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Orange Chicken Meatballs

Erin Aronowitz
A lightened up Orange Chicken recipe in Meatball form! This recipe is gluten-free and can very easily be made paleo!
5 from 1 vote
Print Recipe
Course Appetizer, dinner, lunch
Cuisine Chinese

Ingredients
  

Meatballs

  • 1 lb Ground Chicken
  • 1/2 TBSP Sesame Oil
  • 1/2 tsp Ginger Paste
  • 2 TBSP Tamari (Reduced Sodium) you can use low-sodium soy sauce if you aren't gluten-free, or you can use coconut aminos if you are paleo
  • 2 Green Onions, chopped just the light green portion. Save the bright green part for later
  • 1 TBSP Garlic Paste This is equal to about 3 or 4 cloves of garlic
  • 1/4 cup Unsweetened Almond Milk Any milk is ok
  • 1 Egg
  • 1/2 Cup Gluten-Free Panko Bread Crumbs You can use almond meal, or omit this step if paleo
  • 1/4 tsp *Salt* Optional Only use this if you have chosen to use Coconut Aminos instead of Tamari or Soy Sauce

Sauce

  • 1/2 Cup Orange Juice No need to buy expensive Orange Juice for this. It can even be from concentrate. Just make sure there is no additional sugar in the ingredients.
  • 1/4 Cup Tamari (reduced sodium) substitute Low Sodium Soy Sauce or Coconut Aminos. If you use coconut aminos, add a pinch of salt to the sauce
  • 1 TBSP Garlic Paste
  • Zest of one Mandarin or small orange
  • 1/2 TBSP Orange Preserves optional
  • 1/2 TBSP Maple Syrip Can be subsituted with Honey
  • 1/3 Cup Rice Vinegar Apple Cider Vinegar can be used
  • 1/2 tsp Sriracha
  • 1/4 tsp Ginger Paste
  • 3/4 tsp Cassava Flour tapioca flour, arrowroot flour, or cornstarch can be used

Instructions
 

  • Preheat the over to 400F
  • In a large mixing bowl combine the first set of ingredients for the meatballs.
  • Take out a large baking sheet and line it with parchment paper.
  • Roll your meatball mixture into balls, making sure you wet your hands in between every few so that the mixture does not stick to your hands. Place the meatballs on the baking sheet, with a little space in between them.
  • Bake for 20 minutes
  • When there is 5 minutes left of baking time, add the ingredients for the sauce (except for the flour/cornstarch) into a large sauce pan.
  • Cook the sauce on medium heat, stirring frequently.
  • Add the 3/4 tsp of flour and raise the heat to high. Stir frequently.
  • Once it boils, you will see the mixture start to thicken. (This will take less than a minute). Once the mixture is thick, set the heat to low or turn off the heat and wait for the meatballs to be cooked.
  • Once the meatballs are done cooking, add the meatballs into the large sauce pan and roll them around in the mixture. Your heat can be set to low at this point.
  • Serve with Steamed Broccoil and Rice!
Keyword gluten free, meatball, orange chicken, paleo