Orange Chicken But Healthy

Joshua Weissman has done the impossible - he's made fast food healthy.

Prep
Overnight
Cook
15 minutes
Total
12 hours
Serves
4
people
Orange Chicken But Healthy
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Ingredients

Single Serving Macros:

  • 281 Calories
  • 10g fat
  • 24g carbs
  • 24g protein

Marinade:

  • 4 chicken thighs, boneless, skinless, cut into bite sized chunks
  • 2 tsp (8g) kosher salt
  • Fresh cracked pepper
  • 1 Tbsp (8g) grated ginger

Dredge:

  • 3 egg whites, whisked 
  • 1 cup (120g) all purpose flour
  • 1 cup (80g) lightly ground panko bread crumbs 

Sauce:

  • 2 tsp (8g) avocado oil
  • 2 red Fresno chilies, finely diced
  • 6 cloves garlic, finely chopped 
  • 2" knob ginger, grated
  • Kosher salt to taste
  • Juice of 1 large orange
  • ⅓ cup (80ml) soy sauce
  • Pinch of monk fruit sweetener, optional
  • ¾ cup (180ml) white vinegar
  • Zest of 1 orange
  • 1 Tbsp (8g) cornstarch plus 1 Tbsp (15g) water
  • Green onion for garnish, thinly sliced

Directions

Chicken:

  1. Place chicken thighs into a bowl and season with kosher salt, fresh cracked black pepper and grated ginger. Toss to combine. Wrap and cure in the fridge for 1 hour to overnight.
  2. In 3 separate bowls place panko breadcrumbs, flour, and egg whites that have been whisked together. Coat the marinated chicken thighs in flour, shaking off excess. Then coat in the egg whites, and then in the panko breadcrumbs setting pieces aside on a parchment covered sheet pan. Make sure to keep one hand for dry ingredients and one hand for wet ingredients.
  3. Bake 400℉ (204℃) 6 - 8 minutes.

Sauce:

  1. In a medium-size pot, add avocado oil and set over medium heat; once hot, add chiles, ginger and garlic and saute until toasted, about 2 minutes making sure not to burn garlic.
  2. Add orange juice, soy sauce, optional monk fruit powder, vinegar, and orange zest; bring the sauce to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. While the sauce is reducing, prepare your slurry by mixing cornstarch and 1 Tbsp of water in a small mixing bowl until fully combined. Add slurry to sauce and stir until thickened, around 30 seconds. Turn off heat and pass sauce through a fine mesh strainer and into a bowl or ramekin.
  3. Place baked chicken in a large mixing bowl and coat generously with sauce, toss until all pieces are completely coated.  
  4. Plate chicken and optionally garnished with green onion and flakey salt.