Kung Pao Chicken

4.51 from 85 votes

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!

Prep Time10

Cook Time20

Total Time30

Course: Lunch, Main Course

Cuisine: Chinese

Keyword: chicken recipes, chinese recipe, kung pao chicken

Servings:

Calories: 423kcal

Author: Joanna Cismaru

Equipment

Nonstick Chinese Wok - Dishwasher Safe

Ingredients

Chicken

1 pound chicken breast boneless and skinless, cut into small cubes
¼ cup cornstarch

Kung Pao Sauce

2 tablespoon soy sauce low sodium
2 teaspoon dark soy sauce
½ cup chicken broth low sodium or no sodium added
2 tablespoon dry sherry
1 teaspoon cornstarch

Stir-Fry

4 tablespoon peanut oil divided
2 cloves garlic minced
1 teaspoon 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

US Customary - Metric

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

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.

Nutrition