Egg Foo Young is a light and fluffy Chinese egg pancake packed with veggies and topped with a savory gravy… No deep frying required! Pour the leftover sauce on a steamy bed of white rice and dig in!
Chicken Egg Foo Young Recipe
Got leftover cooked chicken and a few eggs in the fridge?
How about making the most delicious and fluffy homemade egg foo young! It has all the classic Chinese flavors we all love so much. Seriously, it’s addictive – and way better than takeout!
What is egg foo young?
Egg foo young is a Chinese Indonesian omelet, normally prepared with mixed vegetables and poultry or ham. The omelet-style pancakes are served topped with a brown gravy or sweet and sour sauce.
The origin of egg foo young comes from the Canton side of mainland China. The original version is called fu yung egg slices and is mainly found in Guangdon province.
It’s also a popular dish in Chinese American cuisine that can be found in most menus across the country. You may have seen it on restaurant menus phonetically spelled egg foo yung, egg fu yung or egg fu young.
Now, the classic cooking method is to deep fry the omelet pancakes. This yields a super light-weight texture. But since I’m generally petrified of deep frying stuff, I typically opt for pan frying with less oil.
It comes out lighter – and it’s just as delicious! In my book I consider that a win / win 🙂
The entire process is pretty much the same as making a regular pancake or frittata. Throw the veggies in with the eggs and pan fry until the pancakes smell so good your neighbors are calling to invite themselves to dinner!
You’re left with fluffy egg pancakes accompanied by a sour, savory and gooey brown sauce made with stock, soy sauce and vinegar.
Egg Foo Young Ingredients
- Eggs: Yep. Obviously. You’ll beat a half dozen in a bowl just as you would for an omelette or frittata.
- Chicken Broth: This will be mixed in with the eggy mixture to thin it out, while adding a fantastic savory element.
- Shiitake Mushrooms: Sliced into thin strips, shiitake mushrooms deliver umami to this Chinese omelette.
- Bean Sprouts: Fresh bean sprouts have a crunch like no other!
- Red Bell Pepper: For a fiery burst of color and an understated sweet pop of freshness.
- Scallions: Fresh sliced green onions impart a summery garden essence.
- Cooked Chicken: Use finely chopped leftover chicken – or the protein of your choice.
- Garlic: Minced garlic delivers a funky base of flavor.
- Vegetable Oil: Any neutral oil will work for this egg foo young recipe.
- Gravy: I make mine fresh from a mixture of chicken broth, soy sauce, rice vinegar, sugar, sesame oil and a slurry of cornstarch and water
The egg foo young pancakes are delicious by themselves or with a splash of soy sauce (or hot sauce – scrumptious!) – but taste best with a good spoonful of gooey Chinese brown gravy.
Now you can buy premixed Chinese brown gravy online or at an Asian supermarket – but you can easily make it at home as well.
A bit of cornstarch gives it a sticky, addictive texture. And the tang of the vinegar peeks through just enough to compliment the savory and umami combination of the other ingredients.
How to make egg foo young
- Whisk the eggs in a bowl and add chicken broth, mushrooms, bean sprouts, bell peppers, scallions, chicken and garlic. Stir until all the ingredients are evenly coated. Season with salt and pepper and set aside.
- Make the foo young sauce: Put all the ingredients for the sauce in a small pot and bring to a boil. Turn the heat to low and simmer for 2 minutes. Turn the heat off and set aside.
- Cook the foo young pancakes: In a pan over medium high heat, add vegetable oil. Using a ladle, pour small amounts of egg mixture into the pan and make 2-4 little pancakes at a time. Cook on both sides for 2-3, until slightly brown, and transfer two pancakes per plate. Work in batches until all the mixture has been used.
- Quickly warm up the sauce and pour over pancakes. Top with scallions and serve immediately.
One of the best things about this recipe is that you can use the protein and veggies of your choice.
And while it’s not quite an ingredient-clearinghouse recipe like an all purpose crisper-emptying vegetable stir fry, there is still the notion that you can totally use it if you’ve got it!
The key to making egg foo young is to chop your veggies and chicken thin enough that they will cook in the time it takes the eggs to firm up in the pan.
How to store leftovers
You can make the chicken egg foo young pancakes ahead of time and keep them refrigerated for up to 3 days. As long as the eggy disks are covered, they’ll be fine in the fridge.
The gravy, however, is another story (more on that in a sec).
How to reheat egg foo young?
I like to reheat leftover egg foo young in a frying pan on low heat with a little oil. Keep the heat low so the insides will get a chance to warm up without scorching the outsides.
Or a spin in the microwave will do the trick in a pinch.
Now I recommend making the gravy the day of eating – simply because the gooeyness won’t last for more than a couple of hours. That’s the bummer about using cornstarch – it turns thick sauces back into thin-liquid form pretty quickly.
You can add more cornstarch to a liquified gravy to try and coax back the gooeyness, but I find this technique unreliable (sometimes it works and sometimes it just doesn’t).
If you’re cooking a big meal for a group, simply make the egg foo young pancakes ahead of time – and whip up the gravy a la minute for a bit of time-savings in the kitchen!
The perfect takeout fakeout
I love it when I can whip up a healthier version of a Chinese delivery favorite at home for a fraction of the price – and keep all of the flavors intact.
You might just say that this egg foo young recipe is the perfect takeout fakeout!
It’s a dish that’s kid friendly too; there’s nothing too complex or unfamiliar about this chicken egg foo young recipe. If your kids are used to eating Chinese American food, they will absolutely love this 🙂
What’s your favorite takeout classic that you make at home? I’d love to hear about it in the comments!
Happy cooking!
Serve this delicious chicken egg foo young recipe with other easy Chinese recipes such as:
- Moo Goo Gai Pan
- Chinese Eggplant With Garlic Sauce
- Szechuan Chicken
- Vegan Dan Dan Noodles
- Hunan Chicken
Did you like this Chicken Egg Foo Young Recipe? Are there changes you made that you would like to share? Share your tips and recommendations in the comments section below!
I recommend serving this dish with a side of Japanese rice. Watch our video on How To Make Japanese Rice on the stove top or with a rice cooker!
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Chicken Egg Foo Young Recipe
No deep frying is required to make this yummy chicken egg foo young recipe! Healthy, light and fluffy egg pancakes packed with veggies and topped with the tastiest gooey gravy.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 5 minutes
- Total Time: 15 minutes
- Yield: 6 small pancakes 1x
- Category: Main
- Method: Pan frying
- Cuisine: Chinese
Ingredients
Foo young pancakes:
- 6 large eggs
- 1/2 cup chicken broth
- 2 ounces shiitake mushrooms (sliced in to thin strips)
- 1/4 cup bean sprouts
- 1/4 red bell pepper (sliced into thin strips)
- 1 stalk scallion (finely chopped)
- 2 ounces cooked chicken (finely chopped)
- 2 cloves garlic (minced)
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
Foo young sauce:
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 2 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 teaspoons rice vinegar
- 2 teaspoons granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch mixed with 1 tablespoon water
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
Topping:
- 1 scallion (finely chopped)
Instructions
- Whisk the eggs in a bowl and add chicken broth, mushrooms, bean sprouts, bell peppers, scallions, chicken and garlic. Stir until all the ingredients are evenly coated. Season with salt and pepper and set aside.
- Making the foo young sauce: Put all the ingredients for the sauce in a small pot and bring to a boil. Turn the heat to low and simmer for 2 minutes. Turn the heat off and set aside.
- Cooking the foo young pancakes: In a pan over medium high heat, add vegetable oil. Using a ladle, pour small amounts of egg mixture into the pan and make 2-4 little pancakes at a time. Cook on both sides for 2-3, until slightly brown, and transfer two pancakes per plate. Work in batches until all the mixture has been used.
- Quickly warm up the sauce and pour over pancakes. Top with scallions and serve immediately.
Notes
Keep the sauce and pancakes separate if you decide to save some for later. When reheating, microwave pancakes for 30-45 seconds. For the sauce, reheat in a pot along with 1 tablespoon cornstarch mixed with 1 tablespoon water to bring back the gooey texture.
Nutrition
- Serving Size:
- Calories: 133
- Sugar: 2.6 g
- Sodium: 714.7 mg
- Fat: 8 g
- Saturated Fat: 2.3 g
- Carbohydrates: 5.3 g
- Fiber: 0.6 g
- Protein: 10 g
- Cholesterol: 200.7 mg
Keywords: recipe, pancakes, omelette, Asian, side, easy, Chinese
For your gravy, if you pre make it, just put it in the microwave on high for around 1 min. It will reactivate the cornstarch and your gravy will be nice and thick. Make sure you keep an eye on it, if it goes too long in the microwave, it get thick enough to stand a spoon in.
Can’t wait to try, I make a simpler recipe and it’s addicting, but I can’t wait to try this recipe. Thank you
★★★★★
I never put in red pepper, replace that with peas, a lot more bean sprouts and green onions too and diced water chestnuts and I put sesame oil in my egg mixture and then you will not need gravy. Yummy. I got my recipe from Wok with Yan back in the early 1980s.
I believe such vegetables as onion or red pepper, in no matter what form (strips, chopped) need to be cooked longer than, say, bean sprouts or (shredded) cabbage. I prepared this recipe mostly as written except I gave the paper-thin pepper slices a quick stir fry first. This allowed them to match the über delicate bean sprouts in texture once everybody jumped into the pan. I also added a sprinkling of shredded cabbage because I like cabbage in my Chinese dishes. Delicious sauce.
My husband just gave a rave review of this recipe. If dinner is good, I don’t usually hear anything but I do when things are a bit off. That’s why a compliment from him is extremely impressive. Will definitely make this again.
★★★★★
Thank you for sharing this Lynn! 🙂
Very tasty! Lots of prep! Next time I’ll use only 5 eggs so the pancakes don’t wander so much!
I originally thought this recipe had the wrong amount of chicken stock and was so disappointed in how mine turned out even though the flavor was AMAZING! It turns out that I misread how much chicken stock was for the egg mixture and the rest was for the gravy…My Bad! Now that I’ve reviewed the recipe, I am determined to make this again. This was so delicious, I used browned ground pork for. Other than that I used all of the same ingredients listed, Thank you!
★★★★★
I’ve tried making Egg Foo Young a few times since my favorite restaurant for it closed some time ago. Since I don’t care for mushrooms or peppers, I chop up broccoli really fine instead and add chopped cherry tomatoes sometimes. I’m not a fan of frying anything, only because of grease splattering, and I found a recipe for BAKED Egg Foo Young. So, I might try it in a round pan instead of the 9×13 pan it recommends, or even in a muffin pan to get the nice round shape that I don’t seem to get frying in the skillet. Plus, then I won’t have to make only a couple at a time, and can get it all done in one swift move.
Cant wait to try this recipe it looks so delicious
Really good, I served it with fried rice on the side and it was really delicious. Thanks.
I made this and it was delicious! I recommend that a double batch of sauce should be made as it it so good over the rice and egg foo tungsten!
Excellent as written but for weight watchers use 3whole eggs and 3 egg whites and only a splash of chicken broth to the eggs. No gravy needed. I think the trick is getting the outside crispy brown. I only had asparagus, spinach, green onions,mushrooms, and bean sprouts…no meat is really needed unless you have some leftover.
Can’t wait to make this. One of my favourite meals. Love the recipes you share here.
Thank you so much Christine! 🙂
My husband came home and asked for egg foo young for dinner. I found your recipe and it was awesome. I will definitely try this again.
Had this for dinner tonight. We liked it very much. I only used 1 1/2 Tbsp soy sauce and added 1Tbsp of oyster sauce. It was really good. We will be enjoying this again! Thank you.
★★★★★
Thank you Gretta!
I made a double batch and my family ate every bit of it.. We all had to have seconds..
★★★★★
I love it! The gooey gravy makes it pretty hard to resist 😉
Morning Caroline, Feel like making chicken egg foo young for dinner. Thanx for the recipe.
Jude
Love your recipe. Looks so easy and good! Thanks for sharing! 🙂
★★★★★
Thank you Sylvie Ann!
This looks soon good! I’ll make this for breakfast tomorrow. Thank you so much!
This recipe for Chicken Egg foo young looks so delicious! I will have to make this for my family! Thanks for sharing.
★★★★★