Dump-and-Bake Moo Shu Chicken

Baked moo shu chicken on top of stack of tortillas with chopsticks

Dump-and-Bake Moo Shu Chicken

This Dump-and-Bake Moo Shu Chicken is a lighter, healthier version of the Chinese restaurant classic. With just one dish and about 10 minutes of prep, it’s an easy dinner recipe that's even better than take-out!

Course Dinner

Cuisine Chinese

Keyword moo shu chicken, moo shu chicken recipe

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 30

Total Time 40

Servings - 6 people

Calories 315kcal

Author Blair Lonergan

Ingredients

2 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken tenderloins or breasts, cut into 1 ½-inch pieces
2 bags (8.5 ounces each) coleslaw mix (or 6-7 cups finely shredded cabbage)
8 ounces sliced mushrooms
2 tablespoons cornstarch
½ cup brown sugar
¼ cup less sodium soy sauce
¼ cup hoisin sauce plus extra for serving
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
1 teaspoon sesame oil
½ teaspoon salt
3 teaspoons finely minced fresh garlic I like to use a squeeze bottle of minced garlic from the produce section as a shortcut
¼ teaspoon ground ginger
Optional garnish: sliced green onions; toasted sesame seeds
For serving: tortillas, rice, lettuce wraps, or cauliflower rice

Instructions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Spray a large baking dish (about 9 x 13 inches) with cooking spray and set aside.
Place diced chicken in a large Ziploc bag. Sprinkle the cornstarch into the bag, seal the bag, and toss to coat the chicken pieces.
Dump chicken into the prepared baking dish. Add cabbage and mushrooms, toss to combine.
In a separate bowl, whisk together brown sugar, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil, salt, garlic, and ginger. Pour sauce into dish and stir.
Bake, uncovered, for a total of 30 minutes, stirring twice during the cooking time. Remove from the oven with the chicken is cooked through and the sauce has thickened.
Season with additional salt and pepper, to taste. Garnish with sliced green onions, sesame seeds, and an extra drizzle of hoisin sauce, if desired. Serve with tortillas, rice, lettuce wraps or cauliflower rice.

Notes

An authentic Moo Shu recipe includes scrambled eggs (similar to those that you find in fried rice). I have omitted the eggs here because I found that they don't cook well in the sauce and they just give the dish a weird texture. If you want to add the eggs to your meal, I recommend cooking scrambled eggs in a separate skillet on the stovetop and then stirring them into the Moo Shu Chicken at the end of the cooking time.
Use this same basic recipe to prepare Moo Shu Shrimp! To do so, bake the vegetables in the moo shu sauce as instructed. Use 2 lbs. of shrimp instead of the chicken. Just be sure to wait and add the shrimp to the baking dish during the final 15 minutes, since the shrimp will cook much faster than the chicken.
Please don’t try to substitute a different oil for the sesame oil. The dinner just will NOT taste the same. Plus, you can find tiny little bottles of sesame oil in just about any grocery store these days, and you’ll plow through it quickly with recipes like my Peanut Sesame Noodles, my Garlic Sesame Chicken, and my One Skillet Egg Roll in a Bowl!

Nutrition