Learn how to make THE BEST Chinese Orange Sauce with this easy recipe! I've been using this orange sauce in my Gluten Free Orange Chicken recipe for years and it always gets rave reviews! This sauce is sticky sweet and delicious, with a tangy zest of citrus. It's better than Panda Express and perfect on everything from chicken, to steamed vegetables, to fish!
Zest the outside of 1-2 fresh oranges using a microplane zester, or the smallest holes on a box grater, until you have 2 teaspoons of orange zest. Add this to a bowl, or mason jar.
Cut the oranges in half and juice them until you have 1/2 cup juice. Add it the bowl with the zest.
Add the remaining ingredients and whisk to combine them.
Cover the sauce and store it in the fridge, or use it immediately.
If using this sauce to make orange chicken, follow the instructions in the blog post above for how to make orange chicken.
If using this sauce to drizzle over vegetables or rice, you can use it as it’s made here, or follow the instructions below to thicken the sauce to make more of a glaze.
To thicken the sauce, pour it into a small saucepan on the stove over medium-high heat. In a small bowl, combine 2 tablespoons cornstarch with 2 tablespoons water to make a cornstarch slurry. Once the sauce starts to bubble in the pan on the stovetop, add the cornstarch slurry and stir to combine. Let the sauce simmer for 3-5 minutes, then remove it from the stove and use it immediately.
Notes
This recipe makes enough sauce for 2 pounds of chicken.
Use gluten free soy sauce, also called tamari, to make this recipe gluten free.