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Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Crock Pot Orange Chicken


Mmmmm, orange chicken at home. Chinese takeout at home! If you haven't visited Stephanie O'dea's slow-cooking blog, you might want to take a browse through. She made a goal to cook via a slow-cooker for one year. She did it and was so successful that she made a cookbook out of it!

This orange chicken is one of her recipes, but I actually found it via Sweet Tea in Texas.

Ingredients

1 1/2 pounds boneless chicken, cut in 2-inch chunks
1/2 cup flour
olive oil, for browning the chicken
1 tablespoon kosher salt (If you are using iodized salt, I'd suggest using 1 to 1 1/2 teaspoons)
6 ounces (1/2 can) frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed (little-to-no pulp. The pulp can taste a bit bitter when cooked)
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
3 tablespoons ketchup

Directions

Use a 4 quart slow cooker for best results. Dredge the chicken pieces with the flour, and shake off the excess. Go ahead and throw away any remaining flour, we won’t need it. Heat olive oil in a large skillet on the stove and brown the chicken on all sides. There is no need to fully cook it, just sear it enough for the flour to stick and get a nice coating.

Plop the chicken pieces into your slow cooker. In a small mixing bowl, combine the orange juice concentrate, brown sugar, balsamic vinegar, salt, and ketchup. Taste. If you’d like the chicken to be a bit sweeter, add a touch more sugar. Pour sauce mixture evenly over the chicken, and toss gingerly to coat.

Cover and cook on low for 6 hours, or on high for 3 to 4. Serve over white or brown rice.


Here are the suggestions that I would have:

If you like ORANGE chicken to taste like orange, then don't do a thing. This is the perfect recipe for you. I've read comments on several different blogs, and those who love orange flavor for their orange chicken love the taste of this recipe.

If you are expecting your orange chicken to taste more like Panda Express or perhaps your favorite Chinese restaurant, then there needs to be some changes made to this recipe. This recipe needs 6 ounces of orange concentrate, but perhaps 4 ounces of orange concentrate and 2 ounces of soy sauce might get you closer to the Panda Express type taste. I also think adding 1/4 teaspoon of ground ginger might be a nice addition as well.

I think You're Gonna Bake it After All had a great perspective on this recipe.

Additionally, I used a larger Crock Pot, and this really only took about an hour and half to cook. This isn't a recipe I'd prepare before work; just wait and do it as soon as you get home.

12 comments:

  1. I want to try this one! I love orange chicken.

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  2. Omg we had this last night and it was awesome! I used soy as well and more brown sugar. My hubby can't stop talking about it. Do you have nutrition facts on it?

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  3. I live in costa rica and we can't buy orange juice concentrate. Any ideas on how I could substitute for this?

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  4. I put in some orange zest. Very good!

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  5. I have it cooking....Panda Express style (add soy, subtract OJ)
    Would advise less soy for sure....

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  6. Red pepper flakes if you want some heat:)

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  7. TERRIBLE cooking instructions!!! LOW for SIX hours? No way....I cooked it on low for three hours, then turned it to the warm setting and it was STILL overcooked. The sugar burnt on the bottom. What a waste of time.

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    1. Had you read further it states she lowered the cooking time. Read the entire blog before you feel necessary to start complaining about the instructions please.

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  8. You need to change the cooking instructions that are IN THE ACTUAL RECIPE...putting, "Additionally, I used a larger Crock Pot, and this really only took about an hour and half to cook. This isn't a recipe I'd prepare before work; just wait and do it as soon as you get home."-doesn't help anyone.

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    1. It certainly helped me. Turned out amazing for me. Read the entire blog before you feel necessary to start complaining about the instructions please.

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  9. Just tried this recipe, DELICIOUS!!! I used a 6 qt and put it on high for just under 2 hrs. (glad I read the whole blog) The sauce was a little too orange-y for me so i'll use less concentrate next time but the chicken was cooked to perfection! Only problem i had was the sauce was very thin. Any ideas on how to improve this in the future? Would adding flour or cornstarch throw off the flavor at all? Thanks!

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