Orange Chicken and Vegetable Stir Fry Recipe
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This chicken and veggie stir-fry satisfies even the fiercest craving for takeout. Stir fry’s are a great choice for a busy weeknight. They are quick and easy to make and you can use a variety of veggies to keep things exciting. I suggest you prep all your veggies before you fire up the stove. Once your veggies are chopped, this takes less than 15 minutes to cook.
This stir fry is packed with broccoli, asparagus and plenty of juicy chicken. You can use light or dark meat for this, but I prefer chicken thigh meat which is more flavorful and tender. My son lovingly calls this “Panda.” My guys gobbled it up and asked for re-fills. I hope your family loves it too!
Stir-Fry Ingredients:
1 1/2 Tbsp cooking Oil (I used extra light olive oil)
1 small onion, finely diced
1 lb to 1 1/4 lb chicken thighs, trimmed and cut into 1″ pieces
5-6 cups broccoli florets (from 1 large head of broccoli)
1 bunch asparagus spears, bases trimmed and cut into 1″ pieces
1 large carrot, sliced into matchsticks
Marinade Ingredients:
1/4 cup cold water
1/2 Tbsp corn starch
1/2 Tbsp grated orange zest (zest from 1/2 orange)
1/2 cup freshly squeezed orange juice (from the same orange)
4 Tbsp soy sauce
2 tsp sesame oil
1 Tbsp fresh ginger, grated
3 garlic cloves, finely minced
2 Tbsp honey
Serving/Garnish:
Toasted sesame seeds (medium heat 2 minutes, tossing frequently)
6 cups of hot cooked white rice (= 2 cups dry rice)
How to Make Orange Chicken Broccoli stir fry:
1. In a bowl, whisk together the 1/4 cup cold water and 1/2 Tbsp starch, then whisk in the rest of the Marinade Ingredients: 1/2 Tbsp orange zest, 1/2 cup fresh OJ, 4 Tbsp soy sauce, 2 tsp sesame oil, 1 Tbsp grated fresh ginger, 3 minced garlic cloves and 2 Tbsp honey.
Here’s a tip: Peel your ginger with a spoon. It comes off really easily!
2. Add 1/4 of your marinade to your prepared chicken thigh meat, stir and let it marinate while preparing the rest of your veggies (15-30 min).
3. Heat a large wok or heavy-bottomed saute pan over high heat. Add 1/2 cup water. As soon as it boils, add broccoli, carrot and asparagus. Cover and let it steam cook for 2 minutes over high heat until the veggies are crisp tender and bright green. Remove veggies to a bowl then rinse and dry your pan.
4. Again, heat the pan over high heat and stir in 1 1/2 Tbsp oil. Add diced onion and saute 1 minute, stirring constantly.
5. Add the marinated chicken to the hot skillet in a single layer. Let the chicken sit untouched for 2 minutes until browned, then stir to brown the other side. Once chicken is almost cooked, add the reserved marinade and simmer 3 minutes or until sauce thickens. Stir in the vegetables and continue to cook another minute. Chicken should be fully cooked.
Sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds and serve over hot rice.
Orange Chicken and Vegetable Stir Fry
![A plate of orange chicken and vegetable stir fry with a bowl of rice behind it](https://natashaskitchen.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Orange-Chicken-and-Vegetable-Stir-Fry-4-2-150x150.jpg)
Ingredients
Stir-Fry Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 Tbsp cooking Oil, I used extra light olive oil
- 1 small onion, finely diced
- 1 lb to 1 1/4 lb chicken thighs, trimmed and cut into 1" pieces
- 5-6 cups broccoli florets, from 1 large head of broccoli
- 1 bunch asparagus spears, bases trimmed and cut into 1" pieces
- 1 large carrot, sliced into matchsticks
Marinade Ingredients:
- 1/4 cup cold water
- 1/2 Tbsp corn starch
- 1/2 Tbsp grated orange zest, zest from 1/2 orange
- 1/2 cup freshly squeezed orange juice, from the same orange
- 4 Tbsp soy sauce
- 2 tsp sesame oil
- 1 Tbsp fresh ginger, grated
- 3 garlic cloves, finely minced
- 2 Tbsp honey
Serving/Garnish:
- Toasted sesame seeds, medium heat 2 minutes, tossing frequently
- 6 cups of hot cooked white rice, = 2 cups dry rice
Instructions
- In a bowl, whisk together the 1/4 cup cold water and 1/2 Tbsp starch, then whisk in the rest of the Marinade Ingredients: 1/2 Tbsp orange zest, 1/2 cup fresh OJ, 4 Tbsp soy sauce, 2 tsp sesame oil, 1 Tbsp grated fresh ginger, 3 minced garlic cloves and 2 Tbsp honey.
- Add 1/4 of your marinade to your prepared chicken thigh meat, stir and let it marinate while preparing the rest of your veggies (15-30 min).
- Heat a large wok or heavy-bottomed saute pan over high heat. Add 1/2 cup water. As soon as it boils, add broccoli, carrot and asparagus. Cover and let it steam cook for 2 minutes over high heat until the veggies are crisp tender and bright green. Remove veggies to a bowl then rinse and dry your pan.
- Again, heat the pan over high heat and stir in 1 1/2 Tbsp oil. Add diced onion and saute 1 minute, stirring constantly.
- Add the marinated chicken to the hot skillet in a single layer. Let the chicken sit untouched for 2 minutes until browned, then stir to brown the other side. Once chicken is almost cooked, add the reserved marinade and simmer 3 minutes or until sauce thickens. Stir in the vegetables and continue to cook another minute. Chicken should be fully cooked. Sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds and serve over hot rice.
My sister and I made this recipe for dinner today. It was so good! Our family loved it! Thanks Natasha for the recipe!
You’re welcome! I’m so happy you enjoyed it, Zoie!
I would love to make this recipe but have a honey allergy. What do you recommend to replace honey?
HI Debbie, brown sugar is also a great option.
Delicious! Added to my favorites!
I’m happy to hear the recipe made it into your regular rotation! Thanks for sharing your excellent review Fenna!
This was okay, but I probably won’t make it again. It was missing something, but I can’t place what it is.
Hi and thank you for your feedback. Was anything changed/omitted/replaced anything in the recipe? Was low sodium soy sauce used possibly?
I saw your recipe an had to try it ! Have you tried marinating over night rather than just 15 – 30 minutes ? i have never made this recipe but I am thinking longer would make it better ? needed to ask somebody who has made this before.
Hi Sheila, it isn’t necessary to marinate this for a long time so I haven’t tried leaving it overnight.
Thanks, after reading the recipe better i felt silly asking that. Making this for dinner tonight for the family. I am not very good at cooking stir fry veggies. I am afraid the broccoli will not get done enough i usually steam mine.
No worries Sheila, it’s my pleasure!
If you leave chicken overnight in a citric acid, it will partially cook the chicken.
Hi Autumn, this recipe does not require a long marinating time so there is no concern with partially cooking the chicken in the citric acid.
This is a silly question, but why not use chicken breast since it’s leaner? Does it make any difference in the taste?
Hi Daniela, I prefer chicken thighs because they are more forgiving if overcooked, juicier and more flavorful, but I think you could make it work fine with chicken breast 🙂
This was so so good!
Thank you Inna 😄.
So yummy, really liked the marinade. Made a little change and used frozen veggies but still really good.
Elena, thank you for the nice review. I’m glad you liked it 😁.
hi can i not use sesame oil or can i use normal cooking oil instead of sesame oil. looking good wants to make this
The sesame oil adds great authentic flavor – I use it in all of my stir fry’s, not because it’s an oil, but because of the flavor it provides. You can omit it in the recipe but it won’t taste quite the same 🙂
So, this was on the menu tonight and it was great!!! I used green beans instead of asparagus and added mushroom and tofu 🙂 It was delicious!! We had it over brown rice. Yum! My baby loved it! First time she swallowed her dinner!!! (green bean, carrot, a very small piece of chicken, and tofu). Thank you!!!
That’s so sweet that you both enjoyed it 🙂
Making this tomorrow night and can’t wait to try it. Since it’s just me, I usually spend Saturday cooking three different entrees and potion out a week’s worth of healthy lunches and dinners.
If anyone wants to know the basic nutrition info, I calculated it because I’m trying to lose weight and wanted to know the calories etc. for my tracking. Without the rice, it has 238 calories, 8.3 grams fat, 23 grams carbohydrates, 5.25 grams fiber, and 23 grams of protein. Hope this is helpful.
Thanks very much for the nutritional information! I had been looking for it.
This is delicious and light. Appreciated a weeknight dinner that left us feeling NOT stuffed 🙂 ifi I wanted it a little sweeter, should I simply add more honey?
Yes, you could definitely add more honey to make it sweeter :). I’m so happy you enjoyed it 🙂
Recipe looks really GOOD! im planning to make this this week but instead of buying asparagas i bought green beans, for some reason i thought it was green beans, so my question is, can I use green beans instead of asparagus ? will it be ok still?
Yes I think that would be fine 🙂
I just discovered your blog , putting it on my side bar..
Thanks for this great recipe.. I will surely try it out
Hi Mahek and welcome to my blog! 🙂
Hi natasha, quick question, is it one TSP or TBSP of corn starch? in ingredients its one tablespoon and in steps its teaspoon, am i missing something? THANKS!
It’s supposed to be 1/2 Tbsp or 1 1/2 tsp. Sorry about that! I’m so glad you asked. It’s fixed now.
I made this dish last night according to your recipe…not sure why but it had some bitterness to it and although I could taste the freshness of ginger, I was missing something…any idea what could have gone wrong or is it supposed to taste a little bitter? Could it be the orange zest (I was careful though not to grate any of the white layer underneath the skin)?
Still, my 5-year-old like it and cleaned the plate 🙂
Greetings!
Was your garlic fresh? Sometimes if the garlic is already green inside, it can be bitter. Was your orange unusually large?
My orange was large and when I was squeezing the juice out of it, it literally fell apart in my hands. I thought that was a bit odd because I would expect it to stay in one piece, but then I thought that maybe it fell apart because I took all the zest off. I will try with smaller oranges next time and let you know. Thanks!
If I make this again I’m going to cut the soy sauce in half. Too salty.
I have a quick question. What if I skip the sesame oil? Would that make a huge difference? I have all the other ingredients except that
The sesame oil gives it some very good authentic flavor!
This is great recipe, i don’t like ginger, so i didn’t add it. I loved this dish so much, feels healthy. Thank you!
p.s. also i added salt, you don’t have listed 🙂
I don’t usually add it since the soy sauce has tons of salt in it, but I imagine a little salt would be nice too 🙂
It is quite a bit healthier than take-out, but sure hits the spot. 🙂 You’re welcome and I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
Hi! For how many persons is this recipe? From the pics seems a lot but we are only two eaters here 😀
This dish make around 6 servings :).
Yummy!!! That looks delicious! Definitely on my to try list 🙂
Thanks Lea 🙂 I hope it Wows you 😉
Hey Natasha….you r so preety and slim.
I liked this recipe n ready to print.
Could u please fix or in 7th step
7. Sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds and serve or hot rice.
Do u know I have print outs of all the salads in ur blog….
Thank you so much for pointing that out! I always appreciate when someone corrects my mistakes before I embarrass myself further. lol. That’s awesome about the salads! You probably have a book by now 🙂
Thank you, Natasha. This recipe is long, but it sounds good. Have a Great Day!
It just looks like alot of steps. I guess I could cut down the # of steps. It really is a pretty easy recipe. I hope you love it. Thanks Liz and you have an awesome day too!
Looks so tasty, not to mention so much healthier than a takeout! You know exactly what is in that stir fry! Pinned.
Exactly! No MSG and only the best ingredients. 🙂 thanks Julia
I love all the veggies in this dish! Such a great way to add a dose of vitamins that are loaded with flavor. I’m excited to try this. 🙂
Olga I hope you love it!
Awesome! I love Asian food, especially my husband. This Will be tomorrows
dinner! Thanks Natasha 🙂
Oh I hope you both love it! 🙂
I really love all of the flavors here!
Thanks Jen 🙂 Me too. They go together so well!
I have all the ingredients except for ginger and asparagus, too bad, this was going to be a great dinner idea. Maybe tomorrow I’ll do some shopping. This looks delish.
You should definitely try the fresh ginger. You could just use extra broccoli also if the asparagus is hard to come by, but both are nice 🙂
I had my husband buy all the ingredients (except I forgot to tell him to get sesame seeds :-(. It turned out really well, did everything exactly as recipe called for, except I had to cut another orange for the OJ, since my orange didn’t have enough juice for a half cup. I’m sure going to make this again.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it 🙂 the sesame seeds are nice but not absolutely necessary 😉