Seared Orange Chicken and Broccoli
Updated January 28, 2026
Rachel Vanni for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Spencer Richards.
- Ready In
- 35 min
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
Advertisement
Ingredients
3 to 5 tangerines or clementines, halved
¼ cup low-sodium soy sauce
¼ cup distilled white vinegar
2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
1 (1-inch) piece fresh ginger, finely chopped
1 serrano or jalapeño, halved, seeds removed if desired, thinly sliced
¼ cup avocado or another neutral oil, divided, plus more as needed
1½ to 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts or thighs, patted dry, pounded to ½-inch-thick
Salt
1 pound broccoli (1 large head), cut into florets
Cilantro and toasted sesame seeds, for serving
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)
25 grams carbs; 145 milligrams cholesterol; 565 calories; 14 grams monosaturated fat; 9 grams polyunsaturated fat; 4 grams saturated fat; 29 grams fat; 7 grams fiber; 1236 milligrams sodium; 53 grams protein; 10 grams sugar
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Powered by
Preparation
- Step 1
Squeeze ⅓ cup juice from the tangerines into a large, wide rimmed dish (like a 9-by-13-inch dish) or shallow bowl. Add the squeezed fruit peels, soy sauce, vinegar, sesame oil, ginger and serrano.
- Step 2
In a large skillet, heat 2 tablespoons avocado oil over medium-high. Season the chicken with salt, then add to the skillet and cook until golden brown underneath, about 5 minutes. Flip and cook until cooked through, 2 to 5 minutes. Transfer to the sauce and turn to coat.
- Step 3
Wipe out the skillet to remove any crusty bits that may burn. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons avocado oil to the skillet, still over medium-high. Add the broccoli, season with salt, and cook until browned underneath, 3 to 5 minutes. (If at any point the skillet looks dry and the broccoli is burning, add more oil.) Stir and cook until bright-green, another 3 to 5 minutes. (Err on the crisp side of crisp-tender because the broccoli will soften in the sauce.) Transfer the broccoli to the sauce and stir to coat.
- Step 4
Thinly slice the chicken, then serve with the broccoli topped with cilantro, sesame seeds and plenty of sauce. (Feel free to discard or leave the squeezed citrus to continue to perfume the sauce; it is not especially enjoyable to eat, however.)
Private Notes
Comments
This came out really good. Faintly Asian because of the soy. Only a few points: 1. Not enough sauce as written. Next time, I will double the sauce liquids and/or add some chicken stock. I also added some sherry. 2. Don’t slice the chicken before adding it to the sauce after cooking. Dried it out. And deglaze the pan before cooking the broccoli. I use sherry. 3. If you want some zing from the jalapeños, leave the pith with the pepper. I took it out and the flavor was good but no zing. Enjoy!
After reading the instructions, I decided to change them. With the changes, this was utterly delice! Here’s what I did. I cooked the chicken thighs - did it in the air fryer for convenience, and chopped them into bite sized pieces. I put the vinegar, soy and Clem juice in a jar and added 1 tablespoon of corn starch. I chopped the ginger and jalapeño, adding 2 chopped scallions and put in a separate bowl. Then, I heated my skillet. Added oil, then the ginger, jalapeño, scallion mix. I let that cook for a couple of minutes then added the chopped broccoli, chicken, salt, pepper, a splash of water and a splash mirin. I added the lid and simmered till the broccoli was crisp tender. Then, I removed the lid, stirred the soy slurry well, added it, and cooked for a few seconds till the sauce thickened. Finally, I seasoned with toasted sesame oil dribbled on top.
This seems an overly complicated way to make what is essentially a stir-fry. Made the sauce, set aside. Heated a tablespoon of oil; sauteed the chicken thighs, which I diced and s & p'd. Remove from the pan; added another tablespoon of oil, and then added chopped garlic and red pepper flakes, then the broccoli. Sauteed until tender-crisp, then added the sauce (sans peel) and a wee bit of cornstarch slurry. When it thickened up a bit, added the chicken and combined. Served with brown rice.
may be better with less vinegar
This was delicious! the sauce to me IS the recipe- all the other ingredients could be changed. What i love about the sauce is its bright, fresh flavors - i ended up adding more orange juice to taste so that the orange flavor was just becoming a bit more noticeable. I do especially enjoy that the sauce is NOT thickened. i feel it's a great Spring recipe: simple, clean, bright and fresh.
This was good, but I'll make the following changes next time. I used very fresh, ripe mandarins (green leaves were still attached!), but still couldn't taste much orange; I'll zest them first, and just add that to the sauce and toss the peels. Did use a cornstarch slurry, maybe a small splash of sherry as well. The chicken was good, but this might be a good recipe in which to velvet sliced chicken beforehand. Good base recipe with tweaks.