This recipe for kung pao shrimp is chock full of veggies and peanuts and is cooked in a savory yet spicy sauce. Make your own take out in just 20 minutes!
My version of this classic Chinese dish is even better than what you’d get at your local restaurant. It’s one of my favorite stir fries along with tender moo goo gai pan and spicy szechuan beef!
I’ve back with yet another make your own Chinese takeout recipe. I hope you all like Chinese food as much as we do, I’ve been on a stir frying roll lately! For this dish I added lots of veggies for color and crunch. The sauce is spicy enough to add a little kick, but not so hot that you’ll be reaching for a glass of water. The shrimp cooks up vibrant and flavorful in the kung pao sauce. You have to try this recipe!
If you are making a Chinese feast, don’t forget amazing appetizers like hot and sour soup or some crunchy cream cheese wontons. Pan fried noodles is also a great side dish to offer.
Table of Contents
Kung Pao Shrimp Ingredients
When you cook kung pao shrimp you will need vegetable oil, deveined shrimp, red bell pepper, green bell pepper, onion, garlic, red chilies, peanuts, salt and pepper. For the kung pao sauce you will also need soy sauce, hoisin sauce, sesame oil, sugar and cornstarch.
How Do You Make Kung Pao Shrimp?
Start by heating vegetable oil in a large pan, skillet or wok over high heat. Cook onion in the pan for 2-3 minutes. Add the bell pepper and cook everything for 3-4 minutes until tender. Season the veggies with salt and pepper place the garlic in the pan. Next add the shrimp and cook them until they are pink. Add the chilies and the peanuts to the pan. While everything is cooking in the pan, whisk together the sauce ingredients in a bowl. Pour the sauce on the shrimp and veggies and bring the sauce to a boil until it is just thickened. The kung pao shrimp is ready to enjoy!
Tips For The Perfect Kung Pao Shrimp
- I like to use extra large shrimp for this recipe, just because the shrimp are really the star of the show here. Sometimes I cook up a double batch of shrimp, and save the rest to use in teriyaki shrimp stir fry for dinner on a different day.
- Hoisin sauce can be found in the international aisle of almost all grocery stores.
- You can use most small dried chilies for this dish. You may find small dried chilies in the international aisle of your grocery store. You can also use dried chile de arbol peppers which may be found with Mexican items in your local store.
- I use 4-6 chilies for a moderate spice level. Feel free to increase the chili peppers if you like more of a kick in your food!
- If you can’t find dried chilies or don’t want to buy them, try using red pepper flakes instead (like the kind you’d sprinkle on pizza).
Quick Tip
Break the chilies open and shake out the seeds to reduce the spiciness of the dish while keeping the flavor.
Recipe FAQs
Kung pao shrimp made of tender shrimp cooked with onion, bell pepper, red chilies and peanuts in a slightly sweet and savory sauce with a bit of a spicy kick made with soy sauce, hoisin sauce and sesame oil.
Kung pao sauce is made of soy sauce, hoisin sauce, sesame oil, sugar, cornstarch and water.
Kung pao tastes like a slightly sweet but mostly savory dish that balances cooked vegetables and peanuts with with heat from dried red chiles.
While the chilies add flavor and heat to kung pao, you will not want to eat the whole chilies.
Kung pao shrimp stay good in an airtight container in a refrigerator for three days.
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Kung Pao Shrimp Variations
While this kung pao shrimp is delicious, there are several ways you can customize this recipe to your own taste.
- Spicy: You can increase the amount of chili peppers to increase the heat. Similarly, you can reduce the chili peppers for less heat. While this is not traditional, you can also add heat with a teaspoon of Sichuan peppercorns.
- Flavorings: For a tangy dish, you can grate a teaspoon of ginger and add it to the dish with the garlic. You can also add a tablespoon of rice wine vinegar.
- Toppings: You can top the kung pao with slices of green onion or sesame seeds when you are ready to serve the dish.
- Nuts: While peanuts are customary, you can also substitute cashews or blanched almonds for a different flavor.
Can I just tell you how delicious this Kung Pao shrimp is? Since there’s plenty of veggies already in the mix, simply steam up some rice and dinner is served!
More Great Shrimp Recipes
Honey Garlic Shrimp Stir Fry
20 mins
Buffalo Shrimp
25 mins
Sesame Shrimp
20 mins
Sweet and Sour Shrimp
35 mins
Shrimp Ceviche
35 mins
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Kung Pao Shrimp
Ingredients
- For the stir fry:
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 pound large shrimp peeled and deveined
- 1 red bell pepper cut into 1 inch pieces
- 1 green bell pepper cut into 1 inch pieces
- 1/2 cup yellow onion cut into 1/2 inch pieces
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 4-6 dried red chilies seeded and cut in half (you can use more or less chilies to adjust the heat level to your preference)
- 1/2 cup roasted unsalted peanuts
- salt and pepper to taste
- For the sauce:
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon hoisin sauce
- 2 teaspoons sesame oil
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- 2 tablespoons water
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a large pan over high heat. Add the onion and cook for 2-3 minutes or until just softened. Add the red and green bell pepper and cook for 3-4 minutes or until tender. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds.
- Add the shrimp to the pan and cook for 3-4 minutes, or until shrimp are pink and opaque. Add the chilies and peanuts to the pan.
- While the shrimp and vegetables are cooking, make the sauce. Whisk together all of the sauce ingredients in a small bowl.
- Add the sauce to the shrimp mixture and bring to a boil; cook for 30 seconds to 1 minute, or until sauce is just thickened. Serve immediately.
Notes
- I like to use extra large shrimp for this recipe, just because the shrimp are really the star of the show here.
- You can use most small dried chilies for this dish. You may find small dried chilies in the international aisle of your grocery store. You can also use dried chile de arbol peppers which may be found with Mexican items in your local store.
- I use 4-6 chilies for a moderate spice level. Feel free to increase the chili peppers if you like more of a kick in your food!
- Break the chilies open and shake out the seeds to reduce the spiciness of the dish while keeping the flavor.
This is my absolute favorite stir fry dish! Juicy, savory and spicy every time! My whole family loves this dish!
OMG the best king Pao recipe ever! I used your recipe with tofu and it was amazing.
I recently tried your recipe for Kung Pao Shrimp and I just had to reach out and let you know how much I enjoyed it! The combination of flavors in this dish was absolutely amazing – the tangy sauce paired perfectly with the peppers and the juicy shrimp.
Delicious! Love the flavors and especially that kick of heat from the peppers.
I love Kung Pao chicken, so this should be great too. I like mine extra spicy.
This is delicious. I’ve tried many stir fry shrimp recipes but never found one I really like. I love this one. I didn’t have dried peppers so added sriracha to the sauce. The peanuts add a nice crunch. A definite keeper, I will be making it regularly.
This was absolutely amazing and done in no time. Thank you
This sauce was so amazing and flavorful! I used blister peanuts and OMG was it wonderful!
Had a taste for a spicy dish and this hit the spot
Simple and better than an Asian restaurant. EXCELLENT RECIPE!
We love spicy foods and I can’t wait to make it!
I have made this dish twice. Once with shrimp and once with chicken. My husband and I loved it. I doubled the sauce the second time I made it. Thank you so much for this delicious and easy recipe!!!!!
Doubling the sauce is a great suggestion . We like our Chinese take-out saucy!! Trying this one this week.
Made it tonight,,missing the red peppers and chilies,but I substituted other stuff…excellent. thank you
Looks wonderful and loaded with flavor. I love how easy and quickly it comes together!
Made it and it was amazing! Going in the meal rotation list!
Stunning Sara, sharing and drooling!
This looks amazing and my family loves it’s spicey!
What a great dish to make at home! I love the chilies. “Make your own take-out” is such a fun idea.
Love kung pao take-out, but love this better!! Beautiful and love that it’s fast, too 🙂
This is our kind of meal Sara! I love the colors and the sauce sounds just fiery enough to make my husband happy. Thanks! Pinning!
Look at your ingredients, 1 inch red pepper cut into one piece? It said lots of vegetables, I see red/green pepper and onion. That’s it. Do you use a whole red and green pepper?
I’m sorry, I switched recipe software last year and it looks like that one didn’t import properly! It’s fixed now.