Easy orange chicken using ground chicken, ginger, and fresh orange juice! Paired with broccoli and brown rice, this is a delicious, healthy, and easy weeknight dinner!
½cupfreshly squeezed orange juicepreferably from small oranges like mikans, mandarins, or clementines
2medium headsfresh broccoli about 6-7 cups florets
sesame seeds for garnish
Instructions
Cook brown rice according to your preference or package directions, I usually prefer a Japanese rice cooker and short-grain brown rice. You can also toast the rice in a little oil ahead of time for extra flavor!
Typically, I rinse my rice three times, then place in a large pot. For each 1 cup of brown rice, I use about 1 ¾ cups of water. Bring this to a boil, then immediately reduce to a simmer and simmer for the duration recommended by your package, usually 20-35 minutes. Then, without lifting the cover, remove from heat and let sit for 10 minutes to finish cooking.
In a large pan or wok, warm sesame oil over low-medium heat. Add chicken and brown on all sides. (Doesn't have to be fully cooked yet.)
Add the ginger, garlic, spice sauce, orange juice (and zest), and tamari / soy sauce. Stir well and bring to a simmer. Simmer on low heat for 3-5 minutes, or until sauce has reduced and thickened. Stir well and remove from heat.
Meanwhile, fill a pot with 1 inch of water. Add steamer basket and add chopped broccoli florets & stems. Cover and steam for 4 minutes.
If you have a rice cooker, most rice cookers also have a steamer basket. Check and see if you can cook your broccoli in the rice cooker at the same time as the rice!
Make the bowls by dividing the brown rice among four bowls and topping with chicken and broccoli. Top with sesame seeds and enjoy! We also like to squeeze a little extra orange juice over the top.
Notes
Drizzle with a little more sesame oil or soy sauce / tamari as desired.
I have made this orange sauce with Lee Kum Kee Chili Garlic Sauce, and their spicy chili sauce, as well as Huy Fong Foods Sriracha, and their Vietnamese Chili Garlic Sauce. You could also use about ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes or Vietnamese spicy chili peppers.
One commenter mentioned that the red pepper flakes make it too spicy, so I recommend adding your spicy component in small amounts to avoid this!
I highly recommend freshly squeezed orange juice. If they're not in season, or if the juice comes from a box/jug, it won't have the same fresh orange flavor.
You can steam fresh or frozen broccoli, or even add the broccoli to the same pot as the chicken while it is simmer, cover with a lid and let it steam atop the chicken! You can then remove the lid and let it cook another 2 minutes to evaporate any water released, if necessary. You may have to add a little more soy sauce / Tamari and hot sauce to compensate for the water released from the broccoli.