Throughout my high school years, my mom drove my younger brother to his trumpet lesson every Monday evening. As a talented musician (he now composes his own pieces!), he rarely missed a session, but since they ended right around dinnertime, Mom rarely cooked on those nights either.
Instead, she usually picked up take-out on their way home, and with Panda Express as the only restaurant between the music shop and the freeway, that’s normally what appeared on the kitchen counter after they walked in from the garage.
Occasionally, Mom tried to sneak in a somewhat healthier side, like eggplant tofu or steamed veggies, but we usually ignored those and dove straight into our favorites: broccoli beef and orange chicken. Although we sometimes ended up with leftovers of the former, the latter always disappeared within minutes. That spicy sauce was addictive!
Then one night a few weeks ago, I walked in from running errands to find my guy with a Styrofoam container on the coffee table with a double serving of the same Panda Express orange chicken mostly gone. Since I had never seen him eat their take-out before, I asked if it was his favorite of their entrées, and he nodded an emphatic yes.
Because I prefer grilled chicken over fried, I’d rather not eat the Panda Express dish, so I set out to make my own healthier version. After a few tweaks, this Spicy Orange Chicken with its sticky, tangy sauce earned two big thumbs up from my guy’s picky palate!
I tried really hard to limit this recipe to just 5 ingredients because after baking and washing dishes all day, I don’t want to cook and clean any more than I have to. But according to my guy, the sauce needed a little more salt and sweetness, so… You need 7 ingredients. But I promise those extra 2 are in your pantry already!
As the star of the show, this sauce is sweet and spicy and bright and tangy and lick-the-pan-clean good. That also means there’s a pretty hefty sauce-to-chicken ratio, which should satisfy all of you sauce lovers! My guy likes to put his over rice, but me… Just hand me a spoon!
So this sauce… Super simple, you guys. It’s mostly orange juice, with a little soy sauce and honey for those salty and sweet notes my guy wanted, along with a hint of orange zest and cayenne (or as much as your spicy meter can handle!), and is thickened with cornstarch.
You’ll cook the sauce second, after removing the chicken from the pan (gotta love one-pot meals—fewer dishes to clean!), because the sauce thickens faster when it’s the only thing in the pan. Then just add the chicken back in, give everything a stir, and dinner is on the table!
And since it fully satisfies my guy’s picky palate, this orange chicken has earned itself a permanent place on our weekly dinner rotation!
| Easy & Skinny Spicy Orange Chicken | | Print |
- 1 c (240mL) orange juice
- 2 tbsp (16g) cornstarch
- 3 tbsp (45mL) low-sodium soy sauce
- ⅛ – ¼ tsp (<1g) cayenne pepper, or to taste
- 4 tsp (20mL) honey
- 1 tsp (2g) orange zest (optional, about 1 mandarin orange)
- 1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts, trimmed of excess fat
- To prepare the sauce, whisk together the orange juice, cornstarch, soy sauce, cayenne, honey, and orange zest in a small bowl. Set aside.
- Cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces. Lightly coat a large pan with nonstick cooking spray. Cook the chicken over medium-low heat for 4-6 minutes, or until no longer pink in the center and cooked through. Turn out the chicken onto a plate.
- Whisk the sauce once more, then pour it into the same skillet. Cook over medium-low heat for 6-8 minutes, stirring constantly, or until the sauce has thickened and reduced by about a third. Reduce the heat to low, add the chicken, and stir until it’s completely covered in sauce.
Agave or brown sugar may be substituted for the honey.
{gluten-free, clean eating, low fat, low calorie, low carb, high protein}
More orange chicken recipes from other food bloggers…
♥ 20 Minute Light Orange Chicken by Closet Cooking
♥ Skinny Orange Chicken by Gimme Some Oven
♥ Slow Cooker Orange Chicken by Life Made Sweeter
I love making my own orange chicken recipe. Especially when you can control all of the ingredients in it.
I completely agree Shelby!
I love Chinese but not such a fan of the calories! Love that you lightened up this dish!
Thanks Julie! That’s pretty much the same boat I’m in. The flavors are fine, but not all of the calories… And it drives my guy crazy because Chinese is one of his favorite cuisines! 😉
Made this for dinner tonight and everyone loved it!! It will definitely become a regular on our dinner menu. Thank you!
I’m so happy you and your family enjoyed the dish Janet! That means a lot to me that it’s becoming a regular. 🙂
Love how simple and delicious this chicken sounds to make. Pinning! 🙂
Thanks for your sweet comment and pin Nicola!
orange chicken is a favorite in our house, but I am not a fan of the fried variety. This looks like the perfect compromse
Thanks Heather! It’s hard to justify the fried with how much taste testing we food bloggers have to do. 😉
I love Panda Express and orange chicken is my fav. But I try to limit it because it is so bad for you. I am excited to give this a try! I love homemade and easy recipes!! I’m all about that! Pinned!! Ps how cool about your brother! You must be a proud sis!! 😉
Thank you so much for your sweet comment and pin Cyndi! You’re right; I’m definitely a proud big sister. He was just accepted into an elite grad school program last week — hooray for smart and talented family members! 🙂
You are my brothers’ hero Amy! They cannot get enough Panda Express, it is their favorite take out ever. This looks incredible! Even I am ready to dive into that bowl 🙂
Thank you so much Mary Frances! Knowing how picky brothers can be (mine was too, although I was a picky eater as a kid, come to think of it…), that’s a huge compliment! 🙂
I just made this, It was really good! I will definitely make it again. It’s so nice to have healthy deilicious recipes like this to make for dinner. It was a nice light in calories but really well flavored dish (which can be hard to find). With ingredients you’re likey to have on hand. I couldn’t decide if I wanted to have it over mashed potatoes or rice but then at the last minute I decided on whole wheat noodles. Thank you!
I’m so glad you enjoyed the chicken Julia! I agree; it’s often hard to find low-calorie dishes that don’t taste as bland as cardboard. I love your idea of serving it over whole wheat noodles too — we’ll have to try that ourselves sometime!
Just made this for dinner tonight. Very tasty and quick. My hubby loves Chinese, it’s his favorite. He loved it. I went light on the cayenne for fear it would be too hot. Next time I will add a little more and add the zest. (I didn’t have any on hand)
I’m so glad you and your hubby liked the dish! If he loves Chinese as much as my guy does, then that’s a huge compliment — so thank you!