This Healthy Orange Chicken is a simple and delicious weeknight dinner that your entire family will love!! Made with juicy, tender chicken, fresh broccoli, and a sweet and tangy orange stir fry sauce. Serve it over rice or cauliflower rice for an easy spin on this classic Chinese takeout food!
Easy Orange Chicken Stir Fry
When we are short on time we love to order takeout from our local Chinese restaurant and orange chicken is always one of our go-tos. So we knew we needed to make a healthier homemade version that can be made in under 30 minutes with real, simple ingredients. This tried-and-true recipe is just that! It has a wonderfully sweet and tangy flavor and can be paired with any vegetables you have on hand, we used broccoli florets.
Looking for another quick weeknight meal? Our Easy Beef and Broccoli is another good one!
Why You Will Love This Recipe
- Real Food Ingredients: I love that you can understand all of the ingredients in this recipe 🙂
- Whole30/Paleo Friendly: This is a great option if you eat a more Whole30/Paleo-focused lifestyle!
- Versatile: Easily serve with cauliflower rice or regular rice depending upon who wants what!
What You Will Need
- chicken breasts: we are using boneless skinless chicken breasts here that we will cut up into small, bite-sized pieces, you can also use chicken thighs.
- olive oil: this is what we will be cooking our chicken in, you can use really whatever oil you want but I prefer olive or avocado oil.
- kosher salt and ground black pepper: to season the chicken (no one likes under-seasoned chicken!)
- (optional) 1-2 cups broccoli florets: this is optional, but I love the flavor combo!
- sesame seeds for garnish: totally optional!
- orange juice + orange juice concentrate + orange zest: this is where all that orange flavor comes from!
- coconut aminos: this adds in a little umami flavor. If you are aren’t worried about Paleo/Whole30 you could sub soy sauce.
- garlic, minced: for the flavor!
- sesame oil: this helps add a little umami flavor as well!
- tapioca starch: this is our sauce thickener!
Can I Prep This Ahead of Time
Absolutely! This is the best orange chicken recipe and it is a great option for meal prep. Simply, cut up your chicken ahead of time and store in an airtight container in the refrigerator (you could do this the night before). Then add your sauce ingredients to a bowl and store in the refrigerator. You can also make your rice ahead of time, let it cool and store in the fridge. Then toss it all together when you are ready to serve it in a matter of minutes!
How To Make Healthy Orange Chicken
To begin this simple weeknight dinner, grab your large kitchen knife and cut up your chicken into bite-sized pieces.
Now add your sauce ingredients to a small saucepan, bring to a medium heat, and let it simmer while you work on everything else.
Then heat up your cast iron skillet on a medium high heat, add the drizzle of olive oil, and cook up your chicken chunks. Once they are fully cooked you can remove them from the pan and set aside.
While the pan is still hot, add in your sauce and tapioca starch. Whisk continuously so that the sauce begins to thicken (about 2-3 minutes). After it reaches your desired thickness, add the chicken back to the pan and toss to coat.
Vegetable Variations
In the recipe card we used fresh broccoli florets because it is our all-time favorite, but you can also use frozen broccoli or any other of your favorite stir fry vegetables. We also recommend asparagus, bell peppers, green beans, sliced cabbage, or to make it even easier toss in a bag of mixed frozen vegetables!
Now add in your broccoli (if using) and continue to cook for a few minutes until fork tender.
Serve over your rice of choice or by itself and enjoy!
What To Serve With Orange Chicken
If you are making this with vegetables in it (like broccoli) and it is more of a stir-fry, I would serve it with Cauliflower Rice, Jasmine Rice, or white rice. If you aren’t adding vegetables into the sauce and are, instead, serving it plain I would serve it with a baked potato, sautéed zucchini, or steamed green beans.
Made this recipe and loved it?! We would love it if you would take a minute and leave a star rating and review – it is also helpful if you made any substitutions or changes to the recipe to share that as well. THANK YOU!
Don’t forget to check out my Instagram account for some behind-the-scenes action! Or give me a follow on Facebook or see what I am pinning on Pinterest!
Other Recipes You Might Like
Healthy Orange Chicken
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Stove Top
- Cuisine: Asian
Description
Healthy Orange Chicken – a simple and delicious weeknight dinner the entire family will love!!
Ingredients
- 3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces
- 1/2 tablespoon olive oil
- kosher salt and ground black pepper
- (optional) 1-2 cups broccoli florets
- sesame seeds for garnish
Sauce:
- 3/4 cup orange juice
- 2 tablespoon orange juice concentrate
- 1 tablespoon orange zest
- 3 teaspoon coconut aminos or soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon garlic, minced
- 1/4 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1/2 teaspoon tapioca starch
Instructions
- Combine orange juice, orange juice concentrate, orange zest, coconut aminos, garlic and sesame oil in a small saucepan. Let simmer uncovered while you cook the chicken.
- Bring large cast iron skillet to medium high heat and add olive oil, allowing it to coat the pan.
- Add chicken and season lightly with salt and pepper.
- Move chicken around, allowing it to cook, approximately 10 minutes (or until fully cooked).
- Remove chicken from the skillet and place on a large plate; set aside.
- Pour sauce into the skillet and bring to a simmer.
- Add tapioca starch and use a whisk to combine.
- Continue stirring with whisk until sauce starts to thicken, about 2-3 minutes.
- Add broccoli if you are using it and allow it to cook 2-3 minutes.
- Add back chicken and stir to combine.
- Serve immediately and garnish with sesame seeds, if desired.
Notes
- Serving Suggestion: serve on cauliflower rice if Whole30/Paleo – otherwise feel free to serve on regular rice if you want!
- More Veggies: If you want to make this into more of a stir-fry and add even more veggies I would just suggest doubling the sauce so there is enough to coat everything! Super easy!
- Orange Juice Concentrate: orange juice concentrate is found in the frozen section!
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 6oz
- Calories: 201
- Sugar: 4.6 g
- Sodium: 271.5 mg
- Fat: 13.8 g
- Carbohydrates: 13.7 g
- Protein: 8.3 g
- Cholesterol: 10.3 mg
Keywords: healthy orange chicken
Kerri says
Has anyone tried fresh squeezed orange juice? I love this recipe but prefer less sugar. Please advise!
Shannon says
Made this tonight and DELICIOUS! Very easy too!
★★★★★
Ashley Wooldridge says
Excellent recipe! I’ve been looking for a healthy orange chicken recipe.
★★★★★
Emily says
Loved this recipe!
★★★★★
Erin says
So happy to hear that!!
Kay says
Such fresh, delicious flavors! Thank you, Erin Jensen at The Wooden Skillet!
★★★★★
Lindsey says
This recipe is super delicious and easy to make. Can’t wait to have it with rice after my Whole30! Thanks for a fun and delicious recipe! My husband and I both approve!
★★★★★
Erin says
So glad you enjoyed this, Lindsey! One of my personal favorites 🙂 I appreciate you taking the time to leave your review + feedback – I really appreciate it!
Inez says
Would it be ok to do without the orange juice concentrate?
Erin says
I wouldn’t recommend it – it would lose a significant amount of that orange flavor that makes it orange chicken 🙂
Ellie says
What kindof orange juice concentrate do you suggest for this?
Erin says
Any kind that only has “orange juice concentrate” as the single ingredient, which should be most brands!
Shandie-Lyn Stockill says
I made this tonight and it was so simple and quick yet sooo delicious! I added some green peppers and sautéed them with the chicken once it was done cooking. And I only used two chicken breasts but the same amount of sauce because we like things saucy! 100% will be making this again, especially when I need a quick and healthy meal!
★★★★★
Erin says
So happy to hear that, Shandie-Lyn!! I love this recipe as well 🙂 And thank you for taking the time to leave your feedback – I really appreciate it!