Have you been wondering what to serve with orange chicken? You are not alone!
Many of us have been trying to find the best side dish to make the best orange chicken dinner possible. Luckily, we have found some incredible sides that are perfect next to this exciting Asian meal.
Homemade Asian Orange Chicken with Fried Rice
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What is Orange Chicken?
Orange chicken is a super popular Asian dish made with battered, deep-fried chicken served in a tangy, sweet orange sauce. It is often served over a bed of white rice and sometimes has some bell peppers mixed into the sweet and sour sauce.
Need more tips for pairing your favorite Asian dinner? Keep reading!
It is important to keep that super sweet coating in mind when searching for the best side dishes for this tasty chicken meal.
The flavor is so powerful and the taste you should try to match when looking for sides. Look for Asian-inspired foods that have similar, strong flavors.
Orange chicken is a protein, and the white rice it comes with is starch. Side dishes with vegetables may be your best bet.
What Goes with Orange Chicken?
We have found some incredible, delicious side dishes to serve with orange chicken. One look at this list, and you will never wonder what to serve with orange chicken ever again!
1. Fried Rice
Fried rice is a fantastic side to serve with orange chicken. It is a huge improvement compared to the regular white rice that usually comes with this type of sticky chicken dish.
Fried rice has so much more flavor and interest than white rice!
Our skinny fried rice recipe is an amazing side to pair with your Chinese food dinner. We use bagged coleslaw mix to add easy veggies to the fried rice mix.
Soy sauce, rice vinegar, and sesame oil add so much flavor to the fried rice.
Scoop your orange chicken right on top of the fried rice. Pour some extra orange sauce over the fried rice to make it even stickier and yummier! It is a side dish that is versatile and super tasty.
2. Egg Drop Soup
Egg drop soup is a classic appetizer in almost every Chinese food recipe. It is a perfect side to serve with orange chicken. Use this recipe from The Woks of Life to make authentic, delicious egg drop soup.
Image Source: The Woks of Life
Egg drop soup starts with a flavorful broth made with ground white pepper, turmeric, sesame oil, and a little bit of sugar. The broth is thickened using cornstarch.
Add a little extra salt and pepper to suit your tastes.
Whisked eggs are quickly stirred into the egg drop soup. The eggs cook in the hot broth, adding flavor and lots of protein to the soup. The salty soup tastes delicious with sweet orange chicken.
3. Asian Green Salad
A fresh green salad is always a great side dish choice. This Asian-inspired green salad from Five Hearts at Home compliments orange chicken perfectly.
Image Source: Five Hearts at Home
The salad starts with a bed of mixed greens. Orange segments, crunchy sliced almonds, and soft avocados are added to the green salad. A homemade sesame dressing tops the salad, making it complete.
The fresh orange pieces mimic the taste of orange and orange zest in the orange chicken main course. This green salad may just be your ideal answer to what to serve with orange chicken!
4. Stir Fry Veggies
Orange chicken is essentially all meat. Sure, it has a delicious orange juice coating covering the chicken, but other than that, the dish is just breading and chicken pieces!
A great stir fry vegetable side dish may be exactly what you need to complete your meal.
Image Source: The Recipe Critic
We love these easy stir fry veggies from The Recipe Critic. There are seven different kinds of vegetables mixed into the stir fry dish. A little chicken broth, brown sugar, and sesame oil make a quick coating for the veggies.
Serve a big scoop of stir-fried veggies next to your orange chicken, and your main dish meal will be complete!
You may want to add some white or brown rice side dishes to round out your vegetable plate. A little extra rice never hurts!
5. Lo Mein
Orange chicken is often served with white rice, but serving it with lo mein noodles will give your main dish a new, tasty twist. This lo mein with vegetables from Rasa Malaysia is truly delicious.
Image Source: Rasa Malaysia
This lo mein with vegetables uses garlic, mushrooms, red bell peppers, and bok choy. Try adding your favorite vegetables to the lo mein to make it perfect for your taste preferences.
We like mixing in some baby corn and sugar snap peas to make the lo mein even tastier! Pick vegetables that are colorful to add eye appeal to your dinner.
Lo mein is definitely a classic side at so many Chinese restaurants, and it is a side you are sure to love!
6. Wonton Soup
You can find wonton soup on the menu of almost all Chinese restaurants. It is served in chains like Panda Express and in your small, hometown Chinese food dives.
Image Source: Spend With Pennies
It is so popular because it is so good!
Try making your own homemade wonton soup using this dish from Spend With Pennies. You will learn how to make perfect wontons as well as a delicious chicken soup broth.
It will go great with your favorite orange chicken recipes!
7. Egg Rolls
There is nothing quite as tasty as a homemade, fried egg roll. It is definitely the perfect answer to what to serve with orange chicken. These egg rolls from Jo Cooks are exactly what you need to make.
Image Source: Jo Cooks
Orange chicken and egg rolls are both deep-fried. Plan your cooking time so that you can use the same oil to fry both side dishes.
The fact that both are fried is just another reason why they go so well together!
We also like to dip our egg rolls into the orange chicken sauce. You can just use a little soy sauce for dipping, but that sticky, orange zest sauce is quite tasty on an egg roll!
8. Soup Dumplings
Soup dumplings are also known as xiao long bao. They are tender Chinese dumplings that are full of soup. Pop one in your mouth, and the warm soup explodes into your mouth. It is unbelievably good!
Image Source: Steamy Kitchen
Follow the directions from Steamy Kitchen to make incredible soup dumplings. They are one of the most unique side dishes to serve with orange chicken.
However, they are one of the tastiest side dishes! The warm broth inside each soft dumpling is irresistible.
9. Brown Rice
White rice is the standard side dish served with orange chicken. Make your meal a little healthier by using brown rice instead. Cookie and Kate will show you how to make incredible brown rice that will pass any taste test.
Image Source: Cookie and Kate
We like to add soy sauce to our cooked brown rice to give it a little extra flavor. Feel free to add a bag of frozen chopped vegetables to the brown rice.
This is an easy way to add nutrition to your dinner. You can’t go wrong with vegetables and brown rice side dishes!
10. Garlic Broccoli
A simple garlic broccoli may be one of our favorite side dishes to serve with orange chicken. It adds healthy vegetables to your meal and has a tasty, Asian-style sauce.
Check out this Asian-style broccoli from The Garden Grazer.
Image Source: The Garden Grazer
The savory sauce is made with soy sauce, garlic cloves, vegetable broth, and cornstarch. Use tamari in place of soy sauce for a richer taste. Add some red pepper flakes to make the sauce spicy.
A little salt and pepper will take the flavor up a notch, too!
While we love this sauce poured over broccoli, it actually is tasty on almost any kind of steamed vegetable. Use it to liven up sugar snap pea side dishes or to make your baby corn vegetable dish even more perfect.
11. Crispy Noodles
Crispy noodles are one of our favorite Chinese food side dishes. They are addicting and so easy to eat!
Image Source: My Food Story
Follow the directions from My Food Story to make the perfect Asian crispy noodles. They are delicious with your main course or when eaten as an appetizer.
12. Asian Slaw
Bright vegetable side dishes are always a great idea. This tasty Asian slaw from Feasting at Home is exactly what you need.
Image Source: Feasting at Home
Not only does the crunchy salad pair well with almost any type of Asian cuisine, but it also looks fantastic on your plate. The bright orange main course and this purple slaw will make a show-stopping dinner.
Best Side Dishes for Orange Juice Chicken
There are so many delicious side dishes to serve with orange chicken that it is hard to know which one to make first.
Lo mein with soy sauce is always a hit and any kind of side dishes with vegetables are guaranteed to complete your meal.
Let us know which side dishes you love best and enjoy!
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