Thursday, March 7, 2013

Bourbon Chicken

This is called Bourbon Chicken, but I made a few small changes in the recipe, and it tasted just like General Tso's Chicken to me. Since I've never actually ordered Bourbon Chicken, I left the name, b/c who knows, maybe they taste the same.  Whatever you want to call it, you can also call it delicious!  This was SO good, and the closest I have come to restaurant flavor at home.  The best part...it's not FRIED!  
I prepared mine in my cast iron skillet, but I think it could be made in any frying pan.

Bourbon (or General Tso's!) Chicken 
adapted from Bigoven.com - my changes are in italics

2 lbs. boneless chicken breasts - cut into bite size chunks
1 T. olive oil
3/4 t. crushed red pepper flakes
1-2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 t. fresh ginger, minced
1/4 cup orange juice
1/3 cup light brown sugar & Stevia blend
2 T. ketchup
1 T. rice wine vinegar
1/2 cup water
1/3 cup reduced sodium soy sauce
1 T. cornstarch

Notes: I mixed my brown sugar with Stevia in the Raw to decrease the sugar a little, but you can use all brown sugar if desired. I also used orange juice instead of apple (b/c that's what I had on hand), and I used fresh ginger and rice wine vinegar since I had them. You could use ground ginger and apple cider vinegar as per original recipe instead. Also, this is spicy so adjust the red pepper accordingly. I used a generous 3/4 tsp and thought it was delicious, but it was too hot for the rest of the fam. (I left some plain cooked chicken out for the kids.)

Directions:  Heat olive oil in a large skillet.  Add red pepper flakes and stir for about 30 seconds.  Add chicken and cook until lightly browned.  Remove chicken from pan and add remaining ingredients, heating over medium heat until well blended and dissolved.  Add chicken back into pan with sauce and bring to a hard boil.  Reduce heat and simmer for about 20 minutes uncovered.
I served mine over brown rice, with green onions and sesame seeds. If you like Chinese food, I would recommend giving this a try!

25 comments:

  1. This is one of my favorite cheap asisan food place dishes.

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  2. Looks delicious and healthy!! We always order General Tso chicken when we get chinese takeout. Not the healthiest choice for sure!

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  3. YUM!!! I have always wanted to make this ~ now I will!!! I am thinking Chinese over the weekend. Perfect.

    Have a creat weekend.

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  4. I rarely make homemade Chinese! This looks delicious.

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    1. Thanks, I will be making it more often now! I really enjoyed this recipe and it wasn't too time consuming (always a plus!)

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  5. I love bourbon chicken and have saved a few recipes for it - none of which actually have bourbon in it. I wonder where the name came from. Thanks so much for linking up to Friday Food Frenzy.

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    1. I was wondering the same thing, but I have found out there is a cajun inspired Bourbon Street chicken that actually does contain bourbon...I'm not sure how this version came about!

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  6. Well, general tso's or bourbon, the sauce sounds so delicious!

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  7. I recently ordered Bourbon Chicken & it was more Cajun tasting. I think I would like your recipe vs what I just tried. With the orange juice, ketchup....I like the idea of sweet & spicy. I am pinning this & am going to give it a try. Found you via a hop you linked to.Drop by anytime Theresa @DearCreatives DearCreatives.com

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    1. There is a Bourbon Street Chicken that is cajun inspired (and I think actually has bourbon in it) and then there is this Asian dish (in which I have no idea where the name came from!) that is definitely a sweet & spicy...like General Tso's or a spicy sesame chicken. Let me know how you like it!

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  8. This looks delicious... All I would need to do is use gluten-free soy sauce and I could make it with/for my daughter. Yum.

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  9. your chicken looks delicious. pinned it.

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  10. Looks delicious... but where's the bourbon?

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  11. sounds wonderful. looks great too. I have had the frozen version but not a restaurant version.
    Janice

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  12. Stopping from sassy little lady.. funny because I linked sweet and sour.. this sounds sooooo good. Pinning to make soon for sure!!

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  13. I have always wanted to try bourbon chicken. And I love that this isn't fried!

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  14. Good Morning,
    Thank you so much for sharing your awesome recipe with Full Plate Thursday. Hope you have a lovely week and come back soon!
    Miz Helen

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  15. General Tso's always smells sooo good! This looks delicious. Thanks for sharing at Pinworthy Projects.

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  16. I am hungry just looking at these pictures. Thank you for sharing !

    http://curiositaellya.blogspot.com/

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  17. This looks so good! Thank you for linking up at Fluster's Creative Muster. Hope to see you next week!

    Robin @ Fluster Buster

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  18. I love General Tso's so I bet I would LOVE this Bourbon Chicken :) Thanks for linking up this post to The Best Blog Recipe’s Weekend re-Treat #7!

    Wanted to stop by and pin your image to My Link Parties Craft/DIY & Recipe Boards while I was here.

    Hope to see you again at the party this weekend!

    Shauna
    http://thebestblogrecipes.blogspot.com/
    http://ready2loseweight.blogspot.com/

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  19. Kim,
    This looks fantastic! I can't wait to try the recipe. I love chicken and am always looking for new recipes. Featuring you on Tasty Creations later today so stop by and check it out :)
    Michelle

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  20. I just put together a "50 Fabulous Chicken Dishes" Recipe Round Up from links that were submitted to The Weekend re-Treat over the past couple of weeks and this recipe was included and featured in today's post!

    http://thebestblogrecipes.blogspot.com/2013/04/50-fabulous-chicken-dishes.html

    Shauna @ The Best Blog Recipes

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