A 7-ingredient recipe for grilled chicken smothered in a sticky & spicy orange sauce. Quick, healthy & on the table in under 30 minutes!

Throughout my high school years, my mom drove my younger brother to his trumpet lesson every Monday evening. As a talented musician (he now composes his own pieces!), he rarely missed a session, but since they ended right around dinnertime, Mom rarely cooked on those nights either.

Instead, she usually picked up take-out on their way home, and with Panda Express as the only restaurant between the music shop and the freeway, that’s normally what appeared on the kitchen counter after they walked in from the garage.

Occasionally, Mom tried to sneak in a somewhat healthier side, like eggplant tofu or steamed veggies, but we usually ignored those and dove straight into our favorites: broccoli beef and orange chicken. Although we sometimes ended up with leftovers of the former, the latter always disappeared within minutes. That spicy sauce was addictive!

Then one night a few weeks ago, I walked in from running errands to find my guy with a Styrofoam container on the coffee table with a double serving of the same Panda Express orange chicken mostly gone. Since I had never seen him eat their take-out before, I asked if it was his favorite of their entrées, and he nodded an emphatic yes.

Because I prefer grilled chicken over fried, I’d rather not eat the Panda Express dish, so I set out to make my own healthier version. After a few tweaks, this Spicy Orange Chicken with its sticky, tangy sauce earned two big thumbs up from my guy’s picky palate!

I tried really hard to limit this recipe to just 5 ingredients because after baking and washing dishes all day, I don’t want to cook and clean any more than I have to. But according to my guy, the sauce needed a little more salt and sweetness, so… You need 7 ingredients. But I promise those extra 2 are in your pantry already!

As the star of the show, this sauce is sweet and spicy and bright and tangy and lick-the-pan-clean good. That also means there’s a pretty hefty sauce-to-chicken ratio, which should satisfy all of you sauce lovers! My guy likes to put his over rice, but me… Just hand me a spoon!

So this sauce… Super simple, you guys. It’s mostly orange juice, with a little soy sauce and honey for those salty and sweet notes my guy wanted, along with a hint of orange zest and cayenne (or as much as your spicy meter can handle!), and is thickened with cornstarch.

You’ll cook the sauce second, after removing the chicken from the pan (gotta love one-pot meals—fewer dishes to clean!), because the sauce thickens faster when it’s the only thing in the pan. Then just add the chicken back in, give everything a stir, and dinner is on the table!

And since it fully satisfies my guy’s picky palate, this orange chicken has earned itself a permanent place on our weekly dinner rotation!

Easy & Skinny Spicy Orange Chicken 5.0 from 3 reviews Print Yields: 4 servings This Chinese take-out makeover tastes even better than the original! The sticky sauce that smothers the chicken is sweet, spicy, bright, and tangy all at the same time. The recipe is easily halved or doubled. 1 c (240mL) orange juice

2 tbsp (16g) cornstarch

3 tbsp (45mL) low-sodium soy sauce

⅛ – ¼ tsp (<1g) cayenne pepper, or to taste

4 tsp (20mL) honey

1 tsp (2g) orange zest (optional, about 1 mandarin orange)

1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts, trimmed of excess fat To prepare the sauce, whisk together the orange juice, cornstarch, soy sauce, cayenne, honey, and orange zest in a small bowl. Set aside. Cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces. Lightly coat a large pan with nonstick cooking spray. Cook the chicken over medium-low heat for 4-6 minutes, or until no longer pink in the center and cooked through. Turn out the chicken onto a plate. Whisk the sauce once more, then pour it into the same skillet. Cook over medium-low heat for 6-8 minutes, stirring constantly, or until the sauce has thickened and reduced by about a third. Reduce the heat to low, add the chicken, and stir until it’s completely covered in sauce. Notes: Freshly squeezed and orange juice from a carton both work.



Agave or brown sugar may be substituted for the honey.



{gluten-free, clean eating, low fat, low calorie, low carb, high protein} 3.2.2925

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