Baked Orange Chicken Recipe with no breading is a healthy alternative to the famous Chinese takeout Orange Chicken. Make it right away and serve it with Vegetable ChowMein or lo mein noodles or Thai Coconut Fried Rice
Instead of deep frying bite-sized chicken after coating them in a breading, we make the orange sauce and pour it over chicken breasts.
Bake at 400 for 20-minutes until chicken is perfectly cooked as well as juicy and moist on the inside.
You can also try the same recipe for Orange Shrimp or Orange Tofu. This recipe for Baked Orange Chicken is quite similar to Mandarin Teriyaki Chicken, Chinese Chilli Chicken, Sesame Chicken or Sticky Asian Hoisin Chicken or Chinese Lemon Chicken without Breading!
Crispy with a Perfect Sticky Sauce 🍗
This differs from traditional orange chicken in subtle ways. Instead of making an unhealthy breading and then deep frying chicken, I thought, why not just pour the orange sauce over the chicken breast and bake them right away.
Obviously, the traditional chinese Orange chicken will be much tastier. But, this won't be anything less.
You can call this a recipe for Healthy Orange Chicken.
Just like my baked Honey Mustard Chicken Breast, Juiciest Garlic Herb Chicken Breast, Balsamic Marinated Chicken Breasts, or Baked Garlic Butter Chicken Breasts this recipe for baked chicken breast pairs well with this Broccoli Corn Salad or Panzanella Salad or Taco Salad or this amazing Crispy Fried Keto Green Beans
Jump to:
- Crispy with a Perfect Sticky Sauce 🍗
- Ingredients for Healthy baked Orange Chicken Recipe 👩🍳
- How to Make Orange Chicken Recipe baked 🥘
- Substitutions 🧡
- Storage ❄️
- Magical tips from Team Recipe Magik 🪄
- Try these next ⏭️
- Pair your Baked Chinese Orange Chicken Recipe with these 📩
- Baked Orange Chicken Recipe no breading
Ingredients for Healthy baked Orange Chicken Recipe 👩🍳
See the recipe card for detailed quantities
- Lean Chicken Breasts
- Salt and Freshly ground black pepper
Orange Sauce
- Soy Sauce
- Maple Syrup
- Apple Cider Vinegar
- Ground Cinnamon
- Ground Cardamom
- Red Pepper flakes
- Onion Powder
- Garlic Powder
- Orange Juice
- Smoked Paprika
- Sesame Oil
Garnish
- Green Onions
- Sesame Seeds
How to Make Orange Chicken Recipe baked 🥘
STEP 1: Make Orange Sauce
Combine the Ingredients for Orange Sauce in a glass mason jar. Close the lid. Shake until well combined.
STEP 2: Prepare Chicken Breasts
Place Lean chicken breasts in a resealable plastic zip-lock bag. Add salt and pepper along with the orange sauce. Shake well until chicken breasts are well coated.
STEP 3: Bake at 400
Place Chicken Breasts in the baking dish. Pour some of the Orange sauce over the chicken breasts. Bake at 400 degrees F for 23-25 minutes basting in between.
Hint: Make sure you check the internal temperature of the chicken, especially, at the thickest part. Cook until it reaches an internal temperature of 165 to 170 degrees F.
Substitutions 🧡
- Breading - If you like Orange chicken with breading, then you can make the breading of flour, eggs, and panko breadcrumbs. Dip your chicken breasts in the breading and bake afterward.
- Chicken Thighs - Instead of chicken breasts (which I like), you could definitely try boneless skinless chicken thighs. Although classic Chinese Orange Chicken is made using chicken thighs.
- White Vinegar - If you run out of Apple Cider Vinegar or you probably don't think you'll like Apple cider vinegar for a Chinese recipe, you can definitely switch to white vinegar.
- Monk Fruit Sweetener - You can substitute Maple Syrup with Monk Fruit Sweetener.
Storage ❄️
You can store Baked Orange Chicken in the refrigerator for up to 2 days. Make sure you cool it down completely, cover it with a plastic wrap and then refrigerate.
I don't recommend freezing this recipe.
Magical tips from Team Recipe Magik 🪄
- Use a meat mallet to pound thick chicken breasts. This ensures even cooking.
- If you have time, try to refrigerate marinated chicken breasts for at least 20-30 minutes before baking. It creates magical recipes.
Try these next ⏭️
Looking for other recipes like this? Try these:
Pair your Baked Chinese Orange Chicken Recipe with these 📩
These are my favorite dishes to serve with this Baked Chicken with Orange Juice recipe:
Baked Orange Chicken Recipe no breading
INGREDIENTS
- 1 pound lean chicken breast about 1-inch thick
- salt and pepper as per taste [to season chicken]
Orange Chicken Sauce
- 1 cup (237ml) orange juice
- ½ cup Maple Syrup
- 2 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar or white vinegar or rice wine vinegar
- 2 Tablespoons low sodium soy sauce or Use tamari for a gluten-free version
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground cardamom [OPTIONAL]
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder or 2-3 garlic cloves, finely diced
- ¼ teaspoon red chili flakes
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil can be replaced with olive oil
Serve
- Green Onions chopped
- sesame seeds
INSTRUCTIONS
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C, Gas Mark 6). Grease a 9x9 inch baking dish with non-stick cooking spray.
Make Orange Chicken Sauce
- Combine all the Ingredients for Orange chicken sauce in a glass mason jar or a medium-sized mixing bowl. Whisk together until well combined.
Prepare Chicken
- Place Lean chicken breasts in a resealable plastic zip-lock bag. Add salt and pepper [as per taste] along with Orange Chicken Sauce. Shake vigorously until the chicken is thoroughly coated on both sides.
Bake
- Place chicken in the prepared baking dish. Pour some of the sauce keeping aside the remaining for basting.
- Bake chicken in the middle rack of the oven for 20-minutes. Basting with the orange chicken sauce after every 5-minutes.
- Check the internal temperature of the chicken, at the thickest part using a meat thermometer. If it reaches an internal temperature of 165 to 170 degrees F, then you can be sure that your chicken is fully cooked. If not, bake further for another 2-3 minutes keeping a close eye.
Serve
- Serve Baked orange chicken after cutting them into thin slices. Garnish with chopped green onions and sesame seeds.
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