This Healthy One-Skillet Chinese Orange Chicken recipe has a homemade citrus sauce that is so simple, and yet so incredibly flavorful. A healthy Asian inspired chicken dinner that tastes best served on a bed of rice and some green beans.
Sprinkle the chicken with plenty of salt and pepper. Heat 2 tbsp sesame oil in a large skillet or a big wok over medium high heat. Add the seasoned chicken chunks and cook for about 10 minutes, until browned and nearly cooked through. To make sure they brown nicely, move the chicken pieces around as little as possible. Once the chicken is cooked, remove it from the pan into a separate bowl.
Cooking time will vary based on the thickness of chicken breasts and sizes of pieces. Chicken should be about 90% cooked through. Make sure to remove smaller chunks from the pan if you think they are done already.
While the chicken is cooking, prepare the sauce by combining all the ingredients except cornstarch (orange juice, rice vinegar, chicken broth, coconut aminos, maple syrup, anise or fennel seeds, orange zest and pepper). Set aside.
Heat the remaining tablespoon of sesame oil in the same skillet over medium high heat, add the snow peas (or veggies of choice) and stir fry until cooked through but still a bit crunchy, about 10 minutes. Remove from the skillet and set aside too.
Bring to a boil and cook (still boiling) for 10 minutes, stirring regularly until the sauce reduces a lot and thickens. You will know it has thickened when you scrape the pan and it pulls away from the pan.
Mix the cornstarch or arrowroot powder with ¼ cup water and stir into the pan whisking vigorously. Let simmer a minute or two. The sauce should now be thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.
When the sauce has thickened to your liking, turn off the heat and add the cooked chicken with all its juices back into the pan. Stir to coat the chicken chunks with the orange sauce. You may also add the veggies back to the skillet if you want them covered with sauce too.
Serve orange chicken over rice (or cauliflower rice), sprinkle with sesame seeds and scallions, alongside the sauteed veggies.
Healthy One Skillet Chinese Orange Chicken https://www.notenoughcinnamon.com/healthy-chinese-orange-chicken/