So here's the thing, guys: I'm happiest when I'm eating paleo. And I don't just mean that my body's the happiest when I don't feed it grains and sugar and dairy (which it is), it's just that I'm happier. Is that weird?
You can be honest with me; I can take it. It is a bit odd, right? The thing is, I get silly happy when I sit down at the table, and there's a plate of crazy delish paleo orange chicken, and some rice that you'd swear is rice but is really just cauliflower. A big plate of veggies with a side of meat … what more could a person ask for?
If you've ever thought that eating a paleo diet means that you have to sacrifice I dare you to take one bite of this paleo orange chicken and then say that to me with a straight face. Betcha can't do it. 🙂
Actually I bet the real reason you wouldn't be able to is that you'd be too busy eating/ licking your fingers/ scraping every last bit of the glaze off your plate. And really, who can bother with silly things like bets when there's a plate of paleo orange chicken calling your name? Not me, that's for sure.
I'm really excited for you guys to try this; I just know you're going to love it. And don't be scared off by the whole ‘paleo' thing … this is just damn good chicken. And btw: this whole dinner takes only 25 minutes to make. Awesome, right?!
I've made this paleo orange chicken with skinless thighs to help cut back on those pesky calories. If you're worried at all that skinless will mean flavourless, trust me on this one: there's so much flavour going on here. Like, ridiculous amounts of sweet, orange-y deliciousness.
Turns out that paleo orange chicken kicks ass on Chinese delivery orange chicken. Big time. ♥
If you make this Paleo Orange Chicken, make sure to snap a pic and tag @theendlessmeal on Instagram so I can like and comment on your pictures!
Paleo Orange Chicken with Cauliflower Rice
Yield: 4 1x
Print Recipe
Pin RecipeDescription
This easy to make paleo orange chicken is coated in a ginger glaze and served alongside low-carb, paleo cauliflower ‘rice'. It's naturally gluten free and grain free.
Ingredients
- 1 teaspoon grape seed oil
- 8 bone-in chicken thighs, skinless
- 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/4 teaspoon fresh cracked pepper
- Juice from 1 naval orange, about 1/2 cup
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- 1 tablespoons soy sauce (or coconut aminos for paleo)
- 1/4 teaspoon chili flakes
- 1 –1 “piece of ginger, grated on a microplane or very finely minced
- 2 garlic grated on a microplane or very finely minced
- 1 teaspoon tapioca starch
- A pinch of turmeric, for colour
- Toasted sesame seeds, cilantro and orange wedges, to serve
For the cauliflower rice:
- 1 teaspoon grape seed oil
- 1 medium head of cauliflower, grated (a food processor makes quick work of this!)
- 1 garlic clove, very finely minced
- 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a large frying pan over high heat. Sprinkle the chicken thighs with the sea salt and pepper and add them to the pan. Sear the chicken thighs for 3-5 minutes on each side, or until both sides are well browned. Remove the pan from the heat.
- While the chicken is searing, prepare the orange glaze. In a medium sized bowl whisk together the orange juice, honey, sesame oil, soy sauce, chili flakes, ginger, garlic, tapioca starch and optional turmeric.
- Pour the sauce over the seared chicken and bring it to a boil. Lower the heat so that the chicken is barely simmering, cover the pan and let it cook for 10 minutes. Flip the chicken over and cook for another 10 minutes. Flipping the chicken over isn't necessary for cooking it, but it does help the colour develop on both sides, so it looks even better.
For the cauliflower rice:
- While the chicken is cooking, prepare the rice. Heat the oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Add the grated cauliflower and cook for 5 minutes, or until the cauliflower no longer tastes raw. Add the garlic and sea salt and toss well.
- If the cauliflower is ready before the chicken simply remove the pan from the heat and keep it covered until the chicken is done.
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Kristen Stevens
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Hi, I’m Kristen! 
Kim says
January 12, 2018 at 5:22 pmAny ideas on how to do this with chicken breast? My kids are picky and won’t eat thighs, so I wanted to try it with breasts instead.
Kristen Stevens says
January 23, 2018 at 10:22 amYou could definitely use chicken breasts instead. They’ll take about as long as bone in thighs to cook so you can simply follow the recipe. 🙂
Kym says
January 27, 2018 at 6:48 pmI’m so excited I found this recipe! We made it tonight with wild duck breast and it was one of my fav wild game dishes to date, thank you!!!
Kristen Stevens says
January 27, 2018 at 8:03 pmAwesome call on the wild duck!!!
Betty says
March 28, 2017 at 3:43 pmThis looks delicious but I cannot believe the Grapeseed oil recommendation. This product is mostly made of polyunsaturated fats (PUFAs) like omega-6s and omega-9 fatty acids which are NOT good for you….I will try the excellent recipe with the exception of the Grapeseed oil. Saturated fat with omega 3 is much healthier.
★★★
Kristen Stevens says
March 28, 2017 at 4:50 pmI agree with you about the grapeseed oil! I do use it as it’s a neutral flavored oil and so doesn’t impart a taste in the recipe. If you have a different oil you prefer, definitely use that instead!
Ricihard Kohout says
January 27, 2018 at 12:18 pmYou should use either avocado oil or MCT C8 oil, much better for you and imparts now flavor to recipes.
Olivia says
March 9, 2017 at 8:17 amThis is the first recipe I have made from your blog and it was amazing! I am so impressed. I made it with a side of sweet potatoes- yum! Now it’s time to check out your other recipes 🙂 Thank you!
★★★★★
Kristen Stevens says
March 16, 2017 at 9:04 amHooray! I’m so happy to hear you liked it. It’s one of my favs. 🙂
Leandro Moric says
December 6, 2016 at 6:54 pmI just made this recipe and it was perfect. My kids just loved it!!
★★★★★
Kristen Stevens says
December 7, 2016 at 12:18 pmI’m so happy to hear it was a hit with you and your family! Horray!
Tim says
September 13, 2016 at 3:55 pmI love orange chicken. This looks amazing!
★★★★★
Kristen Stevens says
September 14, 2016 at 6:30 amThank you so much, Tim!!
Sam says
March 22, 2016 at 11:25 amLooks amazing! Will this freeze well?
Kristen says
March 22, 2016 at 6:08 pmI haven’t tried freezing it before, but I suspect it would freeze well. Do make sure to freeze the cauliflower rice and the chicken seperately. 🙂
Sam says
April 30, 2016 at 8:45 pmI didn’t make the cauliflower rice, but the chicken was delicious after freezing/reheating! Thank you!
★★★★★
Kristen Stevens says
May 26, 2016 at 5:26 pmThank you so much for letting us all know! Hooray!!
Makallister says
March 14, 2016 at 10:08 amI’m really happy with paleo, thanks for sharing this amazing recipes!
★★★★★
Kristen says
March 15, 2016 at 4:53 pmThank you so much! I love paleo recipes, too. 🙂
Kadi says
January 20, 2016 at 11:56 amWould this recipe work with date paste? I am currently on Whole 30, and this looks delicious!
Kristen says
January 21, 2016 at 4:31 pmI haven’t tried it before, but I would think it would work just fine. If you try it with the date paste I’d love to hear the results!
Kadi says
January 22, 2016 at 8:12 amI am always trying to find fun recipes to test out for date night; which I can also add to my “boyfriend approved Whole 30 meals” I am going to make this for us next week, and will keep you posted!
Kadi says
January 28, 2016 at 8:41 amI tried the recipe last night with date paste and arrowroot starch I had in the pantry. It was absolutely delicious!! Next time, I will add a little more arrowroot starch, since date past doesn’t have the consistency of honey, to make the sauce thicker. My boyfriend is a HUGE fan of takeout orange chicken, and he loved the recipe! Thank you 🙂
★★★★★
Kristen says
January 28, 2016 at 12:34 pmI’m so happy to hear it turned out! Yay!
And thank you for reporting back about how the modifications turned out. That’s super helpful!
julie says
March 2, 2016 at 5:24 pmHow much date paste did you substitute for the honey?
Kadi says
May 25, 2016 at 1:28 pmI believe I used 2 tbs, but it could use a little more if you want the sweetness of honey to match.
Lee says
September 26, 2015 at 3:54 pmTried this recipe last week and it was great, really good for leftovers too. Haven’t tried with the cauliflower rice yet though, I think I’ll do that on the next round.
★★★★★
Kristen says
September 29, 2015 at 9:48 pmI’m so happy you liked the recipe!
Paola says
September 10, 2015 at 7:49 amcan I marinate the chicken first?
Kristen says
September 11, 2015 at 12:13 pmHi Paola! You can definitely marinate the chicken in the orange glaze overnight if you wanted to. Once the chicken has finished marinating remove it from the marinade, dry it with some paper towels and then proceed with the recipe. Hope that helps!
Thalia says
June 18, 2015 at 8:44 pmI don’t follow the paleo diet trend but I have to make this recipe.. I am SO obsessed with all that sticky and sweet glaze!
Kristen says
June 20, 2015 at 4:24 pmYou will love it!
Maureen says
June 8, 2015 at 6:23 pmYou’re right! There’s nothing more I could ask for. And no, it’s not weird. I can totally understand why you get excited with this paleo orange chicken because I do too! I’m really loving this recipe! I love that the rice is cauliflower rice and the chicken is so orangey! 🙂
Kristen says
June 9, 2015 at 7:02 pmI’m so happy you don’t think it’s weird … sometimes I really wonder lol. Healthy food always makes me happy. 🙂
Kathleen | HapaNomNom says
June 8, 2015 at 12:58 pmWowza! Kristen, this orange chicken looks INCREDIBLE! Just look at those pictures… that lacquer is gorgeous! Love your photos… as always 🙂
★★★★★
Kristen says
June 8, 2015 at 1:07 pmThanks, Kathleen! The glaze really was finger licking good!!
Phi says
June 8, 2015 at 6:25 amI can totally understand how eating this paleo orange chicken with cauliflower rice would make you happy (or that eating paleo would make you happier), whenever I eat better I feel better too. After just getting back from a long trip I’m diving totally cleaning up my eating, it’s like I’m craving healthy dishes! I’m totally going to put this one on the menu this week!
Kristen says
June 8, 2015 at 1:04 pmSounds like you and I must travel the same … I always feel like going on a cleanse after a holiday! Where did you travel to?
Heather - Butter & Burlap says
June 8, 2015 at 5:55 amOk, first off those photos = amazingness, and that chicken = double amazingness! What a great recipe, personally I love homemade Chinese food or any kind of fake-out takeout. I can’t wait to try it!
Kristen says
June 8, 2015 at 1:03 pmfake-out take out …. love it! Totally agree that homemade is always better!!
Liz says
June 5, 2015 at 4:14 amThis definitely looks like some damn good chicken to me. That glaze! I can just taste the sticky, deliciousness from here!
Kristen says
June 6, 2015 at 1:34 pmThanks, Liz! It really was so tasty!!
Jocelyn (Grandbaby cakes) says
June 4, 2015 at 2:43 pmI keep hearing that Paleo is the way to go. You may have convinced me with this dish which looks so amazing.
Kristen says
June 6, 2015 at 1:38 pmI really do love eating paleo most of the time. I couldn’t go 100% though; I like my sweet treats occasionally and have no interest in messing with those lol. When it comes to dinner time it’s a great way to eat!