Slow Cooker Orange Chicken & Broccoli

I love orange chicken, but it's one of those recipes that is heavily fried and I try my best to stay away from eating too much fried food. I thought up this recipe when I was on another slow cooker kick this past week and thought it came out delicious. Plus, since I was using my slow cooker I got the treat of coming home to a complete, cooked meal when I came home from work. 

Moments like that make life seem so much less hectic for a brief moment, after working all day, commuting home and running a few miles after work it's just a breath of relief to come in to dinner already cooked and ready to be eaten. All I needed to do was cook up a bit of rice and that's it, dinner was served. 

This recipe was my attempt to mimic the orange chicken from fast food Chinese places like Pandra Express. While it was yummy it wasn't quite right, but I have to say I really enjoyed the orange flavor I got from using some frozen orange juice concentrate. I also added in a little chili pepper to kick up the heat and it was perfect.

Like all slow cooker recipes, this one is quite simple. It's one of those toss all the ingredients in and when you get home cook up some rice and toss in the broccoli last minute and voila. Dinner is served. Beautiful isn't it?

Slow Cooker Orange Chicken & Broccoli

Yield: 4 servings

Prep Time: 10 minutes     I     Cook Time: 8 hours on low

Ingredients:

• 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast diced
• 1 can orange juice concentrate
• 1/4 cup sweet chili sauce
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 pound fresh or frozen broccoli

Place the chicken into your slow cooker and pour all of the other ingredients on top except for the broccoli. Give the chicken a quick stir so it becomes fully coated in the sauce and cover the lid. 

Cook the chicken on low for 8 hours or on high for 4. If you are using fresh broccoli add it into the slow cooker approximately 30 minutes before you plan to serve dinner. Frozen broccoli needs to only be put in the slow cooker 10 minutes prior to serving.

Serve the chicken over white or fried rice.