Healthy Chinese Orange Chicken

This Healthy Chinese Orange Chicken is quick and easy and on the table in under 30 minutes.  Packed with flavour from the sweet, sticky tangy orange sauce, and way less calories.  Its made with simple ingredients, with no deep frying and no added sugars.

Recipe Highlights

• There’s lots of sauce to mop up the rice and veges!
• Make it in 20 to 30 minutes
• The sauce is sweet and tangy and sticks to the chicken
• You can use diced chicken breast or chicken thigh
• Its made all in one pan
• Add as many veges as you like, or keep it simple
• Healthy orange chicken is perfect for meal prepping
• Better than the original Panda Express and under 500 calories!

Ingredients

Ingredient Notes and Substitutions

• Chicken:  You can use either skinless boneless chicken breast or chicken thigh cut into 1 inch cubes.  Make sure they are all roughly the same size so the cook evenly.
• Orange Juice:  Either a store bought orange juice or freshly squeezed orange juice will work.  For Sore bought, make sure to buy a no added sugar variety and that it is not a concentrate.  For freshly squeezed, make sure to remove pips and seeds.
• Oil:  You’ll need an oil with a high smoke point like vegetable, grapeseed or peanut oil. I also use a little sesame oil in the sauce for extra flavor.

• Garlic:  adds a savory base to the sauce.  Either fresh crushed garlic or garlic paste is fine to use.
• Ginger:  ginger powder or fresh ginger or ginger paste can be used.  Using fresh ginger will add a little extra tang and heat over ground  ginger and ginger paste.
• Soy Sauce:  adds to the savory base.  Light or regular soy can be used.  Avoid using dark soy as it is to strong.

• Rice Wine Vinegar:   helps to balance out the flavors and add a little bit of tang.  Alternatively the same quantity of apple cider vinegar could be used.
• Sweet Chili Sauce:  There are many varieties of Lite or No Added Sugar Sweet Chili Sauce available at the supermarket or in speciality stores.  If I’m buying, my favorite is Ayam Lite Sweet Chili Sauce which is very low in calories compared to the regular ones.  I also love to make my own sugar free sweet chili sauce.

• Sugar Free Maple Syrup:  This adds additional sweetness to the sauce and can be substituted with the same quantity of granulated sweetener such as Monkfruit or stevia.
• Conrstarch/Cornflour:  this is a thickening agent that helps to create a nice sauce consistency.  Dredging the chicken before cooking will create a “crust” on the outside and provide the perfect surface for the sauce to grab onto.
• Red Pepper Flakes/Chili Flakes:  these are optional, but I always add them as I like a little bit of heat to counter the sweetness.  The addition of the chili flakes amps up the spice from the sweet chili sauce which is quite subtle.

How To Make

1. Flour Chicken:  In a medium sized bowl, place the cubed chicken, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar and cornstarch. Gently toss to coat. Set aside for 5 minutes.

2. Cook Chicken:  Add oil to a large skillet or wok and warm on medium-high heat. Add coated chicken into the hot pan. Saute for 5-7 minutes or until chicken is almost cooked through. Stir occasionally.
3. Prepare Sauce:  While the chicken cooks, prepare the sauce. In a medium sized bowl or jug, mix together the orange juice,  orange zest, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, sesame oil, sweet chili sauce and remaining cornstarch. Whisk until all the cornstarch clumps have dissolved.

4. Add Aromatics:  Once the chicken is done cooking; add the ground ginger, minced garlic, red pepper flakes and the whites of the green onion (leaving stems for garnish). Cook for 2 minutes.

5. Add Sauce:  Pour the sauce over the top of the chicken mixture, over a medium to high heat or until the sauce starts to thicken. Remove from heat (it will thicken a little more as it cools).

6. Serve:  Top with the chopped green onion stems and serve over a bed of rice. Garnish with additional orange zest if desired.

Recipe Tips

• Dredging chicken with Flour:  Don’t skip this step as it is what helps to create thick luscious sticky and sweet orange sauce.  The flour helps to thicken the sauce and helps sauce to stick to the chicken.
• Scaling:  This recipe will serve 6 people with 3 to 4 cups of cooked rice.  This is great for meal prepping and making ahead.  However its easy to reduce to 4 servings or even 2 servings by toggling the servings quantity in the recipe card.
• Storage:  my orange Chinese chicken recipe will keep in the fridge (in meal prep containers) for upto 4 days
• Freezing:  Freeze in air tight containers and individual portions for upto 6 weeks
• Reheating:  Defrost overnight in the fridge and microwave, or microwave on high rom frozen.

Meal Prepping Healthy Orange Chicken

This recipe for Chinese style orange chicken is perfect for healthy meal prepping lunches or dinners.  For big batch cooking, you could double the recipe for 12 servings, or make as is for 6 servings.

Grab your favourite meal prepping containers, fill one third with delicious sticky orange chicken, one third with rice and one third with veges.  Make sure to name and label the containers with the use by date before freezing.  Or, store in the fridge for upto 4 days.

Some of my other go to meal prepping recipes are: Teriyaki Salmon Bowls, Lemon Chicken Stir Fry, Thai Basil Chicken Stir Fry, Chinese Garlic Chicken and Broccoli, and this Chinese Chicken with Pineapple.

Serving Suggestions

• Rice:  whilst white rice is most typically served with Orange chicken, I personal love to eat mine with brown rice as its more filling and I prefer the nuttier texture.
• Quinoa:  For more protein, why not consider quinoa as a base for healthy orange chicken
• Noodles: pre cooked noodles are great and super convenient where you add them in at the last minute.  I love hokkien, udon and even ramen for something differnnt.
• Veges:   zucchini, broccoli, green beans, spinach leaves, Asian greens (Boy Choy Pay Choy Choy Sum)
• Low Carb:  Cauliflower Rice (frozen or freshly made), or zucchini noodles, or my cauliflower fried rice.

Common Questions

Recipe Variations

• Ground Chicken/Chicken Mince:  roll into small balls, or cook as is
• Chicken Sausage:  chopped into bite sized pieces
• Turkey Breast:  diced into cubes
• Beef:  cut piece or sirloin into thin 1 ½ inch strips

Cooking healthy Asian dishes is one of my favorite things to do, and I love them for meal prepping because they are quick and easy.

If you’re looking for something different to your usual Asian chicken dishes for mid week takeout at home, try this saucy, spicy, sweet and tangy Chinese orange chicken for a healthy twist on a well known fave.