Vegan Orange Chicken with Soy Curls
Servings: 6
Calories: 215kcal
This Vegan Orange Chicken recipe with soy curls tastes just like you'd expect orange chicken to taste - minus the chicken! You will have the options to air-fry or pan fry the breaded seasoned soy curls for an authentic Panda Express orange chicken taste.
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Ingredients
Soy Curls Soaking
- 2 cups Butler Soy Curls (see notes)
- 3 cups vegetable broth
- 1 teaspoon poultry seasoning
Soy Curls Coating
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder (more for sauce)
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 Tablespoons cornstarch (more for sauce)
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- aquafaba - liquid from garbanzo bean can see notes
Orange Sauce
- 1/4 cup orange juice concentrate (not orange juice) see notes
- 1/4 cup rice vinegar
- 1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce
- 1/2 cup agave nectar
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon ginger powder
- 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1½ teaspoons salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1½ Tablespoons cornstarch
- zest from 1 orange about 1 Tablespoon
Other
- 2 Tablespoons Optional - oil for pan-frying -more if necessary (see notes)
- green onions for garnish
Instructions
Soy Curls Soaking
- Cover 2 cups (dry) soy curls with 3 cups vegetable broth. Add in poultry seasoning.
- Let soak for 15 minutes and drain. Set aside.
Soy Curls Coating
- While soy curls are soaking combine all dry ingredients into a shallow dish or pie pan: flour, salt, garlic powder, onion powder, chili powder, baking soda, cornstarch, and black pepper.
- Drain one can of garbanzo (chickpea) beans. Save the liquid and put into a separate shallow dish.
Frying
- Working with a few pieces of soy curls at a time, dip into the aquafaba first and then into the flour mixture. Coat well. Set aside for pan-frying or air-frying.
- If pan-frying - line the bottom of a non-stick pan with oil of choice. I prefer avocado oil. Put up to 1/3 of the coated soy curls into the pan at once. Fry for about 2 minutes, turn and continue frying for another 1 minutes or until well browned. With a slotted spoon remove from the pan and put onto a paper towel-lined plate or baking sheet. Change out the oil if it starts to look gunky. Continue with the rest of the soy curls until finished.
- If air-frying - Each air fryer is different. In my Cuisinart air frying, I cook at 350° for 8 minutes. You can start with that but do check every few minutes until you know how they will cook in your air fryer. Also, depending on the size of your air fryer, you might need to cook in batches.
Orange Sauce - Can complete this step ahead of time or after soy curls have cooked.
- While the soy curls are soaking you can prepare the ingredients for the orange sauce.
- Whisk together orange juice concentrate, rice vinegar, soy sauce, agave, sesame oil, garlic powder, ginger powder, red pepper flakes, salt, pepper, and cornstarch. Save the zest to throw-in at the last minute.
- In a medium saucepan stir and cook over medium heat until bubbly and thickened. Add in orange zest.
- Toss together with cooked soy curls. Top with sliced green onion. Serve over a bed of rice of choice. See link for vegan Fried Rice in Notes.
Notes
- Soy curls can be found online at their website or on Amazon (affiliate link).
- Aquafaba is the liquid drained from a can of beans. I prefer garbanzos (chickpeas) or white beans. It is more viscous than water is - similar to egg whites.
- Use orange juice concentrate (not regular orange juice). Generally, orange juice concentrate is found in the freezer section of your grocery store.
- Please be aware that if you use the pan-frying cooking method, the calories from the oil used are not calculated in the total on this recipe card.
Nutrition
Calories: 215kcal | Carbohydrates: 39g | Protein: 7g | Fat: 4g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 2376mg | Potassium: 155mg | Fiber: 13g | Sugar: 20g | Vitamin A: 440IU | Vitamin C: 21.8mg | Calcium: 20mg | Iron: 2.3mg