Low carb orange chicken

Low carb orange chicken

Classic, Asian-inspired orange chicken is now healthy! Skip the usual breading and sugar with this upgraded version. High protein chicken breasts are dredged in coconut flour, sauteed with fresh veggies, and given a touch of sweetness from fresh orange juice.
April 6 2022 by , photo by , nutritional review by in Recipes, Dinner, Meal

Low carb orange chicken

Classic, Asian-inspired orange chicken is now healthy! Skip the usual breading and sugar with this upgraded version. High protein chicken breasts are dredged in coconut flour, sauteed with fresh veggies, and given a touch of sweetness from fresh orange juice.
USMetric
4 servingservings

Ingredients

Fried chicken
  • 1½ lbs 650 g chicken breastchicken breasts
  • 1 1 large egglarge eggs
  • 4 tbsp 4 tbsp coconut flour
  • 1 tsp 1 tsp salt
  • ¼ tsp ¼ tsp ground black pepper
  • 2 tbsp 2 tbsp coconut oil
Orange sauce and veggies
  • 1 1 orange, zest and juiceoranges, zest and juice
  • 3 tbsp 3 tbsp tamari soy sauce
  • 2 tbsp 2 tbsp ginger garlic paste (or fresh minced)
  • 1 tbsp 1 tbsp white wine vinegar or rice vinegar
  • ½ tsp ½ tsp arrowroot powder (optional)
  • 2 (10 oz.) 2 (280 g) orange bell pepper, cut into bite-sized piecesorange bell peppers, cut into bite-sized pieces
  • 2 oz. (9 tbsp) 55 g (130 ml) scallion, chopped diagonallyscallions, chopped diagonally
  • 2 tsp 2 tsp sesame seeds (optional)
  • salt and ground black pepper to taste
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Instructions

  1. Cut the chicken breasts into bite-sized pieces. Set aside.
  2. Crack the egg into a bowl and with a fork beat until the egg white and yolk are well combined.
  3. In a second bowl, combine the coconut flour, salt, and pepper. Mix well.
  4. Add the chicken pieces into egg mixture until covered. Then dip each chicken piece in the coconut flour, covering it on all sides.
  5. Heat a wok or large frying pan with coconut oil. When hot, add the chicken. Make sure the pieces don't touch. If all the chicken does not fit at once, fry it in batches. Fry until golden and no longer pink inside. (It will take about 5 minutes, depending on the size of your chicken pieces.) Remove from the pan when done and let drain on a paper towel.
  6. Add all the ingredients for the sauce to the wok or frying pan, whisk until combined, and let it simmer for a couple of minutes until the sauce has thickened.
  7. Add the bell pepper and scallions. Cook for a couple of minutes until tender, then bring back the chicken to the wok. Toss around until everything is covered in the sauce. Garnish with sesame seeds when serving.

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What did you think? Please share your thoughts in the comment section below!

7 comments

  1. 1
    Andrea
    April 11 2022
    GREAT recipe! I recommend at the end, instead of tossing the chicken back in with the sauce, pour the sauce OVER the chicken when plating. The thickened sauce acts as a nice glaze over the meal. I made 8 portions and it took about an hour to cook all of the chicken.
    Reply: #2
  2. 2
    Reply to comment #1 by Andrea
    Kerry Merritt Team Diet Doctor
    April 11 2022

    GREAT recipe! I recommend at the end, instead of tossing the chicken back in with the sauce, pour the sauce OVER the chicken when plating. The thickened sauce acts as a nice glaze over the meal. I made 8 portions and it took about an hour to cook all of the chicken.

    Thanks for sharing! So glad you enjoyed it!

  3. 3
    Deana Parrish
    May 15 2022
    Is there a way to know how many calories are in each recipe?
    Reply: #4
  4. 4
    Reply to comment #3 by Deana Parrish
    Kerry Merritt Team Diet Doctor
    May 16 2022

    Is there a way to know how many calories are in each recipe?

    Hi, Deana! The calories per serving are listed with the nutritional information. This feature is now a DD+ benefit. If you're a member, be sure you're logged in! If you're not a member yet, you can sign up for a free month if you'd like to access this info! https://www.dietdoctor.com/new-member

  5. 5
    Carole
    June 11 2022
    I have mixed feelings about this recipe. My #1 complaint is that it needs considerably more sauce. I made the recipe for 4, and had to use 2 oranges, not one, and two wasn't enough in the least for 1.5 pounds of chicken. The overall taste was lovely, but I need to figure out a way to create a lot more liquid sauce and what to boost it with. More orange juice perhaps? I'm a fan of PF Chang's orange chicken and it comes with a reasonable amount of sauce. For me, even with the juice of two oranges, the chicken was dry (dry in the sense that there was virtually no sauce to cover it). I couldn't find ginger garlic paste anywhere so I didn't include it, perhaps that is a European thing? I minced a bunch of fresh garlic, but then I forgot to add it in. I don't know how much that would affect the taste, but if it created a strongly garlic taste I think I would not like it so much. The white wine vinegar, tamarai sauce and orange juice is a wonderful and tasty combination. The coconut flour coating and chicken cooked in coconut oil imparted a nice, mild coconut flavor as well. An additional problem I found was with the coconut flour and egg: I needed TWO eggs, one was used up by half the chicken pieces, and rather than 1/4 cup of coconut flour to coat the 1.5 lbs of chicken, I ended up using 3/4 cup of the flour. So those amounts need adjusting. Another negative (for me) was that this recipe was a lot more time consuming to prepare than others I've tried lately. I might try this again but instead of cutting the chicken into bite sized pieces, I would get some thin chicken such as chicken tenders (intended for something like fajitas, I think), which would cook quicker. It was a pain to cook two batches of chicken chunks and try to get each of the many pieces turned over to cook properly. Flat cutlet type pieces would go quicker. I'm writing all this down because I (as well as my family) really liked the flavors, but I would not make this again without the adjustments I've noted above. The main issue is figuring out how to create much more of the sauce. I'm thinking perhaps 2 cups of sauce would definitely be better. This recipe does have potential if done right.
    Reply: #6
  6. 6
    Reply to comment #5 by Carole
    Kerry Merritt Team Diet Doctor
    June 13 2022

    I have mixed feelings about this recipe. My #1 complaint is that it needs considerably more sauce. I made the recipe for 4, and had to use 2 oranges, not one, and two wasn't enough in the least for 1.5 pounds of chicken. The overall taste was lovely, but I need to figure out a way to create a lot more liquid sauce and what to boost it with. More orange juice perhaps? I'm a fan of PF Chang's orange chicken and it comes with a reasonable amount of sauce. For me, even with the juice of two oranges, the chicken was dry (dry in the sense that there was virtually no sauce to cover it). I couldn't find ginger garlic paste anywhere so I didn't include it, perhaps that is a European thing? I minced a bunch of fresh garlic, but then I forgot to add it in. I don't know how much that would affect the taste, but if it created a strongly garlic taste I think I would not like it so much. The white wine vinegar, tamarai sauce and orange juice is a wonderful and tasty combination. The coconut flour coating and chicken cooked in coconut oil imparted a nice, mild coconut flavor as well. An additional problem I found was with the coconut flour and egg: I needed TWO eggs, one was used up by half the chicken pieces, and rather than 1/4 cup of coconut flour to coat the 1.5 lbs of chicken, I ended up using 3/4 cup of the flour. So those amounts need adjusting. Another negative (for me) was that this recipe was a lot more time consuming to prepare than others I've tried lately. I might try this again but instead of cutting the chicken into bite sized pieces, I would get some thin chicken such as chicken tenders (intended for something like fajitas, I think), which would cook quicker. It was a pain to cook two batches of chicken chunks and try to get each of the many pieces turned over to cook properly. Flat cutlet type pieces would go quicker. I'm writing all this down because I (as well as my family) really liked the flavors, but I would not make this again without the adjustments I've noted above. The main issue is figuring out how to create much more of the sauce. I'm thinking perhaps 2 cups of sauce would definitely be better. This recipe does have potential if done right.

    Thanks for your feedback, Carole! You should be able to double the ingredients for the sauce if needed. We hope you'll give it another try!

  7. 7
    Rose
    July 5 2022
    I made this tonight and it was delicious. I have to agree with Carole’s comments above re mixed feelings. I made it before reading the comments and I started out thinking I was going to make 6 servings because I had 1 kg of chicken breasts, but because I was cutting, coating and frying in batches I found I was running out of egg and coconut flour. So I stopped cutting the chicken and put half back in the refrigerator for another recipe. So in other words I ended up with double the sauce! I don’t think I would have liked having less sauce for the amount of chicken I had. To be honest even more sauce would have been nice. Also the recipe was time consuming and fiddly. But the flavour was really good.

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