Easy Kung Pao Chicken Recipe

There’s no need to order takeout when you can make easy kung pao chicken this delicious at home! This make ahead meal is full of amazing flavours. You’ll be begging for seconds! Since this recipe is so simple to put together, I suggest making several at one time which takes only a minute or two longer than making just one. You’ll then be able to have this whenever you want to in less time than it would take to have food delivered. Or you can heat it in the slow cooker and have it ready when you get home from work. The Kung Pao sauce can be a bit hard to find. Neither of my usual grocery stores carry it. If you can’t find it near you, you can always order it online from Amazon. I buy mine at WalMart. Since WalMart isn’t usually where I get my groceries, it means an extra stop, but this recipe is so worth it!

I make several of these at once, so when I do go, I buy 4 or 6 bottles, so that makes the extra stop more worthwhile.

What’s the difference between kung pao chicken and General Tso’s chicken?

While there are a few similarities between kung pao chicken and General Tso’s chicken, they are far from the same dish. They both are usually served over rice and are an Asian inspired chicken dish, but the parallels pretty much  end there.

General Tso’s chicken is breaded, deep-fried chicken dish with hints of both sweet and spicy. Kung pao chicken is not breaded or deep fried and the flavours are sweet and sour, giving it a more tangy taste. Kung pao chicken also usually has other ingredients such as peppers, water chestnuts, and peanuts, whereas, General Tso’s is generally just the chicken.

Easy Kung Pao Chicken Recipe:

Kung Pao Chicken Ingredients:

• 1 lb. chicken breast, boneless, skinless, cubed
• 18.75 oz. (554 mL) bottle Kung Pao sauce
• 1 red pepper, diced
• 1 green pepper, diced
• 8 oz. can water chestnuts, drained
• 1 bunch green onions, sliced

For serving:

• peanuts (optional)

Assembly instructions:

1. Cube the chicken breast.
2. Chop the peppers and slice the green onions.
3. Place the chopped chicken, peppers, green onions, and water chestnuts in a large resealable freezer bag. Pour the bottle of kung pao sauce over everything.
4. Remove excess air, seal, and freeze.

Slow cooker instructions:

1. Thaw.
2. Place everything from the bag into the Crock Pot.
3. Cook on low for 3-5 hours.
4. Serve over rice.
5. If desired, sprinkle some peanuts on top.

Skillet cooking instructions: 

1. Thaw.
2. Dump everything from the freezer bag into a skillet.
3. Cook over medium-high heat until chicken is thoroughly cooked through and the sauce has thickened slightly.
4. Serve over rice.
5. Sprinkle some peanuts on top if you like.

Note: If you want to make assembling this much faster, you can put the chicken breasts into the freezer bag whole and then cube them on the day of cooking either before or after cooking. I find that way is messier so I don’t like it, but if you’re wanting to assemble a lot of freezer meals at once and just going for speed, that is an option.

Check out these other asian inspired freezer meals:

Asian Rice Bowl

Easy Asian Meatballs

Mahjong Chicken

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Easy Kung Pao Chicken Freezer Meal

Ingredients

• 1 lb. chicken breast boneless, skinless, cubed
• 18.75 oz. 554 mL bottle Kung Pao sauce
• 1 red pepper diced
• 1 green pepper diced
• 8 oz. can water chestnuts drained
• 1 bunch green onions sliced

For serving:

• peanuts optional

Instructions

Assembly instructions:

1. Cube the chicken breast.
2. Chop the peppers and slice the green onions.
3. Place the chopped chicken, peppers, green onions, and water chestnuts in a large resealable freezer bag. Pour the bottle of kung pao sauce over everything.
4. Remove excess air, seal, and freeze.

Slow cooker instructions:

1. Thaw.
2. Place everything from the bag into the Crock Pot.
3. Cook on low for 3-5 hours.
4. Serve over rice.
5. If desired, sprinkle some peanuts on top.

Skillet cooking instructions:

1. Thaw.
2. Dump everything from the freezer bag into a skillet.
3. Cook over medium-high heat until chicken is thoroughly cooked through and the sauce has thickened slightly.
4. Serve over rice.
5. Sprinkle some peanuts on top if you like.

Recipe Notes

If you want to make assembling this much faster, you can put the chicken breasts into the freezer bag whole and then cube them on the day of cooking either before or after cooking.