This easy Mongolian Chicken is ready in only 30 minutes, so skip the take-out and enjoy this delicious crispy chicken with a sweet and savory sauce right at home. Quick, simple, utterly delicious and every bite is packed with tons of flavor.
Although the name of this dish is Mongolian Chicken, none of the ingredients or method of preparation are really Mongolian. Mongolian simply implies that this is an exotic dish. Nonetheless, this dish is so good, you won’t be disappointed if you try it.
Usually it’s made with beef but I wanted to make this dish with chicken so chicken it is. Also I used skinless boneless chicken breast but chicken thighs can be used as well. This is a hassle free, low effort, no fail recipe that yields an incredibly delicious and comforting chicken dish with a super yummy sauce.
What Is Mongolian Chicken
The popular dish is Mongolian Beef which really isn’t Mongolian but a Chinese-American dish popular in restaurants. It consists of slices of beef, typically flanks steak, then stir-fried with vegetables in a savory brown sauce. It’s a favorite here which is why I also make it with chicken. This recipe is a little bit different than its beef counterpart but still just as mouthwateringly yummy.
This chicken recipe is crispy, salty, sweet and spicy. It has it all. So for those of you preferring chicken over beef, let’s get to it!
Ingredient Notes
For Mongolian Chicken
- Chicken – I’ve made this chicken dish with both boneless skinless chicken breasts and chicken thighs. It’s great either way, all depends on if you love white meat or dark meat.
- Cornstarch – this will help crisp up the chicken while frying.
- Red Dried Chilies – these pack a little bit of heat, not as much as you’d think.
- Garlic and Ginger – this is where a lot of the flavor comes from.
- Green Onions – for a little freshness.
- Vegetable Oil – for frying.
For Mongolian Chicken Sauce
- Soy Sauce – I always buy the low sodium kind, and because even low sodium soy sauce is quite salty, it’s not necessary to add any additional salt to this dish.
- Brown Sugar – this is where the sweetness comes from in this dish. You need this brown sugar to balance out the flavors.
- Cornstarch – this is used to thicken the sauce.
- Chicken Broth – again I prefer to use a low sodium or no sodium added chicken broth.
How to make Mongolian chicken
There are three main parts to making this dish, fry the chicken, make the sauce then just toss everything together. It’s fairly simple and quick.
- Make sauce: Whisk all the sauce ingredients together in a medium bowl. Set aside.
- Prepare the chicken: Toss the chicken with the cornstarch, ensuring each chicken pieces is covered in cornstarch.
- Fry the chicken: Heat the vegetable oil in a pan or wok. Fry the chicken pieces in batches until they are completely cooked through and slightly brown and crispy.
- Finish the dish: Drain the oil from the wok leaving 1 tbsp in the wok, if necessary. Add garlic, ginger, red chiles to the wok and saute for 30 seconds. Add in the prepared sauce and bring to a simmer, stirring constantly until the brown sugar has dissolved completely. Add in the chicken and green onions then toss everything together for 15 seconds.
How to serve
My favorite way to serve this is over cooked rice such as Jasmine rice or Basmati rice. You could also serve it over noodles.
Some tips
- Feel free to experiment with this dish. Try adding different veggies, such as zucchini, broccoli, mushrooms or peppers.
- Try oven frying this chicken instead of frying it. Bake it at 475 F degrees for 8 minutes on the top rack. Flip the chicken pieces and broil on low for another 3 minutes or until golden brown. Keep an eye on it as it could burn quickly.
- There’s no need to marinate this chicken. The sauce provides all the sweet and salty flavors we need.
Leftovers
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. I usually just reheat in the microwave for a couple minutes before serving.
Freezing
You can freeze this by storing it in an airtight container or freezer bags, once it has fully cooled. Store it in the freezer for up to 2 months. To thaw, take it out of the freezer the night before and place it in the refrigerator. The next day when ready to serve, either heat it up in the microwave and add it to a skillet/wok and stir-fry until heated through.
More Asian recipes to try:
- Orange Chicken
- Kung Pao Chicken
- Chow Mein
- Chicken Lo Mein
- Mongolian Beef
- Bourbon Chicken
- Sesame Garlic Chicken
- Chicken Teriyaki
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Mongolian Chicken
Ingredients
Mongolian Sauce
- ½ cup chicken broth low sodium or no sodium added
- 2 tablespoon cornstarch
- 2 tablespoon brown sugar
- 3 tablespoon soy sauce low sodium
Mongolian Chicken
- 1 pound breast boneless and skinless, chicken thighs can be used as well
- ½ cup cornstarch
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 1 teaspoon ginger minced
- 6 red chilies dried
- 3 green onions sliced
- â…“ cup vegetable oil for frying
Instructions
- Make sauce: Whisk all the sauce ingredients together in a medium bowl. Set aside.
- Prepare the chicken: Toss the chicken with the cornstarch, ensuring each chicken pieces is covered in cornstarch.
- Fry the chicken: Heat the vegetable oil in a pan or wok. Fry the chicken pieces in batches until they are completely cooked through and slightly brown and crispy.
- Finish the dish: Drain the oil from the wok leaving 1 tbsp in the wok, if necessary. Add garlic, ginger, red chiles to the wok and saute for 30 seconds. Add in the prepared sauce and bring to a simmer, stirring constantly until the brown sugar has dissolved completely. If you find the sauce is too thick add a bit more chicken broth or water. Add in the chicken and green onions then toss everything together for 15 seconds.
- Serve over rice or noodles.
Video
Recipe Notes
- Leftovers: Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. I usually just reheat in the microwave for a couple minutes before serving.
- Freezing: You can freeze this by storing it in an airtight container or freezer bags, once it has fully cooled. Store it in the freezer for up to 2 months. To thaw, take it out of the freezer the night before and place it in the refrigerator. The next day when ready to serve, either heat it up in the microwave and add it to a skillet/wok and stir-fry until heated through.
- Nutrition: Nutritional information does not include rice or noodles. Please keep in mind that nutritional information is a rough estimate and can vary greatly based on products used.
Nutrition Information:
Originally shared Dec 8, 2012. Updated with better pictures, video and better instructions.
Loved this dish! Recipe was fail proof. Only thing that wasn’t quite clear was how the chicken was to be sliced—thin sliced or nugget size? I went with in between the two. Followed the recipe exactly and it was perfect! Love the balance of sweet and spicy. My picky eater came back for seconds and the family agreed the recipe was a keeper. Thank you for another amazing recipe!
Hi Angel! So glad you liked the chicken! I sliced the chicken into bite size pieces, cubes basically.
Good recipe easy to follow. I used half the cornstarch, don’t like it thick. Doubled the sauce because I added broccoli and carrots.
I really love this recipe. Just made it for dinner and it is so easy yet so delicious. Thank you, Jo.
My pleasure!
My family literally applauded at the end of dinner when I made your recipe for Mongolian Chicken 😂 They loved it so much I made it again the next night!
That’s amazing, Chase! SO glad everyone enjoyed it so much!
Can you cook this in the ActiFry? If so can you please give the directions. Have made this a few times on the hob and loved it
You can definitely cook the chicken in the actifryer, but after the chicken gets crispy you will need to add it to a pan and cook it into the Mongolian sauce. Let us know how this turns out!
This recipe looks so great! Will definitely give it a try. I like the flexibility of making it with a variety of vegetables, as you suggested.
Amazing! I made it exactly as the recipe said, but I added 1 teaspoon of sesame oil to the sauce and WOW!!
What in the homemade Chinese food!!! This recipe was amazing!! Love the crispy chicken sauce combo! I cool a to never write reviews but this was incredible!!
So glad you liked it!!
Seriously Delicious!! Thanks again… meant to say I cook a ton.. lol
This was our dinner tonight. Super easy and so delicious! Thanks for another great inspiration!
We loved this recipe! I doubled the sauce and added about 4 cups of veggies – sweet peppers, carrot, celery, green beans, cashews. I had to substitute crushed red pepper flakes for the red chilies – about 1/2 tsp, but next time I will use more.
I love this dish a lot, i made it twice already so yummy 😋. Thanks Joanna for the recipe, all your recipes are yummy. I did about three or four different dishes from yours and i just love them all.
I’m so happy to hear this!
This is the third time I’ve made this recipe. It is delicious! Usually I make adjustments to recipes to add flavor, heat etc.. This recipe is perfect as is!
This is the only recipe I’ve ever made that comes really close to tasting like Chinese take out.
I love this recipe! I have made it three times with b/s chicken breast and thighs. I have added all sorts of different veg based on what I had. This is an awesome recipe!
Great recipe – definitely tasted like high end food from a Chinese restaurant. I added one small onion sliced in long pieces, and nearly tripled the green onions using a whole bunch and a half. Will definitely make this again!
I made this dish for a fast sunday dinner.
Had to leave out the HOT as my wife and kids don’t like spicy dishes. I DO so to bad LOL!!! Turned out great