It is orange season here in Southern California which means not only can you smell the orange blossoms on your way home from work, but you can also start cooking with an overabundance of oranges. Which is exactly what I have been doing: Orange oatmeal, orange overnight oats, orange snack slices, ginger orange glaze, and this Original Orange Chicken (with that Ginger Orange Glaze)
Ingredients for Chicken:
– 4 Chicken Thighs
– Salt/Pepper
– 1/4 c. Cooked White Rice
Ingredients for Marinade:
– 1/3 c. Soy Sauce
– 1/4 tsp. Ginger
– 1/4 tsp. Garlic
– 1/4 tsp. Brown Sugar
– Juice from 2 Oranges (Redlands Oranges preferred)
Ingredients for Orange Glaze:
– 1/3 c. Soy Sauce
– Juice from 2 Oranges
– 3 heaping tbsp. Flour (preferably corn flour/corn starch)
– 1/4 tsp. Ginger
– 1 overflowing tbsp. Honey (more for flavor)
Directions:
1. The night before (or at least 3 hours prior), prep marinade and allow chicken thighs to sit
2. The next morning (or 3 hours later), remove thighs from marinade, dry off, and place in large skillet pan. IMPORTANT: Do not add oil and make sure thighs are almost dry or else it will take FOREVER to cook (1 – 1.5 hours)
3. Let thighs cook for 30 – 45 minutes
4. Remove from heat and plate alongside veggies and rice. Prepare glaze
5. In a small pan, add Soy Sauce, Orange juice, ginger, and honey, and stir until well-incorporated and then gradually add the flour. Stir until thickened, quickly remove from heat and pour over chicken
6. Enjoy
This meal requires patience (which I basically have none of), but if I can do it so can you! It is so worth it to allow the chicken to marinate overnight. The flavors are well-mixed, the orange is present, and the overall mix of sweet yet tangy yet salty is practically perfect.
This is a great meal to make if you have the time. I also used this as meal prep for the week
Added Zest:
– I used chicken thighs because they were only $.77/lb. on sale at Stater Brother’s, but chicken breast would work just as well
With chicken breast, you can even cook the chicken in the glaze and add flour at the end to thicken the sauce and harden over the chicken
– I used white rice, but brown, jasmine, basmati, quinoa, etc. would work just as well
– I also used a mix of green beans, water chestnuts, broccoli, and celery alongside the chicken, but again any veggies will work
I am so excited to finally post this recipe, I have tried making it at least 3 times prior so it is safe to say Blake and I are pretty orange-chicken’d-out, but hopefully you all enjoy this as much as we did!
Also did you notice the website difference? I BOUGHT MY WEBSITE DOMAIN.
The page is officially MINE: www.claireslemonzestlife.com
Which means no more weird ads about losing weight, nobody can steal my site, and I have a more creative space!
This was such a big deal for me so I am excited for the changes and updates to come in the near future, but until that time, keep reading the recipes, following my instagram, and check out the new Facebook page!
xo.🍋