Skip to main content
Main

Golden Low-calorie Chicken

A chicken dish cooked with orange zest, honey, mustard, curry powder, and paprika, finished with a thickened orange juice glaze.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 8 ingredients
Jump to recipe ↓

Why it works: Orange and honey are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,068 recipes. Both carry pinene, which smells pine, turpentine. The science ↓

Golden Low-calorie Chicken

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Remove skin and all visible fat from chicken.

  2. Place pieces in a 2 quart rectangular dish with rib edges toward the center.

  3. Remove 1 generous Tbsp orange zest (rind) and chop finely; set oranges aside.

  4. Combine zest, honey, mustard, and curry powder.

  5. Spread mixture over tops of chicken breasts.

  6. Sprinkle paprika over top and cover loosely with waxed paper.

Cook

  1. Microwave on high for 6 minutes.

  2. Remove skin from both oranges.

  3. Slice each orange into four cartwheels.

  4. Add orange slices to chicken; cover again.

  5. Microwave on high for 5 minutes.

  6. Pour juices into a 1 cup glass measure; let chicken stand.

  7. Add water to juices to yield ½ cup liquid.

  8. Blend in cornstarch.

  9. While cooking, stir midway; microwave on high for 1½ minutes or until slightly thickened.

  10. Serve with chicken.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

758Calories
46 gProtein
5 gFat
129 gCarbs

Counts 6 of 7 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 6 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Chicken100g cooked165
Honey1 tbsp (21g)64
Orange1 medium (131g)62
Turmeric1 tsp ground (3g)9
Mustard1 tsp (5g) yellow3
Waternot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Orange + honeytop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,068 recipes

    Shared aroma: pinene (pine, turpentine).

  2. Chicken + mustardtop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,192 recipes

    Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, creamy).

  3. Honey + mustardtop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together919 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (popcorn, roasted).

  4. Orange + mustardtop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together541 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  5. Chicken + honeytop 23% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,073 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Chicken breasts
Provide the main protein, which cooks through in the microwave and stays moist under the cover.
Oranges
Add citrus acidity and fresh aroma, and their juice becomes the base of the sauce.
Honey
Adds sweetness and helps the topping cling and brown slightly on the chicken.
Cornstarch
Thickens the orange juice into a glossy sauce when heated.
Dijon style mustard
Adds sharp tang that balances the sweetness of the honey and orange.

The step that matters

Microwave the sauce until slightly thickened, stirring midway. Cornstarch thickens only when its starch granules heat enough to swell and gelatinize, and uneven microwave heating can leave lumps or a thin sauce. Stirring midway distributes heat so the sauce thickens evenly.

Swap the orange

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (chicken, honey, mustard):

  1. Grapefits better
  2. Coconutfits better
  3. Avocadofits better
  4. Orangethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against chicken, honey, mustard. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

You might also like

Chicken BrothChicken Broth257 recipesChicken SoupChicken Soup156 recipesCreamed ChickenCreamed Chicken89 recipesChicken PanadaChicken Panada75 recipes