Orange Cranberry chicken is slow-cooked to perfection for a delicious and healthy chicken dinner. It’s easy to prepare with less than 10 ingredients and can be made in a pressure cooker too.
This is not another cranberry chicken recipe made with onion soup and French salad dressing. It’s made with fresh and wholesome ingredients, and it’s so good! Chicken breasts are cooked in a savory sauce that is slightly sweet.
Recipe Highlights
- It’s a healthy chicken recipe that is made with fresh ingredients. Both cranberries and oranges are full of health benefits and make this dinner taste delicious.
- It’s so easy to put together. Just dump the ingredients into your slow cooker and let it cook.
As an Amazon associate, I earn from qualifying purchases
Here is What You Will Need
Boneless chicken breasts, thighs, or a combination of both
Olive Oil
Fresh or frozen cranberries
Fresh-squeezed orange juice
Orange pieces
Garlic
Maple syrup
Tamari sauce
Freshly grated ginger
Whole wheat flour or arrowroot
slow cooker or pressure cooker
Estimated Time To Make This Recipe: 5 hours in a slow cooker & 15 minutes in a pressure cooker
How to make Orange Cranberry in the Slow Cooker
Who doesn’t love their slow cooker? Especially when the recipe is as easy to make as this one is.
All you have to do to make orange cranberry chicken a slow cooker is brown the chicken, place all of the ingredients in the slow cooker and come back 5 hours later.
Once the chicken is cooked, thicken the sauce for a healthy tasty dinner.
How to Make It in a Pressure Cooker (Instant Pot)
It is equally as easy to make Cranberry Chicken in a pressure cooker as it is to make it in the slow cooker and it can be on your table less than one hour.
All that needs to be done is to brown the chicken, add the remaining ingredients to the pressure cooker. Set the pressure and cook for 8 minutes, thicken the sauce and enjoy!
Serving Suggestions
Cranberry chicken tastes great served over mashed potatoes, rice or farro with a side of roasted brussels sprouts or a spinach salad.
Storing Leftovers
Store leftover cranberry chicken in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to three days.
Freeze leftover cranberry chicken in an airtight freezer container or a reusable plastic bag like this stasher bag. Defrost it in the refrigerator overnight or place the container of frozen chicken in a bowl or pan of cold water.
Re-heat leftover chicken on top of the stove, in the oven or microwave.
Leftover Tip! Use the leftover chicken to make quesadillas with goat cheese or roll it up in a wrap.
Recipe Variations
- Replace the orange pieces with chopped pineapple for a blend of cranberry orange and pineapple.
- For a gluten-free version, make a slurry of arrowroot and water. Mix together 1 teaspoon of arrowroot with 2 teaspoons of water. Add the mixture at the very end of the cooking process to thicken the sauce.
Have you tried these Healthy Chicken Recipes?
PrintSlow Cooked Cranberry Chicken Breasts
Cranberry chicken is slow cooked to perfection in a savory and slightly sweet sauce made with fresh and wholesome ingredients
- Prep Time: 20 mins
- Cook Time: 5 mins
- Total Time: 25 mins
- Yield: 4 1x
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Slow Cooker/Pressure
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 1 Tablespoon of olive oil
- 1 pound of boneless skinless chicken breasts or thighs or a combination of both
- 1 clove of garlic that has been crushed
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup or honey
- 1 1/2 cups cranberries that have been coarsely chopped
- 1/2 cup of chopped fresh orange or clementine
- 1 teaspoon fresh grated ginger
- 1 teaspoon tamari sauce
- 1/4 cup fresh squeezed orange juice
- 1 teaspoon whole wheat flour mixed with 1 tablespoon water
Instructions
- Prepare the ingredients: chop the cranberries and oranges, squeeze the orange juice, crush the garlic, grate the ginger
SLOW COOKER METHOD
- Brown the chicken – if your slow cooker has a browning feature, this can be done in in the cooker. Otherwise, brown the chicken in a skillet on top of the stove in a skillet
- Place the browned chicken pieces in a slow cooker
- Top the chicken with the remaining ingredients
- Cook the cranberry chicken in slow cooker for 5 hours on low heat
- Thicken the sauce – make a slurry of 1 teaspoon whole wheat flour mixed with 1 tablespoon water gradually add the slurry to the cranberry chicken until the sauce becomes thick
PRESSURE COOKER INSTRUCTIONS
- Set the pressure cooker to saute and add the oil and the chicken breasts cook until they begin to turn brown.
- Turn the heat off and top the chicken pieces with the remaining ingredients
- Place the cover on the pressure cooker and set it to high and cook for 8 minutes
- Slow release the pressure and carefully remove the lid
- Thicken the sauce – make a slurry of 1 teaspoon whole wheat flour mixed with 1 tablespoon water gradually add the slurry to the cranberry chicken until the sauce becomes thick
Notes
For a gluten-free version, make a slurry of arrowroot and water. Mix together 1 teaspoon of arrowroot with 2 teaspoons of water. Add the mixture at the very end of the cooking process to thicken the sauce.
Keywords: cranberry chicken, chicken recipe
Nutrition information is provided by Nutrifox, an online calculator and is meant to be used for informational purposes only. Even though I try to provide accurate information, these figures should still be considered as estimates.
Follow Me
Ooohhh thhis looks so good! Thanks for another great recipe.
★★★★★
I love the orange cranberry twist on this chicken dish! So perfect and festive for Fall and I bet it makes your house smell amazing too.
★★★★★
We made this for dinner last night and it was absolutely delicious! The orange and cranberry flavors really came through. Such a great flavor combo!
★★★★★
I have to make a chicken dish for a pot luck and I am definitely going for this one! Gorgeous! Thank you for sharing!
★★★★★
Ejoy Jacqui!
Oh my goodness! I am loving this combination of flavors! Now this is the perfect fall chicken dish if you ask me!
I made this fall inspired chicken for our sunday meal and it was amazing. I browned the chicken and threw the rest of the ingredients and in the crockpot and let the magic happen. I loved the sweetness from the orange/honey and the tartness from the cranberries. The fresh ginger was really a special touch, thanks for a great recipe.
★★★★★
This Chicken recipe looks so tender! I love that it’s slow cooked and the combo of cranberry and orange is always the best!
★★★★★
Such a lovely, easy and super delicious chicken recipe. I absolutely love how the meat looks. SO tender and so juicy. Full of flavor. I can’t wait to make this!
★★★★★