Tender chicken stir fried in a savoury, sweet, spicy kung pao sauce with bell peppers, onions, peanuts and dried chilies. This quick and easy kung pao chicken rivals takeout, saving you money, and is a great main dish for the whole family!
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What is Kung Pao Chicken?
Kung Pao Chicken features tender chicken, onions, bell peppers, dried red chilies, peanuts stir fried in a savory sauce made of soy sauce, sugar, shaoxing wine, water, cornstarch and sichuan red pepperflakes!
This is a popular Chinese dish that originates from Sichuan, China. You can find this delicious Chinese food served at many Chinese restaurants or Chinese takeout places as a main and it's best served with white rice!
I love making Kung Pao Chicken when I have fresh chicken thighs and bell peppers in my fridge. It's such a tasty chicken stir fry dish that easily comes together in one pan!
Ingredients & Substitutes
Please scroll down to below recipe card for exact measurements.
- Boneless skinless chicken thighs: or substitute with chicken breasts but reduce the cooking time by 1 minute as chicken breast tends to dry out faster.
- Neutral oil: like avocado oil, sunflower oil, grapeseed oil, peanut oil, vegetable oil or canola oil with a high smoke point. Avoid olive oil that has a low smoke point.
- Dried red chilies
- Roasted peanuts with skin removed
- Onion
- Green onion
- Green bell pepper
- Red bell pepper
Chicken Marinade
- Regular soy sauce: or substitute with low sodium soy sauce or light soy sauce. If you’re gluten-free, substitute with tamari sauce, coconut aminos or a gluten-free soy sauce.
- Shaoxing wine: a Chinese rice cooking wine. Or substitute with Dry Sherry. For a non-alcoholic or gluten-free version, substitute with any broth.
- Neutral oil: see examples above
- Cornstarch: or substitute with potato starch. This retains the moisture in the chicken.
- Baking soda: the key ingredient to velvet the meat making it super tender as it raises the acidity preventing protein bonds. Do not skip this! Don't worry you won't taste it as we're using a small amount.
Stir-Fry Sauce
- Garlic
- Regular soy sauce
- Dark soy sauce: this is thicker and darker than regular soy sauce.
- Rice vinegar: or sub with Chinese black vinegar or apple cider vinegar
- White granulated sugar
- Cold water
- Cornstarch or potato starch
- Sichuan red chili flakes
Note: Your Asian grocery store will carry most of the Asian specific ingredients.
Expert Tips
- Use chicken thigh for maximum tenderness! Chicken thigh contains more fat than breast giving it a tender juicy texture. It’s also more forgiving if you happened to overcook it.
- Allow the chicken to marinate for 15 minutes and don't skip the baking soda! This makes the meat super tender.
- Dice peppers and white onion into same size so they can evenly cook at the same duration.
- Prepare ingredients in advance as the cooking process is fast!
Instructions
Below are step-by-step instructions on how to make kung pao chicken:
Dice chicken thighs into 1-inch cubes, about 8 cubes per thigh. Marinate diced chicken with marinade ingredients for 15 minutes.
In a small bowl, combine sauce ingredients and set aside.
Heat 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil in a large pan on medium-heat. Fry marinated chicken on both sides until cooked through, about 5-6 minutes in total. Remove from the pan and set aside.
On medium-high heat, add more oil if the pan is dry. Stir-fry dried red chilies, peanuts, white onions, and green onions for 1 minute. Toss in bell peppers and stir fry for 1 minute.
Toss in cooked chicken with sauce. Cook for 30 seconds - 1 minute. Remove off heat to serve and enjoy.
Storage
- Leftovers will last up to 4 days stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator. To reheat: microwave for 2-3 minutes until hot or reheat in a pan on medium heat.
- Freezer friendly? I don't recommend freezing kung pao chicken as the vegetable and nuts will become soggy.
Pairing Suggestions
Kung pao chicken serves well with:
- starters like egg rolls, crab rangoons, egg drop soup, hot and sour soup
- white or brown rice, cauliflower rice, fried rice, chow mein, lo mein, or plain noodles
- cooked vegetables like bok choy, spicy garlic bok choy, choy sum, gai lan, garlic green beans or stir fried snow pea leaves.
FAQ
This can be made in advance and stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. To enjoy, reheat it in the microwave or in a pan on the stovetop on medium heat.
In reference to the dried red chili peppers, you may eat them if you wish but they're meant to give aroma and flavor to the dish as opposed to eating them.
Kung pao chicken has a fairly mild kick that you can taste as the dish contains dried Sichuan red chili peppers and Sichuan chili flakes.
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📖 Recipe
Quick & Easy Kung Pao Chicken
Ingredients
- 1.25 lb skinless boneless chicken thighs diced
- 1 red bell pepper diced
- 1 green bell pepper diced
- 1 small white onion diced
- 2 green onion finely chopped
- ¼ cup roasted peanuts shells and skin removed
- 10 dried red chilies
- 1-2 tablespoon vegetable oil or sub with any neutral oil
Chicken Marinade
- 1.5 tablespoon cornstarch or potato starch
- 2 teaspoon regular soy sauce
- 2 teaspoon Shaoxing Cooking Wine or dry sherry wine
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 tablespoon Vegetable oil or any neutral oil
Stir Fry Sauce
- 1 tablespoon garlic minced
- 1 ½ tablespoon regular soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon rice vinegar sub with Chinese black vinegar or white vinegar
- 1 tbsp Shaoxing wine or dry sherry wine
- 1 tablespoon water
- 2 teaspoon white granulated sugar
- ½ tablespoon cornstarch or potato starch
- ½ teaspoon Sichuan red chili flakes ½ teaspoon = mild, 1 teaspoon = spicy
Instructions
- Dice chicken thighs into 1-inch cubes, about 8 cubes per thigh. Marinate diced chicken with marinade ingredients for 15 minutes.
- In a small bowl, combine sauce ingredients and set aside.
- Heat 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil in a large pan on medium-heat. Fry marinated chicken on both sides until cooked through, about 5-6 minutes in total. Remove from the pan and set aside.
- On medium-high heat, add more oil if the pan is dry. Stir-fry dried red chilies, peanuts, white onions, and green onions for 1 minute. Toss in bell peppers and stir fry for 1 minute.
- Toss in cooked chicken with sauce. Cook for 30 seconds - 1 minute. Remove off heat to serve and enjoy.
Will
Better than any Chinese carry out place
christieathome
Thank you so much Will! I am so glad you enjoyed my recipe 🙂