Chicken With Savory Orange Sauce

October 27, 2011 / No Comments

Chicken With Savory Orange Sauce

In my recent quest for recipes that are both healthy and delicious I have been making a lot of poultry recipes, which is one of my favorite foods. I chose chicken thighs for this recipe as they are less expensive than chicken breasts yet have a lot of flavor and remain moist when cooked, but you could use chicken breasts if you prefer. I wanted to create an orange sauce using marmalade, but was initially concerned that most marmalades contain such high quantities of sugar but I stumbled across a Smucker’s sugar free brand that had only 10 calories per tablespoon. This brand also had a fresh, clean orange flavor and I found it worked out perfectly in this recipe. I made this dish twice now, and after tweaking the ingredients just a bit, I love how it turned out and know I’ll make it many times in the future. This dish actually keeps well, and I found that even when slowly reheated the next day, the chicken stayed moist and tender.

Why Healthy

Poultry, both the white and brown meat, is a great source of low fat protein.
Sugar free marmalade is used to reduce sugar content.

Chicken With Savory Orange Sauce

A low sugar marmalade is used to make a zesty orange sauce for moist chicken thighs.

Yield: Serves 4

Prep Time: 20 mins

Cook Time: 30 mins

Ingredients:

8 Boneless, Skinless Chicken Thighs
2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
Salt & Pepper
1 1/2 Cups Chicken Broth
3/4 Cup Sugar Free Orange Marmalade
2 Teaspoons Dijon Mustard
1 Tablespoon Red Wine Vinegar
2 Teaspoons Cornstarch
1 Sweet Red Pepper, Cored, Seeded And Diced
2 Cloves Garlic, Peeled & Minced
3 Tablespoons Chopped Fresh Parsley

Directions:

Trim the thighs of any excess fat, and season with salt and pepper.
Heat the oil in a large, heavy skillet and brown the thighs well on both sides over medium heat, about 7 to 8 minutes.
Remove the thighs to a plate and cover.
Cook the garlic and diced pepper in the same pan for 3 or 4 minutes.
Add the chicken broth, marmalade and mustard and mix well.
Bring to a boil and cook until the sauce has reduced by about 1/3 volume.
Stir together the vinegar and cornstarch and whisk this into the broth mixture and cook until thickened.
Season with salt and pepper.
Reduce the heat to a simmer and return the chicken to the pan.
Cook over low heat until the thighs are cooked through, about 15 minutes. Place the thighs onto a platter and spoon the sauce on top.
Sprinkle with chopped parsley and serve immediately.