
- 1 ½ teaspoons cornstarch
- 2 teaspoons cold water
- 1 tablespoon rice vinegar, apple cider vinegar may be substituted
Chicken and Broccoli
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 to 1.50 pounds boneless skinless chicken breast, diced into bite sized cubes
- 3 to 4 cups broccoli florets
- kosher salt, for seasoning
- freshly ground black pepper, for seasoning
Instructions
Orange Chili Sauce:
- To a small saucepan, add the orange juice, chili garlic sauce, soy sauce, brown sugar, sesame oil, pepper, and bring to a boil over medium-high heat; stir frequently. Allow mixture to boil for about 2 minutes.
- To a small bowl, add the cornstarch, water, and stir to combine to make a slurry.
- Add the slurry to the boiling mixture, and stir continuously for about 1 minute, or until the mixture thickens up some.
- Remove pan from the heat, add the vinegar, stir to combine, and taste for seasoning balance. I prefer to add additional brown sugar but I like my sauces on the sweeter side. Set sauce aside off the heat.
Chicken and Broccoli:
- To a large skillet, add the oil, chicken, season with salt and pepper, and cook over medium-high heat for about 5 minutes, or until chicken is 90% cooked through; stir and flip intermittently so the chicken cooks evenly.
- Push chicken to one side of the skillet and add the broccoli to the other side (it looks like a ton but it shrinks in volume by nearly half), and season the broccoli with salt and pepper.
- Add about half of the sauce, mostly over the chicken, and add a few tablespoons over the broccoli (you will not use all the sauce and will have some leftover), cover skillet, turn the heat to medium-low, and allow the broccoli to steam for about 3 to 5 minutes, or until as crisp-tender as desired.
- Uncover skillet, and if desired, add more sauce to either the chicken or broccoli, and serve immediately.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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great
Mein Gott in Himmel! This meal was a really good find; it was not even the initially planned meal for dinner, but there things have a funny way of working themselves out. Within the first bite, my housemate knew it was a winner as it reminded him of the classical sweet and the sour (to be fair, I also threw in a couple of handfuls of chopped pineapple).
For my tweak regarding the chilli-garlic sauce, I had a big bottle of Valentina in the cupboard as well as some garlic powder. When the sauce was bubbling away, I just threw in roughly a teaspoon of garlic powder. That will make for a combination of warding of those pesky vampires, and clearing out the flu bug.
Just to think at one point, I was putting off cooking anything Chinese since it seemed unobtainable. And here we are with one of the best meals that I have cooked in a while. Definitely on the shortlist for when things are short-notice.
Mein Gott in Himmel! This meal was a really good find; it was not even the initially planned meal for dinner, but there things have a funny way of working themselves out. Within the first bite, my housemate knew it was a winner as it reminded him of the classical sweet and the sour (to be fair, I also threw in a couple of handfuls of chopped pineapple).
For my tweak regarding the chilli-garlic sauce, I had a big bottle of Valentina in the cupboard as well as some garlic powder. When the sauce was bubbling away, I just threw in roughly a teaspoon of garlic powder. That will make for a combination of warding of those pesky vampires, and clearing out the flu bug.
Just to think at one point, I was putting off cooking anything Chinese since it seemed unobtainable. And here we are with one of the best meals that I have cooked in a while. Definitely on the shortlist for when things are short-notice.
Glad this will be on your short list when you need an easy dinner!
I definitely want to try this and have all the ingredients! 1/3 cup chili garlic sauce sounds like it would be too spicy. how much should i put? can i sub sweet chili sauce?
Yes just reduce it to whatever you think will be best. A tablespoon or two, whatever heat level you like. Yes you can sub with sweet chili sauce, too.
This is an excellent recipe! I had googled sheet pan recipes when I ran across this one. I started to make it and realized that it was supposed to be in a skillet, but I used the sheet pan lined with foil which is much easier. I cooked the vegetables with sauce over them about 10 minutes at 400 degrees, and threw in the chicken covered with rest of the sauce for another 20 minutes.
Thanks for the 5 star review and glad this came out excellent for you in a sheet pan (agree, faster cleanup for sure!) and that you were able to get it all to come together so well!
This is an excellent recipe! I had googled sheet pan recipes when I ran across this one. I started to make it and realized that it was supposed to be in a skillet, but I used the sheet pan lined with foil which is much easier. I cooked the vegetables with sauce over them about 10 minutes at 400 degrees, and threw in the chicken covered with rest of the sauce for another 20 minutes.
My family and I love it ! we’ve made it 3 times in a week and a half.
I’m glad this is a hit and that you’ve made it 3 times in 10 days!
My family and I love it ! we’ve made it 3 times in a week and a half.
I was ready to make this 15 minute meal and I had run out of chili garlic sauce! So I substituted a scant 1/4 c sriracha since I didn’t want to run to the store. Otherwise made as is with a little extra OJ as suggested and I microplaned orange peel. Sauce flavor was very good. I had leftover steamed broccoli so I added it at the end. Only thing that would make it better, I think, would be to diagonally slice breast in half and pound to tenderize and cut into strips.
Feel free to experiment with diagonal cuts – they are a bit bigger and take longer to cook – so I always opt to go smaller to save time cooking. Glad you enjoyed it with the sriracha!
I was ready to make this 15 minute meal and I had run out of chili garlic sauce! So I substituted a scant 1/4 c sriracha since I didn’t want to run to the store. Otherwise made as is with a little extra OJ as suggested and I microplaned orange peel. Sauce flavor was very good. I had leftover steamed broccoli so I added it at the end. Only thing that would make it better, I think, would be to diagonally slice breast in half and pound to tenderize and cut into strips.
I made this for lunch today and it was sooo delicious!! Next time I will use less sesame oil and perhaps less chili paste to make it more kid friendly. Also, wasn’t sure when to add the brown sugar (did I miss it in the instructions?) but it came out great. Thank you so much for this recipe!
With the sesame oil and soy sauce in the beginning. I just updated the instructions to clarify that part :)
Glad it came out delicious for you!
Can’t wait to try this! Any chance you’ve made this using a slow cooker?
No I have not because it’s ready in 15 minutes – it’s just not really a slow cooker meal. Broccoli gets mushy in more than about 10 minutes so I would make as written and not use a slow cooker here.
Love making healthier take-out recipes at home!! :)
It’s the way to go for sure!
Yum!! The sauce looks fantastic for the chicken and the broccoli. This is on my radar for the weekend!
I loved the sauce! I wanted it on everything!