July 15, 2011 (Updated January 1, 2024)

Sunkist Valencia Orange Lemon Chicken Recipe

by Anne Mauney, MPH, RD

24 comments
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Hello, friends!

I have a fun sponsored post for you all today — all about oranges! Sunkist Valencia Oranges, to be exact 🙂

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(Above photo from my adventures out in California last year!)

I love oranges — especially in the summer! So juicy and refreshing. Whenever I eat oranges I always think of a friend I used to intern with right when I was out of college — we both used to bring oranges every day to work to snack on; in the morning we’d share mine, and in the afternoon we’d share his, haha. Teamwork 🙂

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Did you know that Sunkist Valencia oranges sometimes “re-green” in warm weather?  When Valencias ripen on the tree, they turn a bright orange color, but warm temperatures can make their skin reabsorb chlorophyll as they hang on the tree, causing the orange color to look partly green. Cool! Apparently even if the outside is green, the inside remains ripe and delicious 🙂 Check out their Sunkist Valencia Oranges Re-greening Video for more info.

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Anyway! I have a delicious recipe to share with you all today featuring oranges — Orange Lemon Chicken! This is another one of the favorite recipes from the kid’s cooking classes we hosted at my dietetic internship a couple weeks ago, so I figured it was the perfect time to share it.

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Orange Lemon Chicken

Makes 10 servings

Ingredients: 

  • 3 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts
  • 1â„3 cup fresh lemon juice
  • 1â„3 cup fresh orange juice
  • 2 tablespoons white-wine vinegar or cider vinegar
  • 1â„2 cup fresh, sliced lemons and oranges
  • 1 teaspoon dried* oregano, crushed
  • 1 teaspoon dried* rosemary, crushed
  • 1 tablespoon chili powder
  • 1 teaspoon paprika
  • Salt and pepper, to taste

*Or fresh herbs — just triple the amount called for if using fresh.

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350.

  1. Spray 9″ x 13″ baking dish with non-stick cooking spray, place raw chicken in baking dish.
  2. Mix lemon juice, orange juice, vinegar, sliced lemons/oranges, oregano, rosemary, and chili powder. Pour over chicken, cover and marinate in refrigerator 30 minutes to 1 hour.
  3. Remove from fridge; sprinkle with salt, pepper and paprika. Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees F for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake 30 minutes more.

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Nutrition Information per serving (makes 10 servings)
Calories 170 | Total Fat 3 g | Saturated Fat 1 g | Protein 28 g
Carbohydrates 5 g | Fiber 0 g | Sodium 85 mg

Orange Lemon Chicken

Orange Lemon Chicken
May 6, 2019 by Anne

Super flavorful citrus baked chicken makes a delicious main dish!

Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Additional Time 30 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Yield
serves 10
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Ingredients:

  • 3 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts
  • 1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
  • 1/3 cup fresh orange juice
  • 2 tablespoons white-wine vinegar or cider vinegar
  • 1/2 cup fresh, sliced lemons and oranges
  • 1 teaspoon dried* oregano, crushed
  • 1 teaspoon dried* rosemary, crushed
  • 1 tablespoon chili powder
  • 1 teaspoon paprika
  • Salt and pepper, to taste
  • *Or fresh herbs — just triple the amount called for if using fresh.

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350.

  1. Spray 9" x 13" baking dish with non-stick cooking spray, place raw chicken in baking dish.
  2. Mix lemon juice, orange juice, vinegar, sliced lemons/oranges, oregano, rosemary, and chili powder. Pour over chicken, cover and marinate in refrigerator 30 minutes to 1 hour.
  3. Remove from fridge; sprinkle with salt, pepper and paprika. Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees F for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake 30 minutes more.

Did you make this recipe?

Please leave a comment on the blog or share a photo on Instagram

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Recipe and nutrition information originally developed for Cook Smart, Eat Smart — NC Cooperative Extension!

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Major yum. Enjoy! 🙂 And if you want more orange recipes — they have a ton: additional Sunkist citrus recipes!

Hope you all have a fabulous Friday — the weather is wonderful here and after my internship and a meeting for school, I’m headed straight to the pool 🙂

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Disclaimer: This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Sunkist. All opinions are 100% mine. 🙂

Poultry
- anne

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24 comments
  • Lauren @ What Lauren Likes
    YUM! I love roasting chicken and lemon, why not add a amazing orange?! Turning on the oven again eh? haha :)
    Reply
    • Anne P
      Just turning it on at work ;)
      Reply
  • Mrs. Fish
    I love the idea of combining orange and lemon together, once it cools down I can't wait to try this recipe!
    Reply
  • Molly @ RDexposed
    Growing up in Illinois puts me at aw when I go to CA or FL and see orange groves. They're just so pretty!
    Reply
  • Hilliary Wolfe
    This sounds like a great light summer recipe! Seems like a hassle free dinner! I am going to add this to my must make recipe list!
    Reply
  • Jen Robinson
    Nice recipe! I'll totally try it to spice up my typical boring chicken dishes I make for the hubby!
    Reply
  • Renie
    This recipe looks like it will go into my fannetastic food book of your recipes. I will cook this for Sunday dinner. I know my family will love it. Thanks Anne for all you do for us out here in the world wide web universe.
    Reply
  • Heather @ Girlyeverafter
    Chicken with citrus is so good in the summer. It's a super simple way to make the dish taste super good!
    Reply
  • Jane
    You post the tastiest sounding recipes! Can't wait to try this one out!
    Reply
  • DHP
    How do you spell 'tasty!' Looks great...
    Reply
  • Jen
    Next to bananas, oranges are my favorite fruit! When I was pregnant, I would have an orange and a grapefruit every day, love citrus!!! This recipe looks delicious and something my kids would devour :)
    Reply
  • Megan
    The photos do look delicious! Since you're such an orange fan I have another recipe for cooking with oranges that I "semi-created" from about 5 different recipes...I routinely roast a whole (bone in) turkey breast (or whole chicken) to slice and freeze for sandwich meat (much cheaper and WAY less sodium)! Rinse and pat dry the bird, make sure cavity is empty. Rub a mix of salt and dried herbs (I use an Italian mix) on and under the skin, spray with olive oil mister and rub in. Quarter a very ripe orange and put it in the cavity with fresh herbs (I use basil, regular oregano and spicy oregano). Bake at 350 degrees in an oven bag until 170 degrees, let sit for at least 10 minutes before slicing. I remove the skin after it's baked, somehow baking a skinless bird just looks wrong to me! The orange flavor is very subtle but quite delicous and extremely moist, the bird is really the feature flavor! I pour the drippings in a bowl, refrigerate and skim the fat off, use for gravy or freeze in ice cube trays. Once frozen throw in a freezer bag for easy additions to other dishes, vegetables, soups, etc. If you have time and are super thrifty, boil the carcass along with any vegetable trimmings, herbs, etc to make a broth for future use! You can throw the carcass and broth makings in a slow cooker and let it go overnight on low.
    Reply
    • Anne P
      Awesome - that sounds delicious! Thanks for sharing :)
      Reply
  • Anna
    I have made this before and loved it! I want to make it again for when my in-laws come, but I'll be short on time during the day. Do you think it would be okay to prep it in the morning and let it marinade in the fridge all day? I'm assuming this would only make the chicken more flavorful.
    Reply
    • Anne
      Yes, definitely - it will be even more flavorful and tender! Enjoy it!
      Reply
  • am PaulinaLal
    Absolutely fabulous. And this is coming from a Chinese food fan. Easy to make, I didn't remove the chicken to add the sauce and it worked fine. I was worried about putting that much crushed red pepper into it, but it wasn't hot, it was a nice little spicy bite to it. I did add some cornstarch to thicken it and I also added vegetables. If it was hotter and you put peanuts or cashews in it, it could be a kung po dish.
    Reply
    • Anne
      I'm so glad you liked it!
      Reply
  • Frances
    Finally made this one but cut recipe back using one pound of chicken and 1/4 cup of each juice and just reduced the spices a bit. It is easy and very good. I used the chicken to make chimichangas. ( shredded the cooked chicken with some of the broth and added mild chilies a touch of salsa of course a bit of cheese--to roll up in a low carb toritlla then baked them) Would do again. Great way to infuse exactly the flavor I was wanting.
    Reply
    • Anne
      Yum, that sounds like a good use for the chicken! Glad you enjoyed it!
      Reply
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