I know it has been a hot minute since I last posted a blog. I apologize for the delay in content. The first three months of 2021 have been a complete whirlwind and I’m still trying to catch up! I won’t bore you with all the details. I’m going to try my best to continue to bring content to you on a regular basis.
Now let’s talk about this recipe. I am very excited to share this one with you! I’m trying to implement more easy, minimal ingredient recipes to the blog. I’m busy, you’re busy, we are all looking for more time in the day so why not make the recipes easy and quick?
The Easiest Orange Chicken and Fried Rice
This recipe is one of my favorite cuisines, Chinese food. If you have been following my blog for a while, you know I LOVE Chinese food. I especially love it during period time, those cravings though! But Chinese food isn’t the healthiest thing and often contains gluten and soy. Both of which I do not tolerate well. And traditional Orange Chicken is fried. So this version is gluten-free and the sauce only has 3 ingredients! Are you kidding me?!? It doesn’t get any easier than that. The breading for the chicken uses almond flour. However, if you have an almond allergy, coconut flour and buckwheat flour will also work well for this recipe.
Let’s go a step further though. A good Chinese dish needs a side of rice right? But I’m going to be honest, I don’t like just plain white rice. It’s so boring. I need to zhoosh it up a bit. So I’m doing a healthified fried rice instead. But not to worry, the rice only has a 3 ingredient sauce too! It is also very versatile. So if you want to add some veggies into the rice like peas, carrots, etc. feel free to make it your own. You can also add a scrambled egg or two for some extra protein. Whatever makes you happy. I like to serve this dish with a side of steamed broccoli. It goes perfect together. Now let’s get to this easy recipe shall we?!
The Easiest Orange Chicken
- Prep Time: 10 Minutes
- Cook Time: 10 Minutes
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 2 servings 1x
Ingredients
Orange Chicken:
- 1 lb of chicken breasts for tenders (cut into bite sized pieces)
- 3/4 cup blanched almond flour
- 1/4 cup arrowroot
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 large egg beaten
- avocado oil (for cooking)
Orange Sauce:
- 1/2 cup Trader Joe’s Sweet Chili Sauce
- juice from one medium orange
- zest from one orange
Fried Rice:
- 1/2 cup white rice – I use jasmine
- 1/3 cup coconut aminos
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 2 garlic cloves minced
Instructions
Chicken Instructions:
- Cut all the chicken into bite sized pieces. Beat one egg in a medium bowl, set aside.
- In a baking dish or a plastic bag, add almond flour, arrowroot, salt, and onion powder together. Stir or shake to combine.
- Heat a non-stick skillet to medium-high heat and add avocado oil. Just enough to coat the entire pan.
- Make an assembly line. The chicken, egg, and flour mixture. Add the chicken to the egg and stir to coat. Then add the chicken to the flour mixture and make sure all the chicken is coated with the flour.
- Add the flour coated chicken into the heated skillet. It should sizzle when you add it because you want the chicken to get nice and crispy.
- Cook approximately 4-5 minutes on each side or until cooked through. It may be longer depending on the size of the chicken bites.
- Once cooked on each side, add to a paper towel lined plate to get off any excess oil.
- Whisk all ingredients for the orange sauce in a large bowl and add the chicken. Stir to coat.
Rice Instructions:
- Cook 1/2 cup of white rice (or brown if you prefer) according to package directions.
- Whisk all ingredients together for the sauce.
- Once rice is cooked, transfer to the pan you cooked the chicken in and pour in sauce. Cook about 3-5 minutes until sauce is soaked into the rice. Now you can devour!
Notes
* If you have leftovers, it will keep in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
