This Homemade Kung pao Chicken is so tasty and perfect for dinner! This dish is filled with chicken and nuts and is covered in an amazing sauce, topped with green onions and perfectly served over rice.
What is Kung Pao Chicken?
I’ve said it before but, I LOVE Chinese food! It’s my husband’s favorite and the kids love it too. Because of that, we make a lot of Asian recipes in our home. We probably make it more than we make Mexican food, which is sad, since I’m a half Mexican! There are just so many great Asian recipes out there, that it never seems to get old. Some of our favorites are this baked sweet and sour chickenย and theseย egg rolls. A new favorite is today’s recipe for Kung Pao Chicken. But, what is it?
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Kung Pao Chicken is a spicy stir-fry Chinese dish made with chicken, peanuts, vegetables, and chili peppers.
We had only ever had Kung Pao Chicken at a restaurant but hadn’t made it at home and was happy we did because this recipe was so delicious. The sauce alone is so tasty and would be great for many chicken recipes. Adding chicken and some nuts for crunch, topped over warm rice or noodles and you have an excellent Chicken dish. If you love some of the other Asian chicken recipes we’ve tried on here on the site, then I think you’ll love this one just as much too.
Yummy cooked chicken.
Toss it in the Kung Pao sauce and it’s irresistible!!
How to make Kung Pao Chicken:
- Toss chicken in a small bowl with cornstarch, till coated.
- Add oil to a skillet on medium heat. We liked using the sesame oil (but regular oil would do just fine). Stir fry for about 7-8 minutes or until no longer pink in center. Remove chicken to a paper towel to drain.
- Add garlic, red pepper and ginger to skillet and stir fry for about 15 seconds. Remove from heat.
- Combine vinegar, soy sauce and sugar in small bowl, stir well. Add sauce and chicken to skillet. Toss to coat.
- Stir in nuts. Heat thoroughly. Garnish with green onions. Serve over hot rice.
We can’t wait to make this recipe again because it was so good!!Serve with noodles or rice and you’ll have a new favorite dinner recipe. It does have a bit of spice since that is typical with Kung Pao recipes, but if you want it more mild omit the red pepper flakes. ๐
Complete the meal with these other Lil’ Luna recipes:
And for even more Asian dinner recipes, check out:
- Edamame Chicken Stir Fry
- Lemon Chicken
- Sweet and Sour Meatballs
- Baked Sweet and Sour Chicken
- Lemon Chicken and Asparagus Stir Fry
- Honey Sesame Chicken
- Mongolian Beef
Kung Pao Chicken
Ingredients
- 1 lb boneless skinless chicken breast cut into 1 inch pieces
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
- 2 tsp light sesame oil (or vegetable oil)
- 3 tbsp green onions chopped with tops
- 2 tsp minced garlic
- 1/4 -1 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
- 1/2 tsp powdered ginger (or fresh)
- 2 tsp rice wine vinegar
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 2 tsp sugar
- 1/3 cup dry roasted peanuts
- 4 cups cooked rice, hot
Instructions
-
Toss chicken in a small bowl with cornstarch, till coated.
-
Add oil to a skillet on medium heat. We liked using the sesame oil (but regular oil would do just fine). Stir fry for about 7-8 minutes or until no longer pink in center. Remove chicken to a paper towel to drain.
-
Add garlic, red pepper and ginger to skillet and stir fry for about 15 seconds. Remove from heat.
-
Combine vinegar, soy sauce and sugar in small bowl, stir well. Add sauce and chicken to skillet. Toss to coat.
-
Stir in nuts. Heat thoroughly. Garnish with green onions. Serve over hot rice.
Adapted fromย Food
I have a knack for finding the most delicious looking recipes when I’m hungry. And now that I’ve seen this, I’m starving. YUM!
Haha…time to get in the kitchen, I guess ๐ Thanks so much!
It seems like there is not enough liquid to cover all of the chicken…..Is it allright to double the ingredients? Looks and sounds delicious!
It does cover the chicken, but of course you can double it, then add as much or as little sauce as you like. Hope you like it as much as we do! Thanks so much!
Thanks! Can’t wait to try it.
I have rice vinegar will that work?
It should, though I haven’t tried ๐ I hope that helps!
I used rice vinegar, its great!
Our new family favorite and weekly staple! Love this recipe!! I do dpuble and triple the sauce so we can drizzle on the rice. I cant eat peanuts, so i use cashews, and i add sugar snap peas cooked for only 1 minute. We tried using sweet chili garlic paste to lessen the heat, instead of pepper flakes…my daughter requested i make it less spicy. It came out as sweet light heat. However, the pepper flakes are better.
I am so glad it is a favorite!! Thank you so much for letting me know & sharing what you did ๐
Made this for dinner and it was yum!!! Simple, quick and easy and not heaps of ingredients. I added 1/2 capsicum, spring onions and peanuts to the meat and sauce mix and it worked really well. Oh and I used regular white vinegar which worked just as well. Will be making this regularly. Thanks heaps:)
So glad you liked it! Thank you for letting me know ๐