Back in the day, The Kid and I would go to Pei Wei allllll the time. It’s still one of her favorite places. We love sitting at the counter so we can watch the frenzied wok cooking. How do they do that?! It’s always busy, flames shooting, ladles whirling. If I had to work that fast, I’d be quickly in the corner sobbing.
The Kid loves the teriyaki chicken (so much that she recreated it at home) and I’m partial to either the pad thai or mongolian chicken. The mongolian sauce is a spicy, sweet combo that I can never resist. If you check out the nutrition on it though, it’s kinda scary how many calories in the dish come from the sauce alone.
It pretty much screams “Questify me, please! Make me better for your health!” LOL, does food scream at you? No, I didn’t think so. 😉 I played around in the kitchen and came up with a pretty awesome version of the sauce. It was hella-simple too. Like shockingly simple. I wanted to drink the sauce from the pan, sip it from the spoon. I managed to get it ON the chicken and veggies though.
As a compromise, I’m listing the complete recipe and the sauce recipe separately. Yeah, because I plan to go back and make this sauce by itself to use on its own. I’m confessing that bit to you right now. I’m going to dip things in it, use it in a wrap, and maybe drizzle on asian tacos or panini it.
Low Calorie Mongolian Chicken 
- 1 cup (180g) uncooked brown rice
- 1/2 cup (50g) yellow onion, sliced
- 8 oz white mushrooms, sliced
- 2 cups (84g) broccoli florets
- 16 oz grilled chicken breast, sliced
- Mongolian Sauce, recipe below
Cook the rice according to package directions. Heat a pan over medium heat and spray with non-stick spray. Add the onions and cook for about 3 minutes until the onion softens. Add the mushrooms and broccoli florets along with 1/4 cup of water and cook for about 5 minutes until the broccoli is crisp tender and most of the liquid has evaporated.
Add the chicken breast and cook, stirring constantly, until the chicken is warmed. Remove from heat and place the veggies and chicken on a plate. Return the pan to the heat and add the sauce mixture. Whisk continuously with a fork until it thickens and remove from heat. It will start to bubble pretty quickly so this won’t take long.
Divide the rice into bowls, add the chicken and veggies and top with the sauce.
Makes 4 servings at approximately 331 calories each – 26g protein, 50g carbs, and 3g fat.
Mongolian Sauce
- 1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce
- 1/4 cup water
- 2 Tbsp rice vinegar
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp dried ginger
- 1 Tbsp (15g) sugar
- 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper, or to taste
- 1 Tbsp (10g) cornstarch
Whisk all of the ingredients in a small bowl until well combined and there are no lumps of cornstarch. Use in the steps above if you’re making the sauce to serve immediately with the chicken and veggies. If making the sauce by itself, heat a pan over medium heat and add the sauce.
Bring to a boil and whisk constantly until it thickens. It will take about one minute once the sauce boils so watch carefully. Remove from heat and stir well.
Makes about 1/2 cup of sauce at approximately 112 calories – 28g carbs and no fat or protein for the entire batch.
Change up the veggies and protein in this if you prefer something different. Mongolian beef with broccoli, chicken and peppers, carrots, and bamboo shoots. Carrots, little corn ears, shrimp… the list is endless.
No need to call for take out. You now have the secret to making your own at home with ingredients you probably already have. If you batch cook your rice and proteins, you’re pretty much there without much effort at all.
Are you trying out one of my recipes? Don’t forget to snap a pic and tag it with #AFQrecipes when you post it. I’d love to see what you’re making!
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