Panda Express Kung Pao Chicken Recipe (Copycat)

Panda Express Kung Pao Chicken Recipe (Copycat) is moist, tender cubed chicken stir-fried in a perfect blend of sweet, spicy, savory sauce with vegetables and roasted peanuts.

Course Main Course

Cuisine Chinese

Prep Time 35

Cook Time 20

Total Time 55

Servings

Calories 443kcal

Ingredients

Kung Pao Chicken Marinate

1 pound chicken breast or boneless chicken thighs cubed
1 tablespoon Shaoxing rice wine
1 ½ tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon cornstarch diluted in 1 teaspoon water

Kung Pao Chicken Sauce

½ cup chicken broth or water
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon hot chili paste or ½ tablespoon Sriracha and ½ tablespoon chili garlic sauce
1 ½ tablespoons Shaoxing rice wine
2 teaspoon hoisin sauce optional
1 - 2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon cornstarch diluted in 1 teaspoon water

Stir-Fry Ingredients

2 cloves garlic minced
½ teaspoon ginger minced
¼ cup yellow onion chopped
¾ cup green bell pepper diced
¾ cup red bell pepper diced
1 small zuchinni diced
6 dried hot chili peppers optional
3 tablespoons oil
1 teaspoon sesame oil
salt to taste

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Marinate chicken in Shaoxing rice wine, soy sauce, cornstarch diluted in teaspoon water. Place it in the fridge for at least 30 minutes or longer.
Meanwhile, make the Kung Pao Chicken sauce. In a small bowl, add chicken broth or water, soy sauce, Shaoxing rice wine, hoisin sauce, brown sugar and cornstarch diluted in water.
In a hot wok or skillet, add oil over medium-high heat. Make sure skillet is hot, stir fry chicken for a minute or until light brown and cooked through. Remove and set aside.
Add 1 teaspoon sesame oil in skillet. If needed, add 1 tablespoon of oil.
Saute onion until soft.
Stir-in ginger. Cook for a minute.
Add garlic. Cook until golden.
Toss-in red and green bell peppers and zuchinni. Cook for 1 minute.
Add peanuts and green onion. Cook for a minute.
Push the ingredients to the sides leaving the center of skillet empty. This will keep the veggies stay crisp. Note: You can transfer the vegetables to a bowl before pouring the sauce, if you like. If you do, add it in the skillet with the chicken.
Pour sauce at the center and stir constantly. Simmer over medium-low heat for 2 minutes or until slightly thicken.
Stir-in chicken until well coated with sauce. Continue cooking for a couple of minutes.
Salt to taste. Turn off heat and transfer to serving bowl right away.

Video

Notes

My marinade is enough to coat a 1 pound chicken. I tend to make a drier marinade instead of more. So when you stir-fry, you don’t have to worry about the extra liquid. You want chicken to fry instead of steamed.
Double the sauce if you like it saucy. My sauce is just enough to coat the chicken and vegetables.
I prepare an extra 1 teaspoon cornstarch/1 teaspoon water mixture incase I need to add more to sauce. This will depend on your preference, if you like sauce to be thicker.
If you like it sweeter, add more brown sugar.
If you don’t have chicken broth, you can add ½ teaspoon Knorr chicken bouillon powder to sauce.
I used dark soy sauce in my marinade but not necessary. It keeps the chicken darker in color.
If not using hoisin sauce, add 1 teaspoon brown sugar.
Soy sauce is salty, so before seasoning with salt, taste the sauce first.

Nutrition