Easy Orange Chicken over Brown Rice

From time to time, I grab my phone and point to that P known as Pinterest.  I’m just going to quickly browse, nothing more.  Soon, I smack myself back to reality.  I realize that an hour or more, of never to get back precious time, has whizzed right by.  I know . . . none of you ever do this!

Many of you probably think that everything I cook/bake is what I call calorie worth-it.

Trust me . . . at least 20% is not!

I put a lot of different recipes to the test.  My poor husband it my taste tester.  He is not a picky man by any means.  He will eat anything I put in front of him and has to eat left-overs for days and never complains.  Sometimes, he will say . . . “It’s fine, but you don’t need to make it again.”  I usually don’t.  I generally know that something is a winner when we both like it and we want to have it again. Make sure you read to the bottom of this post.  I need to give some cookbooks away.

I found a recipe on Pinterest for 3 ingredient Orange Chicken.  That immediately peeked my interest, because it sounded fast and easy.  I also wanted a skinny version, which means the chicken is not breaded and not fried.  I know . . .Darn!

Orange chicken is usually served over rice and my husband loves rice.  The picture looked pretty good.  I had all the ingredients necessary to begin.  Barbecue Sauce, Orange Marmalade & Soy Sauce, all had a home in my fridge.  I grabbed my chicken breasts and began.  The recipe started with preparing the sauce and letting it simmer.

Well . . . One taste, and I knew it was not the Orange Chicken I had imagined.  It was so strong, it about took the top of my head off.  Yikes!  Quickly, I removed half of the sauce and added low sodium chicken broth and tasted again.  The barbecue sauce was so over powering, that you could barely taste the orange marmalade.  I put the sauce in a container and popped it in my freezer.  I can use it later with a can of sprite, 7-up or even root beer, along with about 10 large chicken breasts in my slow cooker!  It will make awesome pulled chicken, but it was much too strong to serve over rice.

I started over . . .

What you see below is my adapted recipe.  I still used the basic ingredients, but varied the measurements and added a couple more.

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I served this Easy Orange Chicken over Brown Rice.  I like brown rice much better than white rice.  It’s a bit chewy.

It was given a thumbs up and even eaten for left overs the next night.  The only suggestion my husband had was making more sauce.  I’m a bit weird.  I don’t care for very much sauce on rice, but he does.  If you like extra sauce . . . just double the sauce recipe.  If you double the sauce recipe, I suggest you don’t quite double the bbq sauce though.  Use 1/4 cup + 1/8 = a very scant 1/2 cup of bbq sauce!

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As for me . . . I would prefer just eating the chicken and broccoli and forgetting to plate the rice.  I could also toss the chicken on a bed of lettuce/spinach and really go to town!  mmmm

ALSO: (expired)

Leave me a comment and type your favorite winning Pinterest recipe and also a link to your blog if you have one.  I’ll choose one or two of those recipes to cook/bake.  If I choose your recipe, I’ll send you one of my favorite cookbooks!

 

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Easy Orange Chicken over Brown Rice

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Ingredients

Scale
  • 3 – 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
  • For the Sauce:
  • 3/4 cup low sodium chicken broth or chicken stock
  • 1/4 cup Sweet Baby Ray’s BBQ sauce
  • heaping 1/2 cup Sweet orange or Peach Marmalade (Smucker’s)
  • 2 Tablespoons low sodium soy sauce
  • 1/8 tsp ginger
  • 1/8 tsp onion powder
  • 1/4 tsp minced garlic
  • sesame seeds and cashews for the top
  • Add 1 cup small pieces of Broccoli and 1 small carrot sliced in thin little pieces (opt)
  • Brown or white rice prepared as instructions per box

Instructions

  1. Prepare the Sauce:
  2. In a sauce pan, add all sauce ingredients and combine well with a spoon or whisk. Turn the heat to medium and let it come to a low boil. Turn the heat to low/simmer and let simmer (UNCOVERED) for 15 to 20 minutes OR until thickened as desired. Sauce will look like a thick syrup consistency when it’s simmered long enough.
  3. For the chicken:
  4. Cut up your chicken breasts into small cubes. Add about 2 tablespoons – vegetable, olive or canola oil to a frying pan and turn your stove on medium/high heat. Season with salt & pepper.
  5. Once it pops and sizzles, carefully add the chicken to the pan. Cook 3 to 4 minutes on each side or lightly golden and chicken is done on the inside. Drain chicken pieces on a paper towel.
  7. Add the Chicken to the sauce and toss until coated.
  9. Add small pieces of broccoli and small slices of carrots is desired. Let simmer just until the vegetables are crisp tender. (If adding larger pieces, steam slightly first before adding)
  10. Serve over hot rice and top with sesame seeds and cashews. Yum!

Notes

TO DOUBLE:
You can double the sauce recipe if you like extra sauce on your rice.
Use a very a scant 1/2 cup barbecue sauce.

1/4 cup + 1/8 cup of barbecue sauce.

 

 

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by Get Off Your Butt and BAKE

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