The Chunky Chef

Everyday meals with a dash of gourmet

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Take-out Style Spicy Cashew Chicken

One of my favorite things about ordering takeout is how many yummy things there are to choose from… my absolute favorite thing to order is chicken in garlic sauce (which I’m on the hunt for a killer recipe for), but my verrrrrry close second favorite is cashew chicken.  I love that savory sauce, tender chicken, and crunchy cashews… it’s just about a perfect combination.  

Cashew Chicken - Deliciously savory, saucy and spicy, this cashew chicken is about 100 times better than takeout! You should try it tonight, it's super easy to make!

You know what I don’t think is perfect?  The cost, and the lack of cashews lol.  Seriously, around here anyway, cashew chicken comes with about 10 cashews in it.  No bueno.  I LOVE cashews and I want a lot more than that 🙂

So what’s my solution you ask?  Make it yourself at home, for way less money, and get to add as many cashews as you want 🙂

I love how quickly this recipe comes together… barely any prep and a less than 15 minutes of cook time.  Such an easy weeknight dinner recipe 🙂

My recipe makes this cashew chicken spicy, but if you prefer it not to be spicy (or you’re making it for your kiddos), feel completely free to omit the red pepper flakes.  Or if you’re like my husband, and you want it extra spicy… go for it and add more 🙂

To start this recipe, take some chicken breasts and cut them into bite sized pieces.  Toss them into a bowl with a little bit of soy sauce and hoisin sauce to marinate for 10 minutes or so.

I used that time to go ahead and mince my garlic, slice the green onions, and cut my broccoli into florets.  If you wanted to save a little time, you could buy the pre-sliced florets, or go for a bag of frozen ones… they’re all good 🙂

This is a stir fry, so it cooks fairly quickly, that’s why I try to do all my chopping and measuring ahead of time.  It’s less stressful during cooking 🙂  I went ahead and whisked together my sauce ingredients (soy sauce, sugar, vinegar and cornstarch) and set it aside.

Next I added the vegetable oil to my big deep skillet over medium high heat, and while it was preheating I drained my chicken.  You want to discard as much of the liquid marinade as you can, so the chicken can really sear in the pan.  Add the red pepper flakes (if you’re using them) to the hot oil and stir a few times.  Add your chicken and cook for 2 minutes until golden brown, add your garlic and broccoli and cook chicken another 2-3 minutes until it’s cooked through and golden.

Cashew Chicken - Deliciously savory, saucy and spicy, this cashew chicken is about 100 times better than takeout! You should try it tonight, it's super easy to make!

At this point, if there’s a lot of oil in the skillet, you need to drain the oil off.  But there may not be, it just depends.  Add your cashews and turn off the heat.  Pour in your sauce and stir to completely coat the chicken in the sauce.  The sauce will thicken, that’s a good thing.  You want that sticky, savory sauce 🙂

Cashew Chicken - Deliciously savory, saucy and spicy, this cashew chicken is about 100 times better than takeout! You should try it tonight, it's super easy to make!

Sprinkle with sesame seeds and sliced green onions and serve over rice.  I used my Sticky Coconut Rice and I think it pairs really nicely 🙂

This is a recipe that I think the whole family will love… I know mine did!

Cashew Chicken - Deliciously savory, saucy and spicy, this cashew chicken is about 100 times better than takeout! You should try it tonight, it's super easy to make!

Cashew Chicken - Deliciously savory, saucy and spicy, this cashew chicken is about 100 times better than takeout! You should try it tonight, it's super easy to make!

This cashew chicken is delicious and perfect for a main dish, but it would also be super yummy as an appetizer.  Just pick up some butter lettuce (or regular ol’ iceburg) and peel the leaves to make lettuce cups.  Fill them with this spicy cashew chicken and enjoy!!

Cashew Chicken - Deliciously savory, saucy and spicy, this cashew chicken is about 100 times better than takeout! You should try it tonight, it's super easy to make!

If you try this, let me know how you liked it 🙂  As always, if you’re not already a subscriber, scroll down to the bottom of this page to sign up for emails on new posts and recipes!

Recipe adapted from OmNomNom Treats

 

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Spicy Cashew Chicken

Course: Entree
Cuisine: Chinese
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 20 minutes
Servings: 4 servings
Author: The Chunky Chef
Deliciously savory, saucy and spicy, this cashew chicken is about 100 times better than takeout! You should try it tonight, it's super easy to make!
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Ingredients

  • 3 pieces chicken breasts cut into bite sized
  • 2 tsp hoisin sauce
  • 2/3 cup soy sauce
  • 1/4 c . oil
  • 2 tsp red pepper flakes
  • 4 green onions sliced
  • 4 cloves garlic minced
  • 1 cup broccoli florets
  • 3 Tbsp cornstarch
  • 8 tsp sugar
  • 4 tsp white vinegar
  • sesame seeds
  • cashews as many as you'd like

Instructions

  1. Slice chicken breasts into bite sized pieces. Pour 1 tablespoon soy sauce and 2 tsp of hoisin sauce into a bowl. Place chicken in soy sauce. Let sit.
  2. In a small bowl, whisk together the remaining soy sauce, cornstarch, sugar, and vinegar. Slice the green onions, mince garlic, and measure out red pepper flakes (if using).
  3. Pour chicken into a strainer to drain and remove as much marinade as possible. Heat oil in a large deep skillet (or wok if you have one) over high heat. Add red pepper flakes to oil, stir a few times.
  4. Add chicken and cook for 2 minutes until golden, then stir chicken. Add garlic and broccoli and cook until chicken is cooked through, then drain oil (if necessary).
  5. Add cashews. Turn off heat and pour in sauce. Stir until chicken is covered in sauce. Sauce will thicken considerably. Add green onions and sesame seeds and serve over white rice.

 

Reader Interactions

Comments

  2. Ahhh this looks SSOOO good (not a surprise.) I’ve learned now that I can’t visit your site if I’m hungry, it’s just cruel 😉 I’ll have to make this for the hubs. I have so many of yours I want to make that it blows my mind! So I haven’t made ANY! HAHA it’s too overwhelming — so I think I’m going to have to close my eyes and just PICK one already! 😉
    Stephanie @ The Cozy Cook recently posted…Perfect Eggs in a HoleMy Profile

    Reply

    • Lol well thank you sweets! I can’t go to your site hungry either, or I may try to eat my laptop screen 😉 Whichever one you pick, you’ll have to let me know how you all like it 😀

      Reply

  7. I LOVE cashew chicken, there’s a place in Atlanta that does the best cashew chicken (I’ve literally not even tried another dish at that place because I don’t want to not have the cashew chicken) but nowhere in the UK even nearly compares. I need to try this recipe asap, especially since I have a bag of cashews waiting to be used up!
    Michelle @ Giraffes Can Bake recently posted…Red Velvet PancakesMy Profile

    Reply

    • It’s fate 🙂 I hope you LOVE it… I know what you mean about not trying another dish because you can’t NOT have the cashew chicken… I do that with a place around here too 🙂

      Reply

  18. I would eat just about anything with cashews it! This looks so good. I was just wondering what to make this week for dinner and now I have at least one meal. Pinning for sure. (Found you on Made By You Mondays).
    Denise Wright recently posted…Mocha Maca MatchaMy Profile

    Reply

  19. Oh my goodness, this looks fabulous! Thank you for joining us at #purebloglove. We enjoy having you every Thursday night at 8PM, EST through Sunday night. ~Cydnee

    Reply

  25. I’ve make this recipe twice now and tastes good but I cannot get the sauce to thicken. Lol. It’s runny. Any suggestions??? Thank you!

    Reply

    • Firstly, I’m so happy you’ve made it and liked the flavor 🙂 Secondly, are you adding the cornstarch to your sauce and whisking it together before you add it to the pan? The cornstarch should thicken it up well. If you have been doing that, maybe try a bit more cornstarch? Mine has always thickened up well, almost TOO well at times lol

      Reply

    • Hi Jessie 🙂 My apologies, the program that puts my recipes in the recipe form seems to have issues with 1/3 and 2/3 measurements :/ I’ve been trying to go back through my older recipes and amend the recipes, but I hadn’t gotten back this far yet. So I’m thinking you probably put in 1 cup of the soy sauce, correct? If the recipe has a square box before “cup” then there’s supposed to be a measurement there… I really wish they would fix the program! The recipe is supposed to call for 2/3 cup of the soy sauce, and I usually use reduced sodium. I’m sorry it didn’t turn out 🙁

      Reply

  28. I made this and holy moly it was fire! So delicious!! I had my sister and her boyfriend try it too and they raved about it also! Definitely a keeper!

    Reply

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