How to make Mongolian Chicken in the Slow Cooker

Mongolian Chicken made super easy in the slow cooker. Smothered in a multi-dimensional sweet, savory, and spicy sauce-it’s sure to be better than takeout.

This Mongolian Chicken is is my Go-To slow cooker meal!  It takes minutes to “set it and forget” for tender, juicy chicken, then you thicken your sauce on the stove for truly luxurious Mongolian sauce – no lackluster, runny sauce here!  You will love the ease of this Slow Cooker Mongolian Chicken and everyone else will swoon over the better than takeout flavor!  

Watch: How to make Mongolian Chicken

 

Why you will love this Mongolian Chicken Recipe

• SO EASY! No searing or stir frying, simply add the ingredients to the slow cooker and walk away!
• THE BEST SAUCE: The sublime sesame boasts a craveable, complex balance of savory, sweet, and tangy with a kick of heat that will have you licking the plate!
• RICH, GLOSSY SAUCE: No sad, thin, watery sauce here! After the chicken cooks, the sauce is thickened with a simple cornstarch slurry.
• JUICY CHICKEN: The chicken cooks until fall apart ender while soaking up the divine sauce.
• VERSATILE: Use boneless, skinless chicken breasts or chicken thighs, add any veggies, serve over rice, zoodles, etc. make it sweeter, spicier, tangier, etc.
• PANTRY FRIENDLY: This Mongolian Chicken is made with kitchen staples if you do much Asian kitchen (or soon to be staples if you don’t). Once you stock them once, you can make this recipe quicker than picking up takeout!
• BUDGET FRIENDLY: Feed the entire family for the fraction of dining out!

WHAT IS MONGOLIAN CHICKEN?

This better-than-takeout, swoon worthy Mongolian Chicken is based off my Mongolian Beef, which is one of my absolute favs because the sauce is everything. The Mongoilan sauce is perfectly balanced savory, sweet, tangy and spicy.  It’s savory from the soy sauce, garlic and ginger, sweet from the brown sugar and rice wine, tangy from the hoisin (like Chinese BBQ sauce), and is topped off with a splash of sweet heat from Asian Sweet Chili Sauce.  Can we say best sauce ever?!

Mongolian Chicken is simply a tender chicken version of this Mongolian Beef with a variation on the incredible sauce.  Mongolian Beef is a popular dish served in Chinese-American restaurants such as PF Changs and doesn’t actually come from Mongolia. 

Story has it that a chef in a Chinese American kitchen needed a creative name for a new Asian dish and “Mongolian Beef” was born. Although I love my stir-fry Mongolian Beef version, I loooove my crockpot, and I love my always stocked chicken, thus this Slow Cooker Mongolian Chicken was born.

Mongolian Chicken Recipe Ingredients

This copycat Chinese Mongolian chicken recipe is easy to make and comes together with a few special ingredients.

• Chicken breasts: I used boneless skinless chicken breasts.
• Cornstarch: Helps thicken the sauce.
• Soy sauce: Use reduced sodium soy sauce so you can control the amount of salt in this dish.
• Water: Just ½ cup helps make the Mongolian sauce.
• Brown sugar: You need a little sugar to balance out the spiciness in this dish.
• Asian sweet chili sauce: Sweet, with a hint of spice and packed with flavor from a combination of red chilies, onion, garlic, Japanese rice wine, brown sugar and fish sauce. 
• Japanese rice wine: Not to be confused with rice wine vinegar.
• Hoisin sauce: Adds a tangy flavor.
• Ginger: I prefer using fresh ginger in this recipe.
• Sriracha: Add more or less to taste.

How to Make Mongolian Chicken

Slow Cooker Mongolian Chicken – stress free and unbelievably delicious for those days when you are juggling a million things or for those nights you want to kick your feet up and stuff your face with fakeout takeout Mongolian Chicken.  Win-win.

1. Add chicken to the bottom of your slow cooker.  I use chicken breasts in this recipe but you are welcome to use boneless, skinless chicken thighs. 
2. Whisk together all of the Mongolian Sauce ingredients and pour ½ cup over chicken. Refrigerate the rest of the sauce.
3. Cook on low for 5-7 hours or on high for 3-4 hours, or until chicken is tender enough to shred then remove to a cutting board to shred.  The key to tender chicken is to cook it long enough.  If it’s not easily shredding, it simply needs more time to tenderize. 
4. Add reserved Mongolian Sauce to a small saucepan and whisk in 1 ½ tablespoons cornstarch followed by all the liquid from the slow cooker. Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer until thickened.   I have never found success by adding a cornstarch slurry to my slow cooker to try and thicken sauces.  Instead of a thickened sauce, I end up with a watery cornstarch flavored sauce.  Thickening the sauce on the solves this problem 100%.  You get luxuriously rich sauce that is as thick or as thin as you want.  For a thicker sauce, simmer longer, for a thinner sauce, simmer for less time. 
5. Add shredded chicken back to slow cooker along with thickened sauce and let cook an additional 30 minutes on low.  This allows the now shredded chicken to absorb the sauce in every nook and cranny,  to absorb sauce.

Tips for making Slow Cooker Mongolian Chicken

• Hoisin Sauce.  If you aren’t familiar with hoisin sauce it it can be found in the Asian section of your grocery store and is like Asian BBQ Sauce.  Its rich, sweet and tangy.  I use it all the time in my recipes so if you are interested in making my Beef and Broccoli, Kung Pao Shrimp, Sesame Chicken, etc., then I promise it will not go to waste!
• Rice Wine:   Do not confuse rice wine with rice vinegar  – they re NOT the same – and are NOT interchangeable.   Rice wine adds a sweetness and depth of flavor.  Rice vinegar, on the other hand will add an acidic flavor.  I use “[eafl id=”28625″ name=”mirin” text=”Kikkoman Aji-Mirin: Sweet Cooking Rice Seasoning”]” which is commonly found in the Asian section of most grocery stores or you can Amazon it.  I highly suggest you google image before you head off to the grocery store so you know exactly what you are looking for.  The best substitute for rice wine is pale dry sherry.
• Asian Sweet Chili Sauce:  This is one of my favorite ingredients of all time and is often called Thai Sweet Chili Sauce.  It is made of chilies, sugar, vinegar and garlic is an addicting balance of sweet and spicy.  It’s often used as a dipping sauce for egg rolls but I love to use it in everything.  It is a common Asian ingredient and can be found in the Asian aisle at your grocery store.

Mongolian Style Chicken Variations

• Customize heat:  I use 4 tablespoons Asian Sweet Chili Sauce and 1 teaspoon sriracha which is perfect for the  palates at our house which like more spicy but when I made this dinner for my friend with 3 children under 4, I only used 2 tablespoons Asian Sweet Chili Sauce and omitted the sriracha – so basically, this Mongolian Chicken can be perfectly tailored to everyone so it can be everyone’s favorite fakeout takeout.
• Customize flavor: You can customize the flavor of the Mongolian Chicken Sauce by adding additional Asian Sweet Chili Sauce for more sweet heat, Sriracha for spicier, brown sugar for sweeter if desired.
• Add veggies: You are welcome to add broccoli to steam in the slow cooker after you have shredded your chicken but I like to just steam mine in the microwave for 3 minutes  – because then it just takes 3 minutes – or add any cooked veggies to your chicken your heart desires – and I can promise your heart will never desire them 1000x more once bathed in this intoxicating Mongolian sauce.

How to store Slow Cooker Mongolian Chicken

This Slow Cooker Mongolian Chicken recipe makes fantastic leftovers as it reheats beautifully and stays tender, juicy and saucy for days! 

How to store:  store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.

How to Reheat Mongolian Chicken

• How to reheat on the stove:  heat a skillet over medium heat on the stove.  Once hot, add the chicken, reduce to medium low and continue to cook and stir occasionally until warmed through. You may need to add a splash of water for saucier chicken.
• Reheating in microwave:  transfer chicken to a microwave-safe plate.  Heated on high for 90 seconds, stir then continue to cook at 30 second intervals as needed until heated through.     

Can I Freeze Mongolian Chicken?

Yes! To freeze:

1. Let chicken cool completely.
2. Transfer chicken to either a large freezer size bag or divide into smaller size bags.  Alternatively, transfer to airtight container(s).
3. Press air out of the freezer bag, seal, label and freeze for up to 3 months.
4. When ready to eat, defrost chicken in the refrigerator.
5. Heat on the stove until warmed through.

How to serve Mongolian Style Chicken

• Stir Fry Veggies. You can stir fry any veggies your heart desires from broccoli, to bell peppers, to mushrooms, to carrots, etc.
• Shortcut Veggies.  You can purchase pre-chopped veggies perfect for stir fries or use a frozen stir-fry blend or steam-in-the-bag microwavable frozen veggies.
• Crockpot Veggies.  As previously discussed, you can add vegetables directly to the crockpot to cook with your chicken. 
• Salad.  You can swap the stir-fried veggies for a fresh, crunchy salad such as Crunchy Asian Salad, Chinese Salad, or Asian Pineapple Salad.  You can even add the Honey Garlic Chicken directly to the salads.
• Fruit.  Fresh fruit such as chopped pineapple is always an easy, welcome sweet Asian side.  Grilled Pineapple, Summer Fruit Salad, Perfect Fruit Salad, Creamy Grape Salad, and Pina Colada Fruit Salad are also fantastic.
• Appetizers.  For an Asian feast, Crockpot Honey Garlic Chicken is delicious with Chinese appetizers such as Crab Rangoons, Chicken Lettuce Wraps, Pineapple Cream Cheese Wontons,  Sesame Chicken Egg Rolls, Sweet and Sour Chicken Egg Rolls or Chinese Chicken Wings.  It is also delicious with potstickers, even though they are technically Japanese and not Chinese.  
• Soups.  Let the Chinese feast continue with soup!  I love to warm up to Egg Drop Soup  which is SUPER easy and always a satisfying favorite.

Looking for More Slow Cooker Chicken Recipes?

• Slow Cooker Mexican Chicken
• Slow Cooker Salsa Verde Honey Lime Chicken
• Slow Cooker Fiesta Ranch Cream Cheese Chicken
• Slow Cooker BBQ Chicken
• Asian Sweet Chili Sesame Chicken

Looking for more Asian recipes?

• General Tso’s Chicken
• Cashew Chicken
• Sweet and Sour Chicken
• Sesame Noodles 
• Pineapple Ginger Chicken 
• Sweet and Sour Chicken
• Orange Chicken
• One Pot Teriyaki Chicken and Pineapple  Rice
• Sticky Honey Lemon Ginger Chicken

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Tools Used in This Recipe

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Rice Cooker

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Liquid measuring cup (8 cups)

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Mongolian Style Chicken

Mongolian Chicken made super easy in the slow cooker and super delicious smothered in a multi-dimensional sweet, savory, spicy (customizable) sauce!  This Mongolian Chicken is is my Go-To slow cooker meal!  It takes minutes to “set it and forget” then you thicken your sauce on the stove for truly luxurious Mongolian sauce – no lackluster, watery sauce here!  You will love the ease of this Chinese takeout fakeout and everyone else will swoon over the better than takeout flavor!  

Servings: 6 servings

Total Time: 4 hours hrs 10 minutes mins

Prep Time: 10 minutes mins

Cook Time: 4 hours hrs

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Ingredients

• 1 ½ pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch

Mongolian Sauce

• 1/2 cup low sodium soy sauce
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/4-1/3 cup brown sugar, packed
• 2-4 tablespoons Asian sweet chili sauce (like Mae Ploy) **
• 2 tablespoons sweet Japanese rice wine (may sub dry sherry)
• 1 tablespoon quality hoisin sauce (like Lee Kum Kee or Kikkoman)**
• 2 teaspoons freshly grated ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1 teaspoon sriracha/Asian more or less to taste***

Instructions

• Add chicken to the bottom of your slow cooker.
• Whisk together all of the Mongolian Sauce ingredients and pour ½ cup over chicken. Refrigerate the rest of the sauce. Cook on low for 5-7 hours or on high for 3-4 hours, or until chicken is tender enough to shred.
• When chicken is tender, remove to a cutting board and shred.
• Meanwhile, add reserved Mongolian Sauce to a small saucepan and whisk in 1 ½ tablespoons cornstarch followed by all the liquid from the slow cooker. Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer until thickened. Add shredded chicken back to slow cooker along with thickened sauce. Toss to combine.
• Let cook an additional 30 minutes on low to absorb sauce. Add salt to taste. Add additional Asian Sweet Chili Sauce for more sweet heat, Sriracha for spicier, brown sugar for sweeter if desired. Serve with rice and garnish with sesame seeds and green onions.

Video

Notes

*Customize sweetness:  Use ¼ cup brown sugar for less sweet or if you are only using 2 tablespoons Sweet Chili Sauce.  You can always stir in more brown sugar at the end of cooking

**Customize heat:  If you aren’t sure how much Sweet Chili Sauce to use, start with less and stir in more at the end of cooking. I use 4 tablespoons (¼ cup) and 1 teaspoon sriracha and I would say it is medium spicy.  If you have young children you will want to start with 2 tablespoons Asian Sweet Chili Sauce and probably omit the Sriracha.

***Rice wine:  I use Kikkoman Mirin Aji Sweet Rice Wine – can be found in the Asian section of most grocery stores – I suggest googling it so you can spot it easily. The best substitute is dry sherry.

***Broccoli:  I added 3 cups broccoli florets by adding ½ inch water to a microwave safe bowl along with broccoli, covering and microwaving for approximately 3 minutes to steam.

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