If you’re looking for tender, tasty chicken the whole family will love then you’re in the right place. And NO air fryer is needed thank goodness.
The trick to this tender chicken is an old Chinese trick. You use a slurry of cornstarch and egg white to coat the chicken before frying it. This creates a barrier and prevents the chicken from drying out. It also helps to thicken the sauce. And might I add, it adds protein too since we’re all about protein now. You can skip the step but I highly recommend it.
The rest is pretty simple- just add all the sauce ingredients and boil them a little bit until it thickens. Then add your chicken back to the pan and that’s it.
It’s super tasty and makes for a great meal prep recipe since it heats up so well.
I’ve been a personal chef for over 10 years now and I always get requests for a healthier orange chicken probably thanks to Panda lol. This one is so much healthier and feels good eating it. Hope you and your family enjoy it as much as I do!
Why you’ll love it:
• The sauce keeps the chicken tender
• All clean ingredients
• No deep-frying and no air-fryer needed
• One pan meal
Healthier Orange Chicken
Ingredients
Chicken:
• 2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut in 1 inch cubes
• 1 tablespoon avocado oil
• 2 Tbsp butter
• 3 Tbsp. corn starch
• 2 egg whites
Sauce:
- 2 cups orange juice
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 3 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- Pinch of red pepper flakes
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon orange zest
For serving:
• 4 cups steamed broccoli or green beans
• 2 cups cooked rice
Instructions
Cook green beans and rice according to package directions.
1. Combine the corn starch and egg whites with a fork to make a slurry. Then chop chicken in small pieces and place into bowl with slurry.
2. In a large sauté pan, heat half the avocado oil and half the butter over medium high heat. Add chicken to the pan and cook for 7-10 minutes until the edges are brown and slightly crispy. Don’t crowd the pan. You may need to do this in two batches.
3. While the chicken cooks, stir together all ingredients for the sauce in a bowl.
Once the chicken is thoroughly cooked remove it from the pan and set aside in a clean bowl.
4. Pour the sauce mixture into the same pan you cooked the chicken in.
Bring the sauce mixture to a boil for 15-20 minutes, stirring every minute or so until it starts to thicken. You will know the sauce has thickened when you scrape the pan with a spatula and the sauce pulls away from the pan. The sauce should be bubbling the entire time.
5. Once the sauce has thickened, add the cooked chicken back to the pot. Stir to coat the chicken in the sauce.
Serve over steamed vegetables and rice.