Recipe
🍽️ DINNER
Kung Pao Chicken
Diced chicken stir-fried with dried chilies, Sichuan peppercorns, and peanuts in a sweet-sour-savory sauce with real má-là kick.
Chinese (Sichuan) · easy · serves 3
prep 20 min · cook 10 min
~633 cal · 49g protein · 14g carbs · 43g fat · 4g fiber · 6g sugars · 7g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Kung Pao chicken (gongbao jiding) is a classic of Sichuan cooking, diced chicken stir-fried with dried chilies, tongue-tingling Sichuan peppercorns, and peanuts in a savory-sweet-sour sauce. It is named for a Qing-dynasty official, Ding Baozhen, whose title was 'Gongbao,' and it remains one of China's most famous exports.
The authentic Sichuan version balances 'málà' heat and numbness with a lightly sweet-and-sour 'lychee flavor' sauce, quite different from the gloopy Westernized takes. The peanuts add crucial crunch against the tender chicken and the fragrant, blistered chilies.
Served with rice, Kung Pao chicken is home and restaurant food across China and worldwide.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally dairy-, egg- and pork-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
🐖 Pork-Free
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.
Ingredients
US
Metric
Serves 3
1 lb chicken thigh, diced
10 dried red chilies
1 tsp Sichuan peppercorns
1/2 cup roasted peanuts
2 tbsp soy sauce
1.5 tbsp Chinkiang black vinegar
1 tbsp Shaoxing wine
Hard to find? dry (fino) sherry - the closest thing there is, and it disappears into the dish; buy dry sherry from the wine aisle rather than the salted bottle sold as cooking sherry. What will not work is rice vinegar, which is an acid where Shaoxing is a wine, and turns the dish sour
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp cornstarch
3 cloves garlic
1 tbsp ginger
4
3 tbsp
Instructions
1
Marinate the diced chicken (or tofu and mushrooms) in a little soy and cornstarch.
2
Mix the sauce: stir together the soy, vinegar, wine, sugar, and cornstarch with 2 tbsp water.
3
Fry the dried chilies and Sichuan peppercorns in hot oil just until fragrant, being careful not to burn them.
✎ Chef’s note
The chilies and peppercorns should sizzle and perfume the oil, not blacken. Burnt ones turn the whole dish acrid, so pull them if they darken too fast.
4
Add the chicken and sear until golden.
5
Add the garlic, ginger, and scallion whites, then pour in the sauce and toss until it thickens and glazes.
6
Off the heat, fold in the peanuts and scallion greens so the peanuts stay crunchy. Serve with rice.
Sichuan classic.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Sichuan. Mapo tofu has an address and a date: a shop in Chengdu trading since 1862, whose proprietor's pockmarked face gave the dish its name. Hotpot works on a different principle entirely, a communal cauldron of chilli and tallow into which each person cooks their own tripe, bamboo and duck blood, and the numbing builds through the meal rather than hitting at the start.
🗺️
China. A meal here is built in two halves: the staple that carries the calories, rice in the south and wheat noodles or steamed buns in the north, and the dishes that go with it. Each person keeps their own bowl of the staple while the dishes sit in the middle and are taken a mouthful at a time, which is why ordering is done for the table rather than for yourself.
🌍
Asia. Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, and its food spans the delicate seasonality of Japanese washoku, the chili-fired curries of India and Thailand, and the wheat-and-lamb traditions of Central Asia. Rice, noodles, soy, and fermentation recur across its regions, while ancient spice routes and religious traditions shaped distinct grammars of flavor. Whether from a street-cart wok or a monastery kitchen, eating is deeply communal and ritual-rich.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from China
Mapo TofuSilken tofu in a glowing, numbing-hot chili bean sauce, Chengdu’s most famous export.
Char Siu (Cantonese BBQ Pork)Lacquered, honey-glossed barbecue pork with burnished edges, Guangdong’s roast-shop crown jewel, oven-adapted.
Dapanji (Big Plate Chicken)A heroic platter of chicken, potatoes, and peppers in a star-anise chili sauce, with wide noodles for the gravy.
Browse all China recipes →
Good to know
Storing it: Fried food is best eaten fresh while crisp. Re-crisp leftovers in a hot oven or air fryer; the microwave makes them soft.
Make it a China meal
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Nian Gao (New Year Rice Cake)Dessert
XiaolongbaoLunch
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Cuisine
Diet
Frequently asked questions
What is Kung Pao Chicken?
Diced chicken stir-fried with dried chilies, Sichuan peppercorns, and peanuts in a sweet-sour-savory sauce with real má-là kick.
Where does Kung Pao Chicken come from?
Kung Pao Chicken is a Chinese (Sichuan) dish from Sichuan, China.
Can Kung Pao Chicken be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Kung Pao Chicken recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions, including several at once such as gluten-free and dairy-free together. Treat them as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Kung Pao Chicken safe for people with food allergies?
Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.
How long does Kung Pao Chicken take to make?
About 30 minutes total (20 minutes prep, 10 minutes cooking), serving 3.
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