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Happy New Year’s, everyone!
I hope that your 2014 is off to a terrific start. And hopefully, a delicious and healthy start!
So for all of you new years resolution folks who are out there scanning the world wide webosphere looking for lighter recipes after a holiday season full of sweets, you’ve come to the right place. Because I am dedicating theentire month of January this year to sharing healthy recipes with you. And I am stoked to kick things off with a lightened-up Chinese food classic — Skinny Orange Chicken.
This version packs all of the amazing sweet and savory orange flavor of the restaurant-style version, but with only a fraction of the calories and fat. And it is naturally sweetened with honey. And it can be served over rice or (my favorite) quinoa. And it can be made in just 20 minutes from start to finish.
Interested? You should be. :)
The main key to lightening up this restaurant classic is that we simply saute the chicken instead of fry it. The chicken is sauteed until golden and drenched in an orange chicken sauce anyway, so I guarantee you won’t even miss the frying! Plus, it saves us lots of unnecessary fat and calories in an already delicious dish.
And as I said, this skinny orange chicken recipe can literally be made in about 20 minutes. So here’s what you need to make it happen.
First, begin by cutting your chicken breasts into bite-sized pieces. Mine were roughly 1-inch cubed. Then season them with lots of salt and pepper for extra flavor.
Next, we make the rockstar of this recipe — the orange chickensauce. This sauce really could not be simpler. Simply whisk all of the ingredients together along with some cornstarch (for thickening), and you’re ready to go.
Next, saute the chicken in some olive oil until it is nearly cooked through. Be sure to let it rest in the pan a bit while cooking so that the sides can get nice and browned.
Then pour in the sauce, which should come to a boil within a minute or so. Let it boil for about 1-2 minutes, or until it’s nice and thickened.
Then top the chicken with some extra orange zest, green onions and toasted sesame seeds, and you’re good to go!
If you want to go the traditional route, you can serve this orange chicken recipe over rice. But I’m a big fan of eating stir-fry recipes with quinoa. So I whipped up a quick batch for this recipe, made (as always) with chicken broth for extra flavor.
I mean, really, just look at that gorgeous dish!
So much great flavor, and so little unnecessary fat and calories from frying the chicken. I’m pretty positive that even your friends or family members who usually prefer the fried version will go “poco loco” over this dish. :)
Stay tuned for more healthy recipes to come this month on Gimme Some Oven. And cheers to a great 2014 ahead!
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Skinny Orange Chicken
5 Stars4 Stars3 Stars2 Stars1 Star4.9 from 54 reviews
This homemade orange chicken recipe comes together in just 20 minutes, and is a crazy delicious! (And healthier than the restaurant version!)
Ingredients
Scale
Orange Chicken Ingredients:
2 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces
salt and pepper
2 Tbsp. olive oil
orange chicken sauce (ingredients below)
toppings: thinly-sliced green onions, toasted sesame seeds, orange zest
Orange Chicken Sauce Ingredients:
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup orange juice
1/2 cup honey
1/3 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
3 Tbsp. cornstarch
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 tsp. white pepper
zest of one orange
pinch of crushed red pepper flakes
(Optional: Quinoa Ingredients)
1 cup dry quinoa
2 cups chicken broth
Instructions
To Make The Orange Chicken:
Season chicken generously with salt and pepper.
Heat oil in a large saute pan over medium-high heat. Add chicken and saute for about 4-6 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the chicken is browned and nearly cooked through.
Pour in the orange chicken sauce, and stir to combine. Let the sauce come to a boil, then boil for an additional minute or two until thickened. Remove from heat and serve immediately over quinoa or rice. Garnish with green onions, sesame seeds and additional orange zest.
To Make The Orange Chicken Sauce:
Whisk all ingredients together until combined. If you would like the sauce to be even sweeter, add an extra 2-4 tablespoons of honey.
To Make The Quinoa:
You can see my step-by-step photo tutorial for how to cook quinoa here http://www.gimmesomeoven.com/how-to-cook-quinoa-recipe/.
To thicken the sauce, pour it into a small saucepan on the stove over medium-high heat. In a small bowl, combine 2 tablespoons cornstarch with 2 tablespoons water to make a cornstarch slurry. Once the sauce starts to bubble in the pan on the stovetop, add the cornstarch slurry and stir to combine.
Their Teriyaki Chicken is a great alternative for when you're craving that sweet and savory flavor you'd get from an Orange Chicken but want something with fewer calories and a lower sodium content.
How to make the orange chicken sauce. The orange sauce is made from a mixture of the orange juice and zest, sugar, soy sauce, garlic, ginger and rice vinegar. This is bubbled up in the wok until slightly thickened. The chicken is then added back in, and tossed in the sauce until fully coated.
Generally, orange chicken is made with dark meat, which is juicier and more flavorful than white meat. But you can use whichever you prefer when you make it at home.
Arrowroot powder: Arrowroot powder is a fine, gluten-free powder you can use in place of cornstarch as a thickening agent because it has a similar thickening power. Substitute arrowroot powder one-to-one for cornstarch.
Sesame Chicken, General Tso, and Orange Chicken look quite similar and share some common ingredients, which can make it difficult for some to choose between them. Chicken: Each dish uses chunks of boneless chicken meat (usually thigh).
We love serving this baked orange chicken recipe (and this Slow Cooker Honey Garlic Chicken) over a bed of brown rice, white rice, or quinoa. For a low-carb option, Cauliflower Fried Rice would also be tasty. Salad. Try serving your orange chicken with a salad like this Ramen Salad or Asian Cucumber Salad.
General Tso's chicken is typically spicier and has a more complex flavor profile, with a sauce that includes soy sauce, vinegar, and chili peppers. Orange chicken, on the other hand, has a sweeter and tangier sauce made with orange juice and zest.
Wang says it's the sauce's combination of sweet, sour, and savory flavor profiles that makes it stand out. The recipe includes brown sugar, vinegar, soy sauce, ginger, and crushed chili to give it a little bit of a kick, without making it spicy. To get the fresh orange taste, they use oils from the citrus peel.
For starters, "The orange chicken is deep-fried, which adds a significant amount of unhealthy fats and calories to the dish," says Young, who adds that "the sauce on the Orange Chicken also contributes to its high calorie and sugar content."
You won't find it on the menu if you go to Beijing, Shanghai, or any other Chinese city. Instead, the origins of orange chicken, similar to Panda Express, are uniquely American. Customers should cast their gaze to the island state of Hawaii.
A general ratio to work with is 2 tablespoons flour for every cup of liquid. Start by adding a little bit, then cook, stirring, for a few minutes to allow the sauce time to thicken and cook off the raw flour taste; if the results are minimal, add more.
You can try using ingredients like arrowroot powder, tapioca starch, or potato starch as natural thickeners for your sauce. Another option is to reduce the sauce by simmering it for a longer period of time, which can help it naturally thicken as the liquid evaporates.
How to Thicken Teriyaki Sauce. The easiest way to make teriyaki sauce thicker is with a cornstarch slurry (which this recipe uses). Whisk together 1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch with 1 tablespoon water, and add the mixture to your sauce while it simmers.
Introduction: My name is Tish Haag, I am a excited, delightful, curious, beautiful, agreeable, enchanting, fancy person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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