Recipes Food and Cooking

Recipes Food and Cooking

  • Home
  • Recipes Index
  • Cooking Tips
  • Contact
  • About Me
  • Privacy Policy

Kung Pao Chicken

November 17, 2015 by Mary Ellen 11 Comments

Kung Pao Chicken

Kung Pao Chicken

I got out my electric pressure cooker to make this dish because I was using chicken thighs and I wanted the meat to be very tender. I am finding I am loving cooking in this pressure cooker. Not only does it cut making dinner in a flash, but everything I’ve tried so far I’ve loved. It has a browning and saute feature in addition to pressure cooking. It is purely a matter of figuring out which method you want to use.

To make this I browned the chicken thighs using the browning setting. Then I went to low pressure for 15 minutes. After a quick release of the steam I added the vegetables and went back to pressure cooking for 5 more minutes. I had cut some pretty decent sized onions and green peppers and they almost dissolved. Next time I will use the saute setting when I add the veggies in if I’m making a Chinese dish to keep that from happening. It is one of those trial and error kind of things. I wanted the veggies to have some crunch. I then added the peanuts and the sauce. When it was thickened it was done. All together this took about 25 minutes including cooking the rice I served this with.

Kung Pao Chicken

3.3 from 4 reviews
Save Print
Pressure Cooker Kung Pao Chicken
Author: Mary Ellen
Recipe type: Chinese, Dinner, Chicken
Prep time:  15 mins
Cook time:  25 mins
Total time:  40 mins
Serves: Serves 4
 
Tender bites of chicken with onions, peppers and peanuts in a delicious soy sauce.
Ingredients
  • 1 package boneless chicken thighs (6 - 8 in package)
  • 1/4 cup flour
  • salt and pepper
  • 1 tablespoon oil
  • 1 red pepper - cut into big pieces
  • 1 green pepper - cut into big pieces
  • 1 onion - chopped
  • 1 cup peanuts
  • Sauce
  • 6 tablespoons soy sauce
  • 2 tablespoons honey
  • 6 tablespoons rice vinegar
  • 2 minced garlic cloves
  • 1 tablespoon cornstarch
  • 3 tablespoons water
  • red pepper flakes - to taste
Instructions
  1. Cut the chicken into bite size pieces. Salt and pepper the chicken well. Coat with the flour. Add the oil to the pressure cooker and set the cooker to Browning. When the oil is hot add half of the chicken. Remove chicken when browned and do remaining chicken. When all is browned add it back to pot. Add the minced garlic. Close the lid and use the Low Pressure Cooking setting for 15 minutes.
  2. Cut up the remaining vegetables. Set aside.
  3. Mix up the sauce ingredients in a small bowl. Set aside.
  4. When timer goes off release the pressure carefully. I use tongs to move mine.
  5. 1st Method If you want the veggies to be as cooked as mine were then add the onions and peppers to the pot. Put the lid back on and cook on the Low Pressure setting for 5 minutes. Release pressure and lid.
  6. 2nd Method would be after the chicken is done, add the vegetables to the pan on saute. When they are soft enough but still hold their shape finish with the next step. This method would make it more similar to what you would get in a Chinese restaurant.
  7. Set to Saute: Add the peanuts and the sauce to the pot. Stir until thickened. Serve over rice.
3.4.3177

Maybe you’d like to try our recipe for?

Shrimp Egg Fu Yung

Shrimp Egg Fu Yung

Easy Orange Chicken

Easy Orange Chicken
Grandma’s Chop Suey

Grandma's Chop Suey

Pin It!

Kung Pao Chicken

Mary Ellen

Filed Under: Chicken, Chinese, Ethnic, Pressure Cooking

« Slow Cooker Eye of Round Roast
Dinner Rolls »

Comments

  1. Kristine says

    December 2, 2015 at 6:46 am

    Wow this kung pao chicken looks amazing! I also love my pressure cooker, especially when cooking time is short. I haven’t bought boneless chicken thighs before. Do you think I can sort of half-cook it first and debone?

    Reply
  2. F. Thompson says

    April 21, 2016 at 7:38 pm

    I am confused as to how you cook the chicken with no liquid in pot in the first step… to bring the pot to pressure you have to have liquid

    Reply
    • Mary Ellen says

      April 21, 2016 at 7:44 pm

      There is a little liquid in there from browning the chicken. The chicken will release enough moisture. It will work.

      Reply
      • Allison says

        February 18, 2018 at 7:06 pm

        We tried it and it didn’t work. There is no way that chicken will release the 1/2 – 1 cup of liquid needed to come to pressure. This was a fail. Adding the sauce in and seeing if we can get it to come to pressure that way.

        Reply
        • Frankie says

          September 3, 2018 at 7:59 pm

          Mine did not pressure up either. I opened it and added 1/2 cup of water. Worked great!

          Reply
    • Tbus Willmeaux says

      January 26, 2019 at 9:43 am

      No garlic is listed under ingredients, yet you say to add minced garlic under instructions. I also agree on having to add liquid to pressure cook.
      Very poor recipe and instructions.

      Reply
      • Mary Ellen says

        January 29, 2019 at 1:10 pm

        Sorry, I usually use at least 2 cloves of fresh garlic that is crushed.

        Reply
  3. Lauren says

    September 29, 2016 at 2:54 pm

    Do you think this would work in a crockpot on low all day?

    Reply
  4. Jordan says

    March 16, 2018 at 6:09 pm

    My chicken also burnt to the instant pot. There is no way to keep it going without liquid. Very disappointed in this, it seemed like it would be delicious :(

    Reply
  5. Carini Phish says

    May 6, 2018 at 1:11 am

    2 Edits for me and this one worked nice…..
    *Add Almost cup of water then you good…..

    I follow but in step one (after browning chicken) I add almost 1 cup of water then close lid and followed rest of directions….*i did method “1” with veggies but did 1 min not 5

    Went smooth

    Reply
  6. Sarah says

    May 11, 2020 at 9:01 pm

    6 tbs of rice vinegar in the sauce is WAY too much. I literally cannot get the vinegar taste out of the mouth and it messed up my entire meal.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Rate this recipe:  

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.


Connect With Me!

Categories

Our Featured Recipes

3
Deviled Crab Croquettes and Giveaway
Deviled Crab Croquettes
Pull Apart Dinner Rolls
Pull Apart Dinner Rolls
Roasted Cabbage Steaks
Roasted Cabbage Steaks
Chocolate Peanut Butter Ooey Gooey Butter Cake
Chocolate Peanut Butter Ooey Gooey Butter Cake

Archives

Recent Posts

  • Pumpkin Cheesecake Cake
  • Lemonade Slushies
  • It’s a Party with Frozen Watermelon Daiquiri’s!
  • Cheesy Italian Sweet Pepper Bites
  • Fresh From Florida Tomatoes
  • Campfire Cinnamon and Raisin French Toast
  • 3 Ingredient Strawberry Microwave Jam
  • Strawberry Jam Chocolate Pudding Cake
  • Ooey Gooey Butter Cakes
  • Chocolate Fudge Peppermint Ooey Gooey Butter Cake
  • Ham with Easy Sour Orange Glaze
  • Favorite Christmas Breakfast or Brunch Recipes
  • My Favorite Christmas Candy Recipes
  • Deviled Crab Croquettes
  • Saffron Yellow Rice with Autumn Vegetables

Places of Interest

  • Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • Razzle Dazzle Recipes
  • RSS
  • That's My Home


Search That’s My Home and Razzle Dazzle Recipes

Google
Custom Search

Stampin’ Up!

Stampin' UP!

SoFab Badge


© Copyright 2007 Recipes, Food & Cooking · All Rights Reserved.