Crockpot Orange Chicken
This sweet and tangy crockpot orange chicken is a quick prep dinner that the whole family will love! This easy recipe is refined sugar-free and can easily be made gluten-free. Fresh orange juice and honey make a sticky sweet sauce that coats the chicken and brings fresh orange flavor to every bite!
I love that I can prep this slow cooker orange chicken in less time than it would take me to pick up takeout. And this homemade recipe is likely much healthier than what you might order from a restaurant, since it’s not breaded or fried. While I make my stovetop orange chicken recipe with brown sugar, my slow cooker recipe is sweetened with honey and fresh orange juice. The honey makes a sticky sweet sauce that coats the chicken and brings fresh orange flavor to every bite.
This crockpot orange chicken is a dump and go crockpot recipe that takes just 10 minutes to prep. My whole family loves the sweet and tangy sauce that coats the chicken. I like to serve the orange chicken over brown rice, with a side of sautéed broccoli.
This orange chicken cooks in your slow cooker on low for 4-5 hours or high for 2 1/2-3 hours. It’s the perfect dinner recipe for those days when you’ll be home in the afternoon to get a head start on dinner. Cook up a batch of Instant Pot Rice and dinner will come together in a flash!
Tips for making this slow cooker orange chicken recipe:
- You can make this recipe gluten-free by substituting tamari for the soy sauce.
- The last step in this recipe is to thicken the sauce on your slow cooker’s high setting. This will take closer to 10 minutes if your slow cooker was already heated to high from cooking the chicken. If you cooked the chicken on low and then turn it to high to thicken the sauce, it will take longer for your insert to heat up and thicken the sauce.
- The red pepper flakes in this recipe are optional. I like a little bit of spice in my orange chicken but I leave it out when I’m serving this to my kids.
More easy crockpot chicken recipes
- Crockpot Honey Sesame Chicken
- Slow Cooker White Chicken Chili
- Slow Cooker Chicken Taco Soup
- Slow Cooker Honey Garlic Chicken
- Slow Cooker BBQ Chicken
Crockpot Orange Chicken
Ingredients
- ½ cup freshly squeezed orange juice
- ¼ cup water
- ¼ cup honey
- 3 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce, or tamari for gluten-free
- 3 tablespoons rice vinegar
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
- pinch of crushed red pepper flakes, optional, more or less to taste
- 1 ½ pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts
- salt and pepper
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- ¼ cup water
- cooked brown or white rice, for serving
- chopped green onions, for serving
Instructions
- In a liquid measuring cup or medium bowl, whisk together the orange juice, water, honey, soy sauce, rice vinegar, garlic, ground ginger, and red pepper flakes (if using).
- Place chicken in bottom of slow cooker. (I use and recommend this 5 quart slow cooker.) Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Pour sauce over chicken.
- Cover and cook on high setting for 2 ½-3 hours or low setting for 4-5 hours, until chicken is cooked through.
- Remove chicken to a cutting board, and let cool slightly. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, whisk together the cornstarch and ¼ cup water. Pour into the sauce in the slow cooker and stir until well combined.
- Cut the chicken into bite-size pieces and return it to the slow cooker. Cover and cook on high until sauce is thickened. This can take anywhere from 10-30 minutes, depending on if your slow cooker was previously on high or low.
- Serve chicken and sauce over cooked brown or white rice. Garnish with chopped green onions, if desired.
Notes
Hello!! I so enjoyed cruisig around your website/blog. Your recipe for Slow Cooker Orange Chicken caught my eye. I always have frozen chicken breasts on hand and I actually had all the other ingredients except the fresh squeezed orange juice. We have a Farmers’ Market just down the street from the condo, and they had some nice ripe oranges so I could squeeze them for the freshest of fresh orange juice. This was a fun recipe to put together and gave me a chance to try out my new slow cooker. Everything turned out great and was very, very yummy. Thanks for sharing!!