Kung Pao Chicken

Name: Kung Pao Chicken
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 19 min
Total time: 29 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Chinese
Ingredients: 2 tbs Sake; 2 tbs Soy Sauce; 2 tbs Sesame Seed Oil; 2 tbs Corn Flour; 2 tbs Water; 500g Chicken; 1 tbs Chilli Powder; 1 tsp Rice Vinegar; 1 tbs Brown Sugar; 4 Chopped Spring Onions; 6 cloves Garlic Clove; 220g Water Chestnut; 100g Peanuts

By The Spice & Simmer Kitchen · Published May 3, 2026

A one-pot Chicken recipe with Chinese flavors, built for busy weeknights when you want real food without a sink full of dishes. Comes together in roughly 46 minutes, serves about 4, and uses ingredients you can find at any normal grocery store. The technique is simple: build a base in your pot, layer in the main ingredients, simmer until everything has had time to talk to each other, and serve straight from the pan. If you're cooking for picky eaters, this one tends to land — the flavors are recognizable, the texture is comforting, and there's nothing weird hiding in the ingredient list. Perfect for the kind of evening where you want dinner on the table by 7pm and the kitchen empty by 7:30.

Ingredients

Makes 4 servings · 29 min total

2 tbs Sake
2 tbs Soy Sauce
2 tbs Sesame Seed Oil
2 tbs Corn Flour
2 tbs Water
500g Chicken
1 tbs Chilli Powder
1 tsp Rice Vinegar
1 tbs Brown Sugar
4 Chopped Spring Onions
6 cloves Garlic Clove
220g Water Chestnut
100g Peanuts

Step-by-step instructions

Combine the sake or rice wine, soy sauce, sesame oil and cornflour dissolved in water. Divide mixture in half.
In a glass dish or bowl, combine half of the sake mixture with the chicken pieces and toss to coat. Cover dish and place in refrigerator for about 30 minutes.
In a medium frying pan, combine remaining sake mixture, chillies, vinegar and sugar. Mix together and add spring onion, garlic, water chestnuts and peanuts. Heat sauce slowly over medium heat until aromatic.
Meanwhile, remove chicken from marinade and sauté in a large frying pan until juices run clear. When sauce is aromatic, add sautéed chicken and let simmer together until sauce thickens.

Why this works on a weeknight

Kung Pao Chicken genuinely fits a 30-minute weeknight window, which is why it earned a spot in our Skillet & One-Pan collection. The technique is forgiving, the ingredient list is grocery-store standard, and the active cooking time is short enough that you can answer a text message in the middle without ruining dinner.

Cleanup notes

This is a single-pan recipe, so the cleanup is exactly one pan, one cutting board, and one knife. While the dish rests, fill the pan with hot soapy water — by the time you are done eating, the residue lifts off with a single pass of a sponge. Skip the steel wool on cast iron; a stiff brush and warm water are all you need to keep the seasoning intact.

Make-ahead and leftovers

Leftovers keep covered in the fridge for up to three days. Reheat in a dry pan over medium-low with a splash of water or stock to loosen the sauce. Kung Pao Chicken actually improves overnight as the flavors keep talking to each other, so doubling the recipe and packing tomorrow's lunch is a high-leverage weeknight move.

Filed under 🥘 Skillet & One-Pan Chicken Chinese ⚡ 30-Min Dinner