January 1, 2021| By

Healthy Orange Sesame Chicken

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
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Orange Sesame Chicken is a healthy, delicious, and quick recipe that you'll be making over and over again! It's easy and full of flavor!

Love this recipe? Try this White Wine Herb Roasted Chicken and Crispy Chilli Beef!

Healthy Orange sesame chicken

Happy New Year! I hope that everyone had a safe, healthy, and happy New Year. In our household? We got a bottle of Veuve Cliquot and sat on the couch with the cats and toasted to the New Year.

Not gonna lie, it was actually a lot of fun. AND as soon as the ball dropped, I was lights out. I guess this is 30. lol Anyway, this morning, I woke up and decided that I wanted to take part in Healthy January. With all that's going on in the world, I figured I could at the very least draft up some healthy recipes and help contribute to others New Year Resolutions.

Speaking of delicious chicken recipes, you have to check out this Tailgate Chicken and Fresh Apricot Shallot Sheet Pan Chicken Dinner!

photo of recipe

I didn't set any New Years resolutions this year, only goals. We'll go into that later. Back to the recipe! This Healthy Orange Sesame Chicken is so good and so easy to make. I really enjoyed making this recipe because we would always get this dish for takeout when I was a kid. A nice foreshadow to my childhood. Anyone else eat this dish from takeout? Perhaps I should've named it "Better than Takeout" but I figured "Healthy" was more on par with the season/start of the year.

This recipe for Healthy Orange Sesame Chicken is truly a treat. 1. It's really good. 2. It's easy to make. 3. It's healthy! ... squeezing in another - 4. It's quick too! You can literally have this dish done within 30 minutes. Serve it up with some broccoli and rice (or whatever you want), and boom - you've got dinner!

Healthy Orange sesame chicken

What is orange chicken made of?

This recipe contains orange juice, a little soy sauce and apple cider vinegar, sesame oil, honey, and red pepper flakes. Wholesome ingredients to keep this dish simple, easy, but full of flavor. These ingredients come together to make this Healthy Orange Sesame Chicken a recipe you'll make even when you're not on diet!

Healthy Orange sesame chicken

What's the difference between orange chicken and general tso's?

Okay, I wondered this for a very long time. Especially when ordering from our local takeout spot and realizing that Orange Chicken and General Tso's taste SO much alike. So, of course I did a little research. To answer plainly, General Tso's chicken tends to pack more heat and has a bit more of a ginger flavor. Orange Chicken on the other hand tends to be sweeter in flavor. However, both recipes use similar ingredients. They're also prepared similarly too.

Healthy Orange sesame chicken

Follow-up, goals for 2020

Okay, so as I mentioned above, I wanted to discuss my goals for 2020. Hold me accountable. So, this year, I want to produce more healthy recipes. Beginning with this Healthy Orange Sesame Chicken. I also want to learn more about photography. Oh, and of course, continue to get my pages views up. (Please do share all of my recipes! Also, Please comment if you've made one of my recipes, it helps SO much!!) This is the major goal for my 2021 because I want to be able to make blogging my full time job soon. (Working full time and blogging is EXHAUSTING) This is my prayer for 2021. Of course I have some personal goals as well but I won't bore you with that.

Healthy Orange sesame chicken

How to make orange sesame chicken

So, I always start by making the sauce. Combine all of the ingredients for the sauce (see the recipe card below) and bring everything to a boil. Boil for about 10-15 minutes, when the sauce has thickened, remove from the heat and set aside. Cut up four chicken breasts into cubes, season with salt. Add olive oil to a large skillet and warm over medium heat. Once the pan is nice and hot, saute chicken until it's cooked thoroughly. Pour orange sesame chicken sauce on top. That's all, you're done!

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What do you serve with this recipe?

I ate this Healthy Orange Sesame Chicken recipe with broccoli and rice. I've always eaten this dish with those two sides. However, feel free to get creative. I honestly could've eaten the chicken as a meal by it's so good.

Roasted Potatoes, broccoli rabe, asparagus, spinach, and quinoa would also pair exceptionally well with this recipe too. Oh! You can also try this on top of a salad. Use the orange sesame sauce as salad dressing too. It's amazing. Maybe that'll be my next recipe. A salad. Right on par with Healthy January. Hmm... stay tuned. 🙂

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Can i meal prep this recipe?

Absolutely! This recipe actually keeps extremely well and can last up to 5 days in an airtight container in the refrigerator. I have already packed up this meal into meal prep containers and have everything stored away in the refrigerator. Isn't meal prepping awesome? It's truly heaven sent. Spend one day per week making a few meals, packing them up, and you don't have to cook for at least a few days? LOVE IT. Do you ever meal prep? Let me know in the comments!

watch how to make this healthy orange sesame chicken recipe below!

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Let's stay connected on social media and continue to cook together! Also, if you decide to make this recipe, please leave a star rating on the recipe card and leave a comment below! Tag @BritneyBreaksBread on Instagram and hashtag #britneybreaksbread so I can see your creations! I hope that you love this recipe as much as we do!

Healthy Orange sesame chicken

Healthy Orange Sesame Chicken

Orange Sesame Chicken is a healthy, delicious, and quick recipe that you'll be making over and over again! It's easy and full of flavor!
Serving: 6 servings
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes
Calories: 323kcal

Equipment

  • Large Saucepan
  • 9-inch skillet

Ingredients

  • 1 ¼ cup Orange Juice
  • â…“ cup Low Sodium Soy Sauce
  • 2 tbsps Apple Cider Vinegar
  • â…“ cup Sesame Oil
  • 1 tsp Ground Ginger
  • ½ cup Honey
  • 1 tbsp Garlic Powder
  • 2 tbsps Orange Zest
  • Salt, to taste to taste
  • 4 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts
  • Pinch Red Pepper Flakes optional
  • 2 tbsps Olive Oil
  • Sesame Seeds for garnish

Directions

  • In a large saucepan, combine orange juice, soy sauce, apple cider vinegar, sesame oil, ground ginger, honey, garlic powder and a pinch of red pepper flakes (optional). Stir together and bring to a boil. Boil for 10-15 minutes, until sauce has thickened. Add orange zest and set aside.
  • Cut chicken breasts into cubes and season with salt.
  • Warm olive oil in a skillet and add chicken cubes. Cook thoroughly over medium heat. Pour in sauce and remove from heat.
  • Garnish with sesame seeds and red pepper flakes.

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Nutrition

Calories: 323kcal | Carbohydrates: 31g | Protein: 18g | Fat: 15g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 5g | Monounsaturated Fat: 6g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 48mg | Sodium: 642mg | Potassium: 476mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 28g | Vitamin A: 145IU | Vitamin C: 30mg | Calcium: 22mg | Iron: 1mg
Course: Dinner, Lunch
Cuisine: Chinese American

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Recipe Rating




  1. 5 stars
    The recipe was delicious but too much sesame oil for my taste. I would make again with much less so I get more orange flavor and less sesame coming through.

  2. Is the sesame oil amount of 1/3 cup correct? That’s seems like an insane amount of sesame oil. That converts to 5 tbsps. Most other orange sesame recipes call for 1 tsp. This is orders of magnitude greater. Not sure how this will turn out, I put about half of the 1/3 cup since that’s all I had on hand.

  3. 5 stars
    I made this recipe for my son last week, and thought "if he doesn't like it, I'll just have more for myself." I ended up having to give him some from my plate because he LOVED it. This is such a flavorful version of a classic orange chicken, the sauce was superb and the broccoli was delicious. Britney, you're a genius!!

    • Awww thank you so much Morgan! I truly appreciate it and I'm so glad that you and Row enjoyed this recipe!! 🙂

  4. 5 stars
    This recipe is better than takeout! Ate it with some rice and broccoli, delicious and quick and easy to make!

  5. 5 stars
    This was so delicious and satisfied ALL the comfort food cravings I was having tonight! Served it with jasmine rice and sesame roasted broccoli

  6. 5 stars
    This was incredible! It was awesome to have something quick and easy to make after work. My boyfriend said he’d rather have this than takeout!

  7. So, first i really loved ya flavors in this recipe, but my sauce never thickened... i ended up adding in arrowroot starch at the end to get it to thicken, but wondering how you got that rich consistency without. Did I just not boil it long enough?

    • Hi Jessica! It's possible that you didn't boil it long enough! Also, did you measure the ingredients exactly as per the recipe? If you add too much liquid, it'll take longer for the sauce to reduce. I hope that this helps! 🙂

  8. 5 stars
    Oh my goodness! My family and I devoured this chicken! It was so juicy and tender- but the orange flavors were the most amazing! Cannot wait to make this again very soon.

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