Fast and Easy Orange Chicken {with ground chicken} has all of the flavor you expect with Orange Chicken but is so much more simple!
This Fast and Easy Orange Chicken {with ground chicken} is an Asian inspired dish that is easy to make and full of delicious sweet orange flavor with a bit of heat! Serve this easy orange chicken over some rice and you have a fast and easy meal that will be on repeat!
Ground Chicken
I love using ground chicken! It cooks up fast without having to chop, dice and shred! It is versatile and perfect for this meal.
To cook your ground chicken, you will need a skillet… and that is it (no oil needed for cooking)! Cook your ground chicken over medium heat until it is cooked through and completely white. Your ground Chicken won’t brown up like ground beef does, it tends to dry out and burn if you try to “brown it”. It just needs to cook fully and be no longer pink!
If you have never cooked with ground chicken before you are missing out! If cooks up just like ground beef but you won’t have to drain or rinse the fat off it! It is a lean meat that is so easy to cook. You should be able to find it at most grocery stores or head to your local butcher shop and get some- you will love it!
You can use cooked, chopped chicken breast for this recipe and that works as a great alternative too!
The Orange Sauce
Fast and Easy Orange Chicken {with ground chicken} has an amazing sauce that is the perfect balance of flavors. It has what you would expect in an orange chicken sauce. You will need rice wine vinegar and cider vinegar (they each bring a bit different acidic flavor), low sodium soy sauce, cold water, and sesame seed oil (a small amount goes a long way but it is necessary). For seasoning you need white sugar, ground ginger, minced garlic, dried red chili peppers (this bring the heat and is optional). Cornstarch is added to the sauce so the sauce will thicken. And for the most important part to the sauce, don’t forget your fresh orange juice and orange zest.
You will mix all of the sauce ingredients together and set aside.
** Now is the perfect time to chop those green onions if you are going to top your dish with them!
Making the Fast and Easy Orange Chicken {with ground chicken}
In a large skillet, over medium heat, cook your ground chicken until it is no longer pink. It should only take about 10 minutes or less to fully cook!
While your ground chicken is cooking, make the orange sauce. All you need to do is whisk them all together and set it aside.
After your ground chicken is fully cooked, pour the orange sauce over the chicken and mix well. It should thicken with the cornstarch in the sauce. Remove from the heat.
Serve your Fast and Easy Orange Chicken {with ground chicken} over hot cooked rice and top with chopped green onions (optional).
Fast and Easy Orange Chicken {with ground chicken} has all of the flavor you expect with Orange Chicken but is so much more simple!
Here are some other delicious Asian Inspired dishes to try:
Fast and Easy Korean Beef (that is made with ground beef), Fast and Easy Chicken Stir-Fry, Mongolian Chicken, Mongolian Beef and Broccoli, Firecracker Chicken, Sweet and Sour Chicken, or my Chicken Broccoli Ramen Stir Fry.
Fast and Easy Orange Chicken {with Ground Chicken}
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 lbs. ground chicken
- cooked rice, for serving *not included in the nutrition calculation
- green onions, chopped, for serving
Orange Chicken Sauce
- 2/3 cup white sugar
- 1/2 cup soy sauce *low sodium
- 1/4 cup COLD water
- 5 tbsp cornstarch *this will help the sauce thicken
- 4 tsps rice wine vinegar
- 4 tsps minced garlic *I use the bottled kind
- 3 tsp ground ginger
- 2 tsp cider vinegar
- 1/2 tsp dried red chili peppers *optional-add more or less to taste
- 1/4 tsp sesame seed oil
- 4 tsps orange juice, fresh squeezed
- orange zest from an orange
Instructions
- In a large skillet, over medium heat, cook your ground chicken until it is no longer pink.
- While your ground chicken is cooking, mix all of your sauce ingredients together and set aside.
- When your ground chicken is done cooking, pour your Orange Sauce over the ground chicken and mix well. The sauce should thicken as you stir it. Remove skillet from heat after it has thickened.
- Serve over rice and top wtih chopped green onions (optional).
Nutrition information is automatically calculated and should only be used as an approximation.