Orange Chicken makes a favorite Chinese dish. Get this lightened up Skinny Orange Chicken recipe which is Paleo-friendly, gluten-free, and grain-free, but definitely not free of flavor!
Orange Chicken has to be one of my favorite Chinese dishes to order when we order takeout or visit a favorite Chinese restaurant. I’ve made it a few times at home, but decided that I wanted to make a skinny orange chicken recipe.
You know, around the first of the year, that’s what seems to be on our minds. This lighter orange chicken recipe, or my Skinny Orange Chicken, is exactly what I had in mind! It’s so full of flavor and a favorite in my family!
Skinny Orange Chicken
How to Make Skinny Orange Chicken
I begin with four skinless, boneless chicken breasts that I slice in half horizontally. You’ll definitely want to make sure you are using a very sharp knife held parallel to the cutting board when slicing the chicken in half. I then cut the halves into bite-sized pieces. I find that they cook a lot more evenly that way and it saves a ton of time when cooking chicken in recipes like this. and I like to pop my chicken into the freezer for about 15 minutes as it makes them perfect for cutting, in my opinion.
I toss my chicken into a skillet with a bit of oil. I use coconut oil as I want to make this recipe as Paleo-friendly as possible, but you can use olive oil, butter, or a combination of the two for a delicious flavor.
While the chicken is browning, I mix together the sauce for the chicken. While traditional orange chicken always calls for frying the chicken bites in a cornstarch batter, I omit that part to reduce a few calories. Believe me, you won’t miss it once you taste the sauce on this chicken!
Once the chicken is browned, I remove it from the skillet as I cook the sauce to reduce it for the dressing. You are going to love the substitutions I made. It tastes so fresh and delicious!
Here’s my Skinny Orange Chicken Recipe. I think you are going to love it. I know we sure do!
Skinny Orange Chicken Recipe
Ingredients
- 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil
- 1/4 cup chicken stock or broth
- 3 tablespoons honey or maple syrup
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon orange zest
- 1/4 cup fresh orange juice
- 3 tablespoons coconut aminos
- 1 1/2 teaspoons Sriracha sauce
- 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 pinch red pepper flakes
- 1 teaspoon sesame seeds for garnish, optional
- Broccoli recipe
Instructions
- Melt coconut oil in medium skillet over medium heat. Add in chicken pieces and cook until cooked through and browned, about 8-10 minutes. Remove from skillet and set aside.
- While chicken is cooking, stir together chicken stock, honey or maple syrup, garlic, orange zest, orange juice, coconut aminos, Sriracha sauce, ginger and red pepper flakes. Pour into heated skillet once chicken has been removed and reduce to low heat. Cook, stirring often, until sauce has been reduced and coats the back of a wooden spoon. Remove from heat and pour over chicken.
- To serve, spoon chicken over a bed of broccoli and then spoon on additional sauce. Top with sesame seeds, if desired.
Notes
For 1 tablespoon coconut oil, use butter or olive oil or a combination of the two
For 1/4 cup coconut aminos, use 1/4 soy sauce If your sauce does not thicken as desired, you may add the following to assist in the thickening:
Mix 1 – 2 teaspoons of tapioca flour or arrowroot powder, if Paleo OR cornstarch, if non-Paleo, with the same amount of water to form a paste. Stir into the sauce well to thicken.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Enjoy!
Robyn xo
I am going to try this for my fourth of July dinner. However, I have not fried chicken without a breading. What is keeping the chicken from being burnt with being added directly to hot oil or not being done because you’re trying to keep it from cooking to long and being hard?
just made this with an asian cabbage salad on the side and it is delish! thank u!
Thanks for the amazing recipe! Had a quick question. Is there something you can substitute the Sriracha sauce? And does it effect the thickness? I don’t keep spicy stuff in the house because I don’t like my foods spicy. I made this last week and left it out. The flavor was fine for me, but it didn’t thickent. Did the Sriracha mess that up or could it have been something different. New to Paleo and New to Cooking!
Thanks
I made this sauce with shrimp.
I didn’t have a fresh orange, so just used the refrigerated OJ in the fridge and a splash of water instead of chicken stock.
It was delicious orange shrimp!!!!!
THANK YOU!
Made this tonight and it was amazing. First time ever having and trying orange chicken. Thank you!
Tried this last night and it was awesome. Not only is this extremely easy to make but the time invested is so minimal. It is packed with flavor that makes you enjoy each bite and look forward to the next. I added long grain brown rice for my boyfriend and the sauce soaked in there perfectly. It cures the “chinese food” cravings without the 1000 extra calories! I do not follow the Paleo diet so I used what I already had in my kitchen- olive oil & soy sauce. Thank you for helping us eat so well!
We made this tonight and enjoyed it! We used soy sauce in place of the coconut aminos, and it was a little too salty, so next time I think we’ll do more honey and less soy sauce. We had it with a side of rice, which helped soak up a lot of the sauce and flavor. Thanks for sharing!
Can’t wait to make this! Do you know the calorie breakdown per serving?
Hi Ashley,
I use and recommend Calorie Count. You can copy and paste the ingredients into the template and then adjust based on any changes that you make.
I’ve made this recipe once a week since finding it and I absolutely love it! My only issue is my sauce won’t thicken. About how long do you usually simmer it for? Every time I’ve made it, it just won’t thicken up. Any ideas?
Hi Kelsey,
Sorry it doesn’t thicken for you. If you are following a Paleo diet, you’d use tapioca flour or arrowroot powder to thicken it. If not, then cornstarch would work as well. Just about 1 or 2 teaspoons to equal amounts of water to form a paste and then add into the sauce. I hope that helps!
Fan-freaking-tastic! Easy and delicious! A nice change-up on all the chop suey-esque stir fries at our house! Pinned & definitely will make this again!