Cashew Chicken Recipe - Better Than Takeout!

Pailin Chongchitnant • October 11, 2013
a plate of cashew chicken
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Cashew Chicken Recipe

A popular takeout dish that's easy to make at home and is super weeknight-friendly. I'm also sharing unexpected tricks to maximize deliciousness. Guaranteed to be better than takeout!
Course Main Course
Cuisine Thai
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 8 minutes
Servings 4 servings
Author Pailin Chongchitnant

Ingredients

  • 400 g boneless skinless chicken thigh or breast
  • 1 Tbsp soy sauce
  • 3-4 cloves garlic chopped
  • ½ onion cut into 1 cm thick wedges, ⅔ cup
  • 1 cup shimeji mushrooms or straw mushrooms
  • 2 spur chilies or sub ½ red bell pepper
  • ¾ cup cashews roasted, unsalted
  • 2-3 green onions green parts only
  • 7-10 fried dried Thai chilies (optional)

Sauce

Instructions

  • Mix chicken and soy sauce together in a bowl; set aside.
  • Mix all sauce ingredients together in a bowl; set aside.
  • Heat a little bit of vegetable oil in a large saute pan or a wok, and when hot, sear chicken on one side to obtain nice golden brown colour. Remove the chicken from the pan and set aside. The chicken should only be partially done at this stage.
  • To the same pan, add 1-2 Tbsp of vegetable oil , garlic, and onion; cook until the garlic starts to turn brown. Add the seared chicken , mushrooms and spur chilies or bell pepper to the pan and toss quickly to mix.
  • Add the sauce mixture to the pan and keep stirring to finish cooking the chicken. At this point, you can add a splash of water if it seems too dry.
  • When chicken is done, turn off the heat and stir in cashews and green onions .
  • Pour into a serving plate and top with fried dried chilies and extra cashews if desired. Serve with jasmine rice, enjoy!

Video

Notes

Instead of searing the chicken, most people in Thailand dredging the chicken in flour and deep fry it, which you can absolutely do. However, I prefer the searing method as it is faster, less messy, and most importantly it results in a lighter and healthier dish that can be enjoyed more often!
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