Light Orange Chicken Recipe - 3 Points | LaaLoosh (2024)

FAQs

Can I eat orange chicken on a diet? ›

Is Orange Chicken Healthy? Traditional Chinese Orange Chicken is loaded with lots of excess fat, salt, carbs and sugar thanks to the batter, frying oil and sweet orange-flavored chili sauce, so it's not necessarily the healthiest option.

How to make the orange chicken sauce. The orange sauce is made from a mixture of the orange juice and zest, sugar, soy sauce, garlic, ginger and rice vinegar. This is bubbled up in the wok until slightly thickened. The chicken is then added back in, and tossed in the sauce until fully coated.

Traditional orange chicken uses large amounts of brown sugar and is deep fried in vegetable oil or canola oil – packing on the calories and making it a high fat meal.

Tangerine chicken tastes fresh and spicy, but orange chicken tastes sweet and sour. Orange chicken is crispy cooked in a sweet and little spicy orange sauce. The sweetness of orange chicken was introduced to cater to American tastes.

✗ Orange Chicken

In fact, it's one of the highest-calorie, highest-sugar options. (No wonder its sauce is so finger-licking sweet!) The version of this Chinese-American classic at Panda Express comes with 490 calories, 23g total fat, 5g saturated fat, 51g carbohydrate, 25g protein, and 820mg sodium.

Unfortunately, most of the fast food chains' menu items aren't very healthy. Fan-favorites like the Beijing Beef and Orange Chicken contain more calories, sugar, and sodium than you'd think. But fear not, Panda Express healthy options do exist.

True Chinese-style orange chicken is made with sliced fresh chicken—not the battered and fried stuff you'll find in the US—and is flavored not with fresh orange, but with dried orange or tangerine peel.

This Chinese Orange Chicken is made with boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into bite-size pieces, dredged, and then fried until golden and crispy. The orange sauce is divine! It is a sweet orange sauce made with orange juice, vinegar, garlic, sugar, soy sauce, ginger, red chili flakes, and orange zest.

For starters, "The orange chicken is deep-fried, which adds a significant amount of unhealthy fats and calories to the dish," says Young, who adds that "the sauce on the Orange Chicken also contributes to its high calorie and sugar content."

What is healthy at Panda Express? ›

No, it is not. Traditional orange chicken is full of fats, carbohydrates, added sugars and a lot of salt, all things that are not good for your body, weight management, or overall health.

General Tso if you like a bit of spice. Orange chicken if you want something a bit sweeter.

Takeout orange chicken is not very healthy because it's loaded with sugar and deep-fried as well. But this homemade version is a healthier alternative made from whole food ingredients with no added sugar and no deep frying involved. When you pair it with some veggies it is a healthy option!

Ingredients: dark meat chicken, water, sugar, distilled vinegar, modified food starch, corn starch, potato starch, contains less than 2% of: wheat, orange extract, caramel color, salt, garlic, phosphoric acid, rice wine, sesame oil. *The dish uses a proprietary batter and sauce.

Orange chicken (1 cup) contains 60.8g total carbs, 59.6g net carbs, 11.2g fat, 29.2g protein, and 465 calories.