Mu Shu Chicken is an easy and affordable Chinese recipe that’s packed with flavor. Have the comfort of Chinese takeout without having to leave your house!
When I lived in New York in my late teens, I was introduced to a whole new world of food. New York is an amazing city for countless reasons, but one of the greatest is knowing that no matter what you crave, a dizzying array of cuisines are available to you 24 hours a day. The city is particularly well known for it’s Chinese food, and one dish that I got turned on to back then and considered a rare treat (since I was living on a $10 a day or less food budget) was Mu Shu Chicken.
Just take warm mu shu pancakes (in my world flour tortillas are much easier than making homemade), paint a swirl of hoisin sauce in the center, fill each one with heaping spoonfuls of a finely chopped stir fry of chicken and vegetables, fold them up, and voila! It’s about as much fun as you can have at the dinner table.
My kids will eat almost anything I put in a tortilla, so I came up with this Mu Shu recipe that’s perfect for the home cook. I usually will stir fry some without the chicken in it for Kenya, so if you have a vegetarian in your family, this recipe will work for them too after some little adjustments!
Another reason I like to make this recipe at home instead of ordering out, besides it being super simple, is because I can know exactly what’s going into the dish, which makes it a little healthier. If you’re looking for more healthy versions of takeout food, try my Thai Curry Cellophane Noodles, Asian Sautéed Shrimp or Vegetarian Lo Mein. They’re all delicious and easy to make!
Let me know what you think of this Mu Shu Chicken recipe and tag me on social media if you make it!
Mu Shu Chicken
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 2 large eggs, whisked
- 2 teaspoons minced ginger
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 3 cups chopped cabbage, or coleslaw mix
- 4 shiitake mushrooms, sliced
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 3 tablespoons hoisin sauce
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 3 cups cooked, shredded chicken
- 1/4 cup sliced scallions
Instructions
- Heat 1 tablespoon vegetable oil in a large skillet over high heat.
- Add the eggs and scramble. Transfer to a plate.
- Heat remaining 1 tablespoon vegetable oil in the skillet.
- Add the ginger and garlic to the skillet, and cook 1 minute.
- Add the cabbage and mushrooms, and cook until cabbage is wilted, about 5 minutes.
- Stir in the soy sauce, hoisin sauce, and sesame oil.
- Add the chicken and scrambled eggs to the skillet, and cook until the chicken is heated through, about 2 minutes.
- Serve over rice or in warm tortillas, and garnish with scallions.
- Accompaniments: rice and additional hoison sauce for spreading on pancakes or tortillas
This sounds almost like a “clean out my fridge” recipe that isn’t just delicious, but also budget conscience. I would love to make wraps for the week but I have two questions.
1. Is hoisin sauce the same as plum sauce?
2. Can this recipe be frozen?
Hi! 1. Hoison and plum sauce are not the same but in a pinch could be substituted I suppose. Plum sauce is sweeter and more jammy than hoison sauce. 2. Yes! You can freeze the chicken in an airtight container for up to 3 months. Just thaw in the refrigerator when ready to eat and re-heat.
Hi. I can’t have hoisin sauce is there any substitute?
Made a gluten free version – GF tortillas and Hoisin sauce. Turned out great.
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Lovely recipe. Thank you and have a super-Sunday!
[…] moo shu chicken – https://weelicious.com/2012/06/14/homemade-chinese-take-out-mu-shu-chicken/ […]
Soooo gooood
Hmm I’m not sure what the problem is. I just tried printing out this recipe and it worked just fine. I did it as a 4×6 card as well as the full page and both versions came out just fine. I’ll pass this along to my IT person to see if they can help!
Would print the picture and info under picture about “Mu Shu Chicken but would not print the recipe. Could you let me know what I might be doing wrong. I would tell it to print pages 1-2 and it would print the picture and the words under it and the name Mu Shu Chicken…. it would put out a second page but it would be blank so no recipe info at all.
[…] finally Mu Shu Pork from Weelicious. No photo of this one. Her recipe calls for chicken, which was frozen solid the day I was going to […]
Oh my goodness. This recipe is a keeper! I just whipped up a batch for dinner tonight. Perfect amount for my honey and I to have dinner with leftovers for lunch tomorrow. Served it with a side of steamed broccoli with half a lemon squeezed over. Thanks!
Made this a few nights ago, and the whole family liked it! (even the picky 3 year old and my 17 mo old!) I used a rotisserie chicken from the grocery store to make things easier for this busy mama. : ) Also, my husband and I used sriracha sauce on ours, since we like all things spicy. Thanks, Catherine!
^^ I’m trying to remember from the last time I made this …. I think it said to use 1 tablespoon soy sauce.
2 tablespoons!
There is no soy sauce listed in the recipe, but the instructions say to add soy sauce. How much?? Please advise!! I am making it this very moment!
SO GOOD!
Made this tonight…everyone chowed it down. My 16 month old couldn’t get enough of it. Delicious.
Ok, this was super yummy! Made this last night and it was a big hit. Even my 2 1/2 year old tried it. Thanks!
Yes, it is a wonderful flavor and there really is nothing to compare. I would leave it out if you’re not able to consume sesame!
I am sure that the sesame oil adds great flavor, but my toddler is allergic. I’m assuming there’s no great substitute, that you would just leave it out? Thanks!
It is about 1 cup of sliced mushrooms!
I would like to make this tomorrow! I would like to substitute regular mushrooms. Do you know approximately how many cups to use? (never used shitake so i don’t know how big they are) thank you!
I’m going to try this over the weekend with Gardein veggie Chick’n strips.
You could also cook it in the crock pot! http://b12.ba4.myftpupload.com/2010/03/16/chicken-in-a-crock-pot-2/
How do you suggest cooking the chicken – for simplicity, can you just boil it and then shred by hand or do you have another suggestion?
Mmmm I want to eat this!!!
Aww thanks! You could try seitan! Or mushrooms like I saw someone else suggest.
You could probably sub portobello mushrooms for chicken. Would add heartiness and meatlike consistency.
trying to think of a veggie version… tofu? no. tempeh? no. hmmm i’ll look-into soy proteins. i am CRAZY ABOUT your site (and you). thanks!!
These sound awesome and very easy
Thank you
Looks delish! Gonna make this soon for sure.
yum!
I know I’ve said it before, but I just love your website so much! It keeps me inspired to cook and try new recipes for my family! Thank you!!!
I thought it was a joke, like “What’s your poison?” lol Will definitely try this, thank you!
Ooooh – Mu Shu is my FAVORITE at Chinese restaurants! I’ve always wanted to learn how to make it at home. Bookmarking this for sure. 🙂
Is there a substitute I make for the poison sauce? I seem to be all out. 😉 great recipe though, in all seriousness. Looks yummy!
I was going to mention the same thing. Poison should never be in a recipe.
; x
I saw that to haha poison sauce oopss
Please note: you wrote:
accompaniments…POISON SAUCE. Correct it to HOISON SAUCE