Orange chicken is a guilty pleasure of mine at any Chinese buffet. I never order it for takeout, but when it’s there in front of me at a buffet, I go to town! I was craving this dish recently, but had no desire to head to a buffet. So, I decided to give this meal a try in my slow cooker. My pinspiration came from this recipe, but I pretty much went rogue, adding some veggies and changing the sauce up a bit. The end-product was delicious (although a little dark from the slow cooker). Don’t get me wrong, I love my slow cooker, but I wish it didn’t suck the color out of everything! There is a solution though! Just sprinkle some fresh herbs on the final product to brighten it up. Works like a charm every time!
Start with the chicken…
- Cut 2 pounds of chicken cutlet into bite-sized pieces.
- Lay the chicken out on a cutting board.
- Sprinkle some flour over the chicken.
- Toss to coat all sides.
- Heat some EVOO in a skillet over medium-high heat.
- Add the chicken.
- Cook until lightly browned on all sides, about 8 minutes.
- Add the chicken to your slow cooker.
- Chop up 1 red pepper, 1 green pepper, and 1 onion.
- Add the peppers and onion to the slow cooker.
- Chop up 1 bunch of scallions.
- Add about two-thirds of the scallions to the slow cooker.
- Add one small can of mandarin oranges in pear juice.
- Add 1 can of thawed orange juice concentrate to a bowl.
- Sprinkle in some salt.
- Pour in a little balsamic vinegar.
- Add about 6 tablespoons of soy sauce.
- Squeeze in about 3 tablespoons of ketchup.
- Finish the sauce with some brown sugar.
- Whisk everything together.
- Pour into the slow cooker.
- Toss everything to combine.
- Cover and cook on low for 5 hours.
- Serve over rice.
Top with the remaining scallions to brighten it up.
Looks sooo much better, right?!
Enjoy!
Slow Cooker Orange Chicken (serves 8)
INGREDIENTS:
- 2 pounds chicken cutlets, cut into bite-sized pieces
- ⅓ cup flour
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 red pepper, chopped
- 1 green pepper, chopped
- 1 onion, chopped
- 1 can mandarin oranges in pear juice
- 1 bunch scallions, chopped
- 1 can frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
- 6 teaspoons soy sauce
- 3 tablespoons ketchup
- 4 tablespoons brown sugar
DIRECTIONS:
- Lay the pieces of chicken out on a cutting board.
- Sprinkle the flour over the chicken and toss to coat all sides.
- Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat.
- Add the chicken and cook until lightly browned on all sides, about 8 minutes.
- Add the chicken to your slow cooker.
- Add the peppers and onion to the slow cooker.
- Add the mandarin oranges, along with two-thirds of the scallions.
- In a bowl, combine the orange juice concentrate, the salt, the balsamic vinegar, the soy sauce, the ketchup, and the brown sugar.
- Mix well and pour into the slow cooker.
- Toss everything in the slow cooker to combine.
- Cover and cook on low for 5 hours.
- Serve over rice.
- Top with the remaining scallions.
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