Orange Chicken with Fried Rice

I can't believe I'm going to say this, but we no longer need to order out for orange chicken. Now, I have a very good crockpot orange chicken recipe (my mom absolutely loves it--she says it's even better the second day) but for real orange chicken, you need it breaded and fried (this coming from a girl who generally prefers her chicken baked or grilled). I've made more than a few variations of it since orange chicken is something Eric and I both love; we almost always order it when we get Chinese. Eric has already perfected fried rice--honestly, I'd rather have his fried rice than a restaurant's fried rice--and I figured out the perfect breading a while ago. So I've been working on the sauce. Soon as Eric tasted it, he told me I nailed it. He also ate leftovers for his lunch and dinner the next day (which is a big deal because he isn't big into leftovers).

Ingredients:
Chicken
3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces
3/4 cup cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 cup panko breadcrumbs
2 eggs, beaten
Oil for frying

Orange Sauce
1 1/2 cups water
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
2 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
3/4 cup orange marmalade 
1/2 teaspoon garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
3 tablespoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons water

Eric's Fried Rice

Toasted Sesame Seeds (optional)

Directions:
Prepare Fried Rice and Toasted Sesame Seeds first.

Chicken
Place the cornstarch, salt, and pepper in a shallow dish and combine. In a second shallow dish, beat the eggs. In a third shallow dish, pour panko breadcrumbs. Dredge the chicken pieces in the cornstarch, dip in egg, then coat in panko.

Heat oil over medium-high heat. In batches, cook chicken until the breading is a golden brown and the meat is cooked all the way through. Place chicken on a paper towel-lined plate.

Orange Sauce
In a large saucepan, combine 1 1/2 cup water, vinegar, soy sauce, marmalade, garlic, and red pepper flakes. Over medium heat, bring to a boil.

In a small bowl or glass, dissolve 3 tablespoons of cornstarch into 2 tablespoons of water. Slowly pour into sauce. Stir until sauce reaches the desired thickness.

Pour sauce over chicken and sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds (you don't have to do the sesame seeds, but Eric and I have discovered that they make everything better). Serve with fried rice.

Arya sulking because she was exiled from the kitchen while we cooked.

Enjoy!

~Krissy

More Chicken Recipes:
Baked Garlic Chicken
Chicken Enchiladas with Fire-Roasted Tomatoes
Chicken Patties
Jalapeno Popper Chicken
Corn and Black Bean Skillet Chicken 
Parmesan Chicken Casserole 
Pizza Inspired Chicken  

Orange Chicken in a Slow Cooker

Slow cooker or crockpot recipes make cooking so easy and food so incredibly flavorful. When I came across an orange chicken slow cooker recipe, I knew I had to try it. Eric and I are both HUGE orange chicken fans. When we order Chinese, it's usually orange chicken and fried rice. Fortunately, Eric makes a mean fried rice (I actually prefer his rice over that of any restaurant). So I made the chicken, he made the rice, and we had one yummy dinner.

Recipe adapted from here.

Ingredients:
4 or 5 boneless skinless chicken breasts (frozen or thawed, I used frozen)
3/4 cup orange marmalade
3/4 cup barbecue sauce (we used Sweet Baby Ray, our all time favorite BBQ sauce)
2 tablespoons soy sauce

Directions:
Place the chicken breasts in the bottom of the slow cooker. Pour the marmalade, barbecue sauce, and soy sauce over the chicken. Cover and set slow cooker to low. Cook for 4 hours. Partially uncover the slow cooker so some of the liquid will escape; this will thicken your sauce. Cook for another 3 to 4 hours. You can serve breasts whole, cut them into pieces, or shred them. Serve over fried rice.

Eric's amazing fried rice!

Enjoy!

~Krissy

More Slow Cooker Recipes
Alfredo Green Bean Casserole
Creamy Butternut Squash Soup
Hot Spinach and Artichoke Dip
Pumpkin Butter 
Tomato and Artichoke Chicken