This Weight Watchers Orange Chicken Recipe is delicious! Weight Watchers Chinese recipes help you feel full and satisfied after dinner. This Instant Pot Orange Chicken is a great family friendly meal.
Weight Watchers Orange Chicken
Takeout foods and fast foods are high in Freestyle Smart Points. That’s never going to change.
The best option when those cravings hit is to find a way to duplicate those flavors at home in a healthy way. My Weight Watchers orange chicken does just that!
You’ll love how easy it is to make this Instant Pot orange chicken at home and the price tag is a nice bonus as well. No more wasted points or wasted dollars.
Is this a one pot Weight Watchers Freestyle meal?
Yes! You can make this Weight Watchers orange chicken at home in one pot. Stovetop directions are also included in the printable recipe below.
Use frozen or minute brown rice so that you don’t have to dirty another dish to make the rice and you have a whole meal for family dinner on the table quickly and easily with almost no clean up.
Do you have more healthy Instant Pot recipes for me to try?
I have so many other tasty and healthy Instant Pot recipes as well. I have this healthy chicken lo mein that could go nicely with this Weight Watchers orange chicken!
Here are a few other Weight Watchers Freestyle recipes that I think you’ll love as well:
- Breakfast Fried Rice
- Crockpot Pork Carnitas
- Instant Pot Burrito Bowl
- Buffalo Chicken Dip
- Tuscan Chicken Pasta
How many Freestyle Smart Points are in each serving of your orange chicken?
1 Serving (Recipe Serves 4) is 3 Freestyle Smart Points. If you want to reduce the points from the honey, use Stevia as the sweetener. The points in this recipe come from the honey and juice from the orange.
I use the Weight Watchers online recipe creator to make my recipes. It takes all the ingredients and values and gives me the points info–if you change any of this recipe, make sure to check your points online.
How to make Weight Watchers orange chicken in the Instant Pot:
1.Saute your broth, aminos (or soy sauce, but remember to recalculate your points), vinegar, honey, ginger, red peppers, garlic, orange zest, and orange juice. For the orange juice, I zested an orange and then used a squeezer to extract the juice.
2. When the sauce bubbles, add in the diced chicken. The recipe calls for partially frozen chicken because it’s so much easier to cut than raw chicken.
3. Stir until the all the chicken has been coated.
4. Lock the lid into place move your valve to sealing. Cook partially frozen chicken on high pressure using the manual function for 7 minutes. Fully defrosted chicken cook for 5 minutes. When done cooking, turn off the Instant Pot and let the pressure naturally release–this allows time for the chicken to finish cooking and stay tender.
5. Remove the lid from your pressure cooker. Scoop out about a cup of the sauce and put it into a bowl. Whisk arrowroot powder (or cornstarch) in the bowl and then slowly mix the sauce back into the pot.
6. Let the sauce warm to allow it to thicken–this step is not necessary, but delicious if you have the time to wait. It usually takes 5-10 minutes for the sauce to thicken.
7. Serve over brown rice or quinoa with veggies on the side.
Any tips for making life with the Instant Pot easier?
Yes! If you get white spots in your IP after cooking, clean it with BarKeeper’s Friend and it’ll look brand new again. Another trick that I’ve recently learned is that altitude can have an impact on cooking time with the Instant Pot! What I’m making here might not be the same for you so check out this post to help!
Can I make this Weight Watchers orange chicken on the stovetop?
1) On medium heat, sauté together broth, aminos (or soy sauce), vinegar, honey, ginger, red peppers, garlic, orange zest, and orange juice in a large pan.
2) When the sauce starts to boil, add the thawed chicken. Stir until the all the chicken has been coated.
3) Cook chicken on medium temperature for approximately 10 minutes.
4) Scoop out some of the sauce and whisk arrowroot powder or cornstarch into the sauce. After, mix the thickened sauce back into the pan and wait 5-10 minutes for the sauce to thicken.
5) Serve over brown rice with grilled veggies on the side.
Weight Watchers Orange Chicken
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup chicken broth low sodium
- 1/4 cup coconut aminos or low sodium tamari or soy sauce
- 1/4 cup vinegar rice vinegar
- 6 tsp honey
- 1 tbsp ginger
- 1 tsp crushed red peppers
- 2 cloves minced garlic
- orange zest from 1 whole orange
- orange juice from 1 whole orange
- 1.5 lbs chicken breast cut into 1 inch cubes, partially frozen
- 2 tsp arrowroot powder or corn starch
Instructions
- Saute broth, aminos (or soy sauce, but remember to recalculate your points), vinegar, honey, ginger, red peppers, garlic, orange zest, and orange juice. For the orange juice, I zested an orange and then used a squeezer to extract the juice.
- When the sauce bubbles, add in the diced chicken. The recipe calls for partially frozen chicken because it's so much easier to cut than raw chicken.
- Stir until the all the chicken has been coated.
- Lock the lid into place move your valve to sealing. Cook partially frozen chicken on high pressure using the manual function for 7 minutes. Fully defrosted chicken cook for 5 minutes. When done cooking, turn off the Instant Pot and let the pressure naturally release–this allows time for the chicken to finish cooking and stay tender.
- Remove the lid from your pressure cooker. Scoop out about a cup of the sauce and put it into a bowl. Whisk arrowroot powder (or cornstarch) in the bowl and then slowly mix the sauce back into the pot.
- Let the sauce warm to allow it to thicken–this step is not necessary, but delicious if you have the time to wait. It usually takes 5-10 minutes for the sauce to thicken.
Stovetop Directions:
- On medium heat, sauté together broth, aminos, vinegar, honey, ginger, red peppers, garlic, orange zest, and orange juice in a large pan. We used the juice from the same orange we got the zest from.
- When the sauce starts to boil, add the THAWED chicken. Stir until the all the chicken has been coated.
- Cook chicken on medium temperature for approximately 10 minutes.
- Use a measuring cup to scoop up some of the sauce. Whisk the arrowroot powder into the sauce in the measuring cup, then mix the thicken sauce back into the pan. Let the sauce thicken.
- Serve over brown rice with grilled veggies on the side.
I’m always on the hunt for a delicious, healthy chicken idea. This one is perfect!
FINALLY! Orange chicken without guilt :D Thank you for sharing!
You’re so welcome!!
Yes! Gotta love orange chicken without guilt :) Thank you for sharing!
If you added broccoli and bell peppers to this recipe, would the sauce not be enough or would the veggies overcook?
I’d double to sauce! And I’d add the veggies after cooking, close the lid and give them 3-5 minutes depending on how much you like them cooked.