Kung Pao Chicken

I've made this a couple of times and it is a hit on a busy weeknight.  Authentic?  Probably not.  But flavorful and satisfying?  Definitely.  I omitted the oil in the steaming of the broccoli.  Otherwise, no changes made.  Served over steamed jasmine rice and a thai-style cucumber salad on the side.

I didn't love this, but I didn't hate it either.  It felt very one noted and seemed like it was missing something.  I feel that a great Asian sauce is something that could be poured over rice and consumed in that way.  This did not do that.

I also think that it's wrongly named.  But, it seems that Kung pao is different at any restaurant. The beautiful picture of the plate is what lured me in, but it wasn't awesome enough to repeat.

not very good at all, I am throwing out the leftovers

It was good. I wasn't wowed won't make again.

Very good. This has become a family favorite.

Just loved it. Great seasonings. Used leftover chicken first time, but 2nd time slightly froze raw chicken breasts to make easier to slice - better choice. Made exactly according to instructions, otherwise, and was a great success. Didn't add ingredients as recommended, but may next time.

I wasn't a fan. I used shrimp instead of chicken, but the sauce didn't get very thick and wasn't very flavorful. I ended up using a lot of spicy Chinese mustard and sweet thai chili sauce as condiments when eating it... just not a good satisfying substitute for Chinese take-out.

This was simple to make, and very tasty. I will make it again.

Great recipe! definitely would cook it again. I will add some more vegetables and water chestnuts next time!

I make my own hoisin sauce. http://www.food.com/recipe/hoisin-sauce-379686

This was a quick meal that was very good. I added water chestnuts, mushrooms and snap peas as well.

Not mind blowing but nice enough that I'd stick it on the planner again. I'd agree with the person who said to increase the amount of sauce if I wasn't trying to keep the calories etc down :p

OK. This is not truly Kung Pao. But as far as a delicious is concerned, this is it. Get pre-cut veggies, a bag of organic brown 90-second rice and rotisserie chicken if you really believe you can't pull this off and surprise yourself. We made this with leftover hoisin grilled chicken and organic brown basmati. Added sliced carrots, red pepper and celery as well as sliced waterchestnuts and doubled the sauce. Yum!!

Not quite what I expected for Kung Pao. While it wasn't to bad I probably won't use this recipe again. Prefer more authentic.

Amazingly simple but delicious. Only advice, double the sauce recipe to cover your rice. My local Chinese restaurant is disappointed that I can now make their recipe, but better!

This is one of my most favorite recipes! I got rid of the brocoli thought and added red pepper, water chestnuts, snow peas and baby corn. Every now and then I'll use different veggies though. It needs more corn starch usually. Just add a tablespoon extra and if that's not enough, add half a teaspoon until it thickens.

We loved this recipe! As others have said, not really "Kung Pao" tasting, but tasty nonetheless! Added more veggies, but otherwise followed the recipe.

Tasted great. Not quite a 5 star taste, but a 4 will do :)

Very good, made just as stated and served with brown rice - a keeper!

This is very flavorful and tasty! One reviewer thought it tasted sweet - it may depend on the brand of Hoisin Sauce - some tend to be sweeter than others. This really is better than take-out and much better for you! Love it.

Tasty, quick weeknight recipe. Even my toddler loved it.

This came out sooooooo good i added a little bit more veggies like an orange bell pepper and broccoli along with everything else soooooo good i made rice with cilantro it was GREAT i WILL be making this again my youngest brother literally licked his plate after his seconds

We were really looking forward to this recipe, but we did not like it at all. After going through the steps to when the chicken was cooked through, we tried it and it was too sweet and really blah. We added more pepper flakes, and added more hoisin and soy sauce...neither worked. In the end, it was a very sweet dish that we will definitely not make again. Another reviewer mentioned it was missing "something" - and we totally agree, but also have no idea what that "something" is. I don't know if it should have had fresh ginger? More garlic? It needed something to be good. The one plus - it was very easy to make and didn't create a ton of dishes.

Good One

Delicious everyone loved it!

Delicious! My children (8 and 5) loved it.

Simple to prepare as-is but WOW lacking in flavor. Was extremely bland - Can't quite put my finger on it but missing something, and more than just a pinch of salt. Would not make again, sorry. Can't justify the 4 star reviews I see on here, definitely not in line with the other recipes I find on the site.

Love this dish! It was simple to prepare with easy to find ingredients. I will file this one for sure for future use.

This could use a little red pepper or something for a little kick, but it is easy and yummy. I made with chicken thighs and they were delicious.

So delicious!!! I did make a change I don't care for broccoli so I substituted red pepper and snap peas. I will definitely be making again and again. Family loved it!

Soooooooo nice!! it was just delicious!! i made it with chilli and it tasted soooo nice and spicy i will definatally make it again!

This was rather tasty. I would give it 4 stars but I don't see it as worthy of a special occasion... more of just an everyday, yummy meal. Great as leftovers. For those new to cooking (like myself) it may take more in the 20-30 minutes range for prep time. I made it with simple white rice. My boyfriend added soy sauce to his but I thought it was fine without. However, next time I make this (and I will make it again) I'll add more chili peppers or some sriracha sauce to make it spicer. Overall: great everyday dinner/lunch (leftovers), easy to make even for those new to the kitchen.

Made as directed, but I thought there was too much hoisin sauce, making it too sweet for Kung Pao. I would try it again, but with less hoisin.

So Good! Very easy to make, great flavor....and healthier than takeout! I served over brown rice and used cashews instead of peanuts. This will definitely be worked into the quick weeknight dinner rotation!

Our entire family enjoyed this and we will have this again. I didn't have rice wine vinegar so I used red wine vinegar. Not sure that it makes much difference. I'm always in a hurry to get dinner ready on a week night so I used microwavable rice and it was good. For the left overs I poured a dash of hoisin sauce on it before I warmed it up. Perfect.

I have made this so many times and it turns out wonderful each time. My husband loves it and so do the kids. It's a great way to splurge, having chinese food without all of the sugar and fat. You should try this one.

Big disappointment (especially with 78 four-star reviews)! I added yellow and orange bellpeppers to increase the veggies. Even with extra pepperflakes, something still was definitely missing. Maybe salt? Maybe adding whole dried peppers? Maybe marinating the chicken beforehand? Don't know. Will not make again.

Absolutely wonderful! You could add almost any veggie and this would still be amazing. I made my with vegetarian chicken and LOVED it! This is going into the rotation.

Made this last night, added carrots and snap peas. My family loved it!

Husband and I loved this. Will make again. This is more of a chicken and broccoli than kung pao chicken. Good flavors and cheaper than chinese take out!

This is a great week night dinner. Quick and delicious!

We really enjoyed this dish but it wasn't quite the Kung Pao I was hoping for - it just wasn't as spicy as I'm used to. I reduced the amount of broth to 1/4 cup and added an extra teaspoon of cornstarch, and the sauce had a nice consistency. I also marinaded the chicken strips in a combination of 1 tbsp soy + 1 tbsp dry sherry + 2 tsp cornstarch for about 15 min while I prepped the other ingredients. We'll definitely make this again but will add more red pepper flakes to kick up the heat.

Very similar to what you would get in a good Chinese restaurant. I added some pepper flakes for hotness and water chestnuts for crunch.

Would definitely make this one again. Would change it by adding water chestnuts and less broccoli. Also, would add a little more red pepper to spice it up a bit more.

This dish turned out great, we will definetly make this again! The recipe was really easy to follow & was ready to eat on a bed of rice in about 25 min. Yummy!

I made this recipe exactly as written, and was very disappointed. All those folks who say it is a favorite, have apparently never eaten decent chinese food. If you can find the Leann Chin cookbooks, try ANY recipe and you will soon realize that this is just an ordinary chicken and broccoli concoction. I wonder how many of the reviewers at this site have actually made this?

No quite authentic taste but still good. Chicken was very tender. Sauce had a little too much vinegar taste to it - if I made it again I would probably decrease the amount.

My family and I were disappointed with this recipe. We added celery, yellow onion, carrots and red bell pepper to increase the veggies. We left out the crushed red pepper during cooking, so it wouldn't be too spicy for our daughter and added some in for serving. The sauce didn't thicken for us and just didn't have a great flavor. I could tweak the sauce by leaving out the chicken broth and adding more hoisin sauce, a dash of dark sesame oil and a splash of sherry, but that would turn it into another stir fry recipe that we make frequently, so I'll stick with our regular recipe next time.

We love this one!

This was a very good recipe. It was so easy to put together and the flavor was soooo good. Definitely would make this again!

Loved this recipe! Just the right amount of spice, very flavorful! It was quick and easy to put together. Great weeknight meal!

I added sliced carrots and red peppers to this dish to up the veggie factor. The sauce was really flavorful and I will definitely be making it again!

I have been making one Asian meal a week this year. This was a recipe that I had clipped to try and the family was pleased with it. Served over brown rice and with the Cool Cucumber Salad

This was a hit with my family. Will become a weeknight staple. I doubled the recipe but left as is - great!

I always double the chicken in this recipe because my family likes lots of chicken. Otherwise this is a regular on my weekly menu!

This recipe tasted nothing like kung pao but it was delicious!!!! I will make this one often!

This is my husband's favorite recipe!! It is so quick to make and so tasty. And I usually adjust the heat depending on who will be eating.

I agree with others that calling this Kung Pao Chicken isn't really true. It doesn't taste anything like other KPC that I've had, BUT, this is a family favorite. We make it probably twice a month. It's quick and easy. And it's wonderful everytime. Plus, it's full of veggies, so I love feeding it to the whole family.