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Quick and easy paleo Mongolian chicken with shishito peppers is guaranteed be your new favorite weeknight recipe. It’s a Whole30 one pot meal that’s ready in less than 30 minutes!
One thing I can’t get enough of in my busy life is stir-fry dishes. They are easy and quick, especially on weeknights. On top of that, they are pretty hard to mess up and my whole family loves them. This paleo and Whole30 Mongolian chicken and shishito peppers has been a new favorite of ours, and I’m so excited to share this delicious dish with you.
Paleo Mongolian Chicken Recipe with Shishito Peppers
This easy Mongolian chicken recipe is stir-fried with blistered shishito peppers, and the combination of flavors and textures is just amazing. If you’ve never had blistered shishito peppers before, I HIGHLY recommend you try them out. These peppers are quite hardy raw, but they turn crunchy and soft at the same when you cook and blister the outer layer. So delicious!
How to Make Mongolian Chicken with Shishito Peppers
This Whole30 Mongolian chicken recipe is easy to make and the end result is amazing. Both the chicken and shishito peppers turn out crispy and tender, coated in the most amazing, umami sauce. Here’s how to make Mongolian chicken:
- Blister the shishito peppers. Heat oil in a skillet over medium high heat, and add the shishito peppers. Cook stirring for 5 minutes until the peppers are blistered on all sides. Remove from the skillet and set aside.
- Fry the chicken pieces. Cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces and toss with tapioca starch and salt to coat evenly. Heat oil in the same skillet and fry for 3 minutes per side until golden and crispy. Remove from the skillet and set aside.
- Make the sauce. In the same skillet, add garlic, ginger, and red pepper flakes until fragrant. Stir in coconut aminos, water, and fish sauce, scraping the bottom of the skillet. Simmer for 3-4 minutes until reduced slightly.
- Put everything together. Add the chicken and shishito peppers, and toss for 1 minute to coat with the sauce.
- Remove from heat, sprinkle with sesame seeds, and serve the finished paleo Mongolian chicken and shishito peppers with rice or cauliflower rice!
It’s an easy Whole30 one pot meal that the whole family will love. Best served right away for that crispy chicken texture, but the leftovers are still delicious as well. The chicken will lose the crispiness during storage though.
Notes and Substitutions
- You can use either chicken breasts or thighs for this paleo and Whole30 Mongolian chicken recipe. I personally prefer thighs because they are so much more tender and harder to overcook!
- Arrowroot starch can be used in place of tapioca starch if that’s all you have.
- You’ll see that there’s no sweetener used in this recipe. While restaurant Mongolian chicken tends to be sweet, I was able to recreate the sweetness using coconut aminos. It’s a great soy sauce replacement with a natural sweetness that’s also paleo and Whole30-compliant. It’s way healthier and tastier than takeout!
- If you can’t find shishito peppers, you can just use regular green bell peppers instead. Obviously, you don’t need to blister those. Just stir fry until slightly softened and lightly browned.
- We love white rice in our family, so that’s what I serve this dish with. However, if you are strict paleo or doing the Whole30, serve with cauliflower rice!
If you enjoyed these easy Mongolian chicken with shishito peppers, you might also like:
- Whole30 Mongolian Beef (Paleo, Keto, AIP Option)
- Whole30 Pineapple Teriyaki Chicken Recipe (Paleo, AIP)
- Paleo & Whole30 Sesame Chicken – Stovetop & Air Fryer Method
- Chicken Yakitori aka Japanese Chicken Skewers (Whole30, Keto, AIP Option)
- Paleo & Whole30 Korean Steak Bites – Stovetop or Air Fryer (AIP Option)
Paleo Mongolian Chicken with Shishito Peppers (Whole30)
Ingredients
- 4 tbsp avocado oil, or your favorite cooking oil, divided
- 8 oz shishito peppers
- 1 lb boneless skinless chicken thighs, or breasts
- 2 tbsp tapioca starch
- 1/2 tsp sea salt, plus more to taste
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 inch ginger, grated
- 1/2 tsp crushed hot pepper flakes, optional
- 1/2 cup coconut aminos
- 1/4 cup water
- 1 tsp fish sauce
- Toasted sesame seeds, for garnish
Instructions
- Heat 1 tbsp of avocado oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Once the pan is hot, add the shishito peppers in a single layer. Cook stirring for 5 minutes, until all sides are blistered
- Turn off heat and remove the peppers from the skillet on to plate. Sprinkle with sea salt and set aside.
- Cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces and toss evenly with tapioca starch and sea salt.
- Heat the remaining 3 tbsp of avocado oil in the same skillet over medium heat. Once the pan is hot, add the chicken in a single layer without touching each other (you may need to do this in 2 batches). Fry for 3 minutes on each side until the outer layer is golden and crispy.
- Remove the chicken and place the pieces on a paper towel-lined plate.
- In the same skillet, add garlic, ginger, and crushed red peppers and cook for 1 minute.
- Add coconut aminos, water, and fish sauce, and stir until combined and simmering. Scrape the bottom of the skillet and simmer for 3-4 minutes, until the sauce is thickened.
- Add chicken and shishito peppers back into the skillet, and toss with the sauce for 1 minute to coat.
- Remove from heat and sprinkle with sesame seeds, before serving.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Thank you for this recipe. The texture of the chicken is delicious and reminds us of some of our fave restaurant dishes. We found that it is salty when I used cocount sauce and another time I used a reduced amount of tamari and also found it salty. Could it be that coconut sauce is not the same as coconut aminos and I shouldn’t sub for tamari? Thanks in advance for your input.
Hi there! I’m not sure what coconut sauce is. I don’t believe it’s the same and coconut aminos. You CAN use tamari but I would reduce the amount since tamari is higher in sodium than coconut aminos.
As always – your recipes are hits in our household. We loved how quickly this came together in our wok, and this is such a creative way to use shishito peppers. We look forward to having this in our rotation!
When you make this do you remove the oil from the pan after the chicken, when you add the garlic/ginger/red pepper?
No, leave the oil in. It has a ton of flavor from the chicken to make a delicious sauce for the dish.
This is absolutely delicious!! I’ve made it three times now and we love it every time!
Thank you!!
I’m the worst cook and this was perfection
I’m so glad you enjoyed it. Thanks so much for leaving a review!