Gluten Free Orange Chicken Recipe - Chisel & Fork (2024)

This gluten free orange chicken is a traditional Chinese dish with chicken coated in a sweet orange-flavor sauce which thickens into a glaze that can be prepared in under 30 minutes.

Everyone has their favorites at Chinese restaurants. For me it's General Tso's (I know typical American) and orange chicken. The problem with both is that they're fried so they aren't too healthy for you.

Then I came across Gimme Some Oven which inspired me to make a healthy orange chicken recipe. This version of orange chicken packs the savory and sweet orange flavor, but way fewer calories that is sweetened with honey instead of sugar. Perhaps the best part is you can make it under 30 minutes!

The key difference is that I sauté the chicken instead of deep-frying it. Just by adding a little cornstarch to the chicken, it still gets some crunchiness to it. Believe me you won't miss the deep frying, plus it's just easier to make to begin with!

If you want to go the traditional route, you serve the chicken over rice as I did. But if you want to be even healthier, try it over quinoa. I just didn't have any quinoa at the time.

My wife and I always do our best to have vegetables as well at dinner so some green beans are a good complement. Either way, you'll love how quickly this gluten free orange chicken comes together and how great it tastes. And if you're looking for a similar but tasty dish, try this chicken Manchurian.

Recipe Notes

• Chicken -I like to use chicken breasts as white meat is traditional with Chinese orange chicken.
• Cornstarch -helps crisp up the chicken and is also gluten free.
• Oranges - when cooking/baking anything with juice I always go with freshly squeezed. You need an orange anyway for the zest.
• Tamari sauce - with this recipe being gluten free, you need tamari sauce, which is a gluten free substitute for soy sauce.

Ingredient Swaps

Like any recipe you can mix up the ingredients. Some variations include:

• I likeboneless, skinless chicken breasts, but you can also use chicken thighs.
• Chinese recipes usually calls forcornstarchto fry protein, but tapioca flour is a good substitute. If you don't need a gluten free recipe, all-purpose flour works fine.
• If you don't have fresh oranges, orange juice works in a pinch.
• Honey is my go-to for added sweetness, but maple syrup or granulated sugar works too.
• If gluten free isn't important, soy sauce can be substituted for tamari sauce.

Step-by-Step Photos

Combine all of the ingredients for the orange sauce in a medium bowl and set aside. In another bowl, season the chicken with salt and pepper and coat with cornstarch.

Cook half the chicken in a large wok or skillet with oil over medium-high heat for 3 minutes, before flipping and cooking another 3 minutes. Repeat with remaining chicken.

Remove the chicken and add the sauce to a work, bringing to a boil for 1 minute or until sauce starts to thicken. Add chicken back to wok and coat with sauce. Serve over rice.

FAQs

Side Dish Options

This recipe is great on its own but works with some side dishes.

• White rice -a good white rice like jasmine or basmati complements the chicken.
• Fried rice-if you want to step up the game of regular white rice, fried rice works great.
• Veggies-I love sautéed sugar snap peas or broccoli.

Pro Tips/Recipe Notes

• Use fresh oranges to make the orange juice as it tastes better and doesn't have added ingredients.
• Use quality local honey as it is healthier for you and tastes better.
• Be consistent with the size you cut the chicken so it cooks evenly.
• Don't skip tossing the chicken in the cornstarch as it gives added texture and helps thicken the orange sauce. It also is what makes this gluten free orange chicken.
• Cook the chicken in batches so you don't overload the wok and cool it down. You want to cook the chicken quickly and adding too much at a time will slow the cooking process.

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If you’ve tried this gluten free orange chickenrecipe or any other recipe on Chisel & Fork, please let me know how it turned out in the comments below! You can also follow meonFacebook, Instagram, Pinterest and YouTube to see more tasty meals and anything else I'm up to.

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