Asian Chicken Bake
A One Pan Wonder
Asian Chicken Bake featuring cubed chicken baked up with red bell peppers, red onions, green onions, and water chestnuts in a sweet soy sauce gravy is a healthier and easy meal for busy people. Delicious over rice but also great in lettuce wraps, this is perfect for meal prep and can be modified for the slow cooker!
Mister Tipsy and I recently moved into his childhood home that we have been renovating for the last nine months so we are now living much closer to friends and family. I love that people can drop by and enjoy meals with Mister and I.
One person that comes by often is Mister Tipsy’s best friend since childhood. He is an eternal bachelor and loves that he can now stop by as often as he likes for home cooked meals.
I made this Asian Chicken Bake knowing he was coming over because it was easy, healthy, and yielded a large portion. It was a huge hit with both him and Mister Tipsy!
We all even ate it as leftovers the next day. It was fresh tasting and delicious.
Make Ahead For Convenience
One of the best things about this recipe is that it can be prepped ahead of time and baked off before dinner. It cooks in about an hour.
You can also throw this in a slow cooker and it cooks up in about 4 hours on low. The vegetables are still slightly crisp and the chicken is tender and flavorful.
You can also bake this off and reheat it the next day. I rarely eat leftovers, but I could not resist this the day after.
In fact, it was maybe even better reheated! I bet this would also be delicious cold the next day on top of a salad.
What Are The Chinese Five Spices?
The Chinese Five Spice is a classic combination of star anise, cloves, cinnamon, pepper and fennel. Chinese Five Spice is an ingredient that throws some people off, but I use it in quite a few recipes.
One of my favorites is a Taiwanese Recipe called Lo Ba Bung that is made with ground pork that is a Pork and Rice Bowl. Many brands sell this blend.
I like the one from McCormick which is probably the one you can most easily find.
If you are new to this spice, use it sparingly as it can be very strong, especially to newbies. It is not SPICY but you can taste the spice.
Some of the other recipes I use this in are my New Year’s Eve Noodles (which can be made year round), and my most delicious Beef Skewers. I know that you will fall in love with this spice when you try it.
A quick search on Amazon also shows they sell many varieties.
Water Chestnuts, To Love, Or Hate
I put lots of water chestnuts in this recipe. You can leave them out if you do not like them.
You can also use LESS of them, or use the sliced or chopped variety. If you would like something else with crunch, add that instead of or also!
I love a good water chestnut. I think it absorbs the flavor of this sauce and it is just so good.
But if you don’t, it is ok to leave these out and you don’t even have to leave mean comments about it!
Asian Chicken Bake Recipe
An easy to assemble meal for busy nights, this Asian Chicken Bake can be prepped ahead of time and baked when you get home from work. It makes a teriyaki-like sauce that tastes great over rice. Chicken, red bell pepper, onions, and water chestnuts make this recipe both the perfect taste and texture.
Ingredients
- 2 lbs. of Boneless Chicken Breast
- 1 large Red Bell Pepper
- 1 large Red Onion
- 4 to 6 Green Onions
- 2 cans of whole Water Chestnuts
- 1/4 cup of Soy Sauce
- 1/4 cup of Orange Juice
- 2 to 3 tablespoons of Brown Sugar
- 2 tablespoons of Olive Oil
- 1 teaspoon of Chinese Five Spice *optional (see post before recipe card for more information on this ingredient)
- 2 teaspoons of Onion Powder
- 1 to 2 teaspoons of Garlic Salt
- 1 teaspoon of White Pepper
- 1 teaspoon of Paprika
- 1 teaspoon of Black Pepper
Instructions
- Cut your chicken into bite sized pieces and add to a bowl. Season well with the black and white pepper, paprika, onion powder, and garlic salt. Toss really well to coat and add to a 9 x 12 baking dish.
- In a bowl add your soy sauce, orange juice, brown sugar, and olive oil. Whisk well to combine and then whisk in your Chinese five spice if using.
- Slice your red bell pepper and red onions into strips and add to the chicken. Drain your water chestnuts and add to the chicken. Slice your green onions, both white and green parts, add half to the chicken.
- Pour over your soy sauce mixture, cover the baking dish with a single piece of foil. Bake for 45 minutes at 375°. Halfway through baking, uncover carefully, give it a good stir, cover and finish baking.
- At the 45 minute mark, uncover, turn off the oven and let sit in oven for 15 minutes before serving.
- Serve over rice, top with more soy sauce or chili sauce, and top with the remaining green onions. Can also top with fried onions or garlic for some crunch.
*the sauce will be thin, it is like a teriyaki au jus, if you would like to thicken it, you can carefully drain the sauce into a sauce pan, bring to a simmer, in a cup add 1/4 cup of water with 1/2 tablespoon of corn starch, whisk until smooth, then slowly add to the simmering sauce, whisking until the sauce is thickened. You can add more soy sauce to this if you like it slightly more salty.
**You can also add all of this to a slow cooker and cook on low, 4 hours. This can also be assembled ahead of time and baked when ready to eat.