This Mongolian Chicken recipe is so quick and easy to make that it’s a perfect recipe to throw together even after a long day at work
I love Asian inspired dishes, but it seems like when ever we order it out, we end up feeling slightly sick or thirsty all night long from all of the sodium and who knows what else. These dishes are so quick and easy to make that we make them more at home these days, and they are perfect to throw together even after a long day at work.
One of the reasons that I like Asian dishes is because of all of the yummy vegetables. When I put my Mongolian Chicken on the menu this week, I bought the vegetables that looked the best to me. I ended up with some zucchini, asparagus, mushrooms, onion and peppers. I was getting all of my ingredients out and then it hit me. Why not try making this dish with roasted vegetables?
I love the bright crispiness of sauteed vegetables, but I also just love the deep flavor of roasted vegetables, especially when the edges turn a rich golden brown. I roasted my vegetables and then started in on my chicken. Everything was going fine until my cell phone started going crazy. I had so many friends telling me that my Facebook account was being hacked. I immediately turned off the stove and started changing passwords and sending notifications to my friends on Face Book about what was going on.
I came back and finished this dish. It was immediately apparent that roasting the vegetables wasn’t going to work. They weren’t crunchy or visually appealing, and leftovers looked much worse. I knew I couldn’t share that recipe. All of the work and the pictures all down the drain. I remade this recipe and after taking a chunk out of my thumb with my knife, I finally got a finished dish that was delicious and one that I would serve at my table.
They say when it rains it pours. It’s a good thing that I wasn’t posting my Fresh Margarita recipe. I would probably have lost more than a chunk of my thumb!
- 1 lb chicken breast sliced 1/2 inch thick skinless and boneless
- 1/4 cup cornstarch
- 3 tablespoons oil canola, olive, or sesame, divided
- 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/2 cup low sodium soy sauce
- 1/4 cup brown sugar light or dark
- 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- Vegetables of your choice cleaned and chopped in 1 inch strips. asparagus, mushrooms, broccoli, onion, red or green bell Peppers and zucchini work well
- 1 cup brown rice cooked according to package directions
- Thinly sliced green onions or matchstick carrots as garnish if desired.
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Start cooking rice according to package directions. It should take 35 to 45 minutes.
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Drizzle oil in the bottom of a large skillet or wok. When hot, add garlic, ginger and sauce. Cook for 2 minutes. Pour into a bowl and set aside.
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Add chicken to a separate bowl and coat with corn starch.
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Drizzle the same large skillet or wok with oil. When hot, add chicken. Brown on both sides. Return to a bowl or plate once browned.
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Coat the skillet with the oil once more. Add vegetables and continue cooking until browned.
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When finished, add chicken and cover with sauce.
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Garnish with onions or carrots. Serve immediately over rice.
Beef can be substituted for chicken if desired.
While this week was trying at times, I realize how fortunate I am. I have my health and so many wonderful people in my life such as you, and my Facebook account is more secure than ever. Do you make Asian dishes at home or are you more of a take-out kinda person?
I’m taking this over to Fiesta Friday to share and to pick up some amazing recipes.
The dish looks really good. Hope your thumb is healing well!
Thank you Johanne! The thumb is healing. It’s amazing how much you realize you use something when it’s hard to do so.
That looks absolutely a-ma-zing! What a feast for the eyes! I can only imagine the flavors…
Thank you Ana! We really like stir fry and it is a great way to get John to eat his veggies.
This looks so good!
Thank you Debbie!
Love this dish Julie – anything with roasted veggies tastes better. I hear you about eating Chinese out – I always need lots of water to recoup. I don’t even like Panera much because so many of their sandwiches/soups are too salty 🙂
Thank you Judi. We just ate at Panera on Saturday and they use a lot of pressed lunch meat on their sandwiches which I think is so disappointing. I can make those at home.
Ouch Julie!! I hope nothing too serious? Stitches? Hopefully NOT! Still, your Mongolian Chicken recipe came through just perfect. Too bad the roasted veggies didn’t work out. I’ve been doing all my veggies in the oven these days. Do you have any tips when you have to cook on your stove top on high heat? I know when I do a stir fry of any kind, you do have to cook on high heat in a wok, and I find the juices and oil splattering all over the place, it is pretty frustrating even though I have a mesh over the wok. Anyway, yours looks delicious, love the colors.
Thank you Loretta! The thumb is healing. It’s amazing how much you use your thumb! I used a medium high heat and keep a coating of oil on the bottom of the pan. Also make sure your oil is hot when you add your ingredients to the pan. Also make sure your veggies and meat aren’t wet. Water and oil really splatters. I think you just have to expect spatter when stir frying too.
This looks so wonderful, Julie! I can completely relate to what you are saying about “take-out” — I often feel the exact same way! So sorry about your thumb! Hope it’s feeling much better! 🙂
Thank you Anna! The thumb is healing and I’m not whining any more either.
What happened to the FB page?! I just now finished the 2-step verification, then came back here. People are just so nuts! And sorry about the thumb, too. Such an important finger! The chicken looks awesome, better than take out! Roasting the vegetables is such a great idea. I’m going to have to give it a try, and your pineapple tarts, too
Thank you Angie! Someone created a fake Julie FB page and then used my friends list. The idea is when you confirm the fake julie friendship they are now a part of your FB page and will do the same to you. There isn’t any reason to do this other than creating havoc. I’ve reset my passwords and now I’m a bit smarter. I actually didn’t love the roasted veggies in the stir fry. Let’s keep em crunchy! Have a great day Angie, Thank you!
Mongolian style dishes are some of my favorite in Asian cuisine Julie. And I agree, it ALWAYS makes you feel better when you make it for yourself. This dish looks yummy, great job 🙂
Thank you so much Jess!
As soon as I saw this dish, I knew I would love to try it. I like to order mongolian beef at Chinese food restaurants. Chicken is even better! I could so relate to the problems you were having with getting a post done. I can’t even tell you how many times lately the recipe that looked so wonderful came out so terrible or it was really good, and I just couldn’t get any decent pictures. The life of a blogger, huh! 🙂 It is so frustrating sometimes, though. It may have taken awhile, but you ended up with great pictures and a great recipe. I hope your thumb is okay!
Thank you Shari! The thumb is healing! I can’t believe how difficult it is to work without that appendage! Tomorrow I am remaking a cupcake recipe for the 4th time! It seems like that’s been my mo lately too. It’s tough because it’s just 2 of us a home so I can only cook so much anyway. My neighbors are always willing to do taste tests though.
I’m glad your thumb is getting better. I bet it is difficult to cook with not being able to use your thumb! Sorry about the cupcakes. Those take a lot of time, too. I know what you mean, as there are only 2 of us at home as well. I don’t like to waste food, and it gets so expensive to buy new ingredients.
I have heard of Mongolian chicken but never tried it Julie. I am bookmarking this recipe because it looks fabulous!!!
Thank you so much skd! Have a wonderful day!
Owwie…your thumb! I’m so glad you didn’t give up on this dish, because it looks great!
Thank you Nancy! I’ve had a heck of a run the last couple of weeks. It seems like everything is a stuggle! Do you have weeks like that?
Thank you Nancy! I’ve had a heck of a run the last couple of weeks. It seems like everything is a struggle! Do you have weeks like that?
Sorry you had such a stressful week! I hope your thumb is ok! Looks like a delicious dish!
Thank you Lynz! All is well really. I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
This looks beautiful too Julie! I love Mongolian Chicken. You’re right about Asian meals… we love it too, but hate asian take out because it tastes too “artificial”. We end up making it at home every single time 🙂
I hope your Thumb is ok! I once sliced my Thumb on the mandolin, and it partially cut through my tendon – that wasn’t fun! Hope you didn’t have to get any stitches 🙁
Oh my Dini! My mandolin scares me and I keep the fingers a long way away! I listened to your videos on creating gifs today. You are a natural born instructor!
Yikes! It sounds like you had quite an ordeal this week, with Facebook, your thumb, and the first version of this not turning out so well. The end product looks delicious, though!
Thank you! I kept reminding myself that all of that other stuff was minor compared to the obstacles others face, but it sure seems like wen it rains it pours!
I love Mongolian Chicken and I didn’t realize it was so easy to make. A definite must-try. Thank for sharing and pinned!
Thank you Lily and thank you so much for hosting FF this week!
Ugh, Julie. Sounds like a nightmare of an evening. 🙁 Happy to know that you got everything resolved with your Facebook account. ( I loathe hackers… Aren’t some people just awful?) This dish came out beautifully the second time around! I’m sure I would have loved it with roasted veggies as well. 😉
Thank you, Josette! In the whole scheme of things it really got to me more than it should have and I’m no longer on the ledge so to speak. I don’t understand people that do things just to cause havoc. Every fiber of my being is so totally opposite of that. Speaking of niceness, thank you for hosting FF this week!
This looks amazing! Can’t wait to try this recipe!
Thank you! We’ve made it a lot and really enjoy it.
I had tried this recipe before (using the simmering method), but my family did not like the flavour and texture of the chicken. (The directions do not state to brown the drumsticks first, which resulted in an unpleasant odour in the dish).
Thank you for stopping Thomas. I did not use drumsticks. I used boneless skinless chicken breasts. The simmering method would not result in the stir fry texture that you get from using strips of chicken instead of whole pieces. I hope this helps and that you will let me know if you have questions about making this recipe.