Kung pao chicken just like from Panda Express made HEALTHIER and ready in only minutes! This ‘kickin flavorful chicken skillet is a total dinner winner!
Slowly but surely working our way through ALL the most killer-est Chinese food recipes out there!
See here, here, and HERE for delicious proof. I’m a clearly a lil bit obsessed but absolutely okay with that.
You too? Cool, let’s eat some kung pao chicken then already. Sharing: optional.
Very, very optional in my opinion. I might be either an awful person or a smart one.
Whatever the case, you’re gonna love me today because not only am I bringing you made-from-scratch kung pao chicken but it’s LIGHTER on the calories too. And stupid-easy to boot.
Call me crazy but this looks like a dinner win to me. We’ve been having a lot of those recently…
Okay so as I mentioned above this chicken is pretty much easy peasy dinner city. You could make it in your sleep but…I probably wouldn’t recommend that.
The chicken marinates in only 30 minutes and from there it’s just a quick saute with sweet peppers, chilies, ginger, and garlic. It’s gonna smell like the best heaven.
Peanuts go into the beautiful mess and then the sauce gets made right in the pan in only a minute. That is honestly ALL!
Hot rice at the ready? Well, yeah it better be…
Lighter Kung Pao Chicken Skillet
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Ingredients
Chicken Marinade:
- 1-1/2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts cut into 1-in cubes
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon agave syrup
- 1 teaspoon rice vinegar
Kung Pao Chicken:
- 2 tablespoons coconut oil
- 2 medium sweet peppers diced into 1-in cubes
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
- 4 dried Chinese chilies finely chopped
- 1/2 cup roasted peanuts
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons agave syrup
- 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch mixed with 1 tablespoon water
- 1/4 cup sliced green onions
- Hot rice for serving
Instructions
- In a large bowl, combine all chicken marinade ingredients and let stand 30 minutes.
- In a large skillet over medium-high heat, melt coconut oil. Add chicken, sweet peppers, garlic, ginger, and chilies to skillet and stir occasionally until chicken is browned and cooked through and veggies are tender. Reduce heat to medium and add peanuts, soy sauce, agave, vinegar, and cornstarch water. Bring to simmer until sauce is thickened. Remove from heat and top with green onions. Serve kung pao chicken hot with rice. Enjoy!
Gayle @ Pumpkin 'N Spice says
Sharing probably wouldn’t be happening in my book…this dish looks too good for anyone else to steal bites! Love how pretty this is, Sarah! My version of a perfect weeknight meal!