Simple Slow Cooker Orange Cranberry Chicken Recipe

Orange Cranberry Chicken is a simple, flavourful recipe that blends tart cranberries with sweet oranges and chicken. The best part is that this cranberry chicken recipe is so simple to make with less than 10 ingredients, and in a slow cooker which makes it a perfect dinner any night of the week.

This flavorful cranberry chicken dish was inspired by an old family recipe. The original recipe was made with canned cranberry sauce and orange juice concentrate. I swapped those out for fresher ingredients to make it even more delicious.

The canned sauce is replaced with fresh juicy cranberries and orange concentrate with fresh orange juice with a touch of naturally sweet maple syrup. It’s such a simple recipe to make, serve it with a simple salad and a side of brown rice for a delicious healthy dinner.

Here is what you will need

This is a brief summary of the ingredients needed to make this Orange Cranberry Chicken recipe and a convenient shopping list from my Instacart affiliate link. For a printable recipe card with exact measurements and detailed instructions, scroll down to the recipe card section.

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How to make this orange cranberry chicken recipe

Prepare the Ingredients: Chop the garlic, grate the ginger, rough chop the cranberries, squeeze the orange juice, peel the orange, and rough chop the sections. Measure the syrup, and tamari sauce.

Heat oil in a skillet over medium-high heat.

STEP 1: Once the oil in the skillet is hot, add the chicken breasts and cook on each side until they turn golden brown. If the skillet is too hot, reduce the heat to medium heat.

Step 2. Place the browned chicken breasts into a slow cooker.

STEP 3. Top the chicken breasts with chunks of fresh oranges.

Step 4. Add the remaining ingredients to the slow cooker and cook on low heat for 4 hours.

Recipe variations and substitutes

Pineapple – Add 3/4 cup of chopped pineapple for a blend of cranberry, orange and pineapple chicken or use up to 1 1 /2 cups of chopped pineapple instead of orange.

Gluten-Free – This recipe is naturally gluten-free if you use tamari sauce or coconut aminos instead of soy sauce. You will also need to use arrowroot to thicken the sauce, not flour.

Spicy – Add a spicy kick with a teaspoon or two of red pepper flakes or a diced jalapeno pepper.

Change up the meat – Instead of chicken, try using pork chops or pork tenderloin.

Cranberry sauce – If you have leftover cranberry sauce, you can easily use that in place of cranberries. Here is my recipe for homemade cranberry orange sauce.

Serving suggestions

Cranberry chicken tastes great sprinkled with orange zest and cranberries served over mashed potatoes, or your favorite whole grain with a side of roasted brussels sprouts, green beans or a spinach salad.

Storing and Using Leftovers

How to store

Store leftover cranberry chicken in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to three days. Alternatively, you can freeze leftover cranberry chicken in an airtight freezer container or a reusable plastic bag like this stasher bag for up to three months.

Defrost leftovers in the refrigerator overnight or place the sealed container of frozen chicken in a bowl or pan of cold water. Reheat leftover chicken on top of the stove, in the oven or microwave.

Leftover suggestions

Use the leftover cranberry orange chicken to make quesadillas with goat cheese or roll it up in a wrap. This also tastes great leftover with rice or your favorite whole grain.

Recipe FAQs

Have you tried these Healthy Recipes with Chicken?

• Chicken Murphy
• Healthy Crack Chicken
• Slow Cooker Chicken with Black Beans
• Braised Chicken with Apples
• Instant Pot Red Wine Chicken

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