Sweet and Sour Stir-fry

Budget Recipes

Fresh, organic veggies and healthy, affordable chicken thighs in a flavorful sauce. This makes a quick, simple weeknight meal for the family. Feel free to vary the vegetables or spice up the sauce with additional cayenne or hot sauce.

  • ½ cup rice
  • 2 chicken thighs, cut into bite-sized pieces
  • 2 Tbsp olive oil, divided
  • 2 carrots, sliced
  • 2 sticks celery, sliced
  • 1 bell pepper, cut into 1” pieces
  • 1 Tbsp fresh ginger, minced
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 6 crimini mushrooms, sliced
  • Juice of 1 orange
  • ¼ cup vinegar
  • 1 Tbsp sugar
  • 1/8 tsp red pepper flakes
  • ½ tsp sea salt, divided
  • 1 Tbsp cornstarch

Instructions:

Rinse rice 3-4 times, to remove outer starch. In a rice cooker or saucepan, place rice, 1 cup water and ¼ tsp sea salt. Bring to a boil, cover and reduce heat to low. Cook 12-15 minutes, or until water is absorbed and rice is tender.

In a small bowl mix cornstarch with ¼ cup of the orange juice and set aside. Mix remaining orange juice, vinegar, sugar, ¼ tsp salt and red pepper flakes together. In a large skillet or wok, heat 1 Tbsp oil. Stir-fry chicken 4-5 minutes or until cooked through. Remove and set aside. Add remaining oil and cook carrots, celery, onions and peppers 2-3 minutes. Add ginger, garlic and mushrooms and cook 1 minute. Add orange juice/vinegar mixture and chicken; stir, cover and cook 5 minutes, or until veggies are tender-crisp. Push stir-fry to the side; stir cornstarch mixture well and add to stir-fry, stirring constantly. Cook gently until sauce has thickened. Serve over rice.