Fanta Chicken

Fanta chicken? Say what? Although Fanta chicken sounds weird, there is nothing funny about its taste. If you’ve had the opportunity to taste Fanta chicken, then you’ll know that it is a faux Chinese dish, resembling the flavours of traditional sweet and sour chicken.

Expect citrusy flavours combined with the sweet character of the pineapple and the salty notes of the chicken. You don’t necessarily need sugar free Fanta to complete this Fanta chicken recipe. Alternatively, you can opt for any brand of orange lemonade. Also, you can use ordinary lemonade and jazz it up with some fresh orange juice and orange zest. The possibilities are endless.

What’s best, is that you can apply this exact recipe for other types of meat. Just be mindful of the different cooking times. You can even use tofu to make a vegetarian-friendly or even vegan-friendly version. This Fanta chicken will convince you to add this Chinese ‘fakeaway’ to your weekly menu and save some cash on expensive takeaways.

Fanta chicken recipe UK

Think of Fanta chicken as an easy Asian chicken stew. Basically, you just throw in all the ingredients and let them simmer for a bit. As you can see, the recipe doesn’t require any exceptional culinary skills. This Fanta recipe calls for chicken breasts, tomato paste, bell peppers, onions and pineapple to give it an Asian twist. Don’t forget a glass of Fanta!

This Fanta chicken actually reminds me a lot of this Italian chicken cacciatore recipe. The main difference is the Fanta and the pineapple. Isn't it funny how two ingredients can completely change a dish?

In either case, before you explore this Fanta chicken recipe, here’s some food for thought. Why don’t you brine the chicken first? The brining process will protect your chicken breasts from drying out and becoming completely stringy. Check out my ultimate guide to brining chicken and you’ll see how to make the perfect brined chicken breasts.  Once you start brining chicken, you’ll never cook chicken the same way ever again!

What does Fanta chicken taste like?

In one word – awesome! The citrusy and sweet flavours of the Fanta drink make the Fanta chicken fragrant. Moreover, the pineapple adds a sweetness as well as acidity. Together, this Fanta chicken really tastes like the Chinese takeaway dish sweet and sour chicken.

I remember the taste of Fanta very well. Whenever I drink Fanta, early childhood memories spring to mind. Little did I know back then, that one can actually use Fanta in culinary applications. You can use Fanta in savoury Asian dishes and even make a delicious Fanta cake!

Substitutes for Fanta

Remember good old Mirinda? This was the ultimate substitute for Fanta. You can also use Orangina, which is a French orange fizzy drink. Another option is Pelegrino's orange flavour, which is an Italian fizzy drink. Otherwise, any orange flavoured lemonade will do the trick.

If you can’t locate any type of orange fizzy drink, you can always opt for normal lemonade. Just add a bit of orange juice and orange zest into the existing lemonade. Better yet, you can make your own homemade orange fizzy lemonade. All you need are a couple of oranges. First juice them. Add plain soda water into the orange juice. Feel free to add a little bit of liquid sugar, as this will add a nice glow to your Fanta chicken.

Slimming world Fanta chicken

This Fanta chicken originated from a Slimming World recipe. It could help you on your journey towards slimming down to your ideal weight. In fact, it is completely syn free if you omit the vegetable oil with a low-calorie cooking spray.

In addition, another condition of making this a syn free recipe is to use a can of Zero Sugar Fanta Orange. This is a must if you want to make it a pure syn free recipe.

Lastly, the fresh pineapple added at the end of cooking should remain raw, otherwise they turn into syns.

How to thicken Fanta chicken

There are a couple of clever ways to thicken up this Fanta chicken. Sometimes, the Fanta can make the sauce just too runny. So, the first step is to add the Fanta step by step and use it for consistency control.

Second, you can add more tomato puree or tomato paste. Generally speaking, tomato paste already contains thickeners, so once you add a spoonful the Fanta chicken sauce will immediately thicken up. However, you must keep in mind that the quantity of tomatoes used will change the flavour. In this case, you should add a bit more of the pineapple and orange zest.

Thirdly, you can add some potato starch or corn starch, by creating a slurry and slowly pouring it into the pan. Or, try these potato starch substitutes.

Diet fanta chicken

First and foremost, this Fanta chicken recipe is a healthy Asian dish. It doesn’t contain any excess fat or sugar. Especially, if you substitute the Fanta drink with homemade lemonade and add orange zest. This would make the best diet version of Fanta chicken.

In addition, to make this Fanta chicken keto-friendly - for people on low-carb diets - don’t serve it with rice. Noodles and potatoes are also out of the question. Instead, you should go for these garlic and chilli courgetti.

What to serve with Fanta Chicken

You can serve this Fanta chicken recipe with egg noodles, steamed rice or some roasted vegetables. Otherwise, you can also pair this Fanta chicken with salt and chilli chips.

Fanta chicken can also be served on its own, just double up on the portion size. If you feel like having a lazy dinner, you can also serve this recipe with fresh bread and use it scoop up the delicious sauce.

Toppings

There are a few toppings that would work well with this Fanta chicken recipe. As with any Asian dish, you can try some of these below:

• Peanuts – just sprinkle a few over the top
• Fresh cilantro leaves – the fresher the better or try these coriander substitutes
• Fresh red chilli peppers – green chilli peppers or jalapenos will also do the trick
• Bean sprouts
• Freshly cut parsley
• Go heavy on the pineapple
• Chives or these chives substitutes
• Spring onions

You can also use these toppings with other Asian dishes in addition to the Fanta chicken. For instance, try these:

• Chicken in oyster sauce stir fry with mushrooms
• Marmite chicken
• Salt and chilli chicken

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