Slow Cooker Mongolian Chicken

by Sabrina SnyderPublished: October 10, 2017 80 Comments
5 from 22 votes

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Slow Cooker Mongolian Chicken is a set it and forget it five ingredient recipe that is sweet, spicy, and full of garlic and ginger flavors!

Slow Cooker Mongolian Chicken is a set it and forget it five ingredient recipe that is sweet, spicy, and full of garlic and ginger flavors!

Slow Cooker Mongolian Chicken takes almost no effort at all and you’ll LOVE the dinner you end up with. The leftover sauce is so good I often add a cornstarch slurry to it and cook it on the stove top to thicken it. Then I add it to everything!

On top of the chicken of course, but also over rice the next day. I actually sometimes will use leftover rice and use this thickened sauce as s mix in for a quick fried rice.

Mongolian Beef is actually one of the most popular recipes on the site, so a chicken version is long overdue! I actually also have a ground mongolian beef recipe coming up, with such an easy set of ingredients all things Mongolian beef are a huge hit in out house.

Some tips/tricks about this Slow Cooker Mongolian Chicken:

  • I used spices instead of fresh ginger and garlic to mix things up and make this a true pantry recipe. I also found it had better texture in recipe testing as minced ginger tends to get chewy in an unpleasant way in the slow cooker.
  • Dark brown sugar adds an extra depth of flavor because of added molasses. If you only have light brown sugar it will work too, but flavors won’t be as deep.
  • I always use lite soy sauce to keep the sodium/salty flavor in check. Careful if using regular soy sauce.
  • I keep the green onions out of this dish because they got a bit slimy in the slow cooker during testing. If you add them fresh in the last five minutes, I’m sure it would be delicious!

5 Ingredient Slow Cooker Mongolian Chicken is the perfect pantry recipe!

Can I make this Mongolian Chicken in the oven?

Yes, absolutely. Keep the chicken in a smaller baking pan, perhaps an 8×8 or 9×13 pan (if using a few more pieces of chicken) and keep things cozy to keep the liquids around the chicken. Cook at 400 degrees for 25-30 minutes.

Can I make this Mongolian Chicken in a skillet?

YES! You may want to use sliced/diced chicken thigh meat and add a bit of canola oil to the pan first. Then brown the chicken on medium high heat for 4-6 minutes on each side and add in the remaining ingredients until caramelized and cooked through.

Want more Slow Cooker Chicken Recipes?

Want more Asian Recipes?

Tools Used in this Slow Cooker Mongolian Chicken recipe:
Slow Cooker: Love this slow cooker and how programmable it is, it has been a workhorse for me… until…
My New Slow Cooker: This recipe was made in this slow cooker. For larger roasts I also brown the meat in the insert and not lose a bunch of the flavor by transferring the meat and leaving the browned bits behind. If you’re thinking of a new slow cooker, consider it if your budget is open.
Soy Sauce: Nothing much to say here except Kikkoman has the best flavor overall and I always recommend reduced sodium.

Recipe

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Slow Cooker Mongolian Chicken is a set it and forget it five ingredient recipe that is sweet, spicy, and full of garlic and ginger flavors!
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Slow Cooker Mongolian Chicken

5 from 22 votes
  • Yield: 5 Servings
  • Prep Time: 5 minutes
  • Cook Time: 4 hours
  • Total Time: 4 hours 5 minutes
  • Course: Main Course
  • Cuisine: Asian
  • Author: Sabrina Snyder
Slow Cooker Mongolian Chicken is a set it and forget it five ingredient recipe that is sweet, spicy, and full of garlic and ginger flavors!

Ingredients

  • 5 chicken thighs , bone in and skin on
  • 1/4 cup lite soy sauce , low sodium
  • 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger , or 2 teaspoons ginger, minced
  • 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder , or 2 tablespoons garlic, minced
  • sesame seeds and sliced green onions , for garnish (optional)
US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Note: click on times in the instructions to start a kitchen timer while cooking.

  1. Mix all the ingredients and set the chicken into the slow cooker skin side up.

  2. Cook on low for 8 hours or on high for 4 hours.

  3. Garnish with sesame seeds or green onions (optional).

Nutrition Information

Yield: 5 Servings, Amount per serving: 339 calories, Calories: 339g, Carbohydrates: 22g, Protein: 19g, Fat: 18g, Saturated Fat: 5g, Cholesterol: 110mg, Sodium: 741mg, Potassium: 285mg, Sugar: 21g, Vitamin A: 90g, Calcium: 30g, Iron: 1.2g

All images and text © for Dinner, then Dessert.

Keywords: crock pot Mongolian chicken, slow cooker Mongolian chicken
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Slow Cooker Mongolian Chicken is a set it and forget it five ingredient recipe that is sweet, spicy, and full of garlic and ginger flavors!
5 Ingredient Slow Cooker Mongolian Chicken is the perfect pantry recipe!

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Comments

  2. I’m curious if simply multiplying this recipe to put far more chicken in would work… I want to make, and save portions for lunch at work. Maybe 20 thighs at one.

    Reply

    1. You don’t want to overcrowd the slow cooker. I recommend keeping the chicken in a single layer to allow the skin to crisp up. If you’re making that big of a batch, I would recommend making it on the stove top instead.

      Reply

    1. You want to make sure the chicken is completely thawed before adding them to the slow cooker otherwise they’ll release too much liquid during the cooking process and it’ll get soupy.

      Reply

        1. Can I just throw this in the oven instead? And how long, what temperature do you recommend? My chicken didn’t get pulled out early enough to defrost.

          Reply

  5. My entire family licked the bowl clean!! The only change I made was searing the thighs before putting them in the slow cooker. Thank you!!

    Reply

    1. You can always swap out boneless, skinless thighs to reduce the amount of fat in the dish. I don’t recommend boneless skinless breasts though.

      Reply

        1. Breasts just seen to dry out in the slow cooker a bit more due to having less fat content than thighs. Just a personal preference though.

          Reply

          1. I agree…chicken breast is a very convenient item to have in your fridge/freezer but it dries up very quickly when you`re preparing it.

  8. Have made this dish several times. My husband, who is a fussy eater, even loves it. He likes it paired with yellow rice.

    Reply

    1. You may need to cut the cook time by a half an hour to an hour but thighs are still better than breasts. 🙂 Enjoy!

      Reply

  12. Delicious. Used minced garlic from a jar and it tasted fine. I only had full sodium soy sauce so added around 1/2 cup water to cooker. Then added more when thickening liquid. Otherwise it was too salty. The sauce was still delicious and not watery. Thanks to Eileen for her question — I would have put the sauce on top, too. Such an easy and tasty recipe.

    Reply

  14. I gave this recipe a try over the weekend and absolutely loved it! One day I baked the chicken instead of using the slow cooker because I was pressed for time and it still came out great. The next day I had thighs left over from the day before so I decided to give the slow cooker recipe a try and it was even better! This will be a repeat recipe, so simple and tasty! Thank you, Sabrina!

    Reply

  15. This recipe is super simple, and delicious. After a hard day at work, it was nice to come home to the delicious smell. I used chicken legs instead of thighs. Love it, and passed it on to several friends.

    Reply

  16. This looks delicious! If I wanted to use, boneless, skinless chicken thighs, would I reduce the cooking time since the chicken is not on the bone? Thank you.

    Reply

        1. Maybe 30 min to an hour less? The problem is that the bone and skin help protect it from drying out so I would just watch it as you want to catch it in that sweet spot of being cooked but not dried out. Good luck!

          Reply

  18. Hi Sabrina! I love this recipe, but accidentally bought skinless, boneless chicken thighs at Aldi this week. Would wrapping them in turkey bacon help keep the chicken moist?

    Reply

    1. You’ll want to wrap them in regualar bacon. I don’t think turkey bacon has enough fat in them to keep the chicken moist. If you decide to try, I’d love to know how it turns out.

      Reply

  19. I always double recipes as I have a giant family and some of them growing boys that can eat a lot, lol. With that said i have a giant 8 qt. crockpot. I have the space. I sample a lot of recipes for crockpot because my hubs and I Coach youth soccer so we need dinner ready waiting for our fam. Some of our favs are ones with Asian flavors. This one is a keeper! Have made it twice already! Love it!

    Reply

    1. You really don’t want to crowd the slow cooker so I’d suggest using two different slow cookers or making this in the oven.

      Reply

  22. Do you put the sauce in before or after the chicken?  Sounds silly to ask, just want to get it right the first time around!
    I have a broken foot and am hobbling around. This sounds so simple and delicious.  Thanks for posting!
    Eileen, Coronado, CA

    Reply

    1. Not a silly question at all! Mix the sauce ingredients in the slow cooker and then put the chicken on top of it.

      Hope you’re recovering well!

      Reply

    2. Great question…thanks! I would have put the sauce over the chicken! I’m making this tomorrow. Thanks again

      Reply

  23. Made this on Sunday for Monday night dinner. Tastes great!!! Thickened the sauce on the stove and will serve with rice and broccoli.

    Reply

  24. Have a question.. Could you make this Mongolian chicken in a pressure cooker, instead of a slow cooker?? Just curious, making it one way or the other. Thanks

    Reply

    1. I’ve never tested it so I don’t feel comfortable suggesting it but I’m sure you’ll be able to find another recipe online with similar ingredients to follow. Let me know how it works out if you decide to try it.

      Reply

  25. Made this! I added in some red pepper flakes and 1/2 cup of water. It was amazing and soo so tender. My girlfriend hasn’t stopped raving about it. Will make again!

    Reply

    1. I usually don’t recommend using skinless chicken breast in the slow cooker as it can tend to dry out. As long as you know that going in, you could definitely give it a try.

      Reply

    2. I used 2 lbs. of Tyson boneless skinless chicken tenderloins cut into 1 inch cubes. I doubled the sauce. I only had light brown sugar so I added molasses (1 cup light brown sugar + 1Tbsp. molasses = 1 cup dark brown sugar). I also cut the ground ginger in half (I ran out) and added a couple of tsps. of Hoisin Sauce. I stirred the chicken into the sauce and turned the crock-pot to High for 2 hours and Low for 2 hours. One more thing, I wanted some color in it so the last hour I stirred in sliced Vidalia onion and sliced red bell pepper. It is an awesome recipe and I will definitely be making it again.

      Reply