Busy days call for simple meals and this Spicy Orange Chicken is certain to fit the bill. You won't be tempted to pick-up takeout when you can whip-up this delicious version at home. This dish comes together quickly after a long day, and is lighter than the Chinese dish that inspired this home style version. Steam a pot of sticky rice and dig in.
Spicy Orange Chicken
Save time and prep the ingredients for this dish in advance. Slice the veggies and cut the chicken into bite-size pieces and place in storage bags in the fridge. When you come in from a busy day, you're ready to go. I always make the sauce in advance and chill so the flavors can mingle and come together nicely. When you're ready, you can prepare the chicken while the rice is cooking. Yummy, quick and much better than take out.
What is Chinese Five Spice Powder?
Chinese five spice powder is a blend of cinnamon, anise, fennel, ginger, clove and licorice root. It adds an authenticity in flavor to this dish that makes it worth buying and it's readily available in the Asian section of most grocery stores including Target and Walmart. It' also delicious in a batch of sugar cookies, too. For this recipe, if you like extra sauce, you'll be delighted to know that the sauce recipe easily doubles.
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Spicy Orange Chicken
Servings: 4 servings
Calories: 775kcal
Ingredients
- Sauce:
- ½ cup orange marmalade
- ⅓ cup brown sugar
- ½ teaspoon Chinese Five Spice powder
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 2 tablespoon water
- 2 teaspoon orange zest
- ½ teaspoon toasted sesame oil
- 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes adjust to taste
- juice of one small lemon
- Chicken:
- 4 6 oz boneless skinless chicken breasts cut into bite-size pieces
- 2 large eggs beaten
- 1 cup all purpose flour add ½ teaspoon each salt & black pepper, mix together
- 1 large red pepper seeded and thinly sliced
- 1 medium red onion thinly sliced
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- ¼ cup peanut oil for frying
- chopped green onion and cooked Jasmine Rice for serving
Instructions
- To prepare the sauce: Mix ingredients for the sauce together until the sugar dissolves. This can be done up to 2 days in advance and kept in an airtight container in the fridge chilled, if desired.
- To prepare chicken: Dip the chicken into the beaten egg, then roll in the all purpose flour seasoned with salt and pepper. Coat on all sides, shaking off any excess. Repeat until all chicken is breaded.
- Heat 4-6 tablespoons of peanut oil in a large skillet. Add the chicken pieces.
- Cook the chicken pieces in batches browning on all sides for 1-2 minutes removing to a platter to keep warm..
- Add pepper and onion to the skillet. Add additional oil as needed. Season with salt and black pepper to your taste.
- Cook on medium high heat until the vegetables are crisp tender, about 2-3 minutes. Add garlic to the pan. Cook for 1 minute longer.
- Pour prepared sauce over cooked vegetables and heat through. Return the chicken to the pan. Toss gently until all of the chicken pieces are coated evenly with sauce.
- Serve immediately on a bed of Jasmine rice garnished with green onions.
Notes
Chinese five spice powder is a blend of cinnamon, anise, fennel, ginger, clove and licorice root. It adds an authenticity in flavor to this dish that makes it worth buying and it's readily available in the Asian section of most grocery stores. If you like lots of sauce, the sauce recipe easily doubles.
Nutrition
Serving: 1serving | Calories: 775kcal | Carbohydrates: 75g | Protein: 51g | Fat: 22g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 5g | Monounsaturated Fat: 7g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 212mg | Sodium: 430mg | Potassium: 629mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 45g | Vitamin A: 1598IU | Vitamin C: 58mg | Calcium: 70mg | Iron: 3mg
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My name is Melissa and I'm the Creator of Melissa's Southern Style Kitchen. Cooking, baking, developing recipes and kitchen tips is my passion. I love sharing my dishes and connecting with people through the food that I create.
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Melissa
Yes, I think you can. It's inexpensive and gives so much flavor and punch to this dish. ☺ Enjoy!
joolrylane.etsy.com
Definitely trying this. I think you can get five spice at Target too.
Melissa
That was part of my motivation for this dish. I've written the recipe a little less spicy than even we like it, but, of course, there's room to adjust it to your own level of heat. I made this for our dinner tonight, and it always fills the take out void. ☺
Kalamity Kelli
Oh my goodness!! This is one of my favorite dishes at the Chinese place we frequent and I always wanted to make it at home so I could make it a little less calorie laden - thank you so much! Sweet Tea and Cornbread just shared this on her FB page and I saw it - now I see something called Banana Pudding Cupcakes? This is a great site!!