Skinny Orange Chicken Recipe (2024)

FAQs

Is orange chicken healthy to eat? ›

Is Orange Chicken Healthy? Traditional Chinese Orange Chicken is loaded with lots of excess fat, salt, carbs and sugar thanks to the batter, frying oil and sweet orange-flavored chili sauce, so it's not necessarily the healthiest option.

The Easiest Way to Thin Chicken Breasts

Slice a chicken breast down the middle. Holding one hand flat over the top of the chicken breast, make sure your hand and fingers are out of the way of the knife. Slowly slice with a sharp knife from the thicker side of the chicken breast horizontally to the thinner side.

How to make the orange chicken sauce. The orange sauce is made from a mixture of the orange juice and zest, sugar, soy sauce, garlic, ginger and rice vinegar. This is bubbled up in the wok until slightly thickened. The chicken is then added back in, and tossed in the sauce until fully coated.

Orange chicken contains 660 calories per 252 g serving. This serving contains 32 g of fat, 36 g of protein and 57 g of carbohydrate. The latter is 34 g sugar and 2 g of dietary fiber, the rest is complex carbohydrate. Orange chicken contains 6.1 g of saturated fat and 154 mg of cholesterol per serving.

No, it is not. Traditional orange chicken is full of fats, carbohydrates, added sugars and a lot of salt, all things that are not good for your body, weight management, or overall health.

Generally speaking, skinless chicken breast is the leaner option and often the cut most widely suggested for weight loss. This is because dark meat like the thighs (as well as the wings and legs) is higher in fat than the breast. In a 100g serving of chicken breast, you'll get about 3.24g of fat [2].

Brine. Like a marinade, a brine helps chicken breast soak up as much moisture as possible before cooking. It only requires three ingredients: water, salt, and a pinch of sugar.

Rather than using orange juice and orange zest, we use rehydrated dried aged tangerine peels to impart a distinctive zesty and citrus flavor to the dish. If you can find dried tangerine peels in your neighborhood Asian market, definitely grab a package. They stay good forever.

While the orange chicken is one of the most famous Chinese dishes in America, it is a purely American invention, with no authentic Chinese resturants or restaurants in China serving this dish.

What is the difference between General Tso's and orange chicken? ›

Compared to General Tso's, orange chicken usually has a lighter-colored sweet, sour, savory glaze. It's not as spicy-hot because dried red chiles aren't as common or used as heavily in this dish. All recipes ask for orange in some form — juice, zest, dried peel, or a combination thereof.

Breading set in vegetable oil. Orange sauce ingredients: sugar, water, distilled vinegar, soy sauce (soybeans, wheat, salt), brown sugar, corn starch, rice wine, ginger puree (citric acid), spice, garlic puree, yeast, xanthan gum and natural flavor. CONTAINS: WHEAT AND SOY.

Orange chicken (1 cup) contains 60.8g total carbs, 59.6g net carbs, 11.2g fat, 29.2g protein, and 465 calories.

✗ Orange Chicken

The version of this Chinese-American classic at Panda Express comes with 490 calories, 23g total fat, 5g saturated fat, 51g carbohydrate, 25g protein, and 820mg sodium. If you order orange chicken, consider skipping an appetizer or boosting fiber by choosing brown rice.

Benefits of Eating Orange Flavored Chicken

It is a great source of protein, vitamins, and minerals. It contains potassium, iron, magnesium, calcium, selenium, and zinc, which are important minerals for your body. The orange juice in the dish is a great source of Vitamin C, which helps to boost your immune system.

Best: Kung Pao Chicken

This entree mixes chili peppers with diced chicken and veggies. Have half an order with a cup of brown rice (about the size of your fist), and you'll keep your meal under 600 calories. Peanuts also give the dish a nutrient boost. They have heart-healthy fiber, unsaturated fat, and antioxidants.

Choosing by taste:

Sesame chicken if you like the nutty notes of sesame oil and seeds. General Tso if you like a bit of spice. Orange chicken if you want something a bit sweeter.

The orange sauce is mostly orange juice, sugar, soy sauce, salt, chilis, and vinegar. The chicken in many orange chicken recipes is usually battered and fried before adding the sauce. So you end up having a dish that is high in calories, fat, and sugar.