Panda Express Kung Pao Chicken (Copycat)

Takeout-Style Kung Pao Chicken, deliciously spicy and naturally sweet. Easy Kung Pao chicken recipe for your weeknight dinners.

Try this amazingly delicious chicken Francese recipe for your next dinner as well.. it is one of my readers' favorites.

Serve Kung Pao Chicken for Dinner and you'll never regret it. Flavors from the fresh vegetables, the crunch of the peanuts along with the heat makes this dish irresistible. Another plus is it's easy to prepare and feeds a crowd.

Everyone in my house enjoyed it, even the elders who just came from Egypt and honestly, I did not expect them to like it!! So this was a nice surprise for me.

I fall in love easily with such dishes, like this chicken wraps. They feed my kids, easy to prepare and gets the approval seal from all family members.

I love playing around with different ingredients and spices and Chinese cuisine is one of our favorite. As my children get older, I have more evenings when I need to whip up dinner quickly, and this dish with chicken came to the rescue many times.

I stated in the recipe that the chicken needs to be marinated for an hour but really, when I am pressed in time 30 minutes is all I need until I finish preparing the veggies.

My oldest, the hardest one to feed, actually started venturing into different cuisines. Maybe it is his hormones, may be he is getting older and probably wiser😏, I have no clue.

Speaking of the devil😈, I was having this sort of mother-son conversation with him and I know he wanted to be an oncologist and try to find a cure for cancer.

I've always wished to live up to the time when cancer is like a common cold, few meds and it is out of your body. So the thought fascinated me and I built dreams and had high hopes that .. who knows?.. may be this little kid will cure and help people around the world.

He came one day saying he wants to be a neurosurgeon, I teared up even more. My kid wants to help  patients and who knows.. maybe he will help people who cannot walk, see, hear, and all sorts of neurological disabilities... such a good and kindhearted kid.

I told him this is a big dream and I'm sure you'll make a good neurosurgeon and help others, you know trying to be a positive mom. All of a sudden he was making some calculations in his little mathematical brain, he blurted out saying .. when I am done studying my salary will be 2.8m and when I am 60 years old it is going to be 7.8m!!🤦

Shock!!! I will make sure that kid pays for the tissues I used tearing up and thinking I raised a kid who only thinks of others 😅😅.

That brat, he was only thinking about money and kept calculating his income until he is 60!!! seriously... and I was thinking the guy wants to help the humanity😭.

No more kung pao for this kid... you hear me😄.

So let me show you how to make easy Kung Pao chicken recipe and be sure to make it for the kindhearted kids in your family hehehehe.

🥄 Instructions

• Make a simple marinade for the chicken: cornstarch, water, salt and an egg.. that's it
• Add chicken and refrigerate for an hour if you have time and as I've told you before, when I am pressed in time I cut this time by half.

• Then, in a small bowl make the sauce. more corn starch, soy sauce, honey and a handful of other ingredients that is sure to be found in your pantry. 
• Take the chicken pieces out and stir fry in hot oil in a deep skillet or wok. When the chicken are nicely browned, transfer to a plate and set aside

• In the same pan, add more oil then toss bell pepper, zucchini and fry until a little browned.
• Add the dry chili, garlic,green onion and peanuts, stir everything together then add the sauce that we've just made
• Put the chicken back, stir until everything is well coated with sauce.
• Simmer a few minutes until sauce thickens and flavor deepens.

What I love about this recipe is that it is so versatile.Think of this dish as a chance to play with vegetables, heat and spice. Get creative, if you do not like chicken, no problem use whatever you like beef, shrimp or go vegan with tofu.

We all need meals that are foolproof, easy to follow, satisfying and filling to be part of our rotation and this one is definitely one of those.

I hope you'll like this recipe and please if you make this recipe, snap a pic and hashtag it #amiraspantry — I love to see your creations on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter!

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Pande Express Kung Pao Chicken Copycat Recipe

Pand Express style Kung Pao Chicken, deliciously spicy and naturally sweet. An easy Kung Pao chicken recipe made with simple ingredients.

5 from 3 votes

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Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Chinese

Diet: Halal

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

marination: 1 hour

Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes

Servings: 6 serving

Calories: 392kcal

Author: Amira

Ingredients

Chicken marinade:

• ▢ 1/3 cup cornstarch
• ▢ 1 large egg
• ▢ 1/4 cup water
• ▢ 1/2 teaspoon salt
• ▢ 1 1/2 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts cut into 1-inch pieces.
• ▢ 4 Tablespoons vegetable or peanut oil divided.
• ▢ 1 red bell pepper cored and diced.
• ▢ 1 zucchini cubed.
• ▢ 6-8 whole dry chili peppers
• ▢ 1/2 cup green onions cut
• ▢ 2 garlic cloves minced
• ▢ 1/2 cup peanuts

For the sauce:

• ▢ 1/2 cup water
• ▢ 6 Tablespoon reduced sodium soy sauce
• ▢ 4 Tablespoons rice wine vinegar
• ▢ 2 Tablespoon honey
• ▢ 2 Tablespoon cornstarch
• ▢ 2 teaspoon sesame oil
• ▢ 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• ▢ 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• ▢ 1 Teaspoon of chili flakes**

Instructions

• Combine the first 4 ingredients in a deep bowl then add chicken, toss and let it marinade for about an hour.*
• Heat your skillet on high, add 2 Tablespoons oil leaving the other two, remove chicken from the marinade and add to the skillet. Cook on both sides until lightly browned.
• Take the chicken out on another plate and set aside.
• Add the remaining two tablespoons of oil and stir in the pepper and zucchini, stir for a minute then add the chili peppers, green onions, garlic and peanuts.
• Stir everything well for 3 minutes until everything is nicely caramelized.
• While the veggies are caramelizing, in a separate bowl mix the sauce ingredients well.
• Pour the sauce over the veggies and mix. When it is nicely bubbling and thickened add the chicken back to the pot stirring everything together leaving them to cook and get to know each other for another couple of minutes.
• Remove from heat and serve immediately with rice or quinoa.

Notes

* I only left the chicken marinated until I finished preparing the veggies and other ingredients.

** I did not add the red chili flakes to the sauce as I did not want to make it super hot, I preferred that every person adds his own after serving.

 

 

Nutrition

Calories: 392kcal | Carbohydrates: 21g | Protein: 31g | Fat: 21g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 6g | Monounsaturated Fat: 9g | Trans Fat: 0.02g | Cholesterol: 100mg | Sodium: 1352mg | Potassium: 724mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 8g | Vitamin A: 845IU | Vitamin C: 35mg | Calcium: 44mg | Iron: 2mg

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