Baked Orange Chicken

This Orange Chicken Recipe is the quick baked version. The flavors of curry, honey, orange juice, soy sauce and vinegar make a wonderful tangy sauce.Towards the end of cooking this dish, you will be adding a corn starch/water mixture. This will thicken the orange chicken sauce so that it is more like a glaze.

Oh, and by the way it's important to mix the corn starch into cool tap water in order for it to mix properly. If the water is warm then the corn starch will clump up and make a mess.
This recipe calls for using chicken breast but you can use thighs if you prefer. The photo above shows this meal made with chicken thighs because that is what I had in the freezer that day.

Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 30 min

Ingredients:

• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (6 to 8 ounces each)
• Salt and ground black pepper 
• 1/2 cup orange juice 
• 1/4 cup honey 
• 1 tablespoon cider vinegar 
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce 
• 2 teaspoons curry powder 
• 1 teaspoon Hot pepper sauce 
• 1 teaspoon cornstarch 
• 1 tablespoon cool water 
• 1/3 cup sliced almonds 

Preparation:

1. Adjust an oven rack to the upper position and heat the oven to 450 degrees.
2. Pat the chicken dry with paper towels, then season with salt and pepper.
3. Lay the chicken in a 9 by 13-inch baking dish coated lightly with cooking spray.
4. Mix the Orange Juice, Honey, Vinegar, Soy Sauce, Curry Powder, and Hot Sauce together in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat.
5. Simmer, stirring often, until the mixture has thickened, about 8 minutes.
6. Quickly stir the cornstarch in the cool water until it dissolves, then stir into the orange mixture while still over the heat. The sauce will thicken quickly.
7. Pour the orange mixture over the chicken breasts.
8. Sprinkle the Sliced Almonds over the chicken.
9. Bake until the chicken registers 160 degrees on an instant-read thermometer, 20 to 30 minutes.