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Authentic Kung Pao Shrimp
I love the delicious taste of Kung Pao sauce and fresh, bouncy and succulent shrimp. Today, I am going to teach you how to make Kung Pao Shrimp and the authentic recipe of this delicious dish.
What Does Kung Pow Mean?
Kung Pao (sometimes spelled as Kung Pow) are Chinese recipes that are stir-fried and served with a spicy sauce. The most popular Kung Pao dishes are made with either chicken or shrimp.
While I love Kung Pao Chicken, I prefer shrimp because shrimp is briny and tasty.
The flavor combination of kung pao sauce and shrimp work like a magic, so much as that some Chinese restaurants call this dish Kungfu Shrimp.
Is Kung Pao Healthy?
This dish offers a great amount of vitamins, minerals, and essential amino acids. This recipe provides a lot of protein while minimizing the fat you might find in a restaurant, and makes a perfect high protein and low carb meal.
Shrimp is America’s favorite seafood item, so the next time you have some shrimp in your freezer, just try this absolutely delightful recipe, which takes less than 30 minutes to make. Enjoy!
How Many Calories per Serving?
This recipe is only 457 calories per serving.
What Dishes to Serve with This Recipe?
For a wholesome meal and easy weeknight dinner, I recommend the following recipes.
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Kung Pao Shrimp
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons oil
- 1 inch ginger, peeled and thinly sliced
- 1/4 onion (quartered)
- 1/2 green bell pepper (cut into pieces)
- 10 mini dried red chilies ((5 regular-sized dried chilies))
- 10-12 oz. big shrimp, shelled, peeled and deveined
- 1/4 cup roasted peanuts
- 3 stalks scallions (use the white parts only)
Kung Pao Sauce:
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons sweet soy sauce ((ABC Kecap Manis))
- 1/2 teaspoon corn starch
- 4 tablespoons water
- 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
- 3 dashes white pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon Chinese black vinegar (rice vinegar or apple cider vinegar)
- 1/2 teaspoon sugar
Instructions
- Mix the Kung Pao sauce ingredients and set aside.
- Heat up a wok and add the cooking oil until the oil is very hot. Add the ginger and do a few quick stirs. Add the onion, green pepper, and dried red chilies. Stir-fry until you smell the spicy aromas from the dried red chilies. Add in the shrimp and roasted peanuts and keep stirring.
- When the shrimp are almost cooked, add the Kung Pao sauce into the wok, keep stirring until the sauce thickens. Add the chopped scallions, do a few quick stirs, dish out and serve hot.
Video
Nutrition
Notice: Nutrition is auto-calculated, using Spoonacular, for your convenience. Where relevant, we recommend using your own nutrition calculations.
The recipe was amazing, however I can’t believe its not been mentioned… the chillies… 10 chillies?? I used 5 and it was the hottest dish I’d ever made. Have I missed something as I would love to perfect this dish.
Hi there, it depends on the spiciness of the dried chilies. The ones we get here are not that spicy at all. You can cut down to your heat tolerance level.
This was really good. My son is allergic to nuts, so I just threw some sunflower seeds in the mix. Thank you!
Thanks Marla for trying my Kung Pao Shrimp recipe.
Finally!I love to cook and have tried numerous Kung Pao recipes. I’ve filed this under “Great Recipes”. Now if I can only find a good moo shu pork recipe. Thanks Rasa!
This kung pao shrimp taste awesome :-) thanks for the recipe…
This looks great. Going to the store now.
I tried this! Absolutely delicious! Thank you for the recipe!
I just made this today & had it with congee. Delicious!
I made this last night and it was absolutely awesome!!!! So flavorful and so easy! My only suggestion would be that you double the recipe so you have leftovers. Great recipe!!
I don’t love shrimp but with this recipe I think that could totally change! I always love your photos btw!
Aww thanks so much Jaclyn. This Kung Pao Shrimp recipe is awesome you should totally try it out.
Thanks for the recipe, this is my go-to recipe when we make kung pao shrimp. I add more veggies and double the sauce, and it makes enough for dinner and leftovers the next day.