20 Minutes Sweet Savory Mongolian Chicken

Mongolian chicken is a Chinese-inspired American dish that has crispy fried chicken smothered in a sweet-savory sauce.  It’s a delicious fast dinner that comes together in under 30 minutes.

Do not forget to check out other chicken stir fry recipes – 15-minutes chicken and broccoli stir fry, Thai basil chicken, Instant Pot General Tso chicken.

Jump to:

• Why you’ll love Mongolian chicken recipe
• Ingredients needed
• How to make
• Useful tips
• Storage and reheating
• Variations
• Common questions
• 📋20 Minutes Mongolian Chicken

Why you’ll love Mongolian chicken recipe

1. Easy-to-make chicken dinner recipes that are perfect for busy weekdays!
2. Better than your favorite Chinese restaurant takeout!
3. You’ll need simple pantry ingredients; I bet you already have most of it!
4. Crispy fried chicken smothered in sweet savory sticky sauce. It’s so good!
5. Chicken is packed with amazing flavors. It’s sweet, salty, sticky, gingery everything you’ll look forward to in your Mongolian chicken recipe.
6. Try it once and I’m sure you’ll be hooked. Most readers have this recipe included in their weekly menu list for rotation.
7. Mongolian chicken is made similar to how Mongolian beef is made. It’s got the same flavors, same sauce but leaner meat. Feel free to swap chicken with beef.
8. This recipe is quick & easy comfort food that will leave you satisfied!
9. Make it your own. Customize to tweak to your preference. Feel free to add veggies like mushrooms, broccoli, bell peppers, and zucchini.
10. It’s a great make-ahead dish. Stores well for 3-5 days refrigerated.

Ingredients needed

Here’s what you’ll need-

• 1 pound boneless chicken (breasts will do but highly recommend thighs so it’s juicy)
• ¼ cup corn starch + 2 teaspoons extra for adding to sauce
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil + extra if needed (to fry chicken strips)
• 1 teaspoon ginger, minced
• 1 teaspoon garlic, minced
• 2 green onion (white and green part of onion included) – measured to ½ cup
• ½ cup dark brown sugar
• ½ cup low sodium soy sauce (look for gluten free soy sauce if you are on gluten free diet)
• 1 ½ teaspoons toasted sesame oil
• ⅓ cup water

Ingredients notes:

• Chicken – you’ll need boneless chicken cut into thin strips so they cook fast while stir-frying. Chicken breast will do, but recommend you use boneless chicken thighs so it does not turn hard and rubbery.
• Corn starch is also called corn flour in some countries.
• Green Onions – use both white and green part.
• Ginger – use fresh ginger. Do not recommend ginger powder as a substitute here.
• Garlic – use fresh garlic. Garlic powder won’t give the same results.
• Soy sauce – use low-sodium soy sauce. Substitute gluten-free soy sauce if you have diet restrictions.
• Dark brown sugar – use dark brown sugar for rich colored sauce.
• Toasted sesame oil – adds authentic taste to any Asian dish.
• Cooking oil – use any neutral oils like sunflower oil or canola oil for frying chicken.

Ingredients additions & substitutions

This recipe isn’t spicy. It’s got balanced flavors of sweet, and salty tastes. It’s more of a sweet savory dish than a sweet spicy dish. If you like to make the dish spicy, you can by adding dried whole red chilies to the recipe. You can also add a splash of hot sauce if you like.

Add hoisin sauce to enhance flavors.  Note – avoid adding any salt if using both soy sauce and hoisin sauce. Taste and adjust seasoning only in the end.

Add vegetables like mushrooms, broccoli, bell peppers, and zucchini for extra nutrition.

How to make

Cut chicken into thin strips. Add chicken to a zip-lock bag. Add corn starch and a pinch of salt and pepper.

Close the zip lock bag and shake well to coat the chicken strips with corn flour.

Heat oil in a wok or large skillet.

Add chicken strips coated in corn flour to hot oil. Do not crowd the pan. Fry a few strips at a time and do multiple batches. Fry on medium heat until golden brown, then flip and cook on the other side.

Pro-tip: overcrowding the pan with chicken will result in the chicken not getting browned evenly.

Do not cook for more than 2 to 3 minutes on each side or until browned.

Transfer chicken from the pan onto a plate lined with a kitchen towel to absorb excess oil from fried chicken.

Repeat the above steps for the rest of the chicken.

To the same pan add minced ginger, garlic, and ½ of the green onion (reserve the rest of the green onion to be added to the dish in the last step).

If pan it too dry add 2 to 3 teaspoons of oil before adding ginger and garlic.

Sauté for 20 seconds.

Add toasted sesame oil, low-sodium soy sauce, and dark brown sugar. Give it a quick stir.

Quickly mix 2 teaspoons of corn starch in ⅓ cup water.

Pour it into the sauce and stir immediately.

Cook for 30 seconds with constant stirring.

When the sauce begins to thicken, add fried chicken strips and the remaining green onion.

Toss well.

Jo’s Tip: If the sauce turns too dry, you can add a splash(about 1 to 2 tablespoons) of water or chicken stock to adjust the consistency of the sauce. Toss well.

Remove pan from heat.

Serve it immediately hot over steamed rice.

Useful tips

1. Mise en place. The most important step in any stir-fried dish you get all the ingredients chopped, measured, and ready near the stove to be thrown into the pan and tossed.
2. Chicken thighs for juicy chicken. The chicken breast will work, but I highly recommend you to use boneless chicken thighs as it will be moist even if you do tend to overcook your chicken by a few seconds.
3. Thin chicken strips. Cutting the boneless chicken into strips will help cook the chicken fast. Cook chicken on medium heat, high heat will brown and dry the chicken fast.
4. Don’t overcook the chicken. Do not leave chicken in the pan for long. Remove it from heat as soon as it turns brown.
5. High heat. Cook everything on high heat moving it quickly and frequently.
6. Keep tossing. Do not let the ingredients sit for long while cooking.

Storage and reheating

The dish will keep for 3 to 5 days. Any leftovers can be stored in air-tight containers in the refrigerator for 3 to 5 days.

To reheat, add chicken to microwave safe bowl and reheat in microwave until hot or reheat on stove top on medium heat in a skillet or wok.

Variations

Substitute chicken with beef to make the popular Mongolian beef recipe.

If you like to make the dish spicy, you can add dried whole red chilies or fresh Thai red chilies. You can also add a splash of hot sauce like sriracha schezwan sauce or chili sauce for an extra kick.

Add hoisin sauce to enhance flavors.  Note – avoid adding any salt if using both soy sauce and hoisin sauce. Taste and adjust seasoning only in the end.

Add vegetables like mushrooms, broccoli, bell peppers, and zucchini for extra nutrition.

Common questions

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