Mongolian Chicken

Mongolian chicken. Crispy fried chicken smothered in a sticky sweet ginger hoisin sauce. A delicious dish to make for dinner or lunch that comes together in just 30 minutes or less!

What does Mongolian chicken taste like?

This dish is like the sister dish to sweet and sour chicken but without the sour tangy flavour. Instead, the sauce is a garlic brown sugar hoisin sauce with a kick from the red chili. It is not overly spicy where you need a tall glass of milk to fan the flames but you can feel that spice at the back of your tongue. A dish to try if you love sweet spicy chicken. If you’re not a fan of spice, feel free to omit the red chili.

Easy to make!

My Mongolian chicken recipe is also incredibly easy to make and I bet you almost have most of the ingredients in your pantry! The one you may need to go out to get is Hoisin sauce, but most Western and Asian grocers carry this sweet thick sauce already. I love using Hoisin sauce on my meat dishes as it really offers such a delicious sweet thick syrupy taste.

Watch how I made it!

What is Mongolian chicken made of?

Mongolian chicken is chicken coated in cornstarch and then fried in oil. Then once fried it is then mixed in with a delicious gingery, spicy, garlicky and sweet hoisin-based sauce. The red chili, ginger, and garlic give it a wonderful aroma and taste.

What is Mongolian sauce made of?

Mongolian sauce is a mixture of hoisin sauce, brown sugar, soy sauce, sesame oil with a cornstarch slurry to thicken it. It is additionally flavoured with ginger, garlic and red chili (sometimes).

What is the difference between Mongolian chicken vs Szechuan chicken?

Szechuan chicken tends to be spicier and sweeter or spicy and sour using Szechuan peppercorns. Mongolian chicken is milder and sometimes doesn’t even use spices but in my version I wanted a kick but feel free to omit this if you cannot tolerate spice.

Does Mongolian chicken have nuts?

Sometimes but my version is nut-free.

Is Mongolian style chicken dairy free?

Yes. Dairy is not usually used in making this dish. My version is completely dairy-free.

Tips for making the best Mongolian Chicken

• Have all your ingredients prepared and ready to go! When cooking any meat stir fry you always want your ingredients ready to fry or you can risk the chance of overcooking your meat.
• Use chicken thighs. Chicken thigh is such a forgiving and delicious cut to cook with. You could potentially overcook this chicken and your meat will still be tender because it has more fat running through it unlike chicken breast, where this can easily be dried out.
• Use medium-high heat when cooking your chicken but do not keep it in the wok for too long, just until crispy golden brown.
• Use quality ingredients especially when it comes to your aromatics such as the green onions, garlic and red chili. This is a dish that relies on fresh and quality aromatics for that wonderful gingery, spicy, garlicky flavour.

Other recipes you may like!

SWEET AND SOUR CHICKEN
TAIWANESE POPCORN CHICKEN
KOREAN FRIED CHICKEN
MALAYSIAN CHICKEN CURRY
SOY HOISIN CHICKEN THIGHS

For this recipe

You will need the following Mongolian chicken ingredients:

• 6 chicken thighs, diced
• ¼ cup cornstarch
• 1 stalk green onion, finely chopped
• ⅓ cup cooking oil (vegetable or avocado)

Sauce:

• 2 tsp garlic minced
• 1 red chili, sliced (optional)
• 5 slices ginger with skin on
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 4 tbsp hoisin sauce
• 2 tbsp brown sugar
• 2 tsp sesame oil
• 1 tbsp cornstarch
• ½ cup water

Garnish (optional):

• 1 stalk green onion, finely chopped
• 1 red chili, sliced

How to make Mongolian Chicken

1. In a small bowl, mix 1 tbsp cornstarch and ½ cup water until well combined. Set aside.
2. In a large mixing bowl, add your diced chicken thighs followed by cornstarch. Mix until each piece is coated in cornstarch. Set aside.
3. Then in a large pan or wok set over medium high heat, add cooking oil. Carefully add in your chicken and let this fry until crispy golden brown on all sides, about 6-8 minutes. Remove chicken from pan and transfer to a plate.
4. In the same pan or wok set over medium heat, add ginger, garlic, and red chili. Fry for 30 seconds.
5. Next add in hoisin sauce, soy sauce, brown sugar, sesame oil and cornstarch mixed with water. You may need to give the cornstarch water another stir before adding to the hot pan. Mix sauce ingredients until combined.
6. Toss your fried chicken back into the pan and coat each piece with sauce. Remove and transfer to serving dish to enjoy!
7. Optional: Garnish with red chili and green onions if desired.

Give it a try!

Well, I hope you give my Mongolian Chicken recipe a try! It always excites me when you guys make my recipes and I hope this is one you try.

Thanks for visiting my blog! If you enjoyed this quick Mongolian chicken, please share it with your family and friends or on social media! Take a picture if you have made my recipe and tag me on Instagram @ChristieAtHome in your feed or stories so I can share your creation in my stories with credits to you!

Made this recipe and loved it?

If you could leave a star rating for my Mongolian chicken stir fry, I would greatly appreciate it 🙂 Thanks so much!

Take care,
Christie

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Easy Mongolian Chicken (30-min. Recipe)

christieathome

Mongolian Chicken. Crispy fried chicken smothered in a sticky sweet ginger hoisin sauce. A delicious dish to make for dinner or lunch that comes together in just 30 minutes or less!

4.92 from 12 votes

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Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Prep Time 10 mins

Cook Time 20 mins

Total Time 30 mins

Course dinner, lunch

Cuisine asian, mongolian

Servings 3

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 6 chicken thighs diced
• ¼ cup cornstarch
• 1 stalk green onion finely chopped
• ⅓ cup cooking oil vegetable or avocado

Sauce:

• 2 tsp garlic minced
• 1 red chili sliced (optional)
• 5 slices ginger with skin on
• 4 tbsp hoisin sauce
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 tbsp brown sugar
• 2 tsp sesame oil
• 1 tbsp cornstarch
• ½ cup water

Garnish (optional):

• 1 stalk green onion finely chopped
• 1 red chili sliced

Instructions

 

• In a small bowl, mix 1 tbsp cornstarch and ½ cup water until well combined. Set aside.
• In a large mixing bowl, add your diced chicken thighs followed by cornstarch. Mix until each piece is coated in cornstarch. Set aside.
• Then in a large pan or wok set over medium high heat, add cooking oil. Carefully add in your chicken and let this fry until crispy golden brown on all sides, about 6-8 minutes. Remove chicken from pan and transfer to a plate.
• In the same pan or wok set over medium heat, add ginger, garlic, and red chili. Fry for 30 seconds.
• Next add in hoisin sauce, soy sauce, brown sugar, sesame oil and cornstarch mixed with water. You may need to give the cornstarch water another stir before adding to the hot pan. Mix sauce ingredients until combined.
• Toss your fried chicken back into the pan and coat each piece with sauce. Remove and transfer to serving dish to enjoy!
• Optional: Garnish with red chili and green onions if desired.

Suggest Equipment & Products

Wok

Measuring Set

Mixing bowl

Santoku Knife

Enjoyed my recipe?Rate my recipe and leave a comment (be kind)! Tag me @christieathome and hashtag #christieathome so I can share it on social media!

Video

Notes

For extra sauce, make double the portion of the sauce if you like pairing it with rice.

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