This Kung Pao Chicken is a delicious stir-fry loaded with chunky veggies, chicken and coated in a homemade tasty sauce. Ready in 30 minutes and way better than take-out!
Kung Pao Chicken is a standard on any American Chinese menu. You can find it anywhere and everywhere. While it’s always a favorite when it comes to take-out or Chinese fast food, it’s always better when you make it at home because we can control what ingredients go in it.
Homemade Kung Pao Chicken
As I always say, everything is always better homemade. Plus you can adjust ingredients to your preference. Want more heat? Add more dried red chilies or red pepper flakes. You can even add some hot sauce if you’re feeling brave. Want more veggies? Add more veggies! No veggies? No problem!
This is the beauty of cooking at home. While we are always short on time, with this dish you don’t have to worry about that, because it is ready in 30 minutes from start to finish. It could take longer for take-out!
Ingredient Notes
Chicken
- Chicken – I used chicken breasts, you could go with boneless skinless chicken thighs as well.
- Cornstarch – To coat the chicken and make it crispier.
Kung Pao Sauce
- Cornstarch – Just a bit to thicken our sauce.
- Soy Sauce – I always like to use low sodium soy sauce to control the sodium level in my dish.
- Dark Soy Sauce – This ingredient is optional and you can totally skip it. It’s used primarily to darken the sauce.
- Chinese Shaoxing Wine – A staple in Chinese food! If you’ve ever wondered why your homemade Chinese food doesn’t taste exactly like what you’d get at a restaurant, this cooking wine may be the key missing element! Shaoxing wine can be commonly found at any Chinese grocery store, and if you want to cook a lot of Asian dishes at home, I highly suggest purchasing a bottle! Check out “FAQs & Expert Tips” for more info and substitutions.
- Chicken Broth – You can use vegetable broth as well. I also usually opt in for the low sodium broths or no sodium added.
Stir Fry
- Peanut Oil – You’ll need a bit to stir fry the chicken in and the rest for the stir fry. You can substitute other oils like coconut oil or vegetable oil.
- Garlic and Ginger – Essential flavor enhancers in any stir fry.
- Veggies – Traditional veggies, especially what you’ll find in restaurants are red bell peppers and zucchinis. Feel free to substitute with your favorite veggies.
- Red Chilies – You’ll want whole dried red chilies.
- Garnish – Peanuts and green onions are a must.
How to Make Kung Pao Chicken
- Prepare chicken: Toss the chicken with the cornstarch, ensuring each chicken pieces is covered in cornstarch. Set aside.
- Prepare the sauce: In a small bowl whisk together all the sauce ingredients. Set aside.
- Cook the chicken: The chicken will have to be cooked in 2 batches. Add about 1 tbsp of the peanut oil to a hot wok or skillet. Add about half the chicken (shaking off any excess cornstarch) and cook for 3 to 4 minutes, stirring occasionally, until chicken is cooked through. Transfer to another plate. Add another tbsp of peanut oil and repeat with remaining chicken. Transfer the chicken to the plate and set aside.
- Make Stir-Fry: Add the remaining 2 tbsp of peanut oil to the wok and heat. Stir in the garlic, ginger, bell pepper, zucchini and stir-fry for 1 minute. Pour in the sauce and bring to a boil, while stirring. You’ll notice the sauce start to thicken from the cornstarch.
- Finish the Stir-Fry: Once the sauce thickens slightly, add the chicken back to the wok, the red chilies, green onions and the peanuts. Stir everything together so that everything is coated in the sauce and cook for another minute.
- Serve: Serve this is over cooked rice such as Jasmine rice or Basmati rice. You could also serve it over noodles.
FAQs & Expert Tips
FAQs
Kung Pao Chicken also known as Kung Po or Gong Bao, is a stir-fried Chinese dish. It’s usually made with chicken, peanuts, vegetables and chili peppers.
Kung Pao sauce is sweet, sour and savory. It is also a bit spicy from the chilies. It’s a sauce that thickens as it cooks from the cornstarch and it coats the chicken and veggies nicely.
My favorite way to serve this is over cooked rice such as Jasmine rice or Basmati rice. You could also serve it over noodles.
I highly recommend picking up a bottle of this if you love cooking dishes such as this! If you truly can’t locate it or want a quick substitution for this recipe, here are some options:
Dry sherry – This is the most commonly used substitution! Any dry sherry will do.
Mirin – A sweet Japanese cooking wine.
Cooking Sake / Japanese Rice Wine – This is a bit lighter in flavor than a typical Chinese cooking wine, but is an acceptable substitute.
Tips For Making Kung Pao Chicken
- As with most Asian dishes, this is quite a quick dish to make but the secret to making this quick is to make sure you get all your ingredients ready before you start cooking.
- If you’re sensitive to spice, add the chilies while cooking the stir fry, but remove them while eating.
- If you don’t have dark soy sauce or can’t find it, you can replace it with regular soy sauce or just omit it. It’s mostly added to darken the color of the sauce.
- This stir fry is best served when it’s freshly made, it’s so quick to make so I highly recommend making this right before serving.
Leftovers
Store leftover Kung Pao Chicken in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. I usually just reheat in the microwave for a couple minutes before serving.
Freezing
You can freeze this by storing it in an airtight container or freezer bags, once it has fully cooled. Store it in the freezer for up to 2 months. To thaw, take it out of the freezer the night before and place it in the refrigerator. The next day when ready to serve, either heat it up in the microwave and add it to a skillet/wok and stir-fry until heated through.
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Kung Pao Chicken
Ingredients
Chicken
- 1 lb chicken breast boneless and skinless, cut into small cubes
- ¼ cup cornstarch
Kung Pao Sauce
- 2 tbsp soy sauce low sodium
- 2 tsp dark soy sauce
- ½ cup chicken broth low sodium or no sodium added
- 2 tbsp dry sherry
- 1 tsp cornstarch
Stir-Fry
- 4 tbsp peanut oil divided
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 tsp ginger minced
- 1 medium red bell pepper cut into small 3/4 inch cubes
- 1 large zucchini cut into 3/4 inch cubes
- 10 dried red chilies
- 3 green onions thinly slices
- ¼ cup peanuts dry-roasted, unsalted
Instructions
- Prepare chicken: Toss the chicken with the cornstarch, ensuring each chicken pieces is covered in cornstarch. Set aside.
- Prepare the sauce: In a small bowl whisk together all the sauce ingredients. Set aside.
- Cook the chicken: The chicken will have to be cooked in 2 batches. Add about 1 tbsp of the peanut oil to a hot wok or skillet. Add about half the chicken (shaking off any excess cornstarch) and cook for 3 to 4 minutes, stirring occasionally, until chicken is cooked through. Transfer to another plate. Add another tbsp of peanut oil and repeat with remaining chicken. Transfer the chicken to the plate and set aside.
- Make Stir-Fry: Add the remaining 2 tbsp of peanut oil to the wok and heat. Stir in the garlic, ginger, bell pepper, zucchini and stir-fry for 1 minute. Pour in the sauce and bring to a boil, while stirring. You’ll notice the sauce start to thicken from the cornstarch.
- Finish the Stir-Fry: Once the sauce thickens slightly, add the chicken back to the wok, the red chilies, green onions and the peanuts. Stir everything together so that everything is coated in the sauce and cook for another minute.
- Serve: Serve this is over cooked rice such as Jasmine rice or Basmati rice. You could also serve it over noodles.
Video
Recipe Notes
- Serve: Serve this is over cooked rice such as Jasmine rice or Basmati rice. You could also serve it over noodles.
- As with most Asian dishes, this is quite a quick dish to make but the secret to making this quick is to make sure you get all your ingredients ready before you start cooking.
- If you’re sensitive to spice, add the chilies while cooking the stir fry, but remove them while eating.
- If you don’t have dark soy sauce or can’t find it, you can replace it with regular soy sauce or just omit it. It’s mostly added to darken the color of the sauce.
- This stir fry is best served when it’s freshly made, it’s so quick to make so I highly recommend making this right before serving.
- Storage: Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. I usually just reheat in the microwave for a couple minutes before serving.
- Freeze: You can freeze this by storing it in an airtight container or freezer bags, once it has fully cooled. Store it in the freezer for up to 2 months. To thaw, take it out of the freezer the night before and place it in the refrigerator. The next day when ready to serve, either heat it up in the microwave and add it to a skillet/wok and stir-fry until heated through.
I just made this recipe and for some reason it came out bland in terms of flavor. There was a bit of heat, but My son ended recommending we add teriyaky sauce and it was awesome. I had originally doubled the recipe and used the sherry cooking wine. Its weird this happened. I guess i will have to make it again as is and see where I went wrong. I love your recipes. I just really messed this one up, but son ended saving it😉
Do you need to use peanut oil? Or can you use another vegetable oil?
Any oil with a high smoke point! Vegetable oil or canola oil are great options.
Wonderful recipe. Very delicious. Thought I would try it because hubby loves the restaurant version. He really enjoyed it. I just need to make it a bit spicier.