Kung Pao Chicken Tacos Recipe (2024)

This trashed my kitchen, and took longer than I thought, but it was totally worth it. I slightly increased veggies (cut them as thin as you can), which I think was the right decision. Only thing I'd do different next time is make a tad more of the sauce.

I made this for 2 of us with 1 larger chicken thigh and it made 5 tacos. i made the full recipe of all the other ingredients and I don't think it would work very well with 6 chicken thighs. You would really need to increase the other ingredients. Anyway, REALLY good. It sounded good but surpassed my expectations!! Great flavors!

We love these tacos! They have great flavor!

Totally agree with all the other 5 star ratings on this one...I use chicken thighs all the way because I really believe they get the most crispy! For us, doubling the sauce was a must and yes, you should microwave it in 30 second intervals, stirring after each time, or your sauce will scorch and/or get too thick. Charring up the corn tortillas a bit makes them pair with the chicken mixture so well, but we have enjoyed it with the small size flour tortillas too. I also use cashews instead of peanuts and they really go well. Pair these tacos with some roasted, shelled edamame tossed with grated parmesan cheese on the side and this is a hit. Definitely impress some dinner guests with this one!

One of my all time favorite CL recipes. I also sub chicken breasts for the thighs.

surprisingly good combination! made sauce in the pan after the chicken….added the garlic, celery and red pepper at that time. as others mentioned, this would be good over brown rice. served with cilantro lime rice with peanuts and green onions on the side.

Definitely a family favorite, though pretty time consuming. The flavor combination is great, I've used different veggies on top, matchstick cut radishes are delicious.

I love this recipe. I've made it more than once now and every time it is a huge hit with everyone. I double the sauce and serve it on the side like salsa and all the veggies like taco toppings. I add shredded cabbage as an additional veggie too.

Absolutely delicious. The only thing I changed was to lightly sauté all the vegetables (2-3 minutes) - left them with a slight crunch.

My family declared the chicken, "Just like something you'd get at a Chinese take-out." It was a bit weird to have them in corn tortillas, but sometimes you just gotta change things up a bit. We had fruit salad on the side. Might do flour tortillas next time.

After reading the reviews, I was really excited to try this recipe. However, I found the sauce to be a bit one dimensional. It just seemed salty and nothing else, so I decided to add a small amount of Chinese five spice and that really helped. I will definitely try it again as I think I could use it as a base recipe for orange chicken.

I used 2 boneless chicken breast, cut up. I cooked the pepper and celery in a pan for about 3 min on med. I also upped the honey a bit. We loved it, however, next time, I would do over rice instead of taco shell.

I subbed chicken tenders rather than thighs, so I am so this yielded a much different result than originally intended. See my full review with photos at http://www.dishoverdinner.com/2013/10/kung-pao-tacos.html

This was a very tasty, very easy recipe. I used 3 chicken breasts instead of thighs and I thought the amount of sauce wouldn't be nearly enough but it actually was perfect. The hardest part of the recipe was coating the chicken in cornstarch without getting my fingers or tongs all gloppy! I did add a little extra sambal to the sauce because it needed more spice for my family. I also thought the amount of honey was overpowering and would add less honey or more vinegar next time. I agree with the other reviewer who suggests that if you're going to serve this over rice you may want to double the sauce.

Excellent! Flavor is fantastic. Husband says these are his favorite tacos ever. Great as leftovers, too.

My family loves this recipe. Blend of the spicy (as you like it), nutty sauce with crisp onions and peppers is fabulous. Have made several times and leftovers don't last a day.

What a pleasant switch on tacos and asian style stir fries! Used thighs and just uppped the heat quotient for our tastes. Don't have a microwave, so removed chicken from pan when it was cooked, made the sauce in the pan and threw chicken, celery etc all back in for just a minute. Served with Siracha for a little more heat, but as other reviewer said, NO WAY can you eat just 2 of these babies, esp in those little tortillas. Will make again and will use this as a jumping off point for more interesting combinations!

Everyone in the family liked this recipe. Like many others, I used a little over 1.5 lbs of chicken breast tenders and doubled the sauce recipe. I had to add slightly more oil to cook the chicken since 1 tbsp. per batch was a little dry. One minute in the microwave to thicken the sauce was enough. It tasted as good as Chinese food from a restaurant and the taco angle added an interesting twist.

This has become our "go to" dinner! We love it and so do our children. This a great tasty dish! Like the others, we also use boneless breasts, garnish with cilantro and double the sauce as well, guess I should have read some reviews before now!! Try this one and it will be a staple!

the chicken flavor was excellent, however I felt like the corn tortilla killed it a bit. Will definitely make again, but next time tortilla-less!

I also used chicken breasts. We like things a bit saucier, so I doubled the sauce recipe. When serving, we added cilantro and sliced avocado. Perfect!

This was a wonderful recipe and I will certainly make again. Instead of chicken thighs, I used chicken breasts. Despite other postings, the sauce did not burn. Just be sure to stir twice as the recipe indicates. I loved the flavor. Had some heat, but not too much. Next time I think I will just serve it over brown rice.

Delicious! Used chicken breasts instead of thighs. Did not have celery on hand, so I added 1/2 bag frozen sliced leeks from Trader's Joe's to sauted chicken, and cooked a few minutes more until leeks tender. Then added the sauce, which I agree with others that 90 seconds is to long in microwave. 60 seconds is plenty. Peppers and green onions were a perfect addition! So good!

This was an easy and flavorful dinner. I followed directions exactly, but used chicken breast instead of thighs. I have to agree with previous reviewers: 90 sec in the microwave for the sauce is too long - the sauce winds up too thick. Next time I reduce the corn starch and start with one min in the micro. I loved that it tasted like authentic Kung Pao Chicken. This one is a keeper!

I wish CL would put an approximate weight when listing chicken thighs in recipes, since I usually sub chicken breasts as I did with this delicious recipe. I ended up using about a pound and 1/2 of cubed chicken breasts, and I didn't even change the amount of ingredients in the sauce and they still came out amazing! I sauteed the celery and red peppers in a separate skillet. And I just mixed everything together before stuffing the tacos. It smelled and tasted just like kung pao you get from a good restaurant but much lighter and healthier. The combo of the chicken mixture, green onions, and the corn tortilla was superb. I used thin yellow tortillas from Mission and they seemed so small. Good luck only eating two!

Good, solid recipe. I used chicken breasts as it is what I had on hand.

SO delicious and easy! We loved this dish!

This is a great quick dinner. We, too, just finished dinner, and I had to write to tell others that this recipe is well worth preparing. The flavors are great, the chicken was crispy yet still juicy. The red pepper strips and onion were great. We also added avocado. A couple of suggestions: Not all chicken thighs are created equal. I used about 1.75 lb of chicken (with just 5 thighs); even that was too much chicken for the amount of sauce. Next time I'll double the amount of sauce. A little less time in the microwave for the sauce, or next time I'll just thicken it on the stove top where I can control it more easily.

It would have been a 5... But as the other reviewers said, cooking the sauce 1.5 minutes in the microwave turned in into glop. I did save it with water, vinegar, and soy, and the rest was delicious. Kids even said it was wonderful! No leftovers here.

Made it with chicken breast instead of thighs...this is a delicious recipe!

Will definitely be making again. Thighs were perfect and moist. Only had to nuke the sauce in my microwave for 1 minute. Flavorful and spicy sauce.

Delicious! I literally just finished eating and decided I have to write a review. I used chicken breasts instead of thighs. The chicken had a nice crunch to the outside and was very tender and moist inside. I used more than 2 tbsp canola oil, but I always do when pan frying. The sauce thickened up a lot, which was fine for the tacos, but if you wanted to serve it over rice I would not cook it as long. I thought microwaving was much easier than typical stove-top cooking for the sauce so I will be doing that more often in the future. I could have done with a little less soy flavor in the sauce, but it was still really good. I used corn/whole wheat blend tortillas which were delicious (I'm not a huge fan of corn tortillas).

This recipe was fantastic and very easy. Like other reviewers, I used chicken breast instead. I had to make the sauce twice because the first time I nuked if for 1.5 minutes and it was WAY to thick and gloppy - and it almost burned. I tried a second time and nuked it two times in 15-20 second increments. Then I added a little water to thin out the sauce a bit.This would be great over brown rice. It takes exactly like Kung Pao take-out!

These were fantastic! Used some sriracha for added kick.

Loved the flavor, spiciness and crunch. I am not a dark meat chicken "fan" and this is the only reason I gave this a 4. I am getting a braver though--and trying to eat more dark meat.

Absolutely wonderful. No leftovers. Substituted organic chicken breasts for thighs

This is a great recipe! Great flavors. I would also recommend cooking the sauce on the stove top. I only put it in the microwave for 45 seconds and it started to smell like it was getting ready to burn. I used the sweet ginger chili cooking sauce from The Ginger People instead of the traditional chili paste. It gave it a wonderful balance of sweet and spicy. I will definitely be adding this one into regular rotation!

Very good! After the chicken cooked, I sauteed the red pepper, celery, garlic, and the white parts of the green onions for a few minutes (my husband doesn't like raw red peppers), then added the sauce and let it simmer a minute instead of microwaving it. Topped the tacos with some sriracha - delicious.

These were wonderful. Used the cabbage slaw (also in the Oct 2012 issue) as a topper for the tacos which made them even better. Definitely a keeper!