Kung Pao Chicken Recipe With Cashews & Broccoli Is a Fantastic Asian Dinner by Jan Mostrom

You can tell our family has been making this Kung Pao chicken stir fry recipe for years by the drips and stains on the original paper recipe. (I'm so glad to finally have it online!) This Asian Kung Pao chicken dinner is so delicious and has never disappointed us.

The high-protein chicken stir fry recipe takes a bit of chopping, but it's well worth the effort. You'll need water, soy sauce or tamari (I always used low-sodium soy sauce), cornstarch, cooking sherry, chicken, avocado or other high-heat cooking oil, crushed red pepper flakes, green onions, garlic, fresh ginger, broccoli florets, whole raw cashews or peanuts and freshly cooked rice of your choosing. The crushed red pepper flakes are optional, but they add a lot of flavor with not a lot of heat.

Photo credit (all photos): Jan Mostrom

Don't forget to save the bottoms of your green onions and regrow them! I regrew them in water, but you can also regrow green onion tops in soil.

Serve this easy Kung Pao chicken recipe for dinner with rice, rice noodles or even quinoa. This is a great meal-prep recipe and reheats well for leftovers the next day. Be sure to read about the health benefits of protein.

Cuisine: Asian
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes
Servings: 6

Ingredients

Sauce

• 6 tablespoons water
• 4 tablespoons tamari or soy sauce (low-sodium soy sauce is my choice)
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 2 tablespoons cooking sherry (or white wine)

Stir Fry

• 1 pound boneless/skinless chicken breasts or tenderloins, cut into bite-size pieces
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 4 tablespoons avocado oil (or other high-heat oil), divided
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
• 6 green onions, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 teaspoons fresh ginger, peeled and chopped
• 4 - 6 cups broccoli florets (we like more broccoli than chicken)
• 1/2 cup whole cashews

Here's how to make it: 

1. Combine sauce ingredients and set aside. (To make this recipe gluten-free, use gluten-free soy sauce or tamari.)
   
2. Toss your chicken pieces with 1 tablespoon of cornstarch to coat. (You could use boneless/skinless chicken thighs for this stir-fry recipe.)
   
3. Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a large frying pan or wok on high. Add red pepper flakes and cook for about 1 minute.
   
4. Add coated chicken carefully to your pan.
   
5. Cook chicken until done, just a few minutes and remove them from the pan and set aside.
   
6. Add remaining oil with garlic and ginger stirring frequently for 1 minute. Add broccoli and stir for about 3 mins then add the sauce over the broccoli.
   
7. Cover and cook until broccoli is tender. Add back chicken and nuts and stir to coat. (Instead of cashews, try this recipe with roasted peanuts. Feel free to change up the vegetable in this recipe. Asparagus, green beans or snow peas would be good choices.)
   
8. Serve chicken and broccoli over steaming rice and make sure to top them with some sauce from the pan. Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
   

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