Mongolian Chicken
This post may contain affiliate links. See my disclosure policy.
This BEST Mongolian Chicken recipe is ready to serve in 15 minutes and rivals your favorite takeout or restaurant for freshness and flavor! Tender chicken is drenched in a sweet and savory sauce with crisp green onions and served over steamed rice or egg noodles. It’s quick, easy and thoroughly delicious! And if you’re looking for a vegetarian Mongolian chicken, I’ve got you covered too!
What is Mongolian Chicken?
Mongolian Chicken is a variation of Mongolian Beef. Of Chinese-American origin, both of these dishes are two of the most popular Chinese dishes in the United States and can be found in practically every Chinese restaurant. It’s one of my favorite dishes to order when we go for takeout and it’s also a family favorite when I make it at home.
The sauce for Mongolian chicken is made with soy sauce, water, brown sugar, toasted sesame oil, hoisin sauce, pepper, garlic, ginger, and thickened with cornstarch. Typically the only vegetable added to Mongolian chicken is green onion but feel free to improvise and add any other veggies of your choice. Some other tasty additions can include broccoli, mushrooms, bean sprouts, red bell peppers, carrots and zucchini.
I’m using chicken breast for this but you can also use boneless thigh meat. For a vegetarian Mongolian chicken you can use tofu following our recipe for Baked Tofu.
Serve Mongolian chicken with steamed rice or egg noodles or chow mein. For a low carb alternative you can serve it with cauliflower rice or spiralized zucchini noodles.
Mongolian Chicken definitely isn’t a low-sugar meal, but it’s an indulgence we really enjoy from time to time. And if you’d like to reduce the caloric intake you can substitute all or part of the brown sugar with our favorite brown sugar alternative, Sukrin Gold.
If you’re a fan of this popular Chinese dish then you’ll have to give this Mongolian chicken recipe a try – we’re confident you’re going to love it as much or more than your favorite takeout!
Mongolian Chicken Recipe
Let’s get started!
Cooking Chinese food over high heat is a quick process so have all you ingredients prepped and measured in advance. Cut up the chicken and chop the green onions, keeping the white parts separate (they take longer to cook). Mince the garlic and ginger.
Combine the sauce ingredients in a bowl.
Sprinkle the chicken with the cornstarch and toss to coat.
Heat the wok (or regular skillet if you don’t have a wok) over high heat. Once the wok is good and hot pour in the oil. I use avocado oil because it’s a healthy oil with a high smoke point.
Add the chicken and fry until cooked through. It will only take about a minute. Add the garlic and ginger and fry for another 30 seconds. Pour in the sauce.
Stir in the white parts of the green onions.
Cook for a minute or so until the sauce is thickened.
Add the remaining green onions and stir to coat and to just heat through. You don’t want to cook the soft green onions for long because you want them to remain a little crispy. Remove from the heat and serve immediately.
Your Mongolian Chicken is ready!
Serve with steamed rice, egg noodles, or chow mein.
Enjoy!
Want to bulk up this dish with more healthy veggies? Simply add some steamed broccoli and/or fry some bell peppers along with the chicken. You can also toss in some bean sprouts at the very end.
For more delicious Chinese takeout recipes, be sure to try my:
- Mongolian Beef
- Orange Chicken
- Egg Foo Young
- Kung Pao Chicken
- Beef and Broccoli
- General Tso’s Chicken
- Beef Stir Fry
- Sweet and Sour Chicken
- Orange Beef
- Sesame Chicken
Save This Recipe
Enter your email address and we’ll send it straight to your inbox!
Mongolian Chicken
Ingredients
- 1 lb chicken breast or thighs , cut into thin strips (*Vegetarian/Vegan: use diced tofu tossed in oil and baked in oven until crispy)
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch , for coating
- 2 tablespoons high heat cooking oil (I use and recommend avocado oil as a healthy oil with a high smoke point)
- 1 tablespoon fresh garlic , minced
- 2 teaspoons fresh ginger , minced
- 2 bunches green onions , cut into 2 inch pieces, white parts kept separate
- For the Sauce:
- 3 tablespoons hoisin sauce
- OR Best Homemade Hoisin Sauce
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ cup tamari (can substitute light soy sauce)
- ½ cup water
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- ½ cup brown sugar
- or brown sugar alternative
Instructions
- Combine the sauce ingredients in a bowl, stirring until the cornstarch and brown sugar are dissolved, and set aside.
- Sprinkle the cut up chicken with the cornstarch and toss to coat.Heat a wok or heavy frying pan over high heat. Once hot, add the oil. Add the chicken and fry until cooked through, about one minute. Add the garlic and ginger and fry for another 30 seconds. Add the sauce and white parts of the green onions and simmer until thickened, about a minute. Add the remaining green onions, stir to coat and remove from heat (the green onions should remain a little crispy).
- Serve immediately with steamed rice, egg noodles or chow mein.
Notes
Nutrition
First published on The Daring Gourmet February 22, 2015
Hi, I’m Kimberly Killebrew and welcome to Daring Gourmet where you'll find delicious originals, revitalized classics, and simply downright good eats from around the world! Originally from Germany, later raised in England, world-traveled, and now living in the U.S., from my globally-influenced kitchen I invite you to tour the world through your taste buds!
Made this for dinner last night. It was great. Everyone loved it. I like mine a little spicier so next time I will be adding a little chili oil but this is really good “as is”. Thank you very much Kimberly.
Fantastic! So glad it it was a hit, Brendan, and I really appreciate your feedback, thank you!
I forgot to add the brown sugar and ginger but it was still delicious. Can’t believe I forgot to add those ingredients even though I had them. Definately prepare all items ahead of time.
Haha! Well, I’m glad you still enjoyed it even though it was missing two major ingredients! :) As much as you liked it this time, you’ll enjoy it even more the next time with those ingredients intact. But it’s so true, with quick Asian dishes like this the cooking time is so fast that unless you have everything set out in advance you’re bound to forget something. I really appreciate the feedback – happy cooking!
This was fantastic! I made it last night for my husband, myself, and a friend that eats with us every week. They both said to put it into my regular cooking rotation. I added steamed broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots to it as well to make it a complete meal. Can’t wait to try more recipes here.
Yayyyy!! So thrilled to hear that, Christa, thank you!
Tasty! My mom made this dish and we all enjoyed it. Wasn’t too sweet. BTW, I think I got my mom hooked on your site :)
Jennifer, you’re awesome!! Thanks so much for referring your mom my way :) Glad you all enjoyed the Mongolian Chicken!
It looks delicious! I can’t wait to try this.
Thanks so much, Adina!
Yummy! I’ve always been a big fan of both Mongolian beef and chicken but have never made my own. Can’t wait to try this! Thanks also for the introduction to Oxo’s new cookware, I’m also a fan of their products.
You’re going to love this, Cori! Happy cooking!
One of my all-time faves to order out and this looks sooooo delicious! Will be trying this tomorrow, thank you!!
Thanks, Kate, you’re going to love this!
I do have question about this dish, is it diabetic friendly? Would love to try it and us something other than white rice. Thanks for the help.
Hi Claudia, I would not recommend this for diabetics as it’s high in sugar.
You can try to substitute the sugar with stevia or splenda. 18 to 24 packets of spends to 1 cup of sugar. I have a type 1 diabetic son and he loves spicy Chinese food.
I’m going to try with less sugar tonight. Partner has just been diagnosed type 1 and this much sugar is 98g carbs alone! I think the whole dish is around 115g carbs. Hoison sauce is also surprisingly high carb.