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Healthier Orange Chicken

March 28, 2016 by Danae 14 Comments

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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!

Healthier Orange Chicken | 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! 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.

Healthier Orange Chicken | 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! 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!

Healthier Orange Chicken | 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! 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!

Healthier Orange Chicken | 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! 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!

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Healthier Orange Chicken

Healthier Orange Chicken

Yield: 4 servings
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients

Orange Chicken

  • 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite sized pieces
  • 1 1/2 cups sugar snap peas
  • 1 tablespoon canola or vegetable 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 of 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

  1. Cut the chicken into bite sized pieces and season with salt and pepper.
  2. In a small or bowl or glass measuring cup, whisk together all of the ingredients for the orange sauce.
  3. Heat a large non-stick or cast iron skillet over medium-high heat.
  4. When the skillet is hot spray with cooking spray and add in the sugar snap peas.
  5. Sautè for a minute until they turn bright green, then place them onto a plate and set aside.
  6. Add the tablespoon of oil into the same skillet and swirl to coat the pan in oil.
  7. Dump the chicken into the pan and sautè for 4-5 minutes or until it's almost cooked through.
  8. Pour the orange sauce in with the chicken and stir to coat.
  9. Add the sugar snap peas back in with the chicken and stir to coat.
  10. Cook for another minute or until the sauce has thickened.
  11. Remove from the heat and serve over rice or quinoa.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 4 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 438Total Fat: 15gSaturated Fat: 2gSodium: 1155mgCarbohydrates: 74gSugar: 53gProtein: 3g
© Danae
Category: Main Dish
Healthier Orange Chicken | 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!

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Filed Under: Main Dish Tagged With: Chicken, Dinner, easy, Gluten Free, healthier, orange, stir fry, sugar snap peas, takeout

Previous Post: « Roasted Balsamic Beet, Goat Cheese and Pistachio Salad
Next Post: One Pot Creamy Chicken and Asparagus Casserole »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Rachel @ Baked by Rachel

    March 28, 2016 at 5:04 am

    I'm going to be craving this all day now! Looks truly incredible!
    Reply
    • Danae

      March 28, 2016 at 1:41 pm

      Thanks Rachel! That's the problem (if you want to call it that) with looking at food first thing in the morning! ;-)
      Reply
  2. Kristen @ A Mind Full Mom

    March 28, 2016 at 6:18 am

    This is one of my favorite meals to order out--love your healthier spin!
    Reply
    • Danae

      March 28, 2016 at 1:42 pm

      Thanks Kristen! Orange chicken has always been one of my favorite Chinese takeout meals!
      Reply
  3. Marye

    March 28, 2016 at 6:36 am

    I love orange chicken! This looks so good!
    Reply
    • Danae

      March 28, 2016 at 1:42 pm

      Thanks Marye!
      Reply
  4. [email protected] Faith Fitness

    March 28, 2016 at 6:12 pm

    I have to give this a try! Pinning!
    Reply
    • Danae

      March 29, 2016 at 1:48 pm

      Thanks Taylor! :-)
      Reply
  5. Julianne @ Beyond Frosting

    March 28, 2016 at 10:36 pm

    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!
    Reply
    • Danae

      March 29, 2016 at 1:50 pm

      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!
      Reply
  6. Bangla Recipe

    April 15, 2016 at 4:44 am

    one of my favorite food item... just wow.. thnks
    Reply
    • Danae

      April 15, 2016 at 12:47 pm

      Thank you!
      Reply
  7. Holly

    June 18, 2018 at 2:24 pm

    Is it 1 1/2 CUPS of snap peas?
    Reply
    • Danae

      June 20, 2018 at 2:12 pm

      Yes, 1 1/2 cups. Sorry about that, just corrected it.
      Reply

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Hi, I'm Danae! Welcome to Recipe Runner. This blog is all about my love of food, cooking, baking, and running. I hope that I can tempt you with my recipes and inspire you with my running stories! Enjoy! Read More ↝

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