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Quick stir-fried chicken tossed together with sweet, crunchy sugar snap peas and a light orange sauce made with fresh orange juice and sweetened with honey! This Healthier Orange Chicken is the perfect weeknight dinner!
How was your Easter weekend? Mine was pretty uneventful. It started with snow all morning Saturday, but luckily it stopped by mid-afternoon. Of course the snow combined with cold meant ice which meant my long run took place on the treadmill. Even though I despise doing a long run on my treadmill I decided I’d take the weekend off from falling since it had only been a week since my last fall on a hidden patch of ice. I figured I better not push my luck. With 3 falls in the past few months I’m lucky that I’ve only skinned and bruised both knees, hands and had a couple minor pulled muscles.
Easter was spent being lazy and lounging around the house with my husband. Since both our families live out of state, most of our holidays are pretty low key. After another treadmill run thanks to Saturday’s snow I made a quick and easy breakfast that I know we both love, breakfast tacos! I know, I know, I’m a food blogger, why didn’t I make Easter brunch? Because sometimes you just want to enjoy the holiday morning instead of standing in the kitchen making sure everything turns out perfect. Since it was just me and my husband (and the two cats) I decided breakfast tacos were the answer. I did make them extra special with a little bacon, so bonus points for that!
I scaled our Easter dinner down to just the right size for two. We had a ham steak instead of a whole ham, our favorite Skinny Cheesy Potato Casserole, roasted asparagus and beets for me and macaroni salad for my husband. All in all it was a great dinner and easy enough to make so that I could still enjoy the day. What did you all feast on for breakfast and dinner? I’d love to hear about it!
Now that we’re on to another week and there isn’t another big holiday until Mother’s Day, it’s time to get back to easy weeknight meals and ones that everyone will love. For us, this Healthier Orange Chicken is starting to make a regular appearance on the dinner table. It has all the flavor that you’ll find in takeout, but you don’t have to worry about all the calories, fat and sodium. The chicken is quickly stir-fried rather than battered and fried in lots of oil. It’s then tossed together in a homemade orange sauce made with fresh orange juice and sweetened with honey rather than sugar. Sweet sugar snap peas add color, crunch and some veggies making this the perfect weeknight dinner!
Healthy Orange Chicken
Ingredients
Orange Chicken
- 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite sized pieces
- 1 1/2 cups sugar snap peas
- 1 tablespoon avocado oil
Orange Sauce
- Zest of an orange
- 3/4 cup fresh squeezed orange juice
- 2 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce or tamari for gluten-free
- 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 1 clove garlic, grated or minced
- 1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
- Pinch of red pepper flakes
- Kosher salt and black pepper to taste
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch whisked together with 2 tablespoons of water until smooth
Instructions
- Cut the chicken into bite sized pieces and season with salt and pepper.
- In a small or bowl or glass measuring cup, whisk together all of the ingredients for the orange sauce.
- Heat a large non-stick or cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. When the skillet is hot spray with cooking spray and add in the sugar snap peas. Sautè for a minute until they turn bright green, then place them onto a plate and set aside.
- Add the tablespoon of oil into the same skillet and swirl to coat the pan in oil. Dump the chicken into the pan and sautè for 4-5 minutes or until it's almost cooked through.
- Pour the orange sauce in with the chicken and stir to coat. Add the sugar snap peas back in with the chicken and stir to coat. Cook for another minute or until the sauce has thickened.
- Remove from the heat and serve over rice or quinoa.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
We had left over chow main and rice from a restaurant but it needed something else. I made this orange chicken and everyone loved it! I had to use an additional corn starch slurry to thicken up the sauce but after that it was great. A healthy orange chicken is a blessing!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! The leftover chow mein and rice sounds like the perfect side dish for it.
Is it 1 1/2 CUPS of snap peas?
Yes, 1 1/2 cups. Sorry about that, just corrected it.
one of my favorite food item… just wow.. thnks
Thank you!
We love love love orange chicken, it’s nice to have a healthier version! My mom lives in FoCo, I can’t believe all the snow you guys got last week!
It’s been some crazy weather here lately Julianne, but that’s spring in Colorado. There’s a chance we’ll be getting more tomorrow and/or Thursday…hopefully that’s the last of it for a while!
I have to give this a try! Pinning!
Thanks Taylor! :-)
I love orange chicken! This looks so good!
Thanks Marye!
This is one of my favorite meals to order out–love your healthier spin!
Thanks Kristen! Orange chicken has always been one of my favorite Chinese takeout meals!
I’m going to be craving this all day now! Looks truly incredible!
Thanks Rachel! That’s the problem (if you want to call it that) with looking at food first thing in the morning! ;-)