Orange chicken is such a great Chinese takeout dish. You have pieces of battered and fried chicken that are coated in a sweet and sticky orange sauce. It’s so delicious but I always feel a little guilty eating it because I know how unhealthy it is.

However, today’s recipe is a lightened up spin on that yummy classic meal, and you can feel very good about eating it. This has the flavours of orange chicken but without the batter or deep frying! I also do not like to fry foods so this was the perfect recipe for me! This recipe came from an Instagram account called Nom Nosh Nourish (recipe here).

What’s also cool about this dish is that instead of using pieces of chicken breast, this recipe uses ground chicken which is super easy to cook up. Once the chicken is cooked, all the flavours are added. So it starts with garlic, ginger and chili flakes, which are the base for so many recipes. And then, the sauce comes in – made with orange juice and zest, sugar, soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil. That cooks down a bit and then a little cornstarch slurry is added to tighten it up. Once it’s thickened, the sauce coats the chicken really nicely.

This chicken was delicious. If you like the flavours of orange chicken, you will love this recipe. It’s sweet and sticky and has a hint of spice. This also takes way less time to make compared to the original, so dinner was ready in about 30 minutes. I served mine over some noodles and with steamed broccoli. So delicious. Great way to start my weekend!