The Irish province outscored the French Top 14 club five tries to four to register an enthralling 42-37 away victory.
Braces from ex-All Black Doug Howlett and wing partner Keith Earls, and one touchdown from replacement scrum-half Peter Stringer, allied with 20 points from the trusty boot of Ronan O'Gara guaranteed Munster enough points to hang on for the nail-biting win.
The home side scored two first-half tries and rallied back with two late converted tries from France back Alex Palisson and ex-England scrum-half Shaun Perry to make it a contest right to the end.
The other semi-final, to be played on the weekend of April 30/May 1 will be an all-French affair between Stade Francais, 32-28 winners over Montpellier on Friday, and Clermont, who trumped La Rochelle 23-13 on Thursday.
Nick Evans kicked 22 points in Harlequins' 32-22 win over London rivals Wasps to set up the showdown with Munster, the New Zealand fly-half booting five penalties, two conversions and a drop-goal in a faultless kicking display.
Harlequins, who won this tournament in 2001 and 2004, had roared into a 14-0 lead with tries from Danny Care and Maurie Fa'asavalu before some of the crowd had even taken their seats.
Wasps responded well with tries from Seb Jewell, Tom Lindsay and Richard Haughton but Evans' golden boot guided Harlequins to victory.
Stade Francais recovered from a slow start to rack up four tries and secure their place in the semi-final.
A try from former rugby league man Dimitri Pelo and 11 points from the boot of scrum-half Benoit Paillaugue put Montpellier into a 16-0 lead after just 22 minutes.
But tries from Hugo Southwell and England lock Tom Palmer brought Stade back into the game and they trailed 19-12 at the break.
A penalty try and a score from replacement Antoine Burban plus a conversion and two penalties from Lionel Beauxis sealed the win, three penalties from Raphael Lagarde proving not enough for Montpellier.
Thirteen points from the boot of fly-half Brock James saw Clermont Auvergne prevail 23-13 in their all-French tie at La Rochelle on Thursday evening.
A try from Aurelien Rougerie and a conversion and two penalties from James put the visitors, who dropped into the tournament after Heineken Cup elimination, 13-6 to the good at the break as Greg Goosen kicked two penalties for La Rochelle.
Goosen scored a converted try with 15 minutes to play to level the scores but a try from Kini Murimurivalu and a further penalty from James sealed the win.
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