Take out style Kung Pao Chicken with marinated chicken, the signature sweet-sour-salty Kung Pao sauce with the addictive tingling heat from sichuan pepper.
It’s an explosion of big, BIG flavours – and it’s a really quick and easy recipe.
Kung Pao Chicken
Kung Pao Chicken is a Chinese takeout favourite that is mouthwateringly good and highly addictive – so it’s a good thing it’s easy to make at home so we don’t need to order takeout every time we crave it!! We love the strong flavoured sweet-sour-savoury sauce with the signature tingle of numbing heat from the Sichuan pepper!
If you’re wondering whether Kung Pao Chicken is authentic Chinese, the dish as we know it outside of China is a slightly westernised version of an authentic Chinese Sichuan dish.
Traditionally in China, Kung Pao Chicken is a dry stir fry. Which means, unlike 99% of other Asian stir fries on my site like Chop Suey and Cashew Chicken, it’s not swimming in loads of sauce.
But with Kung Pao Chicken, the sauce is very intense flavoured so you don’t need loads of it. When it mixes in with the rice, just a bit of sauce goes a long way.
What goes in Kung Pao Chicken
Most of these ingredients are pretty mainstream Asian cooking ingredients. I’ve provided substitutes for the Chinese cooking wine in the recipe.
The ingredients I describe in a little more detail below are:
Sichuan pepper
Chinese vinegar
Dried chillies
I like to use chicken thigh because it’s juicier than breast and tenderloin. If I make this with chicken breast, I always tenderise it using a Chinese restaurant technique using baking soda (bi-carb). It’s super simple, see directions here: How to Velvet Chicken.
Sichuan Pepper
This is the ingredient in Kung Pao sauce that makes it Kung Pao and not just any type of stir fry sauce. I describe it as a little bit lemony with a numbing spiciness, rather than hot spiciness like almost every other chilli.
I used to use whole peppercorns but nowadays I tend to use pre ground both for the convenience and also because it’s finely ground. In contrast, if you grind your own, there tends to be little gritty bits in it – albeit the flavour is a bit better.
Best substitute for Sichuan pepper is white pepper.
Dried Chillies
Not all dried chillies are created equal and in fact, the same type of chillies can vary in spiciness throughout the year. So for dried chillies, always taste them and make a judgement call on how much you can handle! Most of the heat is in the seeds which are removed.
If you really don’t think you can handle any chilli at all, use them when cooking but don’t eat them. The chillies add flavour to to sauce so don’t skip them.
What does Kung Pao Sauce taste like?
Kung Pao sauce has a strong flavour that is sweet, sour, savoury and with the signature tingle of heat from Sichuan pepper. It’s glossy and thickened with cornstarch / cornflour, and because it has such a strong flavour, this stir fry has less sauce than other Chinese favourites like Cashew Chicken and Beef and Broccoli.
Here’s what goes in Kung Pao Sauce:
Sichuan Pepper – described above
Chinese Black Vinegar – described below
Cornstarch / cornflour – to thicken the sauce
– subs available
Soy sauce, sugar and water
Chinese Black Vinegar
Looks like balsamic vinegar and, surprisingly, tastes vaguely like it. Available in Asian stores and costs only a couple of dollars for a big bottle. Be sure not to get Taiwanese or another Asian black vinegar (some taste completely different), make sure you get Chinese black vinegar (read the label!).
If you can’t find it, don’t worry, you can use rice wine vinegar, plain white vinegar or even balsamic vinegar. I’ve made Kung Pao Sauce so many times and tried it with each of these, and it’s actually quite similar.
Quick to cook
As with most stir fries, once you start cooking, things move quickly! It takes about 6 minutes to cook. So make sure you have all ingredients prepared and ready to toss in.
Key Tip: Cook the Kung Pao sauce down until it reduces to a syrupy consistency with quite an intense flavour. That’s the Kung Pao way!!
Phew! I don’t usually end up writing so much stuff about ingredients in a post! So I’m signing off here and handing over the recipe. Don’t forget the recipe video below! I think it’s especially useful to see the consistency of the sauce at the end – it should be thick and syrupy, and intense dark brown colour. Enjoy! – Nagi x
More Chinese takeout favourites
Chop Suey (Chicken Stir Fry)
Chinese BBQ Pork (Char Siu)
See all Chinese recipes
WATCH HOW TO MAKE IT
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Kung Pao Chicken
Ingredients
Chicken
- 1 lb / 500g chicken thigh , cut into bite size pieces
Sauce
- 2 tsp cornflour / cornstarch
- 1 tbsp light soy sauce (Note 2)
- 1.5 tbsp dark soy sauce (Note 3)
- 2 tbsp Chinese black vinegar (Note 4)
- 1 tbsp Chinese cooking wine (Note 5)
- 3 tbsp sugar , any
- 1/2 tsp sesame oil
- 1/3 cup water
Stir Fry
- 2 tbsp peanut oil (or other cooking oil)
- 2 garlic cloves , minced
- 1 tsp ginger , finely chopped
- 6 – 10 dried chillies (adjust to taste), cut into 2cm/ 3/4″ pieces, most seeds discarded (Note 7)
- 3 green onions , cut into 2cm/ 3/4″ pieces, white parts separated from green
- 1.5 tsp ground sichuan peppercorns , adjust to taste (Note 6)
- 3/4 cup whole peanuts (or 1/2 cup halved) , roasted unsalted
Instructions
Sauce & Marinade Chicken:
- Mix cornflour and soy sauce in a small bowl until cornflour is dissolved. Then mix in remaining Sauce ingredients EXCEPT water.
- Pour 1.5 tbsp Sauce over chicken. Toss to coat, set aside for 10 – 20 minutes.
- Add water into remaining Sauce.
Stir Fry:
- Heat oil in wok over high heat. Add garlic, ginger and chillies. Cook for 30 seconds or until fragrant.
- Add chicken, cook until it turns white, then add the white part of the green onions. Cook until chicken is cooked through – about 2 minutes.
- Add Sauce and Sichuan pepper. Bring to simmer, mixing constantly, until almost all the sauce reduces to a thick syrup.
- Just before the end, mix through peanuts and green part of the green onions. Also check spiciness – add more Sichuan pepper if you can handle the heat!
- Serve immediately with rice – or for a low carb, low cal option, try Cauliflower Rice!
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
Lucky 8: Eight more Chinese takeout favourites
LIFE OF DOZER
Re-united. Life is back to as it should be!
Hi Nagi, I absolutely love your recipes! I’ve tried out so many and they’re always amazing! For a really long time, yours has been the only blog I use for cooking. And now it’s kung pao chicken’s turn. 🙂
What type/kind of dried chillies did you use here?
My daughter doesn’t want raw sugar if possible. Substitution?
Hi Marc, you could use honey or a sugar substitute here. N x
Well, I made this again tonight. The fourth time since early March. Huge family hit. My wife thinks it’s a bit spicier that her favorite restaurant versions in the US, but she says it’s better. Thanks again, Nagi. Stay well and give Dozer a oat for me. Hope he’s feeling better.
That should have been “give Dozer a PAT”. You can give him an oat too if you want 😂
Hi Nagi, I cooked your Kung Pao Chicken last night. It was so good, thank you. My husband actually asked if there was anymore. He never does that, so just shows how good it was.
Just put out the ingredients to mix up Charlie for quick meals for next week too. ❤️
This is my favorite dish! I followed your instructions to the letter and OMG! Flavor is amazing. I toasted my Sichuan peppercorns and used a mortar ‘n pestle to grind, before sifting it.
This dish is so easy to make, yet has SO many complex flavors! Love it 💕
I recently bought szechuan peppercorn oil which I haven’t tried yet. Would this be acceptable in this recipe? I have heard and read that you don’t want to use the black seeds of the szechuan peppercorns because they are gritty. I have a jar of them but removing the black seeds is tiresome. I have used the whole mix before and agree that it is the black seeds that are gritty and not to be used. Rather than turn people off on using Szechuan peppercorns because of the gritty taste, perhaps they should know to take the time to remove the black seeds before using. It is an extraordinary taste and I highly recommend it but not with those black seeds! Have you ever tried the Szechuan peppercorn oil? I hadn’t seen it before and plan to try it. I love that numbing (but not hot) taste.
Looks fantastic. Can this be cooked ahead, say a day or two, or is it best eaten straight away please?
I love love love this and didn’t bet on ever making it at home myself Nagi !!!
The flavours in this are truly divine. One question though… mine never looks as dark as tor’s? Why ??? I’m using the right soy sauces… any suggestions????
Hi Cate – could be the amount of caramelisation or the brand of soy. As long as it tastes great, that’s all that matters! N x
As always it was amazing ❤️ Thank you so much!! Keep doing what your doing xoxo
As always it was amazing ❤️ Thank you so much!!
Hi Nagi Thankyou for so many delicious recipes.You have awakened mine and hubby’s taste buds.Im cooking Kung Pao tonight cant wait to get started.Also many thanks for recipe substitutes.xx
Really delicious recipe, have only recently discovered your website and have cooked numerous meals all of which have been real winners with the family, no mean feat please 3 teenagers
I love the way you provide measurements and alternative replacements for ingredients. Often I would just read it knowing I didn’t have it and not cook it. I cook just about every recipe that I have viewed on your site. Thanks Nagi.
Thanks so much for the great feedback Michelle!! N x
I made this twice within a week for my wife (her favourite Chinese dish). I overdid the dried Asian chillies the first time (hot little buggers), but delicious. Got it right the second time. Beautiful flavour! Thanks, Nagi. You and Dozer stay safe.
Yes they can be super spicy, I’m so glad you got it right the second time 🙂 N x
This recipe was delicious although I have a question. I lighty roasted the sichuan peppers and ground them. I found the meal was quiet”sandy” due to the peppers. I don’t want to leave them out next time as they add so much flavour. Any suggestions for me?
Wow another amazing meal Nagi, my whole family even my 11 year old thought it was delicious. I did cut back on the chilli, but only a little since the 11 yr old doesn’t like too much spice. He said his lips were tingly but loved it thank you for another winner 🙂
Hello Anne, I toast the Sichuan peppercorns, grind them very well in a spice grinder then pass the powder through a fine sieve. That gets rid of the grainy bits and yields a very fine powder. You can repeat the process with the coarser bits. Cheers!
Thanks Roger for the sieve tip!
Hi Anne, that would be due to the ground peppercorns – sounds like they weren’t ground down fine enough (the powder I get is superfine) N x
Thank you!
Forgot to say: I used 1 tsp whole Sichuan peppercorns which I dry roasted for a couple mins. I also dry roasted the peanuts. I used approx 12 chili cut in half and deseeded – a bit hot for me, but not the other half!
Made this Saturday night – absolutely fab… and hubby said better than the local Sichuan – which is saying something as we live in Beijing :))) Thanks for great recipe! Btw, do you have a good recipe for La Zi Ji ?!!! xx
Woah what a compliment Debbie!! That’s great to hear! N x
Hi Nagi.
Could you confirm how much sugar needs to be added? The reason I ask is that your recipe on the website states 3 tablespoons but your recipe in your Asian e-book states 3 teaspoons.
regards
Vanessa
Hi Vanessa, yes as per the written recipe on my website which is an updated version – N x
I’ve been making and loving your recipes for years now, since I first moved out into my own place!
This is one of my husband’s all-time favourites and perfect for a Saturday night – I use cashews instead of peanuts which is just personal taste. Last night was the first time I tried with proper Sichuan peppercorns after a trip to the Asian supermarket and it was even more divine. Previously I had used a mix of home-ground black peppercorns and coriander seeds in a 2:1 ratio after reading somewhere it could work as a substitute. The flavour isn’t quite as tasty and is a bit more harsh but would recommend instead of the real deal if like me you live in the UK and the nearest Asian supermarket might be a trek away!
Thank you! I did this with greens and a meat substitute and it was delish. I’m currently the envy of the office eating my leftovers!! 🙂
That’s great to hear Katy!