Orange chicken on a white plate with brown rice and chopsticks (with logo overlay)

Orange Chicken in the Slow Cooker – Only 4 Ingredients

Make orange chicken in your slow cooker using only four basic ingredients for a quick and easy weeknight dinner the family will all enjoy.

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Slow cooker meals are perfect for the busy school year. I know how crazy it can get in the evening, so having dinner ready when you are is wonderful! Especially when it’s as easy as this meal and only requires 4 ingredients.

My aunt sent me this recipe years ago, but we never got around to trying it. I kept pushing the recipe aside because orange is not my favorite flavor. Then, one day I was trying to figure out what to make for dinner and we happened to have all of the ingredients.

As I said, I don’t like orange much, but we had leftover orange marmalade from making Paczki for my Harry Potter club a few weeks ago. Instead of letting it go to waste in the refrigerator, I decided to go ahead and try the orange chicken.

Well, I was pleasantly surprised at the flavor. The orange was not overpowering, which I liked. Even Ryan said he liked the chicken! Lately, the boys don’t want to eat anything I make, so that right there made this dinner a winner for us!

Justin’s only complaint was the texture of the chicken, but I think that was mostly due to the chicken not having thawed all the way. It was still mostly frozen when I put it in the slow cooker. Because of this, I couldn’t let it lay flat and it didn’t cook evenly.

Lesson learned: make sure to take the chicken out with plenty of time for it to thaw before cooking this meal.

Orange Chicken in the Slow Cooker Step by Step

Ingredients

  • 4 chicken breasts (boneless, skinless)
  • 1 cup orange marmalade
  • 3/4 cup bbq sauce
  • 2 tbsp soy sauce

Instructions

Place the chicken breasts in the slow cooker and make sure they are flat so they cook evenly. Cover the slow cooker and cook on high for 3 hours.

After 3 hours, in a medium mixing bowl, whisk the orange marmalade, bbq sauce, and soy sauce together.

Pour the mixture over the chicken. I like to also turn the chicken a few times to make sure it gets coated on both sides.

Cook on high for another 30 minutes. Serve your orange chicken warm. We made some rice to have on the side and poured some of the extra marinade over it.

Orange chicken on a white plate with brown rice and chopsticks (vertical)

Recipe

Originally Published On: January 10, 2019

Last Updated On: September 19, 2022

Orange chicken on a white plate with brown rice and chopsticks

Orange Chicken in the Slow Cooker

Make orange chicken in your slow cooker using only four basic ingredients for a quick and easy weeknight dinner the family will all enjoy.
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 3 hours 30 minutes
Total Time 3 hours 35 minutes
Course:
Main Dish
Cuisine:
American
Keyword:
chicken
|
orange
|
slow cooker
Servings: 4 servings
5 from 8 votes

Ingredients

  • 4 chicken breasts (boneless, skinless)
  • 1 cup orange marmalade
  • 3/4 cup bbq sauce
  • 2 tbsp soy sauce

Instructions

  • Place the chicken in the slow cooker, cover, and cook on high for 3 hours
  • After the chicken has cooked, whisk the orange marmalade, bbq sauce, and soy sauce together in a medium mixing bowl
  • Pour the mixture over the chicken and turn to coat
  • Cover and cook for another 30 minutes
  • Serve warm with the sauce over the chicken
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Nutrition Facts
Orange Chicken in the Slow Cooker
Amount Per Serving
Calories 552 Calories from Fat 54
% Daily Value*
Fat 6g9%
Saturated Fat 1g5%
Cholesterol 144mg48%
Sodium 1360mg57%
Potassium 1009mg29%
Carbohydrates 75g25%
Fiber 1g4%
Sugar 65g72%
Protein 49g98%
Vitamin A 240IU5%
Vitamin C 6.8mg8%
Calcium 59mg6%
Iron 1.5mg8%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

All nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered estimates. Actual nutrition content will vary based on brands used, measuring methods, portion sizes, and more.

46 thoughts on “Orange Chicken in the Slow Cooker – Only 4 Ingredients”

  1. 5 stars
    Love how the orange flavour doesn’t overpower this dish. A lot of the takeout orange chicken we’ve had have been so orange-y and sour it was not very pleasant!

  2. I LOVE LOVE LOVE orange chicken but have yet to find a recipe that compare to the glorious panda express. I will have to try this cause it looks so simple and you have yet to fail me with your amazing recipes.

    1. I’ve never had it from Panda Express, so can’t comment on how it compares. This is not as strong of an orange flavor as most places, so if that’s what you like you may want to increase the amount of the orange jam in the recipe.

  3. 5 stars
    I love the fact that it only has 4 ingredients. So easy for a mid-week meal. Being able to pop it in the slow cooker makes life so much easier.

  4. 5 stars
    I buy orange chicken a lot when I order Chinese food. Goes great with the rice. I never really knew how they made it tho. Admittedly I have a slow cooker but rarely use it, this gives me another recipe to use.

  5. 5 stars
    I love the fact that you could make such a delicious recipe with only four ingredients. We are planning to go crazy this weekend when it comes to cooking and this would be a great dish for us. Thanks

  6. This orange chicken looks like it would be so incredible! This is one of my favorite dishes when we do takeout.

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