Orange Chicken Stir-Fry (Easy and Healthy Recipe!)
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This Orange Chicken Stir-Fry recipe is quick, easy to make, and bursting with bright citrus flavor. It makes an ideal dinner for busy weeknights, because it is ready to eat in just 20 minutes. Learn how to make homemade orange chicken with vegetables with this healthy recipe that tastes way better than takeout!
“>Why You’ll Love This Orange Chicken Stir-Fry Recipe
Stir-fry recipes are one of my absolute favorite meals to make on busy weeknights. They are full of fresh and nutritious ingredients and take no time to prepare. This orange chicken with vegetables recipe is a favorite in my house, because it is full of amazing orange flavor and makes a filling, well-balanced meal.
Traditional orange chicken recipes call for frying your chicken in copious amounts of oil, and then coating it with orange sauce that typically calls for at least half a cup of sugar or orange marmalade.
I made this homemade orange chicken stir fry healthier by lightly stir-frying the chicken with bell peppers and carrots in a small amount of avocado oil. The chicken and vegetables are then tossed in a sweet and tangy sauce made with fresh orange juice, honey, organic tamari, garlic, ginger, and a bit of organic cornstarch to thicken it up.
Orange Chicken Stir-Fry Tips
Here are a few pointers to ensure that this stir-fry recipe turns out perfect every single time:
- Be sure to have everything prepped before you being cooking. Stir-fry recipes cook very fast, so there’s no time to prepare ingredients once you start cooking. Having all your ingredients ready before you put anything in the pan will also help to ensure that nothing overcooks, because you want the chicken to be juicy and the vegetables to be tender-crisp.
- Make sure the oil is hot enough before the rest of your ingredients hit the pan. The oil should look shimmery and should flow easily when the pan is tilted. A quick readiness test is to add a drop of water to the oil. If it sizzles and evaporates on contact, you are ready to start stir-frying.
- Lastly, get your rice or quinoa started in a separate saucepan before you begin stir-frying. That way the rice and stir-fry will finish cooking at the same time.
More Asian Dinner Recipes
Craving more Asian-style dinner recipes? Here are some of my favorites:
- Chicken Stir-Fry with Veggies
- Baked Honey Sriracha Salmon
- Healthy Teriyaki Chicken
- The Best Fried Rice Recipe
- Orange Chicken with Cauli Rice
If you make this Orange Chicken Stir Fry recipe, let me know! Leave a comment with a star rating ★ below, because I love hearing from you! ♡
Orange Chicken Stir-Fry (Easy and Healthy Recipe!)
Ingredients
- 1 large orange, zested and juiced
- 3 tablespoons soy sauce (or tamari)
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon grated ginger
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 2 tablespoons avocado oil, divided
- 2 boneless, skinless organic chicken breasts, cut into thin strips
- Salt and pepper
- 2 bell peppers, thinly sliced
- 2 carrots, peeled and sliced
- 2 green onions, thinly sliced
Instructions
- Whisk together the orange juice, orange zest, soy sauce, honey, garlic, ginger, and cornstarch in a small bowl. Set aside.
- In a large wok or skillet set over medium-high heat, heat 1 tablespoon of the oil.
- When the oil is hot, add the chicken. Season the chicken liberally with salt and pepper.
- Cook the chicken for 3-5 minutes or until cooked through. Transfer the chicken to a plate and set aside.
- Add the remaining tablespoon of oil to the skillet. Add the carrots and cook for about 3 minutes until slightly softened.
- Add the bell peppers and stir-fry further for 2-3 minutes or until tender-crisp. Return the chicken to skillet.
- Add the orange sauce. Stir-fry everything, until the sauce is thickened and the chicken and vegetables are well coated.
- Sprinkle green onions over top. Serve warm with cooked rice or quinoa.
Nutrition
Notes
- I highly recommend using organic, pasture-raised chicken in this recipe for maximum health benefits.
- Leftovers can be stored in the fridge for up to five days or in the freezer for up to three months.
This post was originally published on August 7, 2017. It has been updated to reflect new information and helpful content.
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I am always trying to up my busy weeknight meal repertoire! I always find myself making the same few things on repeat! Gotta love the Chinese take-out fake-out faves for weeknights! This looks much less heavy and fried. YAY, for lightened up meals!
Hey Maria! Thanks so much! I have a few go-to dinner recipes that I make way more than others, so I am guilty of that as well! I try to avoid deep-frying as much I can, obviously because it is not healthy, but mainly because the idea of hot oil splashing scares the life out of me! Lol 🙂 Have a great week!!
I order the orange chicken every time I go to Panda Express. I love all the vegetables in your orange chicken recipe because it makes it very healthy.
Thanks so much! ♡ I always try to add vegetables to dinner recipes whenever I can, to make everything more nutritious!
I’m not a huge fan of take-out Orange Chicken. I love fried things, but I don’t really need my chicken to be fried in Orange Chicken, and the sauce is so sweet. This sounds much more up my alley, especially with the fresh orange!
Hello Heather! Yeah you can get as much flavor (and way less fat) without deep-frying. The fresh orange makes all the difference, you can really taste it in the stir fry. And yeah I only add a little bit of honey because I don’t like my dishes to be too sweet either! 🙂
That is such a great recipe! Love the addition of orange and honey to the sauce!
Hi Deepika! Thanks so much!! ♡
Your version of orange chicken sounds so much better that those sticky overly sweet ones we get in the restaurants. I made something similar today, just no orange. 🙂
Hi Kankana! Thank you! Yeah I like to make restaurant-style dishes myself, so that way I know exactly what goes into it! 🙂