Loaded with delicious vegetables and savory Asian flavors, this keto moo shu chicken is just as good as what they serve at fancy Chinese restaurants. Traditionally, this dish is served with mandarin pancakes, but we are swapping those for a sprinkle of sesame seeds. These will add a lovely texture and an earthy, toasted aroma to our meal.
As far as moo shu recipes go, this may be the most interesting variation of this popular stir-fry dish. It’s got a variety of fresh ingredients and intense spices to keep your taste buds wanting for more!
Also, unlike traditional moo shu with high sodium levels, we’re using reduced-sodium soy sauce for this recipe. Your chicken will still taste great, of course, but you don’t need to worry about excess sodium and its potential side effects on your health.
Are you ready to get started? Preparation time’s well under an hour, so get those chopsticks ready for some deliciously addicting keto moo shu chicken!
Make the marinade by combining the soy sauce, sesame oil, garlic, ginger, and Chinese Five Spice powder in a large mixing bowl.
Add the chicken strips to the bowl and coat well with the marinade. Cover the bowl and let the chicken sit and absorb the marinade for about 10 minutes.
Heat the sesame oil in a deep skillet or work. Then sauté the marinated chicken strips for 5 minutes. Add the mushrooms, onions, cabbage and celery, and mix well. Keep cooking for 5-7 minutes, then add ginger and garlic. Stir once, then let it cook for 5-7 minutes more until everything is completely cooked through.
Stir well and add soy sauce, tossing to distribute evenly. Serve your keto moo shu chicken warm and sprinkled with sesame seeds.
Nutrition Facts
|
Moo Shu Chicken |
Calories |
Fats (g) |
Carbs (g) |
Fiber (g) |
Net Carbs (g) |
Protein (g) |
|
2 tablespoons reduced sodium soy sauce |
19 |
0 |
3.1 |
0.3 |
2.8 |
1.9 |
|
1 tablespoon sesame oil |
120 |
13.6 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
1 clove garlic, crushed |
4 |
0 |
1 |
0.1 |
0.9 |
0.2 |
|
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger |
6 |
0.1 |
1.3 |
0.2 |
1.1 |
0.2 |
|
½ teaspoon Chinese Five Spice powder |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0.1 |
|
½ pound chicken breast, sliced into thin strips |
259 |
5.7 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
48.1 |
|
½ cup celery stalks, chopped |
8 |
0.1 |
1.5 |
0.8 |
0.7 |
0.4 |
|
3 cloves garlic, minced |
13 |
0.1 |
3 |
0.2 |
2.8 |
0.6 |
|
½ tablespoon ginger, grated |
9 |
0.2 |
1.9 |
0.3 |
1.6 |
0.3 |
|
3 ounces button mushrooms, sliced |
18 |
0.2 |
2.8 |
0.9 |
1.9 |
2.7 |
|
½ cup scallions, chopped |
16 |
0.1 |
3.7 |
1.3 |
2.4 |
0.9 |
|
2 cups cabbage, thinly sliced |
35 |
0.1 |
8.1 |
3.5 |
4.6 |
1.8 |
|
1 tablespoon sesame seeds |
52 |
4.5 |
2.1 |
1.1 |
1 |
1.6 |
|
½ tablespoon reduced sodium soy sauce |
5 |
0 |
0.8 |
0.1 |
0.7 |
0.5 |
|
½ tablespoon sesame seed oil |
60 |
6.8 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
Total |
626 |
31.5 |
29.3 |
8.8 |
20.5 |
59.3 |
|
Per Serving (<2) |
313 |
15.75 |
14.65 |
4.4 |
10.25 |
29.65 |
What Makes This Keto Moo Shu Chicken Recipe Special?
As you can see in the nutrition table above, this isn't your regular high-fat, low-carb keto recipe. Most keto dishes will naturally have a lot more fat, but since we don’t want to ‘ruin’ the authentic Asian dining experience for you, we kept the recipe as close to the original one as possible. Don’t worry though – in the next sections I’ll share with you how you can get the fat content up.
That being said, you can also call this recipe ‘sugar-free and low-carb moo shu chicken’. Each serving only contains a little over 300 calories, with 10.25g of net carbs (which is perfect for keto) and 29.65g of protein.
Some Recipe Modifications To Get More Fat
If you want to keep our unique sugar-free and low-carb moo shu chicken recipe as is, that’s fine. But for serious keto dieters, fat is essential to help you remain in - or achieve - ketosis.
You can start off by adding chicken skin along with the meat because that’s where most of the fat is stored. You’ll get a very slight bump in calories. Also, instead of chicken breast, you may want to use chicken thighs (with skin on) instead as it has slightly higher fat content.
Alternatively, you may also want to add a couple of eggs to the recipe. Usually, traditional recipes call for scrambled eggs, so you may want to try that, too. The eggs will bump up your protein intake by a few grams, but eggs are also a great source of Omega-3 fats, so in my opinion it’s a win-win. Carbohydrates-wise, eggs are one of the best low-carb foods out there and a favorite keto ingredient!
Is It Okay To Use A Different Oil Other Than Sesame Oil?
You can, but it honestly won’t be moo shu chicken anymore. The distinct aroma and flavor of sesame oil gives this dish its identity, and it’s the glue that holds this delectable dish together. For this recipe, we wanted to lower the carb and sodium content of traditional moo shu chicken, not ruin the taste for you.
What To Serve With Keto Moo Shu Chicken?
This dish is really quite versatile. You can pair it with other dishes to delight your taste buds even more! Here are some suggestions:
As mentioned earlier, moo shu chicken is usually served with thin and chewy mandarin pancakes. But the flours used to make these pancakes are often high in carbohydrates. So, you may want to consider making these pancakes from scratch using a keto-friendly flour, like almond flour. It will add some more fat to the meal but very little in the way of carbs.
Keto tortillas are also a good option. They’re more widely available so you don’t need to worry about making them from scratch (unlike mandarin pancakes). You can easily buy keto-friendly, low-carb tortillas at the supermarket and even on Amazon if you like having your groceries delivered to your doorstep!
We would also recommend pairing this chicken dish with a keto dessert for added fat content. Any of these desserts will perfectly complement the oriental flavors in the keto moo shu chicken:
Pairing the chicken with this chocolatey delight will get you a total of 50.45g of fat, 22.75g of net carbs and 35g of protein.
Keto Cheesecake with Homemade Sugar-free Jam
This cheesecake has a slightly higher carb and protein content, but pairing this with the moo shu chicken won’t kick you out of ketosis. Here are the total nutrition values for this pair: 45.23g of fat, 32.8g of net carbs and 36.8 of protein.
Keto Raspberry and Pistachio Brownies
If you want to have a bit of fruit for dessert, then pairing your chicken with some of these brownies will yield the following: 36.35g of fat, 13.65g of net carbs, and 35.25g of protein.
Conclusion
This low-carb and protein-rich keto moo shu chicken recipe should fill you up pretty quickly. Modify the recipe for more fatty goodness (e.g. include the chicken skin) and pair it with our recommended keto desserts to meet your daily fat requirement. Do let us know in the comments below what you think about this recipe and whether you made any changes to it!
Ingredients
Directions
Make the marinade by combining the soy sauce, sesame oil, garlic, ginger, and Chinese Five Spice powder in a large mixing bowl.
Add the chicken strips to the bowl and coat well with the marinade. Cover the bowl and let the chicken sit and absorb the marinade for about 10 minutes.
Heat the sesame oil in a deep skillet or work. Then sauté the marinated chicken strips for 5 minutes. Add the mushrooms, onions, cabbage and celery, and mix well. Keep cooking for 5-7 minutes, then add ginger and garlic. Stir once, then let it cook for 5-7 minutes more until everything is completely cooked through.
Stir well and add soy sauce, tossing to distribute evenly. Serve your keto moo shu chicken warm and sprinkled with sesame seeds.
