Chinese Mongolian Chicken

This Chinese Mongolian Chicken is quick and easy and on the table in 20 minutes. This is a healthier version of Mongolian Chicken Rice yet has loads of Asian flavors with a thick sweet and savory sauce and colourful vegetables.

Recipe Highlights

• Made with chicken breast, but you could also use chicken thigh
• Its naturally sweetened with no added sugars and no honey
• Base flavors of ginger, garlic, soy, with hints of BBQ and sesame
• Perfect for meal prepping for weekday dinners or lunches
• The sauce perfectly coats the chicken and wont slide off
• Its not too spicy, but can be easily adjusted up or down, just like my Mongolian Shrimp recipe!
• It’s a one pan meal and everything is cooked in a skillet, wok or pan.
• You can even Air fry the chicken if you have an Air Fryer

Ingredients

Love recreating Asian dishes at home that are healthier but still packed with flavor? Me Too! Check out my Chinese Pineapple with Chicken, Asian Chicken Meatballs, healthy Chinese Orange Chicken, or this Szechuan Style Beef.

Ingredient Notes

• Chicken:  I use skinless chicken breast for this recipe to keep it lower in fat and the chicken breast also cooks quicker.  However you can certainly use skinless chicken thighs in the same manner, however the calories will be slightly more and they will take a little longer to cook.
• Cornstarch:  This is used to coat the chicken to help it to brown and crisp and to make the sauce thicken.  Also called cornflour.   
• Vegetable Oil:  used for lightly shallow frying the chicken pieces.  Alternatively canola oil, grapeseed oil, sunflower oil, or canola oil may be used.
• Sesame Oil:  a little of this added to the sauce adds an earthiness and smokiness to the sauce.  Toasted or untoasted sesame oil both work equally well. 
• Sweetener:  I love using monkfruit sweetener as it disappears and dissolves into the sauce. I also use it in my low calorie Black Pepper Sauce Chicken and General Tso Chicken which has that perfect balance of savory and sweet!
• Soy Sauce:  light or regular soy sauce will work well here.  Avoid sweet soy sauce (Kecap Manis), or dark soy as they don’t work well – too sweet and too bitter.
• Hoisin Sauce:  this is the secret ingredient for Mongolian sauce and add is the savory base of the sauce.
• Long Red Chili:  This is optional and provides a little spice and heat but its not overpowering.  Alternatively you could use red chilli flakes.
• Garlic and Ginger:  Whilst fresh ginger and garlic will almost always give a more pleasing flavor, I often use garlic paste and ginger paste from the jars as this is what I typically have on hand.

How To Make

1. Flour the chicken:  Add cornflour to a ziplock bag and add the chicken.  Toss to coat the chicken.

2. Cook Chicken:    Heat non stick skillet/pan on high and add the oil.  Remove chicken from the bag and add to pan, frying off chicken for about 10 min or until golden and crispy.

3. Add veges:  Add veges to the pan and toss for 3 minutes until just cooked
4. Sauce:  Whisk the sauce ingredients in a small jug and pour into the pan, stirring through evenly coating the chicken and vegetables.  Once sauce is heated through and covering everything, remove from heat and serve with rice.  Garnish with sesame seeds and green onions.

Recipe Tips

• Fresh garlic and ginger:  If you can, try to use fresh garlic and ginger as it tends to bring out the other flavours.  Otherwise use the paste or jar varieties
• Vegetable Alternatives:  snow peas, asparagus, bok choy, choy sum, broccoli, broccolini, chopped cabbage
• More Spicy:  add half a teaspoon of chilli paste to the sauce, stirred through.  Or, add additional diced red chili to serve.
• Extra saucy:  If you love mopping up the sauce with the rice, double the sauce ingredients but keep the chicken the same. Beware however that the chicken will be swimming in sauce and might look a bit “soupy”.
• Storing Leftovers:  store the chicken (without the rice) in an air tight container in the fridge for upto 3 days.
• Freezing:  this recipe can be frozen for upto 3 months.  Its best to freeze without the rice and just freeze the chicken in serving sized portions on its own.

Meal Prepping

Mongolian style chicken with rice is great for meal prepping because its quick and easy and keeps well in the fridge.  For meal prepping I recommend the following:

• Portion out chicken into 4 servings across 4 containers
• Don’t add the rice to the containers as it will soak up all the sauce and make the dish dry when reheated.
• Store the rice in a separate container, or use minute microwave cup rice.
• Reheat in the microwave and eat within 3 days.
• Also check out my Chinese Garlic Chicken which is also one of my go to meal prepping recipes

Variations

• Turkey:  slice turkey breast  into thin strips and follow the same method as for the chicken
• Beef:  thinly sliced lean beef strips work well with this sauce to create deliciously healthy Mongolian Beef

Have an Air Fryer?

I love my air fryer and use it weekly.  To make your Chinese Mongolian Chicken even healthier with practically no oil, the air fryer is a must.  To air fry Mongolian chicken:

• Add the chicken to a ziplock bag to coat with flour
• Arrange chicken pieces to air fryer in a single layer and lightly spray with oil
• Cook for 6 to 8 minutes at 180C/320F (time will vary depending on how big the chicken pieces are)
• Repeat if needed to cook remaining chicken
• Add chicken to wok or pan along with veges at step 3.

Common Questions

Quick and easy Chinese Mongolian Chicken is a perfect Asian recipe to whip up mid week when you’re looking for something healthy with lots of flavor, can be made with pantry staples, has fresh veges and a delicious sweet and savory sauce without the added sugars.

Skip the pre-made bottled Mongolian sauces and make you own healthier version in just a few minutes!

More Healthy Asian Dinner Recipes

Chinese Mongolian Chicken

Kim MorrisKim

In just 20 minutes, you can enjoy a fast and effortless Chinese Mongolian Chicken dish that's both healthy and bursting with Asian flavors. This version puts a nutritious spin on Mongolian Chicken Rice, featuring a mouthwatering sweet and savory sauce and vibrant veggies that add a pop of color to your plate.

5 from 5 votes

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Course Dinner

Servings 4 people

Calories 570 kcal

Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 10 minutes mins

Total Time 20 minutes mins

Ingredients

 

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For the Chicken

• ▢ 500 grams / 1 pound skinless Chicken Breasts - chopped into 4 cm pieces
• ▢ ⅓ cup Cornflour or cornstarch
• ▢ 2 tablespoons vegetable oil

For the Sauce

• ▢ 1 tablespoon Garlic paste - or 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• ▢ 1 tablespoon Ginger paste - or finely grated fresh ginger
• ▢ 1 Diced Red Chilli - chopped finely (or 1 teaspoon red chili flakes)
• ▢ 2 Teaspoons Sesame Oil - toasted or plain
• ▢ 2 Tablespoons Soy Sauce
• ▢ 4 Tablespoons Hoisin Sauce
• ▢ 2 Tablespoons Brown sweetener that measures like sugar
• ▢ ⅓ Cup water

Veges

• ▢ 12 Green Beans (diced into 3 cm lengths)
• ▢ 1 small Zucchini (chopped into rounds)
• ▢ 1 small Red Capsicum/Bell Pepper (roughly chopped)

To Serve

• ▢ 2 cups Rice - cooked
• ▢ Sesame seeds to garnish
• ▢ Green onions to garnish

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Instructions

 

• Flour the chicken: Add cornflour to a ziplock bag and add the chicken. Toss to coat the chicken.
  500 grams / 1 pound skinless Chicken Breasts, ⅓ cup Cornflour or cornstarch
• Cook Chicken: Heat non stick skillet/pan on high and add the oil. Remove chicken from the bag and add to pan, frying off chicken for about 10 min or until golden and crispy.
  2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• Add veges: Add veges to the pan and toss for 3 minutes until just cooked
  1 small Zucchini (chopped into rounds), 1 small Red Capsicum/Bell Pepper (roughly chopped), 12 Green Beans (diced into 3 cm lengths)
• Sauce: Whisk the sauce ingredients in a small jug and pour into the pan, stirring through evenly coating the chicken and vegetables. Once sauce is heated through and covering everything, remove from heat and serve with rice. Garnish with sesame seeds and green onions.
  1 tablespoon Garlic paste, 1 tablespoon Ginger paste, 1 Diced Red Chilli, 2 Teaspoons Sesame Oil, 2 Tablespoons Soy Sauce, 4 Tablespoons Hoisin Sauce, 2 Tablespoons Brown sweetener that measures like sugar, ⅓ Cup water

Notes

• Chicken: I use skinless chicken breast for this recipe to keep it lower in fat and the chicken breast also cooks quicker.  However you can certainly use skinless chicken thighs in the same manner, however the calories will be slightly more and they will take a little longer to cook.
• Cornstarch: This is used to coat the chicken to help it to brown and crisp and to make the sauce thicken.  Also called cornflour.   
• Vegetable Oil: used for lightly shallow frying the chicken pieces.  Alternatively canola oil, grapeseed oil, sunflower oil, or canola oil may be used.
• Sesame Oil: a little of this added to the sauce adds an earthiness and smokiness to the sauce.  Toasted or untoasted sesame oil both work equally well. 
• Sweetener: any type of granulated sweetener that measures like sugar is fine to use.  My preferred varieties are granulated stevia and monkfruit.  For this particular recipe, I used Raw Earth Brown monkfruit which looks like brown sugar.  I buy mine from the baking aisle at the supermarket.  Alternatively you could use honey however this will change the amount of calories.
• Soy Sauce: light or regular soy sauce will work well here.  Avoid sweet soy sauce (Kecap Manis), or dark soy as they don’t work well – too sweet and too bitter.
• Hoisin Sauce: this is the secret ingredient for Mongolian sauce and add is the savory base of the sauce.
• Long Red Chili: This is optional and provides a little spice and heat but its not overpowering.  Alternatively you could use red chilli flakes.
• Garlic and Ginger: Whilst fresh ginger and garlic will almost always give a more pleasing flavor, I often use garlic paste and ginger paste from the jars as this is what I typically have on hand.
• Storing Leftovers: store the chicken (without the rice) in an air tight container in the fridge for upto 3 days.
• Nutritional information includes half a cup of brown rice to serve.

Nutrition

Calories: 570kcalCarbohydrates: 88gProtein: 50gFat: 17gSaturated Fat: 3gFiber: 19gSugar: 12g

Note: Sugars contained in this recipe are from naturally occurring sugars in fruits, vegetables or other natural sweeteners. Calories have been calculated for your convenience using My Fitness Pal and are based on the ingredients listed in the recipe card.

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