Pizza and Chinese takeout = two of my lifetime staples. I mean, let’s just talk about the wonderfulness of these two items real quick. Firstly, they are both delicious. Secondly, they can both be delivered to your door or picked up on your way home. Thirdly, they are both delicious. The deliciousness deserved two points.
BUT – problem: both of these food items are super calorie/fat/carb loaded and just generally very unhealthy. Which is no bueno. It’s okay every now and then, but it’s always better to have a healthy make-at-home option for your regular day to day dinners. Orange chicken is one of my favorite takeout items. The juicy chicken that is absolutely smothered in that tangy, slightly sweet, savory sauce is mouthwateringly delicious!
This at home version isn’t quite as easy as having it delivered to your door, but it’s definitely not a hard meal to make either. You’re done within 20 minutes! And also, just as a side note, it tastes like angels have landed on your tongue and sang sweet songs of orangy goodness. Nahmean? You will when you try it.
I mean, just look at that sauciness. Pure flava.
The process of making this is SUPER simple. First we make our sauce:
- Fresh squeezed orange juice
- Orange zest
- Soy sauce
- Hoisin sauce
- Ginger
- Garlic
- Pepper flakes
Whisk all that together and set it aside. Then we sear our chicken that we’ve already diced into cubes. Cook it just until it’s browned – but definitely not cooked all the way through – we want to finish it in the sauce. Throw the sauce in there along with some green onions. Let the chicken just finish cooking, and then add a cornstarch slurry to thicken things up.
Serve over rice and top with extra pepper flakes and the tops of your green onions, and you’ve got a takeout masterpiece sitting right in front of you! Except this version is:
- Way more delicious – the sauce has more flavor, more freshness, and is just yummier over all (homemade is always better, #amIright?!)
- Way healthier – the chicken isn’t fried, we only use a teaspoon of coconut oil, and the sauce is low fat with almost all fresh, whole ingredients.
Do you have anything fun planned for this weekend? My in-laws came into town late-ish last night and will be here through Sunday, so we are just hanging out around here! And maybe decorating my house for Christmas and getting a tree.
Speaking of Christmas, you should see the ungodly amount of Christmas clothes I have for Ford. I have always been absolutely in love with Christmas – it is my favorite time of year – so I’ve been stocking up on Christmas baby clothes since the stores started to release them.
They target people like me…it’s just like Bath and Body works, how they release their fall and Christmas scents months before the seasons actually hit because they know suckers like me will stock up like the candle-pocalypse is around the corner. I started buying Christmas baby clothes in October, and I’m not even ashamed, yo. Know why? Because now Ford basically has enough Christmas clothes to stock the baby section at Target, meaning he’s going to be like a tiny little baby Christmas elf for the entire next month. Meaninggggg every day when I get him dressed I die of cuteness. Here are a few of the outfits I’ve put him in so far:
CHRISTMAS BABIES YASSSSS. The only way to make a baby even cuter is to shove them into pants with a penguin wearing a hat and Christmas scarf around its neck (yes, I own those pants).
Anywho, back to this delicious chicken.
An even extra bonus of this recipe: we have our first inaugural Garlic Diaries food video to go along with it! It’s a big day over here. I’ve been wanting to incorporate video for a long time now, and I had so much fun making our first one. The plan from here on out is to definitely incorporate lots of video, but my primary goal will be going back and adding video into my most popular posts from the past, so you might not see a ton pop up in my new posts.
But make sure you follow me on Instagram and Facebook, and they will all be posted there!
I hope you all have a fantastic weekend!
This recipe is 4 smart points per serving!
PrintOrange Chicken
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 pounds chicken breasts (about 2 large chicken breasts)
- 3 oranges, zest from one orange, juice from all three (about 1/2 cup of juice)
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 teaspoon fresh grated ginger
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon hoisin sauce
- 1 pinch red pepper flakes
- 1 teaspoon coconut oil
- 1 bunch green onions, sliced
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
Instructions
- In a bowl, whisk your sauce ingredients together (orange juice, orange zest *see note about zest*, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, garlic, ginger, and pepper flakes). Season the sauce with salt and pepper and set aside
- Dice your chicken into bite sized cubes, and heat your coconut oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium high heat
- When your pan is hot, add your chicken and season with salt and pepper
- Cook your chicken until it has started to brown, but do not cook it through – we want it to finish cooking in the sauce
- When your chicken is browned, add your sauce into the pan with the chicken along with the whites and light green parts of your green onions (save the sliced green tops for garnish)
- Let the chicken simmer in the sauce for a few minutes until the chicken is just cooked through
- Make a cornstarch slurry by adding a few splashes of water to your cornstarch and whisking to combine. Add the slurry to the sauce and stir until the sauce has thickened – this should happen super quickly!
- Season to taste with salt and pepper, garnish with extra pepper flakes and your sliced green onion tops, and serve!
Notes
Tip for zesting your orange – zest it BEFORE you juice it. Zesting an already juiced orange is challenging. When you zest it, make sure you stop before you get to the white part, which is bitter.
This orange chicken is super yummy served over rice (white or brown) or quinoa!
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1/4 of the chicken
- Calories: 276
- Sugar: 12 g
- Sodium: 278 mg
- Fat: 5 g
- Carbohydrates: 18 g
- Fiber: 3 g
- Protein: 35 g
- Cholesterol: 106 mg
If you make this or any of my other recipes, be sure to Instagram it and hashtag #thegarlicdiaries!
In the mood for more at home Chinese takeout recipes? Check these out:
So simple! Am excited to try this out. Thank you!
This recipe looks delicious- way better than takeout!! And yay for your first video!! It looks fabulous! I’m trying to do the same thing with my old posts, but it’s been slow going :/
Sues recently posted…Gingerbread Cookie Cake