This Cashew Chicken is an easy Asian dish that you can make at home faster than you can order takeout. It’s delicious served over rice and perfect for leftovers.
A friend mentioned cashew chicken to me a few weeks ago and it sounded really good but got pushed to the back of my mind. The other night I was craving Chinese food, which rarely happens, but of course WOULD happen when we live 30 minutes from the nearest take-out. I happened to have chicken and cashews at home, so I was able to save the day!
Cooking from scratch is so much better for you anyways. This Cashew Chicken dish is really easy to put together. You can literally make it faster than calling for takeout would take.
What you need for Cashew Chicken:
-
- Chicken breasts (but you could definitely use thighs too)
- Corn starch, salt, pepper and oil (in your pantry!)
- Garlic (use garlic powder if you don’t have fresh)
- Scallions (green onions)
- Rice vinegar
- Hoisin sauce (if you don’t have any you can easily make homemade hoisin sauce with things that are probably in your pantry)
- Cashews
Not much, right? This recipe may not even require a trip to the store! But despite the few ingredients, it’s super flavorful and delicious! Comfort food that you can feel good about.
This cashew chicken is really yummy served over rice, but you could also serve it over quinoa or in lettuce wraps. If you go the lettuce wrap route you’ll want to cut the chicken a bit smaller.
The recipe calls for hoisin sauce, which I couldn’t find here. After a quick Google search, I made my own using: 2 tbsp soy sauce, 1 tbsp peanut butter, 1/2 tbsp honey, 1 tsp rice vinegar, 1 tsp sesame oil and a shake each of garlic powder, onion powder, cayenne and black pepper. Worked like a charm and made just enough for this recipe.
This dish was great! It fulfilled my Chinese food craving perfectly, and the best part was I didn’t even feel like death after eating it.
If you’re craving Asian, check out these recipes too!
- 1½ pounds boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into 1-inch chunks
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
- Salt & pepper
- 2 tbsp avocado oil (or canola or vegetable oil)
- 6 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 bunch scallions, white and green parts separated, each cut into 1-inch pieces
- 2 tbsp rice vinegar
- 3 tbsp hoisin sauce
- ¾ cup toasted cashews
- Cooked rice, for serving
- In a medium bowl, toss chicken with cornstarch until chicken is coated, and season with salt and pepper.
- In a large nonstick skillet, heat 1 tbsp oil over medium-high heat.
- Cook half the chicken, tossing often, until browned, about 3 minutes. Transfer to a plate.
- Add remaining oil and chicken to skillet along with the garlic and white parts of scallions.
- Cook, tossing often, until chicken is browned, about 3 minutes.
- Return first batch of chicken to pan.
- Add vinegar; cook until evaporated, about 30 seconds.
- Add hoisin sauce and ¼ cup water. Cook, tossing, until chicken is cooked through, about 1 minute.
- Remove from heat. Stir in scallion greens and cashews.
- Serve immediately over rice.
Note: Photos updated 4-7-20. Original photo below.
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