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Spicy Mandarin Orange Chicken

April 27, 2012 by Erin, The $5 Dinner Mom 6 Comments

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spicy mandarin orange chicken

Emily emailed me this recipe…I’ve been wanting to try it, but didn’t want to have to buy a jar of orange marmalade only to use a little for this recipe and then let the jar sit in the fridge. Neither my husband and I are huge orange marmalade fans, another reason I knew it would go to waste after just using a few spoonfuls. I spotted the sweet chili sauce in the fridge and new it would make a great substitute…same consistency, similar sweetness, but also had a little kick to it. (Plus I knew I’d purchased it for free (with sale and coupon), so I knew using it would help keep the cost of our dinner around $5…wahoo!)

So I went for it.

And this is how it played out…

Some of the players.

Combine the Frank’s sweet chili, orange juice, minced garlic, minced onion and ginger.

Yummmmilicious sauce!

(This is the second bag of organic veggies I got last week for $.89. Also, got some green beans.)

Zest it up. Add orange zest to flour mixture.

Chicken pieces being coated in the flour/orange peel mixture.

Brown them.

Sauce them.

Orange them.

spicy mandarin orange chicken

Serve them up.

Polished…each of the plates at our dinner table were polished. Everyone, big and small, loved this meal!

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Spicy Mandarin Orange Chicken

Polished...each of the plates at our dinner table were polished. Everyone, big and small, loved this meal!
Prep Time10 minutes minutes
Cook Time10 minutes minutes
Servings - 4 servings

Ingredients 

  • 1 1/2 cup rice
  • 2 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut into bite size chunks
  • 1/2 cup flour
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • 1 tsp onion powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 2 tsp orange peel grated
  • 2 Tbsp olive oil
  • 1/2 cup Frank's sweet chili sauce
  • 1/4 cup orange juice
  • 1 Tbsp minced onion
  • 1 tsp minced garlic
  • 1 tsp ground ginger
  • 20 oz. can mandarin oranges drained well
  • Veggies side dish or mixed in

Instructions

  • Start cooking the rice and cut up the chicken.
  • Mix together the flour, garlic powder, onion powder, salt and orange peel in a plastic bag or container of some kind. Toss the chicken pieces in the bag until they are fully coated.
  • In a large skillet, heat the oil and then add the coated chicken pieces and toss often to brown all sides.
  • In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the sweet chili sauce, orange juice, minced onion, minced garlic and ground ginger. Once the chicken pieces have browned, pour the sauce over the top. Cover the skillet and let cook for 4 to 6 minutes, or until the chicken has cooked through. Stir once or twice to keep from sticking to the bottom of the skillet. If necessary, deglaze the skillet with orange juice.
  • Once the chicken has cooked through, stir in the mandarin orange segments and let warm over low heat for a few minutes.
  • Prepare veggies.
  • Serve Spicy Mandarin Orange Chicken over rice with side of veggies.
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Filed Under: 30 Minute Meals, Budget Friendly Recipes, Chicken Recipes, Rice Recipes

Comments

  1. MH in OH says

    April 27, 2012 at 8:34 pm

    Sounds good. I don’t see the can of mandarin oranges in the list of ingredients?

    Reply
    • Erin, The $5 Dinner Mom says

      April 28, 2012 at 12:20 pm

      Just added it in! Sorry!

      Erin

      Reply
  2. Diane says

    April 28, 2012 at 4:15 pm

    Did not even know Frank’s Sweet Chili Sauce existed. Bought it today and making this tomorrow. My son loves spicy Asian food and broccoli! Might even throw in a few Asian dumplings from Trader Joe’s to stretch it for 5!

    Reply
  3. karen hiebert says

    May 6, 2012 at 6:45 pm

    is there a substitute you can use for the sweet chili sauce? Or how spicy is it with the chili sauce?

    Reply
  4. Janet says

    May 7, 2012 at 5:37 pm

    If you read the paragraph at the top of the page she said the original recipe called for orange marmalade but she didn’t have any. It won’t be spicy that way, but that is my families preference anyway. We are have this tonight.

    Reply
  5. Andrea says

    May 21, 2012 at 8:19 pm

    This recipe was AMAZING!!! My husband and I couldn’t get enough!!!

    Reply

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