Introduction to Orange Chicken
Orange chicken is a sweet, tangy, and juicy dish that makes for the perfect flavor bomb any night of the week. In our household, Asian recipes are a staple, and we often make basic "must-have" recipes like Cauliflower Fried Rice. However, since discovering Low Carb Orange Chicken, it has become a new favorite. If you’re a fan of Asian cuisine or citrus flavors, you’ll love this recipe. It requires a bit of extra work, but trust us, it’s well worth the effort.
Can You Eat Orange Chicken on Keto?
Normal orange chicken is not keto-friendly due to its breading and sweet orange sauce, which contains a lot of sugar. A typical serving of takeout orange chicken can have 19 grams of sugar in just five ounces of food. Our keto orange chicken recipe, on the other hand, uses a gluten-free and carb-free breading, as well as a sugar-free orange sauce.
Are Oranges Keto?
Oranges are not entirely keto-approved due to their high sugar content. However, you can still enjoy a small portion of orange and stay in ketosis. Our keto orange chicken recipe uses the juice of half an orange, which is approximately 4.5 grams of carbs and 3.5 grams of sugar. Split between six servings, there are only 0.75 grams of carbs coming from the orange in each portion.
Sugar Free Orange Chicken
This keto orange chicken recipe is special because it’s not only gluten-free but also added sugar-free. Most Asian restaurant orange chicken dishes are coated in orange juice and a ton of added refined sugar. A typical serving of normal orange chicken contains 51 grams of carbs and 19 grams of sugar. Our recipe uses a low-carb sugar substitute that is zero net carbs per serving, giving the dish the sweetness you expect without the blood sugar spike.
Gluten Free Keto Orange Chicken
We created a keto low-carb breading using coconut flour and crushed pork rinds to make a crispy and light breading. If you’re using soy sauce, ensure it’s gluten-free, or use coconut aminos instead.
Healthy Orange Chicken Breading Options
If you don’t have or like coconut flour breading, you can use unflavored whey protein powder for a light and crispy fried chicken. Alternatively, you can use finely milled almond flour, but it may not stick as well.
Chicken Breasts vs Thighs
When making breaded chicken, you’ll need to decide between chicken thighs or chicken breast. We prefer chicken breast in this recipe, but it’s up to personal preference. Chicken thighs will still taste amazing with the gluten-free fresh orange juice sauce and green onions, but they’ll have a bit more fat and calories.
How to Make The Perfect Keto Orange Chicken
We know there’s no such thing as perfection, but this recipe comes close. It’s almond flour-free, making it suitable for those with nut allergies, and diabetic-friendly, so everyone can enjoy this meal stress-free.
Ingredients
To make this keto orange chicken, you’ll need:
- Chicken breasts cubed into chicken pieces
- Pork rinds
- Coconut flour
- MCT oil powder
- Black pepper
- Salt
- Coconut for frying and breading the chicken
- Orange
- Garlic
- Ginger (fresh or ground)
- Coconut oil (or avocado oil)
- Low-carb sugar substitute
Making Keto Orange Chicken
- Process the pork rinds, coconut flour, MCT oil powder, and salt + pepper in a blender until it’s a fine powder. Place it into a shallow bowl.
- Pat the chicken breasts dry and slice them into small 1/2-inch pieces. Sprinkle with salt and set them aside.
- Add a couple of tablespoons of oil into a skillet for frying. Toss a handful of chicken pieces into the pork rind mixture and then place them into the oil once the breading has stuck.
- Cook in batches, frying 2-3 minutes a side. They should be golden brown and 165 degrees. Remove the cooked chicken from the skillet and place it onto a paper towel-lined plate to soak up the grease.
- To make the sauce, heat up the coconut oil and erythritol until melted in a saucepan. Prepare the orange zest, ginger, and garlic cloves.
- When the sweetener has dissolved in the oil, reduce the heat and add in the keto orange zest mixture. Squeeze in half an orange’s worth of orange juice and stir well. Let the mixture come to a simmer while cooking the remaining batches of chicken.
- The sauce should thicken into a glaze. Once thickened, remove it from the stove and combine it with the cooked chicken pieces. Top with sliced green onions and sesame seeds.
How to Serve Orange Chicken
Our keto orange chicken sauce is unbeatable and sure to wow any dinner guests. It’s packed with fresh squeezed orange juice, fresh/ground ginger, and orange peel for the ultimate citrus flavor. Serve it with cauliflower rice, greens, or on its own.
Storing Orange Chicken
To store the crispy chicken, you can keep the sauce and chicken separate to air fry the chicken alone later. Once made, pop the keto orange chicken into a Tupperware container to cool and store in the fridge for up to a week.
Reheating
The best way to reheat this recipe is to cook it in a skillet. The hot frying pan will give the chicken a nice toasty sear. You can also heat it in the microwave, but it may lose some of its texture.
Low Carb Chinese Food
Chinese food and Asian takeout are always a favorite, but they often make us feel guilty due to the high sugar sauces and carb-laden breadings. That’s why we created Chinese Keto recipes that can be enjoyed guilt-free, like this tasty keto orange chicken. You should also try our:
- Easy cashew chicken
- Lemon chicken
- Egg roll in a bowl
All you need to make most of our takeout recipes is some coconut aminos or soy sauce and a positive attitude.
Easy Low-Carb Orange Chicken
When Chinese is on the dinner menu, you’ll find us lingering. The best part about eating low-carb is that there’s a substitute for everything. You can serve this savory dish with cauliflower rice, greens, or on its own. It will satisfy you no matter how you serve it and makes for great leftovers. Whether you’re a Chinese food lover or not, this low-carb orange chicken is a must-make recipe.
