Simple Orange Chicken with Broccoli
This simple orange chicken with broccoli is filled with hints of orange, garlic, ginger and soy sauce; its quick and downright delicious.
A busy weeknight needs just such a meal as this. Quick, nutritious and downright delicious.
Another meal from the infamous cookbook, this dish was light and refreshing.
It wasn’t overpoweringly orange, but the delicate hints of orange, combined with the garlic, ginger and soy sauce culminated in a simple meal that pleased just about everyone around here (except for the unnamed finicky 2-year old who tried to pick out all his broccoli).
If you’ve tried the other orange chicken recipe on this site, I would describe this newer version as more of an “orange chicken stir fry” rather than an authentic mall-style orange chicken.
Both are delicious and this one in particular is light and tasty!
What to Serve With This
- Flatbread (like this Naan, or this Soft Wrap Bread)
- A simple green salad (or for something more creamy and cheesy this Creamy Spinach Gratin)
- Fresh, seasonal fruit
One Year Ago: Gingerbread White Chocolate Blondies
Two Years Ago: Fantastic Homemade Bagels
Simple Orange Chicken with Broccoli
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon canola oil
- 1 tablespoon minced or grated fresh ginger
- 2 garlic cloves, finely minced
- 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1/2-inch strips
- Salt and peper
- 2 cups fresh broccoli florets
- ¼ cup water
- ½ cup low-sodium chicken broth
- ¼ cup orange juice
- 3 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1-2 teaspoons freshly grated orange zest
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch, dissolved in 1 tablespoon water
Instructions
- In a medium nonstick skillet, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the ginger and garlic, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Season the chicken with salt and pepper and add to the skillet. Saute until cooked through, about 5-6 minutes. Transfer the chicken to a plate and set aside.
- In the same skillet, combine the broccoli florets and the water, stirring to scrape up any browned bits on the bottom of the pan. Cover the skillet and cook until the broccoli is crisp-tender, about 2 minutes.
- Return the chicken to the pan and stir in the broth, orange juice, soy sauce, sugar and orange zest. Add the dissolved cornstarch mixture and cook, stirring frequently, until the sauce boils and thickens slightly. Serve over hot, cooked brown or white rice.
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Recipe Source: adapted from Weight Watchers New Complete Cookbook
Why can’t I access this recipe without creating something called grow? Very frustrated. I didn’t realize some content was not free. There is no warning
All the content is free, Dee. I’m sorry you’re having issues. I’ll look into it!
So good! Loved all the flavor while still being healthy. Thanks for the great recipe!
We make this recipe regularly and absolutely love it. The ginger/garlic/orange combo is to die for! Thanks Mel!!
This was delicious! We used fresh orange juice and added mushrooms and onions. This is a keeper.
I am asian. Like really really asian. My husband is asian. My three kids under 5 are asian. And we all loved this recipe. My kids earned a special day today and their dinner request above anything was this orange broccoli chicken for the second day in a row. I quadrupled the broccoli. Doubled the sauce. Used 1T of the soy sauce on the chicken at last minute of sauté. Cons? No left overs.
Hi Mel! Do you know why it has me requesting “permission” to print a recipe? I don’t think I’ve had this issue before and I must have printed 99% of your recipes 🙂
Lori – I know this is frustrating! I think it has something to do with the fact that I have always stored my printable documents in Google Docs which later became Google drive and now just recently (like in the last few days), Google Drive has updated all the documents there to a different format and for some reason it is creating this issue. I am looking into it, I promise! In the meantime, you’ll probably have to copy and past the recipe into a word doc or similar program to print. I’m probably going to be doing away with all the printable versions as they look currently – I’m updating all my recipes to fit into the Ziplist format and they’ll have a printable link on them.
This is the first recipe I tried from your website. I made it tonight. We love the carb laden traditional orange chicken. But with a recent diabetes diagnosis that option is out. So, I decided to try this one. Amazing. Simply scrumptious. I did use a frozen broccoli, cauliflower and dual carrot blend and I didn’t have fresh ginger (just dried) or orange zest (so I added another splash of juice). Even my son, who is not the biggest fan of meat, said it was good and would like it again. Thank you for putting your energy into cooking and this website. I greatly appreciate it and look forward to trying more of your dishes.
Melanie, I think I’ve said this before, but let me say it again: you are a rock star! This was delicious!! I added water chestnuts because my hubby loves them, thus making me a rock star, too. 😉
This was delicious very light. The only changes I made is I did not have fresh ginger so I subbed ginger paste just mixed it in with the other liquid ingredients. I agree with those who said double the broccoli and the sauce it is so good you need more of both.
thanks for the recipe
kathy
I made this with lime juice and lime zest because, well, that’s what I had. Plus I added an orange pepper and tons of broccoli. My daughter loves peppers and broccoli more than any other food, go figure. Yum!
I’m shocked there aren’t a million comments on this recipe. Made it tonight and love it! Such a yummy healthy dinner! We will make this often. I plan to add more broccoli next time though. We are definitely a broccoli loving family.
I made this tonight. Of course, I didn’t have orange zest (I couldn’t find the orange extract either, but I am making the orange rolls in the morning anyway) so it didn’t really have an orange taste. However I still loved it. Especially the broccoli, I picked out most of it for myself and didn’t share with the kids, isn’t that terrible? Thanks again for another great recipe. I will def. be making it again, and hopefully one day I can try it with the orange zest!
Kensi – I’m so glad this recipe worked out even without the orange zest. And no, not terrible on the broccoli hoarding. I’m constantly doing that to my kids. I’ll pay for their therapy later.
mmmmmmmm………….this was soooooo yummy! I wanted to slurp up the sauce with a spoon. The rice soaked it up and was delicious! Light and flavorful and healthy, perfect quick summertime meal!
Katie – glad this sauce was a kicker for you! Thanks for checking in to let me know you liked it.
This was a hit! The orange flavor of the sauce was perfect. I added lots more veggies and doubled the sauce. I will definitely be making this again and again.
Danielle – I’m glad you liked this simple dish and love the addition of more veggies.
Yum, I love orange chicken and this looks so wonderful!!!!
i’ve been known to pick broccoli out of certain dishes, but i think the orange in this would improve the icky green stuff quite a bit! super recipe, mel. 🙂
Super recipe, Mel. I love the fresh ginger in combo with the orange!
This looks like an awesome recipe! I can’t wait to try it – this just might be dinner tonight. Thanks!
I loved your other orange chicken recipe (even my honey who hates broccoli ate two bowls), so I can’t wait to try this one! Thanks for sharing!
Yum! This looks tasty and healthy at the same time! I am throwing a party in September and the food theme is Asian. I think about the menu everyday, and I am definately planning to make orange chicken (kids and adults love it). I am going to try both of your recipes and pick one to serve at my party! I’m sure they are both equally delicious…thanks for sharing, Melanie!