by Mary Neumann · 21 Comments
Today’s recipe share is a terrific slow cooker recipe for Orange Chicken.
Easy Slow Cooker Orange Chicken
This awesome slow cooker Orange Chicken shortcut recipe is ridiculously simple to make! Chicken is smothered in the tastiest sweet and tangy orange sauce, slow cooked to tender perfection. It takes minutes to throw together, letting your cooker do most of the work. Serve chicken and sauce over rice with your favorite veggies. A meal the whole family will love, including the pickiest of eaters!
Read Great Reviews from People Who Tried This Recipe on Pinterest!
What You Need To Make Slow Cooker Orange Chicken
- boneless skinless chicken breasts
- Smucker’s Sweet Orange Marmalade
- Sweet Baby Ray’s Barbecue Sauce
- soy sauce
- apple cider vinegar
- ground ginger
- cornstarch
How To Make Slow Cooker Orange Chicken
Spray slow cooker with non-stick cooking spray. Place chicken evenly in bottom of cooker.
In a medium size bowl mix orange marmalade, BBQ sauce, soy sauce, vinegar and ginger – mix well. Pour over chicken and mix well, coating evenly. Cook on high for 2 1/2 to 3 hours.
30 minutes before chicken is ready to serve, in a small bowl mix cornstarch and water, mixing well (no lumps), add to chicken and sauce in cooker, mix well. Cover and continue to cook for an additional 30 minutes.
When ready, serve chicken and sauce over rice. Great topped with a few dashes of sesame seeds. Enjoy!
Please Note: This is NOT A SPONSORED POST. I have no affiliation with any of the products used for this recipe.
**This slow cooker dish is easy to adapt (see tips below) and on the sweet side **
Review on Pinterest – “This was dinner today. It was a big hit!! I did add about a tablespoon of chili paste to give it a little bite. Will definitely be making it again.” Maggie
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts cut into 1 inch bite size pieces
- *1 cup Smucker’s Sweet Orange Marmalade (see tips below)
- *1/2 cup Sweet Baby Ray’s Barbecue Sauce (See tips below)
- 2 Tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
Add 30 minutes before chicken is ready to serve
- 2 Tablespoons cornstarch
- 2 Tablespoons water
Directions
Spray slow cooker with non-stick cooking spray. Place chicken evenly in bottom of cooker.
In a medium size bowl mix orange marmalade, BBQ sauce, soy sauce, vinegar and ginger – mix well. Pour over chicken and mix well, coating evenly. Cook on high 2 1/2 to 3 hours. *See cooking time in tips below.
30 minutes before chicken is ready to serve, in a small bowl mix cornstarch and water, mixing well (no lumps), add to chicken and sauce in cooker, mix well. Cover and continue to cook for an additional 30 minutes.
Serve chicken and sauce over rice with a side of your favorite veggies (broccoli, green beans, sugar snaps, carrots). For added flavor, sprinkle the top of chicken with sesame seeds (optional). Enjoy!
TIPS – This recipe is easy to adapt to your taste!
- *Cooking times will vary depending on your slow cooker/crock pot. Adjust cooking times accordingly. Some slow cookers may take 3–4 hours on HIGH and 4–6 hours on LOW. Chicken should reach a safe 165°F before serving.
- *This dish is on the sweet side. If you are not a fan of sweet chicken, you may not care for this recipe. For less sweet, you can reduce the orange marmalade to 1/2 to 3/4 cup and increase the amount of BBQ sauce to 3/4 cup.
- Add the cornstarch mixture 30 minutes before chicken is ready to serve.
- Fresh chicken breasts are best for this recipe, verses frozen bags of chicken – fresh chicken produces less juice/liquid while cooking.
- Sesame seeds sprinkled on top are a great addition.
- Add some heat and extra flavor with a dash of crushed red pepper or cayenne pepper for a tasty sweet and spicy kick.
- I have only used Smucker’s Sweet Marmalade and Sweet Baby Ray’s BBQ Sauce and highly recommend using them for this recipe.
Thanks for stopping by!
Cheers!
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Reader Interactions
Comments
karenf
Made it just as written, and at first it was meh. It did not thicken per the directions, and it really didn’t have much orange flavor. I do know how to correct the thickening, but wasn’t sure what to do about the flavor. The next day, it was bursting with orange flavor! Very, very good! Hmmmm Next time I’ll add a Tblsp. of sriracha sauce and I’ll probably switch out the Sweet Baby Ray’s for Stubb’s Sticky Sweet, as I really try to avoid high fructose corn syrup. Otherwise, you’ve got yourself a winner here. Five stars for 2nd day taste and ease of preparation.
Reply
Mary Neumann
Hello Karen – Did you use fresh chicken or package frozen chicken? Frozen chicken is often filled with A TON of water. This recipe is really easy to adapt, so hope your adaptions are yummy. Great to hear it was fantastic and 5 star worthy the next day. 🙂
Reply
karenf
Mary, I used fresh chicken … I know you try to puzzle these things out, just like I do!
Reply
Haley
Is there a way to make this in an instapot?
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Jason
Try cooking chicken first without the sauce. At the end drain the juices then add the sauce and cook an additional 30 min. No need to add cornstarch and less carbs.
Reply
Chris Bentsen
Can I use boneless chicken thighs instead?
Reply
Joanne
Hi. This is an interesting concept. Did the sauce have time to mix with the chicken. Looking forward to your reply.
Judith DeWitt
I don’t see any reason why not but being chicken thighs might take a little longer to cook because it’s dark meat. That’s what I want to use too
Reply
Jeff Krouse
Fresh chopped chives add an amazing herbaceous flavor without overwhelming the other flavors. We’ve tried different combinations but we both agree it’s the Smucker’s/Sweet Baby Rays combo that’s best. Fresh ginger and a Tsp of horseradish add a great hidden warmth!
Reply
Sarah
Going to try this sounds nice and easy to do what I like
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Kim
Used rice vinegar instead of apple cider vinegar and added a Tbs of hoisin sauce. Turned out amazing!
Reply
Mary Neumann
Love to hear how people adapt this recipe! Thanks for sharing, Kim!
Reply
Victoria
I have made this several times at home, but love the fact that this is so easy and delicious, I make it often in our RV. Nothing better than making it while we are driving or going out for long excurisions and coming back to thise deliciousness! I usually will also add some broccoli/red peppers to this for a fuller meal all in one.
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Mary Neumann
Thanks so much for sharing, Victoria! This recipe is super easy to adapt!
Reply
Jennie
Smuckers marmalade is not available on amazon so what would be similar regarding the ingredients?
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L rozario
Will not make again. Great idea but it is not a winning recipe.
Reply
Mary Neumann
Would love to hear what you didn’t care for, Rozario.
Reply
Sherrie
Love crockpot chicken recipes!!
Reply
Mary
How many does this serve?
Reply
Mary Neumann
Hi Mary – It will serve 4-6 (large servings for 4).
Reply
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