Healthy Stir Fry Orange Chicken (Gluten-Free + Dairy-Free)

This Healthy Stir Fry Orange Chicken recipe is the perfect dinner staple in every home. It’s easy to prepare, so flavorful and made with whole food, nourishing ingredients. This recipe is great over rice, noodles or you can put it over cauliflower rice to made it completely paleo. I made this orange chicken a stir fry style to incorporate some veggies but this sauce is so good over chicken alone, if that’s your thing!

This recipe is gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, refined sugar-free and paleo if served over cauliflower rice.

If you want more healthy dinner recipes, check out my Fall Sheet Pan Bake (Paleo + Gluten-Free + Dairy-Free). As well as my recipe for Dairy Free Butter Chicken Curry (Gluten-Free). And finally, my Paleo Asian Salad with Honey Ginger Dressing (Gluten-Free + Dairy-Free).

Healthy Stir Fry Instructions:

1. Add a Tablespoon of oil to a pan on medium-high heat and add half of the chicken pieces leaving a little bit of room in-between each piece. Cooking the chicken in two batches helps it to become more crisp instead of rubbery so it’s an extra step that I think is worth doing. Turn pieces on each side and continue cooking until each piece is cooked through, then transfer to a plate and repeat the same process for the second half of your chicken. When finished, set aside on a plate so you can use the pan for the veggies.
2. Add one Tablespoon of oil to your pan on medium heat, and add all of your chopped broccoli, cauliflower and bell peppers. Turn these occasionally and let them cook until soft. How soft comes down to your preference, so use a fork to stab the pieces and see how crisp you would like these vegetables to be in your stir fry.
3. When the veggies are cooked to your liking, add the chicken pieces back into the pan along with the vegetables.
4. Pour the orange sauce (instructions are below) over the chicken and vegetables and stir to evenly coat. Then it’s ready to serve.

Orange Chicken Sauce Instructions:

1. In a small bowl or cup, add the arrowroot starch and 1/4 cup of water. Stir until there are no clumps and set aside while you prepare the rest of the sauce. To your sauce pan on low-medium heat, add 1/2 cup water, orange zest, orange juice, honey, coconut aminos, minced garlic, minced ginger, sea salt and black pepper. Let these heat up for 2-3 minutes.
2. Stir the arrowroot starch and water mixture into the sauce and bring to a boil. When comes to a full rolling boil, remove from heat for a couple minutes to allow thickening. Then, you can add it to your stir fry.

Healthy Stir Fry Orange Chicken (Gluten-Free + Dairy-Free)

Author: Adrianne

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

Stir Fry

• 2 Tablespoons oil (avocado, olive or coconut)
• 1 1/2 pounds chicken breast (cut into bite size pieces)
• 3 cups broccoli (roughly chopped)
• 3 cups cauliflower (roughly chopped)
• 1-2 bell peppers (cut into strips)

Orange Sauce

• 2 Tablespoons arrowroot or tapioca starch in 1/4 cup water
• 1/2 cup water
• Zest of one orange
• 1/2 cup fresh orange juice
• 2 Tablespoons honey
• 1/4 cup coconut aminos or tamari
• 2-3 garlic cloves (finely minced)
• 1 teaspoon fresh ginger (finely minced or grated)
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Instructions:

1. To a large fry pan on medium-high heat, add 1 Tablespoon oil and half of the cut chicken pieces with space in between each piece. (Frying these chicken pieces in a smaller batch instead of all together will create a more crispy, caramelized bite instead of a rubbery one.) Continue frying each piece on all sides until each is cooked through, then set aside on a plate. After the first batch is done, repeat the same process with the second half of your chicken and set aside while you cook your veggies.
2. To your large frypan on medium heat, add 1 Tablespoon of oil along with your chopped broccoli, cauliflower and bell peppers. Stirring occasionally, let these veggies cook (to your preference) while you prepare your orange sauce.
3. In a small bowl or cup, whisk arrowroot starch into 1/4 cup of water until there are no clumps and set aside. To a small sauce pan add the 1/2 cup water, orange zest, orange juice, honey, coconut aminos, minced garlic, minced ginger, sea salt and pepper. Allow these ingredients to warm together for 2-3 minutes, then stir in your arrowroot and water mixture and bring to a boil. When the sauce comes to a rolling boil, remove from heat and set aside to thicken. (The sauce will thicken as it cools down.)
4. When the veggies are soft and cooked to your liking, transfer cooked chicken pieces to the fry pan and mix together. Pour orange sauce over the top and mix together. You can let this simmer or serve right away. Serve over rice, noodles or cauliflower rice for a paleo option.

Want More Healthy Recipes?

This post is a recipe for Healthy Stir Fry Orange Chicken (Gluten-Free + Dairy-Free + Paleo Option). If you’re interested in more healthy dinner recipes then check out my Fall Sheet Pan Bake (Paleo + Gluten-Free). As well as my Paleo Cilantro Lime Chicken Skewers (Gluten-Free + Dairy-Free). In addition to my recipe for Indian Inspired Dairy-Free Butter Chicken Curry.

You can explore many more lunch or dinner recipes on my website if you would like any more ideas. Just click the Lunch/Dinner tab in the top menu!