Chicken egg foo young is a recipe that’s perfect for repurposing leftover chicken. These Chinese omelettes are made with only 5 basic ingredients. But you can also top them off with a simple 4-ingredient keto-friendly egg foo young sauce.

Jump to:

What is egg foo young?
What’s the difference between egg foo yung and omelette?
How to make chicken egg foo young
Making a keto friendly sauce
How many carbs are in egg foo young
Serving suggestions
Can the recipe be made ahead to freeze?
Keto Chicken Egg Foo Young

One of my favorite Chinese takeout dishes is Egg Foo Young. And if it weren’t for the starch filled sauce, I’d probably still order it when the family orders from a local Chinese restaurant. But since moving to low carb, I’ve learned how to make it keto friendly.

You may have seen the name of the dish spelled various ways including egg foo yung, egg fu yung, egg fu young, and egg foo young. The spelling I use in my chicken egg foo young recipe seems to be the most common.

What is egg foo young?

Egg foo young is an Chinese American omelette filled with eggs, meat, and vegetables that’s been deep fried in a layer of hot oil in a wok. They are traditionally served covered in a soy sauce based brown sauce thickened with cornstarch.

What’s the difference between egg foo yung and omelette?

Other than the filling, there’s really not much difference. However, the outside of the Chinese version is usually crisper since it’s deep fried and it’s served smothered in sauce.

How to make chicken egg foo young

When it comes to making egg foo young, the choice for fillings are endless. The dish is a great way to use up leftovers. So if you have some pork or chicken from the night before, just slice it up for the filling.

The same goes for the vegetables. Just use whatever you have on hand. Of course, you’ll want to be sure it’s a veggie that’s low in carbs.

For a keto-friendly version, you’ll want to skip the mung beans sprouts too. But alfalfa sprouts are a great substitute! To make the omelette batter, simply beat the eggs then stir in the filling ingredients.

There’s no need to deep fry the omelettes. Simply cook them in a lightly oiled pan. Just take a ladle or measuring cup to scoop the egg mixture and pour into the hot pan.

Cook each omelette until each side is golden brown, flipping once or twice as needed. It takes about 3-5 minutes to cook each.

An electric skillet is the best way to cook multiple pieces at once. If using a large skillet, it’s difficult to cook more than two or three in the pan at a time.

Making a keto friendly sauce

While the omelettes are cooking, you can go ahead and start the sauce. Simply heat a mixture of chicken broth, stevia, tamari, and xanthan gum to a boil then remove from heat. Xanthan gum is used to thicken the sauce, but it can be replaced with another low carb thickener if desired.

How many carbs are in egg foo young

If you leave off the sauce, the carbs in egg foo young are very low. But adding on about one third cup of sauce can add 5 grams of carbs or more.

However, my low carb brown gravy adds less than a carb so a serving of omelettes with sauce has only 4 grams of carbs.

Serving suggestions

Chinese restaurants serve the dish with white rice or fried rice. But to keep your meal low carb, I suggest adding one of the following as a side dish instead:

And if you want to add in some more meat, try my keto char siu pork recipe that bakes up in the oven. And Simply So Healthy has a fabulous Orange Beef recipe.

Can the recipe be made ahead to freeze?

Both the omelettes and the sauce can be frozen to enjoy later if you want to prepare the meal ahead for an easy meal later. I like to freeze the sauce separately from the omelettes. In an airtight container, both should keep for at least 3 months. But vacuum sealing with keep them fresher longer.

Enjoy the recipe! And don’t forget to leave a comment to let me know how it worked out for you or any modifications made.

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