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
have diabetes and am trying some new sort of Banting diet. Am 68 and cook for husband and granddaughter. so hard to fix food they will like. am going to try the skinny orange chicken and the lo mein recipe. can you give me e-mail that is free where I can get more recipes? will post comment later this week. thanks, lovescooking
Hi Mrs. Threadgill –
I hope you enjoy the Skinny Orange Chicken and the Easy Lo Mein! My family enjoys them very much!
If you join my Mailing List here on my website, you will get an email each time I post a recipe. Also, take a look at my Recipe Index, where you can see the various types of recipes here.
I hope this helps you and that you find many recipes that you enjoy!
Thanks so much!
Robyn
How many calories does the dish have? I cooked it – was lovely
I don’t have the calorie count for this dish, but there are several online websites, such as Calorie Count, that will calculate the calories in a dish for you. Glad you enjoyed it, Darren! Thanks!
hi! thank you so much for the awesome recipe! I was at the grocery store and logged onto Pinterest, and came across your recipe via Paleo Running Momma! I just made your recipe ( tripled the sauce, cause I serve husband and two sons)! Best recipe ever! I added sliced green onion! thank you again!
blessings,
aimee
I’m so glad you loved it, Aimee! xo
How long does it usually take for the sauce to reduce? I have had it on low heat for a while and it’s not making much progress!
Use a little arrowroot powder next time! It’ll thicken anything like cornstarch does, but it’s much cleaner.
I first made this about 2 years ago, and for some insane reason I did not pin it! I have been looking for it for a long time but there are a lot of “Skinny Orange Chicken” recipes on Pinterest…but none are as good as this one! My family absolutely loves this meal and I will be making it tonight for dinner, yay! They will be so happy! Thank you for sharing a great recipe.
I’m so glad you love it, Laura! (and glad that you found the recipe again, too!) xo
I made this tonight, it was awesome and much tastier than another paleo recipe on Pinterest I’ve tried (the other called for tomato paste). I skipped the broccoli and instead stir fried green and red peppers after the chicken and set it aside with chicken while the sauce reduced. I added half of the garlic and fresh ginger to the wok when cooking the chicken to get the flavors locked in! I also added salt and it was perfect. Thanks for sharing this recipe!
If I don’t want to buy the coconut amino, can I use soy sauce?
Absolutely!
Looks great! Has anyone tried this in an electric pressure cooker?
Wondering the same thing? Did you try it and could you share the directions?Â
LOVE this recipe!!! I made it for my mom and she request it every time she comes over:). Have you ever tried it in the crock pot? I wonder if the sauce would thicken….
I never really leave reviews. But I am on my day 11 whole 30. I made this recipe whole 30 compliant and it was amazing. I used three dates instead of the honey and I juiced two oranges for extra sweetness it came out really yummy! Thanks for the recipe
how did you use the dates did you put them in a blender?