Quick and easy Mongolian chicken recipe made with crispy chicken glazed with sweet and savoury glossy sauce. One of the best Chinese restaurant and takeout chicken recipes you can easily cook at home in 30 minutes. Enjoy this dish with plain rice or noodles for a perfect dinner.
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This takeout-style Mongolian chicken recipe is simple, easy, and loaded with flavours. Made with minimum ingredients and quick homemade Mongolian sauce. Lightly coated chicken is fried to perfection and smothered in delicious brown glossy sauce. It is also a versatile dish where you can add vegetables and adjust the flavours to your liking. I can guarantee that this dish is soon to be your favourite crispy Chinese chicken!
A popular variation of Chicken Mongolian is a classic Mongolian Beef and both of these dishes originated in Taiwan and not from Mongolia. Like Chinese Chicken Broccoli and Chicken Chop Suey, American-Chinese takeout dishes are modified to Western liking and slightly different to traditional Chinese homestyle cuisines.
Essential Ingredients
Following is a quick guide with photos and the detailed measurements and instructions video are on the recipe card.
Chicken: Boneless skinless chicken is ideal for this recipe. You can either use chicken thigh or breast. Simply cut the chicken into medium-sized cubes.
Vegetables: Onion, spring onions ( green onions ), fresh garlic and chilli peppers go well with this dish.
Dried red chilli: Mongolian chicken is not originally a very spicy dish. It is more on the savoury and sweet side. But I love to add dried whole dried chillies for a kick of heat.
Sauce: regular soy sauce, brown sugar, and chicken stock/broth are 3 basic ingredients in making Mongolian sauce. The secret to creating the thick glossy sauce is adding a dash of cornstarch or potato starch in the sauce mixture.
Frying oil: any vegetable oil with a high smoking point and neutral flavour such as sunflower, canola or peanut oil can be used. I used sunflower oil in this recipe.
How to cook Mongolian Chicken
- First, prepare the chicken marinade and coating. In a bowl, add chicken pieces with soy sauce, Shao Xing wine, cornstarch, and vegetable oil.
- Mix everything well and set it aside.
- Combine sauce ingredients in a small bowl and whisk until sugar and cornstarch are dissolved.
- To shallow fry the chicken, fill the frying pan with cooking oil for about 1-2 inches. Place the chicken pieces in the hot oil ( 350°F/180°C ) for 5-6 minutes or until crispy golden brown. Flip the chicken pieces occasionally. ( You can shallow fry, deep fry, or air-fry the chicken pieces. ) Remove from oil and set them aside.
- Heat the wok over medium heat, drizzle 1-2 tablespoons of oil. Add dried chillies and onions and sauté for a few seconds. Follow with garlic and ginger.
- Next, pour the prepared Mongolian sauce in. Stir it well and wait until the sauce starts to get thickened and glossy.
- Then place the fried chicken, fresh chilli slices, and spring onions.
- Toss everything well and make sure to coat each chicken piece with the sauce. Turn off the heat and serve the dish immediately with cooked rice or noodles.
Frequently asked questions
Szechuan chicken is famous for its hot and numbing flavours. It has a deeply aromatic, spicy and numbing taste from its main ingredients such as Szechuan peppercorns, chilli oil, garlic and ginger. On the other hand, Mongolian chicken has a more balanced taste between sweetness and savouriness.
You can store the leftovers in a storage bag or airtight container in the refrigerator. Make sure to let the dish cool down before sealing. Reheat in a microwave or a pan before serving next time.
For a healthier, less-frying option you can air-fry or bake the chicken pieces. Place the marinated chicken pieces in the 400° F ( 200° C ) pre-heated air fryer or oven and spray cooking oil over the chicken pieces. Air-fry or bake for about 8-10 minutes, or until crispy.
Fantastic Add-ons and Variations
More veggies: If you love to add more veggies carrots, bell peppers, and mangetout ( snow peas ), are popular choices.
Stir-fry Mongolian chicken: is a great option, if you want to skip the shallow-fry or deep-frying chicken pieces. Cut chicken into thin slices and stir fry with 1-2 tbsp of oil before combining with the sauce and the rest of the ingredients.
Extras: Add roasted cashew nuts or peanuts if you love a bit of crunch. Toasted sesame seeds can be also used as a garnish and extra toasty flavour.
For a milder kid-friendly version, I recommend skipping the dried chillies and fresh chillies.
Umami options: Chicken stock or broth is usually used in the sauce for a rich umami flavour. If you don't have chicken stock in hand, just simply add water with a dash of chicken stock cubes, msg, or chicken powder. Adding a couple of tablespoons of hoisin sauce or oyster sauce is another savoury option.
Note: If you use chicken stock/broth that contains sodium, you might want to adjust the amount of soy sauce in the sauce mixture.
More popular Chinese takeout chicken dishes
If you love restaurant-style crispy Chinese chicken dishes, I recommend you to try out our Crispy Sesame Chicken, Sweet and Sour Chicken, and General Tso's Chicken recipes.
You can also pair this dish with Garlic Green Beans Stir Fry, Spam Fried Rice, Hot and Sour Soup, or Chicken and Cabbage Stir Fry recipes for a wholesome dinner.
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📖 Recipe
Mongolian Chicken
Equipment
- 1 Large wok or pan
Ingredients
Chicken and marinade
- 300 grams Boneless chicken Skinless boneless chicken breast/thigh
- 2 tsp Soy sauce Regular soy sauce or light soy sauce
- 2 tsp Shao xing wine Cooking rice wine or rice vinegar
- 2 tsp Cooking oil Vegetable oil, sunflower, peanut, or sesame oil
- 4 tbsp Cornstarch Or potato starch
Mongolian sauce
- 2 tbsp Soy sauce Regular soy sauce or light soy sauce
- 2 tbsp Brown sugar Or regular white sugar or honey
- ¼ cup Chicken stock Or water or chicken broth
- ½ tsp Corn starch or potato starch
Other ingredients
- ½ Onion Cut thin slices
- 6-8 Dried chilles Deseeded whole dried chillies
- 2 cloves Garlic Minced or cut thin slices
- 2 tsp Ginger Minced or cut thin strips
- 2-3 Spring onions Cut 2" pieces
- 1 Chilli pepper Or bell pepper, cut thin slices ( optional )
- Oil for frying Sunflower, vegetable, peanut oil, etc.
Instructions
- First, prepare the chicken marinade and coating. In a bowl, add chicken pieces with soy sauce, Shao Xing wine, cornstarch, and vegetable oil. Mix everything well and set it aside.
- Combine sauce ingredients in a small bowl and whisk until sugar and cornstarch are dissolved. Set it aside.
- To shallow fry the chicken, fill the frying pan with cooking oil for 2". Place the chicken pieces in the hot oil ( 350°F/180°C ) for 5-6 minutes or until crispy golden brown. Flip the chicken pieces occasionally. ( You can shallow fry, deep fry, or air-fry the chicken pieces. ) Remove from oil and set them aside.
- Heat the wok over medium heat, drizzle 1-2 tablespoons of oil. Add dried chillies and onions and sauté for a few seconds. Follow with garlic and ginger. Cook for a few seconds until fragrant.
- Next, pour the prepared Mongolian sauce in. Stir it well and wait until the sauce starts to get thickened and glossy. Then place the fried chicken, fresh chilli slices, and spring onions.
- Toss everything well and make sure to coat each chicken piece with the sauce. Turn off the heat and serve the dish immediately with cooked rice or noodles.
Video
Notes
- Cooking wine: instead of Chinese Shao Xing cooking rice wine you can add Japanese mirin or dry sherry wine. For a non-alcohol option, use rice vinegar or non-alcohol mirin. Or you can just omit it.
- Chicken stock/broth: Instead of chicken stock/broth you can add water with a dash of chicken stock cubes, MSG, or chicken powder. For an umami taste, hoisin sauce or oyster sauce can be also added if you are not adding any chicken stock or broth.
- The amount of dried chillies and fresh chillies can be adjusted to a spicier or milder flavour to your preference.
- It's important to reduce the sauce a bit and cook until slightly thickened before adding the fried chicken and veggies.
- Like other Chinese crispy chicken dishes, Mongolian chicken tastes best when freshly cooked. Even though you can save the leftovers for later use in the fridge, it won't stay crispy and maintain the glossy sauce when you reheat it. But it will be still delicious, just lacking a bit of crispiness and glossy texture.
- This recipe is for 2-3 servings and you can adjust the serving size by sliding the portion size bar on the recipe card.
Hadiqa says
Delicious recipe! Didn't need to adjust anything!!
Khin says
Yay! Glad that you enjoyed it, Hadiqa.
Paul says
I’ve tried it and it’s delicious. I am cooking it again next week and don’t want to deep fry it. Is it going to be crispy if I pan fry the chicken?
Khin says
Hi Paul, deep frying creates the best crispy coating texture. But you can also pan fry or shallow fry it.
Dana says
It was absolutely delicious. We love your Mongolian sauce with chicken broth as we don’t like oyster sauce and hoisin sauce. Thanks for sharing it. Keep it up.
Khin says
Thanks for sharing the feedback, Dana. Glad that you enjoyed it.