This simple and delicious Cashew Chicken recipe is the closest thing you’ll get to a real Asian takeout…but from your own kitchen! It is a quick and easy 20-minute meal that tastes even better than the Cashew Chicken from your favorite Chinese restaurant.
Featuring juicy strips of chicken, crunchy cashews and vegetables tossed in a savory sweet sticky sauce, combined to bring about a glorious burst of flavors and textures. Trust me when I say you’ll NEVER look at Asian takeout meals the same way again!
Wet your palette with these easy and delicious Chinese inspired recipes on the blog: Beef Chow Mein, Easy Chicken Fried Rice, Beef and Broccoli Stir Fry and General Tso Shrimp…they make the best weeknight dinners!
Homemade Cashew Chicken Stir Fry
While you will find a lot of the signature Chinese chicken dishes, such as Kung Pao Chicken, Orange Chicken, Sesame Chicken, Chicken And Broccoli in Chinese takeouts all over the country, I find Cashew Chicken to be a little bit less common. But in my book, it is one of the most underrated chicken takeout dishes.
There’s simplicity and elegance in the combination of juicy chicken with crunchy cashews. The contrasting texture is probably my favorite part of it all.
I have been testing Cashew Chicken on repeat over the last few weeks to get that perfect savory sweet sauce which is the key to an excellent homemade cashew chicken.
The sauce is savory with a slight hint of sweet and lots of umami flavors. Chicken is tossed with cashew and bell peppers, everything coated in that garlicky sauce.
Not only is it yummy, it is healthy, budget-friendly and quick!
While it is healthier than takeout or Chinese buffets, it doesn’t lose that delicious taste we all know and love.
If you have 20 minutes, you can make this cashew chicken stir fry. I mean, let’s be real here. You can’t even order and pick up takeout in that amount of time! 😉
Kitchen Tools
We stir fry Cashew Chicken in a wok, but if you don’t have one, use the largest skillet you can find, preferably one that retains heat well.
I use the highest heat setting on the stove to get that wok heated up as much as possible.
Ingredients
Here are the main ingredients for the stir fry:
- cashews – use unsalted roasted cashews. Salted cashews can be used but I find that they can make the dish overly salty.
- chicken breast or chicken tenderloins – cut in bite-sized strips or cubes, be sure to cut against the grain and at an angle for the best texture! Boneless thigh meat can be used as well. Make sure they are completely defrost and pat dry before cooking.
- garlic – important aromatic for our cashew chicken! Use fresh garlic, not garlic powder
- bell peppers – cut into slices. Any color works – red bell peppers, green bell peppers etc, or a combination! Try to get it to be about the same size as the chicken
- green onions – used as garnish
- cooking oil – important ingredient for stir frying. Any neutral oil such as vegetable oil, canola oil and grapeseed oil work great!
For the cooking sauce:
- soy sauce – regular soy sauce to gives it a salty, savory flavor.
- oyster sauce – this is a key ingredient that will bring a distinct umami flavor. Don’t be intimidated by the name, it is actually in most Chinese foods!
- sesame oil – a nutty oil that gives the sauce a distinct flavor.
- dark soy sauce – this is an optional ingredients because taking it away will not change the taste too much. This gives the cashew chicken slightly more depth in flavor and color.
- rice wine – I typically use Chinese Shao Xing rice wine but other cooking wine can be used as well
- granulated sugar – brings about a touch of sweetness to balance out the savory sauce
- corn starch – used to thicken the sauce
- water
How to Make Cashew Chicken
First, let’s bring together the sauce mixture by combining soy sauce, oyster sauce, sesame oil, dark soy sauce, rice wine, sugar, corn starch and water in a bowl.
Once the sauce is ready, prepare the rest of the ingredients:
- cut up chicken
- slice bell peppers
- mince garlic
Whenever you cook in a wok or skillet on high heat, make sure you have ALL the ingredients cut up, prepared, and right next to you, so that you are not scrambling last minute.
Always line everything up next to the stove when stir frying This is important because you want to be able to grab what you need quickly, and because it all happens so fast, you’ll need access to all your ingredients.
Once all your ingredients are set, fire up your wok (or skillet)! Add cooking oil, then add the chicken pieces to the wok.
After a minute or two, add bell peppers, then the sauce (once chicken is almost done).
Continue to stir fry and move everything around with a spatula.
The sauce should start to thicken and caramelized.
Once chicken is cooked, switch off heat and add the cashew nuts.
Give it one final toss, then remove from heat promptly.
Check out that gooey sticky glistening sauce that is packed full of umami flavors. It coats the chicken just so gently…
The cashews give it such a distinct flavor and brings a nice crunchy contrast to this dish.
It truly is Chinese at its best! 🙂
We hope you will enjoy this lovely Asian recipe as much as we have!
Substitution and Variation
Cashew chicken is such an easy and versatile recipe! You can incorporate so many different ingredients into it based on what you have at hand and what you like.
- Make it spicier: add red pepper flakes at the end!
- Use other veggies: mushroom, snow peas, baby corn, carrots and onions are great options as well.
- Other aromatics: feel free to also use shallots, ginger in addition to garlic
- Use different protein: pork, beef, shrimp or even tofu. Tofu is especially is a great alternative to make it a vegetarian dish.
- Can’t find rice wine? Use dry sherry as an alternative. Rice vinegar is NOT the same as rice wine.
What to serve with Cashew Chicken
Serve your homemade Cashew Chicken along side with some jasmine, brown or white rice to soak up all the sauces.
Other delicious recipes that will go great with cashew chicken:
Tips and Tricks
- Measuring the sauce: Always combine the sauce ingredients together in a bowl before stir frying. This way, you can pour it into the skillet or wok easily and quickly. Once you add your protein to the skillet, it needs to come together fast!
- Cutting chicken into bite size pieces: Cut chicken into bite size pieces so that it will cook quickly to avoid a raw meat in the center. This will also ensure the sauce coats and flavors every bite.
- Pat dry all ingredients: Make sure all ingredients are dry before adding to skillet/wok to get the best sear.
- High heat cooking: Use a wok or skillet that can withstand high heat to get that authentic smoky flavor in the cashew chicken. Because it uses high heat, the process goes fast!
- Get ingredients ready: Prepare all ingredients and sauces before cooking and have everything in arm’s reach as the stir frying process goes quickly.
- Avoid overcrowding wok or skillet: If you are doubling the recipe or if your skillet is small, cook in two batches if needed.
- Stirring is key: Stand by the stove and stir constantly through the process. But no worries, it goes super fast! Just don’t leave it unattended.
- Do not overcook chicken: chicken slices cook quickly under high heat so remove promptly once it is cooked. Overcooking will make chicken taste rubbery.
Storage and Reheating
Storage: Refrigerate your cashew chicken stir fry in an airtight container. Consume within 5 days.
Reheating: Reheat Cashew Chicken by microwaving it. It heats really well that way. The only downside to leftovers is that cashew will no longer be crunchy.
Frequently Asked Questions
Woks work amazing because it has a large surface area to move the items around when cooking, and it retains heat really well. If you don’t have a wok, a non-stick pan works great too! Whichever pan you use, make sure it heats up well (heating it on high heat even before adding cooking oil, chicken etc) and it has a large surface area.
Peanut oil has a higher smoke point and is great for Asian foods. Other common cooking oils include vegetable, canola or grapeseed oil; these oils have a neutral flavor and won’t overpower the flavor of the dish unlike using olive oil.
Dry sherry is a good substitute if you cannot find Shao Xing rice wine.
Add red pepper flakes at the end of the stir frying (before serving) to give it a wonderful spicy kick!
ENJOYED THIS RECIPE? Tell us what you think by leaving a rating and review below! 🤍
More Asian Chicken Recipes
- Chicken Lo Mein
- Hibachi Fried Rice
- Gochujang Chicken
- Chicken and Asparagus Stir Fry
- Asian Lettuce Wraps
- Chicken Teriyaki Noodles
- Black Pepper Beef
Cashew Chicken
Equipment
Ingredients
Stir Fry
- 1 lb chicken breasts sliced into thin strips
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1-2 bell peppers sliced, about two cups
- 1 cup unsalted cashews
- 2-3 tsp cooking oil
Sauce
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
- 1 tbsp rice wine
- 3 tbsp oyster sauce
- 1 tsp dark soy sauce optional
- 1 tsp granulated sugar
- 1 tsp corn starch
- 1 tbsp water
Garnish
- ¼ cup green onions sliced
Instructions
- In a small bowl, add sauce ingredients: soy sauce, sesame oil, rice wine, oyster sauce, sugar, corn starch, and water. Whisk to combine. Set side.
- Heat a wok over high heat. While wok is heating up, line up garlic, chicken, bell peppers, sauce, and cashews near the wok.
- Once wok is very hot, drizzle with a little cooking oil and toss in the garlic. Then, add the chicken. Cook until nearly cooked through.
- Add the bell peppers. Cook until they are slightly soft, ~1 minute.
- Add sauce. Toss to coat. Let cook for a couple of minutes to thicken the sauce.
- Turn off heat. Add cashews. Toss to coat in sauce.
- Serve and enjoy!
