I polled my Facebook page the other day and asked my readers what recipes or dinner ideas they were most in need of. The overwhelming response was the easy peasy, no-think Crockpot meal. Trust me, I get it! We all want to throw a few ingredients into a pot, push a button, and be done. We can go about our business, even leave for work, and we come back with an aromatic house and a warm meal.
So today I have a simple 5 Ingredient Crockpot Orange Chicken. I got the idea from Listotic, a fellow blogger who writes great lists of everything under the sun. Here's how to make it:
Start with your favorite Crockpot and 4-5 chicken breasts cut into 1 inch pieces. This will probably be around 3 to 4 pounds, depending on the size of the chicken breasts. Thigh meat would also work fine. Cover the Crockpot and cook the chicken in its own juices for 1.5 hours.
Drain the chicken and put it back in the Crockpot.
Measure out 1 cup of Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce.
Add in 3/4 cup of orange marmalade.
Add 2 tablespoons of reduced sodium soy sauce.
Whisk it up until it's nice and smooth.
Pour it over the chicken. Cover the Crockpot again and cook for another 1.5 hours.
When time is up, top the chicken with green onions and sesame seeds.
Here's a handy way to remember this recipe. It's as easy as 1,2,3,4,5: 1 cup bbq sauce, 2 tbsp soy sauce, 3/4 cup marmalade, 5 chicken breasts. See what I did there? Boy I tell ya, I'm gettin' fancy-shmancy over here!
I served ours over rice. I think the crockpot orange chicken would also be lovely topped with a little sriracha sauce if you like an extra kick. Serve it with a side of broccoli or Loaded Vegetable Chow Mein and you have a hit!
One side note, if you are serving more than 4 people, or maybe 4 people with large appetites and you still want leftovers, double the recipe. I wished I had made a double batch.
So what do you think? Is this a recipe you would try? Happy cooking y'all!
5 Ingredient Crockpot Orange Chicken
Ingredients
- 4-5 chicken breasts cut in 1 inch pieces
- 1 cup BBQ sauce
- 3/4 cup orange marmalade
- 2 Tbsp reduced sodium soy sauce
- 1-2 chopped green onions
- Optional: sesame seeds
Instructions
- Cook chicken in crockpot for 1.5 hours on high
- Drain chicken and return to crockpot
- Mix bbq sauce, marmalade, and soy sauce together
- Pour over chicken
- Let chicken cook for another 1.5 hours on high
- Top with green onions and sesame seeds
I plan to make this for a work event. It will serve about 20 people… so I need to triple this recipe? 😬😬
Only have bone in chicken thighs. Would they work. Sounds so good!! Always looking for chicken recipes. Planning on steamed rice and broccoli.
May I suggest changing CHICKEN BREASTS to CHICKEN BREASTS-Halves?
Would using sugar free orange marmalade ruin the sauce? Tying to kep it low cal…
Can leftovers be frozen for another night?
Love your recipes — but I wish there were calorie counts. For those of us on Weight Watchers, that would be so helpful.
I would like to double this recipe, should i alter the cooking time
Yes, you may need to cook a little longer.
This is one of my kids favorite meals.
A great recipe to make your own with a few tweeks! Added oyster sauce & tiny bit sesame oil at end. Also added peeled shrimp last 20 minutes. Served with rice & steamed veggies. The chicken with shrimp & sauce was amazing!
I love your addition of shrimp at the end. Great idea!
I’m about to try this!!! Sounds so good and it’s my children’s favorite!!!
This is definitely one of my family favorites too!
This dish isn’t quite like the orange chicken I’m accustomed to, but it was tasty. Even though the bbq sauce was prominent in this sauce, the orange did shine through. Served over rice and topped with green onions.
Thanks for trying it and giving your feedback. I appreciate it.
My chicken breasts are frozen, can I cook them whole and then cut them up and how do you think that would alter the cooking time? Hope you see this soon as I’m making this today. Looks like an awesome recipe!
You could do that but I imagine you will need to cook them longer, probably 3 hours or so. If I were you, I would just thaw them in the microwave to speed up the process.
Made this recipe this week and my kids gobbled it up, thank you!
Isn’t it awesome to find a new recipe everybody loves?!?! Thanks for trying it Becca!
how much does 4-5 chicken breast weigh?
Probably between 3 to 5 pounds.
This is in the crock pot now. Going to use Sweet Teriyaki BBQ. Will let you know what we think!
Awesome! So how did it turn out?
Wow! 3-5# of chicken for four servings? This recipe looks great but so wish posters would list the ounces of chicken breast instead of just how many. Some breasts are 4-6 oz. and some are as much as 12 oz. Thanks for listening.
Yes Kas, it is a bit frustrating because no chicken breast is alike. I think mine comes out to be around 3.5 pounds. I also feel like this recipe is on the saucy side, so a little extra chicken wouldn’t hurt. Hope that helps.
The recipe was simple and easy. Used honey barbecue sauce instead. Taste delicious. Ready to try more of your recipes. Thanks.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! And I love that you tried honey BBQ sauce. That sounds really good!
Hi! I am going to make this tonight for dinner but plan on adding some frozen stir fry veggies. When should I add them in and should I thaw them first?
Hi Holly! If I were you, I would make my veggies separate from the chicken and sauce and then add them all together at the end. Sometimes frozen veggies can give off a lot of liquid and you wouldn’t want it to change the consistency of the sauce. Let me know how it turns out!
I added the right ingridents of BBQ sauce soy sauce and marmalade.
My husband the sauce looks.to runny should I have added corn flour …
Perhaps your marmalade was not as chunky as mine was. Maybe next time you can use a little bit less BBQ sauce. My family likes the orange chicken to be saucy since we serve it over rice and the rice soaks it up…but if you don’t prefer this either use less ingredients or cook the sauce a little longer until it thickens.
So, this is in crock pot! Sounds good on a cold day here in sunny Alabama!!
Yes! But you can make it on the stove as well, you just have to watch it more, stay nearby, and stir consistently. Stove top is a good option if you want it done in 45 minutes or less and have more hands-on time.
I made this and the sauce was too runny… How can I thinken it up?? I love the flavor it has though!!!
Hi Melissa! So sorry the sauce wasn’t thick enough for you. Try adding a tablespoon or two of cornstarch to the soy sauce mixture and that should do the trick! Have a great day!
Hi Heidi, thinking about making this tonight. Are you cooking this on high or low setting?
Cook the chicken on HIGH for the 1.5 hours, drain, add the sauces and cook on HIGH again for another 1.5 hours. I hope you enjoy it!
I put it all together by accident! Did I ruin it?!
Your sauce will probably be a little thick and it will be hard to tell when the chicken is done properly. So just check to make sure it is thoroughly cooked before serving it.
Will the chicken be tender after it’s done? I’m making this tomorrow night
Yes it will. Please comment back and let me know what you thought of it!
We love this orange chicken recipe! I put 4-5 drops of Doterra’s Wild Orange essential oil in it right before I serve it! I never thought you could make this better but that did!! Oh my word!!! So full of orangey goodness!!! 😍😍😍
Wow! I never thought of doing that. Extra orangey goodness is certainly NOT a bad thing!
Made this tonight and it was great! We had some leftover vegetable fried rice from takeout a couple of days ago–not enough for a full meal, but perfect as a side dish! Like other commenters, I made this on the stove: I cooked the chicken first, then let it simmer in the sauce for 90 minutes–absolutely wonderful. Love all of your recipes!
Thanks for letting me know how it turned out, Lisa! I’m so glad to hear people are enjoying the recipes.
Made this last night and it was a HIT! I have one picky friend with a picky eating daughter and both loved it! I cut up broccoli, carrots, sugar snap peas and sliced some fresh Brussel sprouts and stir-fried them to accompany this. It was delicious!
I’m so glad it turned out well! I love all the veggies you decided to add to it.
We had this for dinner tonight and the family loved it! Though, I didn’t make it in the slow cooker, just on the stove, and it turned out great- the perfect blend of flavors! Thanks for posting this!
Making it on the stove is a great idea! I’m glad you enjoyed it!
How do you make this on the stove ? I don’t have a crockpot!
Great question Baile! Combine the sauce ingredients in a medium-sized saucepan and warm them up until just bubbling. Meanwhile, brown the chicken in a large pot or deep saute pan. Once it is fully cooked, about 5-7 minutes, add in the sauce and mix together. Top with the green onions and serve!