Slow Cooker Kung Pao Chicken
Slow Cooker Kung Pao Chicken is loaded with all the tender chicken, sweet and spicy sauce, and crunchy peanuts that we all love in our favorite takeout dish. The best part is that it’s super fresh and so authentic!
Takeout is a joy, isn’t it? You can always count on all kinds of sweet and spicy flavors that just make your tastebuds so happy. We love takeout, but what we love even more is making our own delicious takeout favorites at home. That’s just what we did with this kung pao chicken.
Table of contents
❤️ Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- It only uses a few simple, basic ingredients that you can find in any grocery store.
- It has all the authentic sweet and spicy flavors we love about kung pao chicken.
- It’s a slow cooker recipe, so it’s easy and pie, er kung pao.
🛒Ingredients
You only need a handful of ingredients to make this recipe, and all of them can be found at your local grocery store. Be sure to check the recipe card for exact amounts!
- Chicken, cut into bite-sized pieces
- Cornstarch
- Oil
- Red chilies, seeded and sliced
- Red bell pepper, cubed
- Zucchini, cubed
- Lite soy sauce
- Apple cider vinegar
- Brown sugar
- Ketchup
- Garlic
- Ground ginger
- Peanuts
- Green onions and more peanuts for garnish
🔪 How to Make Slow Cooker Kung Pao Chicken
Making this recipe is super simple. It’s a slow cooker recipe, so you know it’s simple. You’ll be in and out of the kitchen in no time. Then, you just have to wait for the slow cooker to do its thing.
Step 1: Brown the Chicken
Toss the chicken with cornstarch, then quickly brown it until golden in oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.
Step 2: Mix the Sauce Ingredients
Combine the water, soy sauce, vinegar, brown sugar, ketchup, garlic, ginger, and peanuts in a mixing bowl.
Step 3: Combine and Cook
Add the chicken, red bell pepper, zucchini, red chilies, and sauce to the slow cooker. Then, cover and cook on low for 4 hours. Enjoy!
📝Variations
Do you want to change up this recipe and make it your own? Here are some ways that you can do that!
- Vegetables – Add your favorite vegetables to this dish. Broccoli, carrots, or baby corn would all work well.
- Chicken – You can make this dish with pork or beef.
- Brown Sugar – White sugar will work if you don’t have brown sugar.
If you think this looks good, check out our slow cooker cashew chicken recipe.
🥄 Equipment
- Measuring cups and spoons
- Mixing bowl
- Skillet
- Slow cooker
🥫 Storage
Refrigerate this dish in an air-tight container for up to 3 days. For longer storage, you can freeze it for up to 3 months in an air-tight, freezer-safe container.
💭 Tips
- When browning the chicken, keep the heat high and the cook time low. You’re just getting color on the chicken, not cooking it through.
- Keep an eye on your kung pao chicken as it cooks. The sugars can burn depending on how hot your slow cooker runs.
- It’s important to mix the sauce ingredients before adding them to the slow cooker so everything is well combined.
⁉️ FAQ
Do you have questions about this recipe? Here are the answers to the most commonly asked questions.
Traditional kung poa chicken is a spicy, stir-fried Chinese dish made with chicken, peanuts, vegetables, and chili peppers.
Both dishes are both chicken-based and contain chilies. However, General Tso’s chicken uses deep-fried chicken with a syrupy sweet and sour sauce, while kung pao chicken isn’t fried and uses a more balanced sauce.
Fried rice, Chinese noodles, egg rolls, and enoki mushrooms with garlic are all excellent options.
🍽 More Recipes
Do you enjoy chicken recipes? Then try these delicious recipes:
📌 PIN IT!!
🧾Recipe Card
Want to make this recipe? Print the recipe card below, or pin this recipe, so you can find it later.
Slow Cooker Kung Pao Chicken
Equipment
- slow cooker
- Skillet
- large bowl
Ingredients
- 2 pounds chicken breasts cut into bite size pieces
- ¼ cup cornstarch
- 2 tablespoons oil
- 8 dried red chilies seeded and sliced
- 1 red bell pepper cubed
- 1 zucchini cubed
- ⅓ cup water
- ⅓ cup lite soy sauce
- ⅓ cup apple cider vinegar
- ⅓ cup brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons ketchup
- 4 cloves garlic
- ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
- ⅓ cup peanuts
- Green onions and more peanuts for garnish
Instructions
- In a large skillet over medium high heat heat the 2 tablespoons of oil.
- Toss the cubed chicken with the cornstarch.
- Quickly brown the chicken in the pan until it has color. You are not looking to cook the chicken through, just get some color on it.
- Add the chicken to the slow cooker.
- Add in your red bell pepper, zucchini, and red chilis to the slow cooker.
- In a mixing bowl combine the water, soy sauce, vinegar, brown sugar, ketchup, garlic, ginger and peanuts.
- Stir and pour over the chicken.
- Cover and cook on low for 4 hours.
- Serve!
