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Dinner
Published: January 25, 2024
This chicken will be on your plate faster than your delivery guy can make it to your front door.
![6-Ingredient Chinese Chicken: Easy Chinese Chicken Recipes for Dinner with Few Ingredients (2) 6-Ingredient Chinese Chicken: Easy Chinese Chicken Recipes for Dinner with Few Ingredients (2)](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==)
It’s after 6pm. You’re struggling through rush hour, trying to make it home in time to fit in a workout, throw in a load of laundry, and maybe watch the latest episode of Scandal. How can you possibly be expected to cook dinner, too? You sigh, envisioning another evening rifling through the stack of takeout menus in your drawer, choosing a heavy, greasy, sodium-filled meal made with ingredients you don’t entirely recognize. It may taste good at first, but after the first few bites, you’ll be feeling weighed down and just a bit guilty.
But your evening doesn’t have to go down that road! At Skinny Ms., we’re happy to provide our readers with healthy, clean eating versions of their favorite takeout entrees. Our 6-Ingredient Chinese Chicken is one of our favorite easy Chinese chicken recipes for dinner with few ingredients. It’s a cinch to shop for and prepare. It’s a perfect weeknight dinner, even on those nights when your schedule feels hectic.
How do we make easy Chinese chicken recipes for dinner with few ingredients taste so good? Our marinade is so packed with flavor—it only needs 20 minutes in the fridge to flavor your chicken. Mix together light soy sauce, hoisin sauce, chili sauce, and minced ginger, coat your chicken, and let sit while you look through the mail or water your plants. Your lean, protein-rich chicken breasts only need a few minutes of cooking, and then you can add them to any whole grain you like for a complete and satisfying meal. We like to add a side of bok choy or broccoli for an extra dose of green!
6-Ingredient Chinese Chicken
This chicken dish is a perfect substitute for those unhealthy takeout options and with very few ingredients, dinner will be served in no time.
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Prep Time 25 minutes minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes minutes
Total Time 35 minutes minutes
Yield 4 people
Serving Size 0.75 cup
![6-Ingredient Chinese Chicken: Easy Chinese Chicken Recipes for Dinner with Few Ingredients (3) 6-Ingredient Chinese Chicken: Easy Chinese Chicken Recipes for Dinner with Few Ingredients (3)](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==)
Review Recipe PIN RECIPE Print Recipe
Ingredients
Marinade
- 1 tablespoon ginger peeled and minced (about 1 inch ginger root)
- 1 tablespoon garlic chili sauce or chili paste
- 1 tablespoon hoisin sauce
- 1 tablespoon lite soy sauce
Chicken
- 1 pound boneless and skinless chicken breasts sliced horizontally and then into small cubes
- 1 1/2 tablespoons canola oil
Instructions
Whisk together the marinade. Put the chicken pieces in a bowl and toss well to coat evenly with marinade. Cover and place in the fridge for about 20 minutes.
Add canola oil to a sauté pan over medium-high heat. Once the oil is hot and shimmering (but not smoking) add the chicken pieces. Cook the chicken for 3- 5 minutes until cooked through and the juices run clear. If the chicken pieces are larger, cook longer.
Serve over brown rice, brown rice noodles, or quinoa. Garnish with chopped cilantro or chopped scallions, if desired.
Nutrition Information
Serving: 0.75cup | Calories: 190kcal | Carbohydrates: 3g | Protein: 25g | Fat: 8g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 73mg | Sodium: 255mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g |
SmartPoints (Freestyle): 4
Keywords Budget-Friendly, Diabetic-Friendly, Low-Carb, Paleo
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We love to make easy Chinese chicken recipes for dinner with few ingredients—they’re quick, healthy, and super satisfying—even when our strongest takeout cravings strike. The best thing about this 6-ingredient Chinese chicken recipe is that it’s easy to keep all of its ingredients stocked so that you’ll always have them on hand for busy weeknight dinners.
Enjoyed this post? Check out more:
- Easy 6-Ingredient Sesame Chicken
- 6-Ingredient Caprese Pasta Salad
- 6-Ingredient Greek Pasta Salad
- 6-Ingredient Mediterranean Salad
- Healthy Orange Chicken Crockpot Recipe
Make sure that you subscribe to our newsletter, so that you don’t miss out on anything Skinny Ms. For more tasty recipes, healthy lifestyle tips, and whole- body workouts, check out our Facebook page and follow us on Pinterest.
What are your favorite easy Chinese chicken recipes for dinner with few ingredients? We’d love to hear what you think of this post, or what you’d like to see on our site. Leave us a comment in the comments section below.
FAQs
General Tso's Chicken is a dish that originated in the Hunan province of China, and it's now a staple in Chinese restaurants around the world. The dish consists of crispy fried chicken that's tossed in a sweet and spicy glaze made from soy sauce, rice vinegar, sugar, and chili flakes.
What makes Chinese chicken so soft? ›
You velvet chicken with baking soda, not baking powder. Baking soda works as a meat tenderizer on chicken because it changes the pH of the meat. This prevents the proteins from bonding tightly and gives it a soft and silky texture when stir-fried.
What do Chinese soak their chicken in? ›
Kaitlin Leung of The Woks of Life, a blog dedicated to Chinese cooking, shares that a standard velveting mixture could include egg white and cornstarch, plus a few tablespoons of water – to help coat the meat yes, but also to make the meat extra tender and juicy.
What is sweet and sour chicken made of Chinese food? ›
Sweet and sour chicken, one of the most popular Chinese takeout dishes, is made of puffy, golden brown pieces of fried chicken nuggets with pineapple chunks, onion, bell pepper, carrot, and a side of iconic red, sweet and sour sauce.
What is Chinese old chicken? ›
The ideal old hen is at least 2 years old, preferably 3-4 years old—more time to develop the intense chicken flavor old hen is known for. Its older, stronger bones concentrate the savoriness and stand up better to stewing. The matured fat aromatizes into something altogether more… chickeny.
What thickens Chinese food? ›
Though it's virtually flavorless, cornstarch is easily one of the most vital ingredients in a Chinese kitchen, with multiple uses, including thickening sauces, gravies, and soups.
What tenderizes chicken the best? ›
Low and slow cooking methods like braising, stewing, or smoking are most effective when trying to create tender, succulent chicken.
What ingredient makes chicken soft? ›
Don't settle for dry, boring chicken breasts. One simple ingredient will add flavor and keep them from drying out every time: mayo. You read that correctly, mayonnaise isn't just for sandwiches and macaroni salads. Oh no, it's great for ensuring juicy, tender chicken too.
What is Chinese chicken batter made of? ›
Authentic Chinese restaurant chicken cubes are coated with quite a lot of batter and fluffy. But I prefer my homemade recipe with less batter, so ours is a bit lighter and crisper coating texture. To make the batter mix, you will need plain flour ( all-purpose flour ), corn starch, salt, baking soda, and water.
What do you soak chicken in before cooking? ›
Brining is basically soaking meat in a salt water solution, but the flavour doesn't stop at just salt. You can add all kinds of aromatics such as juniper berries, garlic, thyme and pepper to the solution to impart a different flavour. There are no rules – just use flavours that go together well.
This is how to tenderise beef with a Chinese restaurant method called “velveting beef”. Also used for chicken, it's a simple, highly effective technique using baking soda that transforms economical beef so it's incredibly tender in stir fries and stir fried noodles.
What is Chinese sweet and sour sauce made of? ›
In a medium saucepan, combine pineapple juice, rice vinegar, brown sugar, ketchup, and soy sauce and bring to a boil over medium heat. Stir in cornstarch slurry and cook until thickened, about 1 to 2 minutes. Remove from heat and use immediately or store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.
What is the sweet Chinese chicken called? ›
General Tso's chicken (左宗棠雞 Zuǒ Zōngtáng jī) is a sweet and spicy deep-fried chicken dish.
Is sweet and sour sauce actually Chinese? ›
Some authors say that the original sweet and sour sauce (traditional Chinese: 糖醋醬; simplified Chinese: 糖醋酱; pinyin: tángcùjiàng) came from the Chinese province of Henan, but the sauce in this area is a light vinegar and sugar mixture not resembling what most people, including the Chinese, would call sweet and sour.
What is the most ordered Chinese meal? ›
“GrubHub order data proves that General Tso's Chicken is, indeed, the most popular Chinese dish in the country," said Allie Mack, a GrubHub spokesperson. "In fact, it's among the top five most popular dishes on GrubHub, period. This dish has transcended ethnic food categories to become a staple of the American diet.”
What are the 3 most popular dishes in China? ›
The Top 5 Most Popular Dishes In China
- Ma Po Tofu is a major staple dish in Chinese meals. ...
- Hot Pot is the go-to dish to share on cold evenings with friends and family. ...
- Peking Duck is one of the most popular dishes served for special occasions in China.
Which is the most popular chicken dish in the world? ›
Butter chicken, also known as Murgh Makhani, has recently claimed the top spot in the "Top 100 Chicken Dishes in the World" list by TasteAtlas, (an online guide for traditional food) solidifying its place as a global culinary sensation.
What is amazing chicken on a Chinese menu? ›
Chinese Amazing Chicken is usually prepared by marinating the chicken in a mixture of soy sauce, ginger, and garlic. The chicken is then stir-fried or pan-fried until it is cooked through. It is often garnished with green onions and sesame seeds for added flavor and presentation.