How To Make Trader Joe's Orange Chicken Look (And Taste) Like Takeout

On this quest to make Trader Joe's Orange Chicken look (and taste) like takeout, let's return to where it all began, Panda Express. Uhh, yes. Orange Chicken was invented at Panda Express in 1987. It is a Chinese-American dish loved most by people in the United States and is, in fact, TJ's employee's favorite frozen item. This leads to an obvious conclusion: all ingredients needed to recreate this dish can be found at the local grocer. No international gourmet ingredients here.

Trader Joe's version of this craved fusion is one that seems to disappear from the freezer aisle faster than almost anything else so head to the freezer section first. Upon securing your bag of TJ's Mandarin Orange Chicken, linger in the frozen section a bit longer and grab a bag of their vegetable fried rice. From here, make your way to the produce section. Grab an orange, some scallions, and TJ's Ginger Paste (add this to your list of products to buy every time). From there, grab a jar of sesame seeds and a bottle of toasted sesame oil. These should live on the same aisle. If you need butter, snag a package and head toward the checkout.

Now that you have everything you need, let the cooking commence. Hands down, the preferred method for preparing the frozen chicken is in the air fryer. Heat the air fryer to 400 degrees Fahrenheit and cook the chicken in a single layer directly in the basket for about 10 minutes, shaking the basket halfway through cooking to ensure crispiness. For the sauce, make sure you pull that packet out and let it begin to thaw as you work on everything else — dice 3 scallions and set aside white and green parts. Then grate the orange, which should yield 1 to 2 tsp of fresh orange zest.

When the produce is prepped and the chicken is almost ready, start your sauce. Add 1 tbsp butter, the entire sauce packet, and 1 tsp ginger paste to a large pan or wok over medium heat. Once this cooks down and becomes thicker in consistency, remove it from the heat and add your chicken to the pan. Drizzle with toasted sesame oil, about 2 tsp and stir, stir, stir. Make sure to coat each and every piece of chicken with sauce. Now, serve your better-than-takeout orange chicken over the prepared fried rice and top with scallions, orange zest and sesame seeds. Feel free to garnish with orange slices and a side of personal pride.