Slow Cooker Orange Chicken

Do you know that song, “Anything you can do” from “Annie Get Your Gun”? To be honest, I’ve never seen the musical or the movie. BUT I know the song well because a few years ago (and by a few I mean 15 years ago) I was traveling in the car with my baby cousin and the only thing that would make him stop crying was that song. So we listened to it for THREE hours. Clearly it still haunts me.

Anyway, the song has been my mantra lately because I’ve been really into recreating my favorite restaurant recipes! (Example: Asian chickenlettuce wraps) This week I decided that I would recreate orange chicken! And not just recreate it – I decided to recreate it in the slow cooker!

While reading the ingredients in this recipe, you make think to yourself, “Hmmm I wonder if I can make any substitutions.” The answer to that is yes, BUT I cannot promise the results will be the same! You see, I spent a lot of time working on this recipe, and there were trials and errors. The recipe below is the exact combination of ingredients that I think works the best. So if you make substitutions, I’m sure it will still be tasty, but I can’t promise it will taste the same.

IMPORTANT: As you can see in the recipe directions, you use half of the marinade to, of course, marinate the chicken, and then you use the other half to make a sauce once the chicken is done cooking. So make sure to split the marinade in half! Once the marinade has touched the raw chicken it can no longer be used as the sauce.

Slow Cooker Orange Chicken

Yield: Makes about 4 servings

Ingredients

• 1 and 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breast
• 3/4 cup orange juice concentrate
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1/4 cup rice vinegar
• 1/4 cup Sriracha
• 2 Tablespoons minced garlic
• 1 Tablespoon grated fresh ginger
• 1 Tablespoon brown sugar
• 1 Tablespoon orange zest
• 1 Tablespoon corn starch

Directions

1. Cut chicken into bite-size pieces; set aside
2. In a bowl, whisk together orange juice concentrate, soy sauce, rice vinegar, Sriracha, minced garlic, fresh ginger, brown sugar, and orange zest.
3. Place chicken in large Ziploc bag and pour 1/2 of marinade over chicken. Seal bag and marinate in refrigerator at least 1 hour but preferably overnight.
4. Put other half of marinade in sealed container and refrigerate for later. This will be your sauce.
5. Once chicken is done marinating, dump entire Ziploc bag of chicken with its marinade in the slow cooker. Cook chicken on low until chicken is no longer pink (in my slow cooker, chicken is done after about four hours).
6. When chicken is done cooking, take other half of marinade out of refrigerator.
7. Put marinade in pan and heat on stove to boiling at medium-high heat.
8. In small bowl, whisk together cornstarch and 1 tablespoon water; add to sauce on stove top and boil 1 minute, stirring constantly. The sauce will thicken significantly.
9. Remove sauce from heat and add chicken from slow cooker to sauce and combine. Serve over rice or quinoa and sprinkle green onions and sesame seeds on top.