Kung Pao Chicken with Snow Peas

Kung Pao Chicken is my favorite meal to order at a Chinese restaurant. Spicy with a tiny bit of sweetness, crunch from water chestnuts and peanuts, and the slightly crispy chicken, YUM!

Kung Pao Chicken with Snow Peas

Kung Pao Chicken with Snow Peas

      serves 4

Marinade:

2 lb chicken, cut into bite size pieces

1 T corn starch + 1 T water

1 T sesame oil

1 T low sodium soy sauce

Sauce and veggies:

1 T corn starch + 1 T water

1 T sesame oil

1/4 C low sodium soy sauce

1 T rice wine vinegar

1 T chili paste

2 tsp chili garlic sauce, such as Sriracha

2 tsp Splenda brown sugar {regular brown sugar will also work}

8 oz can water chestnuts, drained and roughly chopped

4 oz roasted peanuts, roughly chopped*

4 cloves garlic, chopped

4 green onions, chopped

1/4 C hot water

8 oz snow peas

In a large bowl, mix the dissolve the cornstarch in the water, then add the sesame oil and soy sauce. Add the chicken and coat each piece. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

For the sauce, in a medium bowl dissolve the cornstarch in the water, then add the sesame oil, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, chili paste, chili sauce and brown sugar. Add the water chestnuts, peanuts, garlic and green onions. Stir to combine. 

In a large skillet, heat the sauce on the lowest setting so that it starts to slowly heat through and thicken up. 

After a few minutes, turn heat up to medium and add the water and snow peas. 

Meanwhile, remove chicken from marinade and cook in a medium skillet over medium heat. 

When the chicken is fully cooked, add chicken to sauce and veggie skillet and stir to coat chicken in sauce. Serve hot over brown rice, noodles or alone.

This dish was excellent! It wasn't too hot but it had a nice kick. Hunter Hann and I ate it in a big 'ol bowl with out any rice or noodles. Brown rice would be awesome with this dish, just make sure to make a little extra sauce because it is yuuuummmmy! 

*The peanuts and water chestnuts in this dish are a must! I love the crunch that they add so I don't like to chop the peanuts too small and I even leave some of then whole. This is just ONE way to make Kung Pao, but we really liked the snow peas in here. They cook up so quickly and just add lovely color. Plus the extra vitamins and fiber don't hurt. 

This would be such a fun meal to entertain with and something that would really impress your guests! Besides the 30+ minutes of marinade time, this dish comes together really quickly! And if you serve it with rice or noodles, this will feed more than 4 people. I guess hubby and I just eat A LOT! 

Stay tuned to see what I did with the {little} leftovers that we had! It's awesome! Oh, and I finally get to cross this off my bucket list. Sheesh. That took forever!

What is your favorite Chinese take out meal?