Zesty Tangerine Sauce makes a great addition to your weekly food prep!
Why I Love This Zesty Tangerine Sauce
This Zesty Tangerine Sauce a really simple recipe that would be great on salmon or chicken and adds a great tang and slight sweetness. To make this recipe, you’ll reduce down the juice of three tangerines together with ginger for sharpness and ghee for creaminess.
You can also use grass-fed butter instead of ghee to add an extra silky mouthfeel. But if that won’t work for your dietary needs, ghee (clarified butter) is a perfect substitute.
If you can’t find tangerines, oranges would work perfectly. Using the zest guarantees more flavor than using just juice alone.
How to Zest an Orange
Zesting an orange probably sounds more complicated than it really is. The zest is loaded with citrusy essential oils and has so much flavor. To zest your orange – or any citrus fruit really – you’ll want a tool called a microplane.
A microplane is a super-fine grater. Simply lightly run it across the surface of your orange so that the colored part of the skin is removed. Don’t push so hard that you take the bitter white pith with it. Simple!

Zesty Tangerine Sauce
Zesty Tangerine Sauce is a really simple recipe that would be great on salmon or chicken and adds a great tang and slight sweetness.
Ingredients
- 3 tangerines juice, about 1/2 cup and zest of 2
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- 1 tbsp ghee sub coconut oil
- Pinch sea salt
Instructions
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Add all the ingredients in a small saucepan.
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Bring to a boil over medium heat, then turn to low and reduce until ~1/4 cup of liquid remains, about 10 minutes. You want the sauce to be slightly thickened.
13 Responses
This sauce sounds great! I am always looking for new sauces to help add variety to the ever ubiquitous chicken breast 🙂 Due to weight-loss goals, I am doing low-carb paleo (no fruit except lemon), so I was wondering if I could substitute lemon juice instead? I know that it won’t be sweet anymore, but do you think the sauce would be completely ruined by using lemon juice instead? Maybe I could add a couple of drops of Stevia to sweeten it up. I am new to cooking, so I would love the opinion of an expert!
Hi Crystal! Lemon would probably be pretty sour if you followed the same recipe. Have you seen my recipe for Easy Pan-Fried Lemon Chicken? It might be exactly what you’re looking for! Here’s the link: https://www.stephgaudreau.com/2013/07/10/easy-pan-fried-lemon-chicken/.
The lemon chicken recipe sounds awesome – I will be trying it soon! Thanks for your wonderful site and all of your great recipes!
Yay! Glad to hear that 🙂 You’re very welcome.
The Lemon Pan-Fried Chicken is seriously good! I cook it a lot!
Yay! Glad to hear that!
FAB-U-LOUS!! Just made this tonight atop pan fried salmon (http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchens/pan-fried-salmon-recipe2/index.html) and asparagus sauteed w sesame oil and toasted sesame seeds. Definitely on the keeper list!
Awwwww Helen! Thank you so much for the very kind words 🙂 This is one of my favorite sauces, and I love what you paired it with. YUM!
Steph: Can the Tangerine Sauce be made ahead? If so, what would be the time frame? How would I store? Would it need to be reheated? I want to use it with an appetizer of grilled shrimp for a dinner that will be away from my home. Thank you so much. Anne
Sure you can freeze it and then let it thaw out.
The flavor of the sauce in the sauce pan as it heats is deepening and oh so good. I am not clear is it just for after or do you cook the salmon in it?
It’s for spooning over the top after the meat is cooked.
Great recipe, I happen to have 3 Tangerines! This will go well with my flattened, floured and fried chicken breasts.