Kung pao chicken exists both in the traditional Chinese repertoire and Americanized takeout menus alike. When we lived in Beijing, I was actually surprised to see how popular Kung Pao Chicken was among restaurant goers.
At certain restaurants that featured family-style cooking, I’d often see kung pao chicken on one out of every three tables. Chopsticks would work hard to grab at the small bite-sized pieces of chicken. And trust me, when the dish was “hot-off-the-wok” good, those chopsticks were moving faster.
Note: While this recipe was originally published in February 2015, we’ve re-tested it and updated it with new photos and clearer instructions. We’ve also included a recipe video! Happy to report the recipe itself is the same, and still as good as ever.
(Also, if you’d like to try a vegan version of kung pao, here are our recipes for kung pao tofu and kung pao mushrooms.)
What is Kung Pao Chicken?
Kung Pao Chicken is a dish featuring small pieces of diced chicken, peanuts, and chilies. While the dish originated in Sichuan province, its fame brought it to other provinces as well, each with their own regional variation.
The dish has also made its way out of China, and remains a common sight on Chinese takeout menus in countries around the world.
There are good reasons why everyone loves kung pao chicken. It’s got so many flavors going on: tangy, sweet, and salty with a hint of heat. The art is putting in the right amount of each ingredient to come up with that winning flavor combination.
It’s actually a relatively easy dish to make at home, and my goal was to make a restaurant-quality kung pao chicken recipe. Try it for yourself to see if I’ve succeeded!
Kung Pao Chicken Recipe: Instructions
1. Start by roasting the peanuts:
Heat a teaspoon of oil in a wok over medium heat and add a cup of raw shelled peanuts. Stir constantly (or they’ll burn) for 3 minutes. Turn off the heat and stir for another minute using the residual heat in the wok.
Set aside to cool. They will turn crunchy once they’re cooled completely.
Alternatively, you could skip this step and simply use shelled roasted peanuts!
2. Marinate the chicken:
Combine the chicken with 1 teaspoon each of oil, cornstarch, and Shaoxing wine, 1/8 teaspoon salt, and a pinch of white pepper. Set aside to marinate for 20 minutes. For more information and preparing chicken for stir fries, see Bill’s post on Chicken velveting 101.
3. Prepare the sauce:
Mix together light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, sugar, water, and cornstarch, and set aside.
4. Grab the rest of your ingredients:
- 3 tablespoons oil
- 3 cloves garlic, smashed and sliced
- 2 thin slices ginger, minced
- 2 dried red chilies, deseeded and chopped (these can be quite spicy, so adjust according to your own tastes)
- 1/2 teaspoon Sichuan peppercorn powder
- 6 scallions, white portions only, cut into 3/4” pieces
5. And you’re ready to cook kung pao chicken:
Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a wok over high heat. Sear the chicken, remove from the wok to a bowl, and set aside.
Turn the heat to low and add another tablespoon oil. Add the garlic, ginger, chilies, Sichuan peppercorn powder, and scallions. Cook for a minute or two until fragrant.
Add the chicken back to the wok. Turn up the heat to high and stir-fry for a minute.
Then stir up your prepared sauce (the cornstarch will have settled to the bottom, so make sure it’s well incorporated).
Add the sauce to the wok and stir-fry for another minute. The sauce should thicken very quickly.
Finally, add the peanuts.
Give everything a final stir and serve.
Watch video!
For a twist on this Kung Pao Chicken recipe, try our oven fried Kung Pao wings, or vegan/vegetarian versions: kung pao tofu and kung pao mushrooms.
Kung Pao Chicken Recipe – Chinese Restaurant Quality
Ingredients
To roast the peanuts:
- 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
- 1 cup raw peanuts (shelled, with or without the skin)
- Can also substitute roasted shelled peanuts and skip this step!
To marinate the chicken:
- 12 oz. 340g chicken breast, cut into 3/4” cubes
- 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon shaoxing wine
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- a pinch of ground white pepper
To prepare the sauce:
- 1 tablespoon light soy sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon dark soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 3 tablespoons water
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
The rest of your ingredients:
- 3 tablespoons oil
- 3 cloves garlic , smashed and sliced
- 2 thin slices ginger , minced
- 2 dried red chilies , deseeded and chopped (these can be quite spicy, so adjust according to your own tastes)
- 1/2 teaspoon Sichuan peppercorn powder
- 6 scallions , white portions only, cut into 3/4” pieces
Instructions
- Heat a teaspoon of oil in a wok over medium heat and add a cup of raw shelled peanuts. Stir constantly (or they’ll burn) for 3 minutes. Turn off the heat and stir for another minute using the residual heat in the wok. Set aside to cool. They will turn crunchy once they’re cooled completely. You can also skip this step and use already roasted shelled peanuts.
- Marinate the chicken. Mix together the chicken with all the marinade ingredients in a bowl and set aside for 20 minutes.
- Prepare the sauce. Mix together all the sauce ingredients in a medium bowl and set aside.
- Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a wok over high heat. Sear the chicken, remove from the wok to a bowl, and set aside.
- Turn the heat to low and add another tablespoon oil. Add the garlic, ginger, chilies, Sichuan peppercorn powder, and scallions. Cook for a minute or two until fragrant.
- Add the chicken back to the pan and turn up the heat to high. Stir-fry for a minute and then use your finger to stir up your prepared sauce (the cornstarch will have settled to the bottom, so make sure it’s well incorporated). Add the sauce to the wok and stir-fry for another minute. The sauce should thicken very quickly.
- Finally, add the peanuts. Give everything a final stir and serve.
Terrific dish! We’ve tried different kung pao chicken recipes and my wife declares this one to be “the keeper”. This is a straight-forward, easy-to-follow recipe that came together quickly. It will be my “go-to” from now on.
That’s a good decision :-)
Again, helping me nail it in my Chinese cooking skills. I love you guys for this. I will also add some carrots to this recipe for a some veggies but this is 100% Kung pao. When done, I feel like someone else made this magical dinner for me. My daughter agrees as well. Thank you and your family for sharing these awesome recipes. You make me so happy.
You are so welcome, Stephen :-)
I made this recipe for the third time tonight. It’s my absolute favorite! My husband has tried for years to find a New York Chinatown restaurant Kung Pao equivalent and says “this is it”! He loves it! I smile each time I make it, because it makes him smile, too!
NICE! So happy that you are happy :-)
Ok but the ginger was over powering. Recommending two thin slices is very vague, why not recommend a measured amount like all the other ingredients. Also raw peanuts come in different sizes so 3 minutes may work for small size but not large.
You are so right, Bill, there are so many variable in each of our kitchen like stove’s BTU, elevation, room temperature and etc. Please use the recipe as a guide and adjust it accordingly :-)
Thanks Judy,but i try with some cubes of Pepper.
Another Question: Can i leave the marinated chicken overnight
in the fridge ?
Thanks,
llorc
Yes, you can, make sure you cover them from drying out.
Love this Dish,had it sometimes here in Germany at some Chinese Restaurants.
Would like to make it on my own,but dislike Peanuts and other Nuts in my Food.
What else could i take instead of the Nuts?
Thanks for all your beautiful Receipes!!!
llorc
Love this Dish,had it sometimes here in Germany at some Chinese Restaurants.
Would like to make it on my own,but dislike Peanuts and other Nuts in my Food.
What else could i take instead of the Nuts?
Thanks for all your beautiful Receipes!!!
llorc
Hi IIorc, you can replace peanuts with cubed pressed tofu and/or blanched cubed carrot.
Yum! Just made this and it is definitely restaurant worthy! I did add more veggies-carrots & celery. I also tripled the sauce.
Absolutely amazing! I used ginger and garlic paste and it came out great! So flavorful. I also made a shrimp version and it came out delightful! Depending on your love for peanuts, I don’t necessarily think you need a full cup of peanuts-but that was my preference.
I love peanuts :-) I’d stick with a full cup, hehehe…
This is my first try and my wife said dish tasted wonderful. I am fortunate that I have an Asian grocery store near my home and they have everything you said I would need, so off I went , and came back made this to your exact instructions. Thank you for sharing. I made the steamed rice to go with dish.
Nice! Good job, Pat.