Kung Pao Chicken

January 19, 2015

Update: My daughter makes this recipe all the time, and she emailed me and said she thought it was time to update the post with some nice new pictures. So I tweaked the recipe just a little bit and took some much better pictures. I hope you’ll try this recipe and it becomes a favorite at your house too.

Quick and Easy Kung Pao Chicken recipe from Barbara Bakes

A quick and easy Kung Pao chicken loaded with fresh veggies in a spicy sauce sprinkled with green onions and chopped peanuts. A favorite dish at Chinese restaurants that is quick and easy to make at home. 

I order Kung Pao Chicken almost every time I eat at a Chinese restaurant, but I’ve never made it at home. Recently, Pam at For the Love of Cooking posted a recipe for Kung Pao Chicken that looked easy and delicious – so I decided I should give it a try at home.

A quick and easy Kung Pao chicken loaded with fresh veggies in a spicy sauce sprinkled with green onions and chopped peanuts.

The Kung Pao Chicken at Pei Wei has carrots and pea pods it in, so I changed Pam’s recipe to include them and make it a one dish meal. Also, instead of serving it over rice (which I was out of – who runs out of rice?) I served it over ramen noodles.

The chicken was a big hit. Thanks Pam for sharing it! I’ll definitely be making it again. I changed it just a bit to accommodate my families’ tastes. Here’s my version:

Kung Pao Chicken

Yield: 6 servings

Print Recipe

Ingredients:

  • 2 tablespoons seasoned rice vinegar
  • 1/3 cup soy sauce
  • 1/4 cup water
  • 2 teaspoons sugar
  • 3 boneless, skinless chicken breast, diced into bite sized chunks
  • 2 tablespoons cornstarch
  • 1 tablespoon sesame oil
  • 3 large garlic cloves, minced
  • 2 tsp fresh ginger, grated
  • 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
  • 6 green onions, chopped
  • 1/2 cup roasted peanuts, chopped
  • 1 cup sliced carrots
  • 1 1/2 cup pea pods

Directions:

In a small bowl, combine the rice vinegar, soy sauce, water, and sugar in a bowl and set aside.

Put the chicken and cornstarch in a Ziploc bag and toss until evenly coated. Heat a large skillet or wok with sesame oil over medium high heat. Once the pan is smoking hot add the chicken and stir fry for 5-6 minutes or until no longer pink inside. Remove the chicken from the pan and set aside.

Add the garlic, ginger, red pepper and green onions (leaving a few for garnishing) to the pan and stir fry for 30 seconds, stirring constantly. Add the soy sauce mixture to the pan along with the cooked chicken, peanuts, carrots, and pea pods. Cook for a few minutes until sauce thickens and carrots and pea pods are tender.

Serve over rice or noodles and top with remaining green onions.