Express Orange Chicken: Home Takeout Chinese Food Fast!

The only thing better than going out for Chinese food to me is making ‘home takeout’ when it’s quick and easy! Express Orange Chicken is a sweet, spicy, crunchy recipe you’ll love. You’ll even have enough time  to make dinner even more memorable with a fun project too!

This post is brought to you in partnership with Martha Stewart Living and Success® Rice. All opinions and ideas are my own.

My family loves Chinese food though being gluten-free can make it tricky to enjoy dining out, as well as taking the time to go out often isn’t an option. Any recipe I can make quickly gets a gold star but I still want to make the meal fun. I have a delicious homemade Chinese ‘fast food’ recipe to share today, Express Orange Chicken, along with a great timesaver and a fun way to make the meal memorable.

This time of year always feels like a big time hustle. As school gets underway, the extra meetings and after school activities begin to pile on. Getting even the basics done on an average weeknight is a stretch for me. I’ll sheepishly admit there are some days when 4:00 p.m. rolls around and I realize I have been so busy I forgot to plan dinner! Ouch.

Orange Chicken – Take Out at Home

Express Orange Chicken is a combination of broccoli and crispy fried chicken coated in a spicy, tangy, sweet sauce you’ll love. The recipe is easy to pull together quickly, especially with the help of Success®Boil-In-Bag Rice, my new best friend.

Success®Boil-In-Bag Rice comes in multiple varieties of rice, including White, Brown, Jasmine, and Basmati, with portions pre-packaged in tidy colander bags which can be boiled in a flash, drained and are ready to serve.

The consistency and flavor of Success®Boil-In-Bag Rice is superb. I used the Jasmine rice for this recipe which took 8-10 minutes to boil and yields 1 ½ cups per boiling bag (2 bags boiled together and dinner was covered).

Regular prepared rice can also be used!

I surprised my family by making this earlier this week and they were thrilled. Having what felt like restaurant takeout at home, and on a school night, was exciting and they loved the recipe (which can easily be made gluten-free with a few substitutions).

Just because we are dining at home doesn’t mean it has to be boring either. I made these simple place settings to go with the Express Orange Chicken which really made the meal a memorable moment in our hurry-scurry lives.

Small red envelopes stamped with Chinese characters are filled with coins for a fun addition to the table. Unexpected touches, even those that are simple, always excite my dinnertime crew! With just a few supplies these napkin decorations are a cinch to create.

Another thing I love about this Express Orange Chicken recipe is that it’s easy to double the recipe when having people over for dinner. I usually have the ingredients on hand already, making it a great option to serve something fun without it taking too much time to prepare.

I love to send leftovers home with guests too and packing them up in takeout containers labeled with the contents and a personal note puts a cap on a great evening!

Express Orange Chicken

This takeout recipe is a cinch to make at home! Making the rice, preparing the broccoli and frying the chicken may be done concurrently for the quickest preparation time of the overall recipe. When frying the chicken, using a high heatproof utensil to keep the individual chicken pieces separated works well if needed.

5 from 2 votes

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Course: Main Course

Cuisine: American

Diet: Gluten Free

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 25 minutes

Total Time: 35 minutes

Servings: 4 to 6 servings

Calories: 487kcal

Author: Toni Dash

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Ingredients

• ▢ 2 bags Success® White Rice , Success® Brown Rice, Success® Jasmine Rice or Success® Basmati Rice OR 3 cups prepared rice
• ▢ 1 cup Orange Marmalade
• ▢ 1 tablespoon White Vinegar
• ▢ 1 teaspoon Asian Hot Sauce
• ▢ 1 teaspoon Ground Ginger
• ▢ 2 tablespoons Soy Sauce (or Tamari if gluten-free)
• ▢ 1 package (10 ounces) Frozen Broccoli Florets
• ▢ 1 pound boneless , skinless Chicken Breasts, cut into 1-inch pieces
• ▢ 1 Egg , lightly beaten
• ▢ 1/2 cup Cornstarch
• ▢ 1/4 cup Flour regular or gluten-free measure-for-measure flour blend
• ▢ 1 teaspoon Salt
• ▢ 1/4 teaspoon ground Black Pepper
• ▢ Vegetable Oil for frying

Instructions

• Prepare rice according to package directions.
• In medium bowl, combine marmalade, vinegar, hot sauce, ginger and soy sauce or tamari. Mix thoroughly and set aside.
• Prepare broccoli according to package directions and set aside.
• In a small bowl, combine chicken with egg and coat thoroughly.
• In a separate bowl, combine cornstarch, flour, salt and pepper. Remove the chicken from the egg and coat in cornstarch mixture.
• Heat 1 inch of oil in a 4-quart saucepan to 375 degrees F. Fry chicken pieces in batches until light brown on all sides. Remove cooked chicken and place on paper towels. In a large bowl, toss chicken with broccoli and marmalade mixture.
• Serve over hot rice.

Notes

Recipe supplied by Martha Stewart Living and Success® Rice.

Nutrition

Calories: 487kcal | Carbohydrates: 80g | Protein: 29g | Fat: 5g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 112mg | Sodium: 1228mg | Potassium: 503mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 48g | Vitamin A: 110IU | Vitamin C: 4.6mg | Calcium: 42mg | Iron: 1.8mg

Did you make this recipe?Mention @boulderlocavore or tag #boulderlocavore!

CHINESE ENVELOPE PLACE SETTING

Materials:

• Chinese character rubber stamp
• Gold Ink Pad
• Small Red Envelopes
• Napkins
• Patterned Paper
• Gold Cord

Instructions:

1.  Rubber stamp a red envelope using a gold ink pad.
2.  Fill it with change, and then lay it on a folded napkin wrapped with a band of patterned paper.
3. Tie in back with gold cord.