Mandarin orange chicken

This mandarin orange chicken recipe has double the sauce and it's a bit healthier than most recipes. It's tart, sweet, and salty - flavored with garlic, ginger, sriracha, orange zest, and a little sesame oil if you have it on hand.

I use mandarin oranges when they are in-season in winter (or Valencia oranges in summer) for fresh squeezed juice. The chicken and vegetables are baked in the oven to make the recipe easy and hands-off while you cook the orange sauce and rice on the stove top.

After the recipe, I go into detail about different orange varieties to use, specific nutrition & calorie information, and a few other tips to help you make the best orange chicken at home.

Jump to:

• Recipe
• Mandarin orange chicken
• Mandarins & oranges
• Is it healthy? Serving size & calories
• Baking the chicken & broccoli
• Making the orange chicken sauce
• Other vegetables
• Spiciness
• More recipes & resources

Recipe

Mandarins & oranges

I like using mandarin oranges in winter when they are in season. When I get some that are a little too bland for snacking, I cook with them instead - like this orange chicken recipe.

Mandarins are a type of orange, and within the mandarin orange category, there are a lot of varieties. Clementines are the tiny little ones often sold in bags under the Halo or Cutie brands. But there are also larger varieties like satsumas.

Mandarin oranges usually taste slightly sweeter, which allows for lower added sugar. But other than that, they can be replaced with other types of oranges.

Most orange varieties are in season from November through April, depending on the variety. Navel oranges and Cara Cara oranges are some of the most popular winter varieties. (Valencia is one of the few summer varieties).

Any orange works great in this recipe - so feel free to buy what's on sale.

Kumquats

Kumquats are grape-sized citrus fruits in season in winter. The entire fruit is edible, including the rind. The rind is sweet and the juice is tart.

If you find them at a market near you (Whole Foods sometimes carries them) - slice them into little rounds and add them as a garnish.

Zest

The zest from any type of orange will be similar. When possible, I buy organic oranges when I know I'll be using the zest (most of the pesticide and herbicides are on the outside of the peels).

You can add more zest to the recipe if you want an even stronger flavor. However, the zest does add bitterness which will come through in the sauce. If that happens, you can add more sugar to counter it, since sugar masks the taste of bitterness.

Juice

I have two notes about using orange juice in the sauce.

First, use fresh squeezed orange juice, don't squeeze it ahead of time. Orange juice can start to turn bitter even just an hour after it's squeezed. Some of the compounds in the juice react with oxygen and turn bitter.

Second, mixing the orange juice with some chicken broth makes the best orange chicken sauce.

I've tried making it with 100% fresh orange juice and it was pretty tasty. But I felt like it was just a little too strong. I never thought I'd say that - I was very sure that adding broth wouldn't be as good.

But it turns out, adding just a little bit of broth rounds out the flavor of the orange chicken better.

Juicing oranges

The amount of juice you get depends on the size and juiciness of the orange. That varies not only from one variety to the next, but also how ripe it was when it was picked from the tree.

Here are some guidelines:

• Clementines: about 2-3 tablespoon of juice per orange, depending on their size. 4 tablespoon = ¼ cup.
• Larger mandarins: about ¼-1/3 cup per orange
• Navel oranges: ¼-1/2 cup per orange, depending on size and juiciness
• Cara Cara oranges: ¼-1/2 cup per orange, depending on size and juiciness

If you have a juicer, now's the time to use it. I don't have one, so I use my hand-held lemon juicer instead. It's the perfect size for mandarin oranges, but too small for larger Navel or Cara Cara oranges.

In those cases, I cut the larger oranges in half, then into quarters. I squish each quarter, one at a time, into the handheld juicer. You could also squeeze each quarter by hand.

Is it healthy? Serving size & calories

This mandarin orange chicken recipe makes 4 lighter meals under 500 calories (as pictured above), or 2 large Chinese takeout portions. But there's more than calories when it comes to nutrition.

Overall this is a healthy version of orange chicken compared to restaurants, and even healthier than most other recipes. This recipe is lower in carbs, fat, sugar, and even has added vegetables.

Protein

This recipe has quite a bit of protein, which is essential for our bodies and it helps you feel full.

A single portion also provides about half (38 grams) of the daily recommended amount of protein (65 grams, depending on age, weight, and gender). The majority of the protein is from the chicken, but the broccoli and rice add about 25%.

Lower in sugar

Orange chicken recipes tend to have a lot of sugar. Most of them have about ⅓ - ½ of a cup of sugar for each cup of liquid. It tastes absolutely delicious, but I try to be healthier when cooking at home.

If my recipe used that ratio of sugar, it would have ½ of a cup to ¾ of a cup of sugar! Instead, I use only 3 tablespoons of brown sugar and I think it's a perfect balance of tart & sweet.

Even with the lower amount of sugar, it still contains 21 grams of sugar, with 9 grams from the brown sugar. The rest is mostly from the fresh squeezed orange juice.

The daily recommended added sugar limit is 24-30 grams. There are currently no recommendations for total sugar, including fruit.

Unbreaded chicken

Breaded and deep fried orange chicken is really tasty. But if you don't want to deep fry at home, this is a easy, healthy alternative. Baking the chicken means you don't even have to pan-fry it in oil.

I do coat the broccoli in oil so I can bake it in the oven. A lot of nutrients are fat soluble, so I like using a little olive oil. However you could steam the broccoli if that is a better fit for your nutritional goals.

If you want an in-between option for the chicken. Toss it in corn starch and pan fry it. Use this recipe from Salt & Lavender for guidance.

Calories

Calories are not a perfect measure of nutrition. But they do help paint a picture so you can customize the ingredients to suit your goals.

One thing to note is that this recipe includes rice and its calories. Some recipes don't include it, so be sure to look at that when using other (also delicious) recipes.

Here's a chart of the calories for the most important ingredients, per serving (assuming 4 servings).

Ingredient	Calories	Protein
Chicken	130	24
Broccoli	25	2
Olive oil	30
Sesame oil	30
Rice	170	4
Orange juice	30
Sugar	40

Baking the chicken & broccoli

Since mandarin oranges are a winter fruit, I thought it would be nice to bake the chicken and vegetables. It's also hands-free, letting you direct your attention to the sauce.

The trick is to cut the chicken and broccoli into the right sized pieces to they are done cooking at the same time. I cut the chicken to be a similar size to the broccoli floret heads (as pictured above) and they timed up perfectly.

I used an instant-read thermometer to check on the chicken, but you can also cut it open and make sure it's no longer pink.

The broccoli has a larger window before it gets overcooked. It should definitely be soft by the time the chicken is done. It might also start to char on the edges if it continues to cook, which is also tasty.

If you do want to pan-fry the chicken, try this other recipe from Skinny Taste.

Making the orange chicken sauce

A good orange chicken sauce is tart, sweet, and salty. It's also thick enough to coat the chicken and vegetables.

Thickening the sauce

Cornstarch is used as the thickener. It's important to first mix it with a small amount of water, otherwise it can clump. It should be a bit runny before adding it to the rest of the sauce ingredients.

If you've cooked the sauce for 5 minutes at a medium-high heat and it still isn't thick, add more cornstarch. But make sure that cornstarch is mixed with a little bit of water first (always do this!).

If the sauce is too thick, add more orange juice or chicken broth to thin it out. When the sauce sits and you try to keep it warm, it could thicken too much - just thin it out again.

Amount of sauce

I like a saucy orange chicken. This recipe coats all of the chicken and vegetables with a little to spare. If you like enough to pour all over the rice, increase the recipe by 50% (or double it and save some sauce).

This recipe makes more sauce than most other recipes, because I found most of them only have enough to just coat the chicken. Since I also added broccoli and wanted extra sauce, my orange chicken sauce makes almost double what other recipes suggest.

Other vegetables

In winter, you could also use brussels sprouts. Cut them in half and then bake them with the chicken.

At the very end of winter and beginning of spring, you could use the first in-season asparagus. Bake spears with the chicken, but they might need to come out earlier - so be ready to scoop them off and put the chicken back in.

Spiciness

Mandarin orange chicken is normally pretty mild. If that's what you are looking for, try using only 1 teaspoon of sriracha. I like mine just a bit spicy, which 1 tablespoon of sriracha will do.

Both the ginger and sriracha add a spicy flavor. It is noticeably spicy, but doesn't make your lips burn and it doesn't linger.

It's hard to quantify spiciness for other people. I'd say this is similar to a medium-hot store-bought salsa. It's mild enough that hot-sauce lovers will won't bat an eye, but it will be too spicy for anyone who normally eats mild salsa or finds that too hot and prefers pico de gallo.

I'm not here to judge, just to help! If you're worried, don't add any sriracha or only add 1 teaspoon to the orange sauce. Taste it after it's cooked and add more if desired. Alternatively, add sriracha to the finished dish as a "garnish."

More recipes & resources

Want another way to use fresh mandarin oranges this season? Try this Chinese chicken salad with mandarin oranges. It's a full meal, loaded with protein and fiber and under 550 calories.