This post may contain affiliate links. Please see our disclosure policy.
Moo Goo Gai Pan is a quick and easy Cantonese-inspired stir-fry recipe featuring chicken and mushrooms in a richly seasoned sauce. It is insanely flavorful, super easy to make, and a family-favorite dinner that comes together using everyday ingredients.
Kristen's Keys for Moo Goo Gai Pan
While an easy recipe, I have a few tips that will ensure restaurant-quality results and a stir-fry recipe you will want to make on repeat!
- Slice the chicken thin and evenly. Thin slices cook quickly and evenly, which keeps the chicken juicy instead of dry. A quick 10-15 minutes in the freezer makes slicing much easier.
- Don't skip the marinade. The secret to making restaurant-quality Moo Goo Gai Pan is to thinly slice the chicken and marinate it in an egg white and cornstarch for at least 10 minutes. This is known as velveting and makes the chicken incredibly tender.
- Use the time the chicken is marinating to prep the other ingredients. You want the veggies sliced and the sauce combined before turning on the stove because once we start cooking, things move fast!
- Oyster sauce is a key ingredient. It gives the Moo Goo Gai Pan sauce a rich punch of flavor, but if you don't have it on hand, you can use Hoisin.
5-Star Reader Review
This is so flavorful and delicious! I can't believe my picky youngest son even loved it so thank you so much! -Caryn
How to Make Moo Goo Gai Pan
Think of this section as me walking you through the recipe, giving you some expert tips along the way.
Step One: Marinate Chicken
After slicing the chicken into thin strips, toss it with egg white, soy sauce, and cornstarch in a medium mixing bowl. Cover and let marinate for at least 10 minutes, or up to 60 minutes in the refrigerator.
Step Two: Prepare Sauce
In a small bowl or glass measuring cup, combine chicken stock with mirin, oyster sauce, toasted sesame oil, garlic, ginger, brown sugar, soy sauce, and cornstarch, whisking until the cornstarch has dissolved. Set this aside to add to the stir-fry at the end of the cooking process.
????????Time-Saving Tip: This is a great time to slice your mushrooms and prep any other vegetables you want to add to the stir-fry while the chicken finishes marinating.
Step Three: Stir-Fry Chicken
After marinating the chicken, heat a bit of oil in a large skillet or wok for a minute or two, or until shimmering. Remove the chicken from the cornstarch mixture, letting excess drip back into the bowl, and sauté over medium-high heat until just cooked through and lightly golden. Remove the chicken from the pan and set aside.
Step Four: Stir-fry Veggies
Using the same pan, sauté the mushrooms for a minute or two, allowing the mushrooms to release some of their moisture. One the mushrooms have begun to soften, add in carrots, snow peas, or any other veggies you like, and cook until just tender, yet still bright in color.
Step Five: Combine and Simmer
Give the sauce one last whisk, then add it to the pan along with the chicken and bamboo shoots. Simmer, stirring constantly, until the sauce thickens and coats everything evenly. This only takes a couple of minutes.
Step Six: Serve
Serve immediately over rice or cauliflower rice to soak up that delicious pan sauce. I also recommend putting out Sriracha if anyone wants to add a little spice to dinner.
Recipe Modifications
- Change up the Veggies: While mushrooms are the obvious choice in a mushroom and chicken stir-fry, there are no hard and fast rules. Feel free to omit or swap out the carrots and snow peas for bok choy, napa cabbage, peppers, onions, edamame, or green beans.
- Gluten-Free: Use tamari instead of soy sauce and confirm your broth and oyster sauce are gluten-free.
- MSG-Free: Choose an oyster sauce labeled without added MSG, such as Kikkoman.
- Egg-Free: Skip the egg white and add 2 tablespoons of water to the marinade to maintain moisture.
- Soy-Free: Use coconut aminos and a vegetarian mushroom "oyster" sauce in place of traditional options.
More Quick & Easy Take-Out Copycat Recipes
Moo Goo Gai Pan
Video
Ingredients
- 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts , or boneless skinless chicken thighs
- 1 large egg white
- 1 tablespoon low sodium soy sauce, for marinade
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch, for marinade
- ½ cup low-sodium chicken broth
- ¼ cup Mirin
- 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
- 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger
- 1 teaspoon brown sugar, or honey
- 1 tablespoon low sodium soy sauce, for sauce
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch, for sauce
- 1 tablespoon neutral oil, divided
- 8 ounces button mushrooms, sliced
- ½ cup sliced carrots
- ½ cup halved snow peas
- 8 ounce can of bamboo shoot strips, drained and rinsed
Instructions
- Place the chicken into the freezer for 10-15 minutes to make it easier to thinly slice.
- While the chicken is in the freezer, whisk together 1 large egg white, 1 tablespoon low sodium soy sauce, and 1 tablespoon cornstarch in a medium mixing bowl until the cornstarch is dissolved.
- Remove the chicken from the freezer and thinly slice the chicken against the grain into very thin slices. Place the chicken slices into the cornstarch mixture and toss to coat. Cover and refrigerate for 10 minutes or up to 1 hour.
- While the chicken is marinating, prepare the sauce by whisking together ½ cup low-sodium chicken broth, ¼ cup Mirin, 1 tablespoon oyster sauce, 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil, 2 cloves garlic (minced), 1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger, 1 teaspoon brown sugar, 1 tablespoon low sodium soy sauce, and 1 tablespoon cornstarch in a small mixing bowl or glass measuring cup until the cornstarch has dissolved. Set aside until needed.
- After the chicken has marinated, heat ½ tablespoon of the oil l in a large wok or large skillet over medium-high heat, for 1 minute or until shimmering.
- Once the oil has heated, remove the chicken from the marinade, letting the excess marinade drip back into the bowl, and add the chicken to the heated pan. Stir fry the chicken until nearly cooked through and golden, about 2 minutes. Remove the chicken from the pan to a clean plate and wipe out the pan with a paper towel.
- Add the remaining ½ tablespoon of oil to the same pan and heat for another minute. Add in sliced mushrooms and stir fry for 1 minute. Add in carrots and snow peas and stir-fry until crisp tender but still bright in color, about 2-3 minutes.
- Give the prepared sauce another quick whisk to combine, then add to the skillet, along with the cooked chicken, and bamboo shoot strips. Simmer, stirring constantly, until thickened and glossy. This should only take about 2 minutes.
- Serve over rice or cauliflower rice as desired.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I like this recipe but feel I must comment about your suggestion of using rice wine vinegar if you dont have mirin. Mirin is sweet, rice wine vinegar is acidic (it is vinegar) The two flavours are poles apart and it would radically change the flavour of the dish so only 4* for a nice recipe. Maybe that statement should be edited.
Hi John! Thank you for your feedback. You are correct that they have different profiles, but both will work. I should note that using rice vinegar will not make the dish as sweet, but if that is what you have, it will work (I have tested it myself) I appreciate your feedback. I will add that to the recipe notes 🙂
Absolutely delicious!!! Thank you for sharing
So happy to hear you enjoyed, Robin! Thanks for sharing.