If you’ve been following along over the last 8 months or so, you know I am a complete “Make Your Own Takeout” advocate.
For your sanity, it’s so important to indulge and eat junky Chinese food, but in reality, it’s one of the worst things you can put in your body. Most of the time whenever you order traditional takeout, it’s loaded with an excessive amount of sugar, carbs, msg and hydrogenated oils.
To put it into perspective, look at the nutritional statistics of P.F. Chang’s Orange Peel Chicken:
Calories: 861
Fat: 41 grams
Sodium: 1,410 grams
Carbs: 61 grams
Disgusting and shocking, right? The scary part is, P.F. Chang’s is a chain and thus required to report their nutritional statistics. This leads me to believe this is probably an even healthier version than you would get if you went a random hole in the wall Chinese place.
As a result, I was determined to create my own Spicy Orange Chinese Chicken recipe that would bring these statistics WAY down. Here is how my version clocks in:
Calories: 390
Fat: 16.5 grams
Sodium: 385 grams
Carbs: 49 grams
Now, I’m not claiming this to be a totally slimmed down version, but I am giving you a recipe that tastes equally as good (I actually think better) with 65% fewer calories, 60% fewer grams of fat, 73% fewer grams of sodium and 20% less carbs.
Spicy Orange Chinese Chicken
Ingredients
Sauce
- 1 cup Chicken Broth
- 2 tbsp Orange Juice
- ¼ cup Lemon Juice
- 1/3 cup Rice Wine Vinegar or White
- 2 tbsp Soy Sauce
- 1 tbsp Orange Zest
- 1/3 cup Brown Sugar
- 1 tbsp Ginger minced
- 1 Scallion white and greens seperated
- 1 tsp Siracha
- 1 tbs Honey
- Red Pepper Flakes to taste; depending on how spicy you like it
- Corn Starch to thicken, if needed
Chicken
- 2 tbsp Corn Starch
- 1 Chicken Breast large; cubed
- Sesame Seeds to sprinkle on at the end
- Vegetable or Canola Oil
- 1 Head of Broccoli
Instructions
- In a small pot, whisk together all the ingredients for the sauce together (except for the green part of the scallions and the corn starch). Cook over medium high heat and let it reduce. If it is not thick enough by the time the chicken is done, add a little corn starch.
- Coat chicken in corn starch (I usually throw it in a bag and shake it around).
- Remove excess corn starch and shallow fry the chicken in vegetable or canola oil until brown all around. Add broccoli and sauté another minute or so.
- Add orange sauce directly to pan and cook for a few minutes until everything is coated nicely. You may not need all the sauce you make, so pour it in a little at a time.
- Finish the dish off by plating it and topping it with the green parts of the scallions.
I’m telling you, this is totally delicious! I actually had my friend, Chloe, come over and help me make it. She said it was one of the best dishes she’s ever had (and she eats out almost every meal so I totally trust her opinion).
I hope I can inspire you to make more of your favorite dishes at home. Not only is it easy, but your body will thank you for using beautiful and natural ingredients.
Love always,
Erica
Can’t wait to try this one! Been off the cooking streak recently but your make-at-home takeout recipes are inspiring us to get back on track 🙂 Making the honey sesame chicken and broccoli tonight!
I made this for dinner tonight, very tasty. I did extra chicken, two large breasts, and there was enough sauce for all of it. And we have yummy leftovers.
Chinese for dinner tonight! Love the spicy orange, will definitely add this to my own recipe box! Thanks Erica!