Chicken in Orange Sauce

 

An elegant orange sauce for chicken recipe. Pan fried chicken breast in a velvety sauce made with fresh orange juice.

 

ORANGE CHICKEN SAUCE

Make this beautiful orange sauce for chicken recipe for a quick, healthy and delicious dinner!

I have a problem with this orange series: I’ve cooked 11 different recipes, sweet and savory, and I loved each one of them.

And that is a problem, because I have a really hard time now in choosing those recipes that I will share with you. There are only 4 posting days left this month, so I really have to decide what to post now and what to leave for some other future occasion.

 

 

INGREDIENTS FOR ORANGE CHICKEN SAUCE

Oranges:

• To make the orange sauce for chicken you will need about 200 ml/ 6.7 fl.oz/ about ¾ cup freshly squeezed orange juice and some orange zest.
• Whenever I need the zest of oranges or lemons, I prefer to buy organic produce. However, either organic or not make sure to properly wash and dry the citrus fruit before zesting it.

Chicken stock:

• I usually use homemade chicken stock because I always have it in the fridge or freezer. However, you can use your favorite brand of chicken stock as well.

Cognac:

• The cognac adds a special flavor to the chicken in orange sauce. However, if you don’t have or do not like to add alcohol to food, you can leave it out.

Butter:

• I used unsalted butter.

 

 

HOW TO MAKE ORANGE SAUCE FOR CHICKEN?

Start by making the orange sauce, it needs to cook a little bit longer than the chicken. But make sure that the chicken is cooked by the time the sauce is ready, you should serve the orange sauce for chicken immediately.

1. Zest one orange, you will need about 1 teaspoon zest. Juice both oranges, you will need 200 ml/ about ¾ cup orange juice.
2. Caramelize the icing sugar in a small saucepan.
3. Add the orange juice and the chicken stock and stir to dissolve the sugar clumps.
4. Add the orange zest, bring everything to a boil and reduce the liquid to half. This will take about 10 to 15 minutes.
5. Add salt, pepper and 1 or 2 tablespoons cognac (to taste) and sieve the sauce through a fine mesh sieve.
6. Pour the sauce back into the saucepan.
7. Cut the cold butter into small cubes and give the cubes to the sauce, one after another, while stirring all the time.

 

HOW TO COOK CHICKEN BREAST IN A PAN?

Chicken is my favorite kind of meat, I eat it often and I have cooked it in a thousand different ways, but this way of cooking it kind of stands out.

It is very simple and fast, you just cannot go wrong when making it, beside the chicken breast you will only need a few spices and the result is fantastic: the juiciest, best chicken breasts I know.

And you can combine it with whatever else you like, different kind of sauces, potatoes or sweet potatoes, rice or noodles, any veggies you can think of, you can put it in a sandwich when cold or throw on top of a salad, there are really no limits here.

1. While the sauce is cooking prepare the chicken breasts.
2. If you have 2 large chicken breasts, slice them diagonally to obtain 2 thinner pieces.
3. Place the chicken breasts between 2 layers of plastic foil and pound them using a meat pounder (I use the bottom of a small, heavy saucepan to pound the meat).
4. Make sure that the chicken pieces are evenly thick all over.
5. Sprinkle with paprika, salt and pepper on both sides. You can choose other spices if you wish.
6. Heat the olive oil in a large, cast iron pan.
7. Cook the chicken, 3 minutes per side or until cooked through. Do not overcook!
8. Place on a warm plate, cover loosely with aluminum foil and let rest for 5 to 10 minutes or until the orange sauce for chicken is ready.

 

 

OTHER USES FOR THE ORANGE SAUCE

I think the main reason to have chosen this particular chicken recipe is the fact that this sauce can be made and enjoyed not only with chicken but also with fish.

This fresh orange sauce pairs just as good with fish (salmon or another sort) as it does with chicken breast.

And although I haven’t tried, I am pretty sure you could also serve this sauce to duck breast or pork tenderloin.

 

 

You may also like:

Orange Salmon with Dill and Orange Rice

Italian Lemon Chicken

Baked Chicken Thighs, Basic Recipe