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.
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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.
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.
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:
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Kung Pao Chicken
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons seasoned rice vinegar
- ⅓ cup soy sauce
- ¼ 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
- ½ tsp crushed red pepper flakes
- 6 green onions chopped
- ½ cup roasted peanuts chopped
- 1 cup sliced carrots
- 1 ½ cup pea pods
Instructions
- 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.
Letty @Letty's Kitchen
Very nice photos! I see myself making this with tofu in place of the chicken beccause I do love Kung Pao’s heat and sweet flavors.
Carol
That looks delicious, Barbara! Bob and I LOVE Kung Pao Chicken and haven’t had it for eons. I love your addition of pea pods and carrots too. Can’t wait to give this one a try.
KalynsKitchen
Sounds delicious!
2 sisters recipes by Anna and Liz
Never had this dish before but now you have inspired us to try it ! Thanks Barb!
Rosa
A scrumptious dish! I love those flavors.
Cheers,
Rosa
Jamie
Barbara,
This is similar to the Kung Pao Chicken I just posted. I love the pea pods and carrots in it. I’ll be trying your version too. Thanks for visiting and leaving a comment on my blog.
cindy
I just found your blog! This chicken looks delish. I will be making it. I recently started a food blog and am always on the lookout for fun blogs. Glad I found yours!
Carrian
This picture looks so light and perfect not to mention DELICIOUS!
Lisa
That photo is making me drool, as I love Kung Pao chicken! I’d take yours over any Chinese take-out, ANYTIME!
Katy ~
Happy Mother’s Day!
Nina's Recipes
Happy Mother’s Day!
Bunny
I just started making food like this and my hubby really enjoys it, the recipe sounds fantastic!
Maria
Great looking meal!
Frieda
I just stumbled on to your blog. It’s so nice to meet another fellow Utah baker! I look forward to trying your recipe!
Allie
Kung Pao is one of my favorites too, can’t wait to try your recipe!
Arwen from Hoglet K
Haha, running out of rice is just the sort of thing that’s bound to happen when you need rice. Good creativity serving it with ramen 🙂
Sara
I made kung pao chicken too! Different recipe, but still had great results. I used a recipe from Cooking Light.
Judy
Looks really yummy. I love peanuts in Chinese stir-frys. Great idea to serve it over ramen noodles.
Anita
Never tried Kung Pao, but it sounds delicious! Great to see you got in from a food bloggers site too 🙂
Qte
interesting, i never had kung pao before but it sounds delicious! i have to try it, not sure it will look as good as yours though…