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Home > Asian Recipes > Cashew Chicken (Better-Than-Take-Out)

Cashew Chicken (Better-Than-Take-Out)

Last updated July 7, 2022. Originally posted April 12, 2021 By Jyothi Rajesh 37 Comments

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cashew chicken stir fry with text overlay
cashew chicken stir fry with text overlay
stir fried cashew chicken in wok with text overlay
stir fried cashew chicken in wok with text overlay
easy cashew chicken made in wok served with rice with text
easy cashew chicken served with rice with text
easy cashew chicken made in wok with text
easy cashew chicken made in wok with text
saucy cashew chicken cooked in wok served with rice with text
cashew chicken stir fry with text overlay

Homemade saucy stir fry cashew chicken is better than your take out version. It’s so easy to make, you can bring dinner to the table in less than 30 minutes. Served with rice, it satisfies your craving for stir fry chicken any day!

cashew chicken cooked in black wok

Forget your take out, make healthy and better tasting stir fry chicken recipe at home. Don’t get intimidated with the number of ingredients. You most probably have some of the ingredients already in your pantry.

Stir fry sauce is what makes this dish taste delicious. The sauce has wonderful balance of sour-sweet-hot. You can slightly customize the sauce depending on what you have in hand and what you like to include in your stir fry chicken with cashew nuts dish.

Better Than Take Out Cashew Chicken Stir Fry

  • Don’t even bother the take out version, you can make better than that at home.
  • This saucy chicken stir fry is easy to make.
  • You can bring dinner to the table in less than 30 minutes.
  • Stir fry sauce has a wonderful combination of sweet, hot and sour.
  • You can also customize the sauce slightly depending on what you have in the pantry and what you like in your stir fry sauce.
  • If you never mixed chicken with nuts, you got to try this               chicken with cashew nuts. Roasted cashews and stir fry sauce chicken is amazing with rice. For low carb healthy options, serve this stir fry chicken with cauliflower fried rice.
  • Got a sudden craving for Asian stir fry chicken? No problem. Try this recipe; it’ll satisfy your cravings.

Ingredients Needed

Don’t get intimidated with the array of ingredients that you need to make this recipe. Most of the ingredients are most probably in your pantry.

ingredients for casjew sauce arranged on board

Cook’s Tip: If you want to make a Chinese version of cashew chicken, use Chinese cooking wine or mirin. If access to Chinese cooking wine isn’t very easy you can use dry sherry or rice vinegar instead. You are in total control of what you want to add to your stir fry sauce in this recipe. Chinese version or Thai version depending on what you use for the sauce. 

Hoisin sauce gives a wonderful sour taste. To add in more flavors mix hoisin sauce and oyster sauce together.

Note: Some prefer to add ginger and garlic into their sauce, I personally like to stir fry it in oil at the beginning so it removes the raw smell and taste of ginger and garlic. You do have option to add it to your sauce which gets poured over cooked chicken almost towards the end.

How To Make Cashew Chicken (Step-By-Step Instructions)

Step 1: First make the stir fry sauce. Simply whisk together hoisin sauce, soy sauce, rice vinegar, sugar, chili sauce, corn starch, sesame oil in a bowl. Keep it aside until use.

sauce for cashew chicken
sauce for cashew chicken

Step 2: Dry roast whole cashew nuts in oven. Pre heat oven at 300 degree F. Dry roast cashews for 3 to minutes giving it a stir in between. Do not let cashews brown. You want to roast not brown it. Remove roasted cashews from oven and let it cool down.

dry roast cashews in oven on bakign tray

Step 3: Prepping Chicken – Cut chicken breasts into 1 inch pieces. Add all chicken into a zip lock bag or a wide bowl.

Season it with pepper, salt and corn flour. Shake well to coat all chicken pieces evenly. Let chicken sit in the marinade for 7 to 10 minutes.

chicken marinated with salt pepper and corn flour in zip lock
chicken marinated with salt pepper and corn flour in zip lock

Step 4: Heat oil (divide oil so you can add oil for every batch) in a skillet or wok. Add few marinated chicken pieces on to the skillet, without overcrowding it. Immediately stir fry it for about a minute on medium high heat, flip and cook it on other side.

Don’t cook chicken completely. We only want to sear it or fry it lightly in oil. Remove cooked chicken into a bowl and repeat the same process with remaining chicken. Once done remove all chicken to a bowl.

cooking marinated chicken in skillet
cooking marinated chicken in skillet
cooking marinated chicken in skillet

Step 5: Pour remaining oil to the skillet.

Note – don’t worry about the brown bits, you scrap it off the pan as you stir fry chicken and cashews. Those brown bits are all flavors. I do like to have them in my stir fry.

If you aren’t comfortable, use another clean skillet before you start stir frying chicken.

Add white part of spring onions along with minced ginger and garlic in. Stir for about a minute on medium high heat.

cooking white spring onion and ginger garlic in skillet

Step 6: Add back partially cooked chicken pieces give it a stir.

cooking chicken in skillet

Step 7: Pour in the sauce into the pan. It may look like a lot of sauce and the dish can look too saucy with liquids, but it’ll evaporate as you cook for few minutes.

Note – If you find the sauce to be too thick and the chicken is turning thick and dry, add chicken stock or water to the pan as required to help cook chicken.

saucy cashew chicken in skillet

Step 8: Stir in everything and cook for about a minute or two tossing it frequently.

It’s time for cashews. Add in dry roasted cashews and stir again.

cashews and chicken cookign in skillet

Step 9: Turn off heat after a minute.

Garnish with green onions and toasted sesame seeds.

Serve this saucy stir fry chicken with cashew nuts over rice.

saucy cashew chicken cooked in black skillet

Cashew Chicken Sauce

The recipe for sauce is customizable. You can alter the flavors slightly. Most ingredients that goes in making the sauce are commonly available ingredients like corn starch, soy sauce, rice vinegar, chili sauce.

Hoisin sauce and if using oyster sauce is something you may or may not have in your pantry.

Stir fry sauce has hoisin sauce, low sodium light soy sauce, rice vinegar, chili sauce, granulated sugar, corn starch and sesame oil all mixed in together.

Tips For Best Cashew Chicken Recipe

  1. Using boneless chicken thighs will give you tender chicken. Don’t worry, chicken breasts will taste good too.
  2. Do not crowd the pan while frying chicken pieces. Do them in batches if you have to.
  3. Soon as you add the chicken to oil, stir it immediately, else it will stick to the pan (Like you see in the video, I got distracted for a minute and chicken pieces were stuck, but I got it out of pan without breaking successfully with some effort haha!)
  4. Use low sodium light soy sauce in this recipe. Dark soy will have strong taste and will taste bitter.
  5. If you find the sauce to be too thick and the chicken is turning thick and dry, add chicken stock or water to the pan as required to help cook chicken.
  6. Whole cashew nuts are better choice. Brown ones can do, but it won’t look as pretty as whole nuts and you won’t get a mouthful taste of cashews when you bite in.
  7. Don’t use raw cashews directly in the dish. Also don’t use salted and roasted cashews. Buy raw whole cashews and dry roast them at home in oven or on stove top. Do NOT brown cashews, roast for just about 3 to 4 minutes and remove from heat just when it starts to brown.
  8. The recipe for sauce does not make the dish spicy. If you like spicy stir fry chicken, add more chili sauce. You can also reduce the amount of sugar by half in the recipe to make it spicy. But do it with caution so you are able to handle the heat you add to the sauce.
cashew chicken stir fry served over rice and broccoli in a bowl

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saucy cashew chicken cooked in black skillet
5 from 18 votes

Cashew Chicken (Better-Than-Take-Out)

Jyothi Rajesh
Homemade saucy stir fry cashew chicken is better than your take out version. It’s so easy to make, you can bring dinner to the table in less than 30 minutes. Served with rice, it satisfies your craving for stir fry chicken any day!
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Prep Time 15 mins
Cook Time 10 mins
Course Main Course
Cuisine Asian
Servings 4 servings
Calories 563

Ingredients
  

For Sauce:

  • 1 ½ tablespoon hoisin sauce
  • 1 ½ tablespoon low sodium light soy sauce
  • 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
  • ¾ tablespoon granulated sugar
  • 1 tablespoon Asian chili sauce or sriracha sauce
  • ½ tablespoon corn starch
  • ½ teaspoon sesame oil

For Chicken:

  • 1 lb boneless chicken thighs or breasts cut into 1 inch pieces
  • 1 cup cashew (whole)
  • ½ tablespoon corn starch
  • 2 tablespoon vegetable oil like sunflower oil or canola oil
  • ½ teaspoon pepper
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 3 tablespoon vegetable oil
  • ½ cup white part of spring onions chopped
  • 1 teaspoon ginger minced
  • 1 teaspoon garlic minced

For Garnish:

  • Green onions
  • Sesame seeds

Instructions
 

  • First make the stir fry sauce. Simply whisk together hoisin sauce, soy sauce, rice vinegar, sugar, chili sauce, corn starch, sesame oil in a bowl. Keep it aside until use.
  • Dry roast whole cashew nuts in oven. Pre heat oven at 300 degree F. Dry roast cashews for 3 to minutes giving it a stir in between. Do not let cashews brown. You want to roast not brown it. Remove roasted cashews from oven and let it cool down.
  • Prepping Chicken – Cut chicken breasts into 1 inch pieces. Add all chicken into a zip lock bag or a wide bowl.
  • Season it with pepper, salt and corn flour. Shake well to coat all chicken pieces evenly. Let chicken sit in the marinade for 7 to 10 minutes.
  • Heat vegetable oil (divide oil so you can add oil for every batch) in a skillet or wok. Add few marinated chicken pieces on to the skillet, without overcrowding it. Immediately stir fry it for about a minute on medium high heat, flip and cook it on other side. Don’t cook chicken completely. We only want to sear it or fry it lightly in oil. Remove cooked chicken into a bowl and repeat the same process with remaining chicken. Once done remove all chicken to a bowl.
  • Pour remaining oil to the skillet.
    Note – don’t worry about the brown bits, you scrap it off the pan as you stir fry chicken and cashews. Those brown bits are all flavors. I do like to have them in my stir fry.
  • If you aren’t comfortable, use another clean skillet before you start stir frying chicken.
  • Add white part of spring onions along with minced ginger and garlic in. Stir for about a minute on medium high heat.
  • Add back partially cooked chicken pieces give it a stir.
  • Pour in the sauce into the pan. It may look like a lot of sauce and the dish can look too saucy with liquids, but it’ll evaporate as you cook for few minutes.
    Note – If you find the sauce to be too thick and the chicken is turning thick and dry, add chicken stock or water to the pan as required to help cook chicken.
  • Stir in everything and cook for about a minute or two tossing it frequently.
  • It’s time for cashews. Add in dry roasted cashews and stir again.
  • Turn off heat after a minute.
  • Garnish with green onions and toasted sesame seeds.
  • Serve this saucy stir fry chicken with cashew nuts over rice.

Video

Notes

  1. Using boneless chicken thighs will give you tender chicken. Don’t worry, chicken breasts will taste good too.
  2. Do not crowd the pan while frying chicken pieces. Do them in batches if you have to.
  3. Soon as you add the chicken to oil, stir it immediately, else it will stick to the pan (Like you see in the video, I got distracted for a minute and chicken pieces were stuck, but I got it out of pan without breaking successfully with some effort haha!)
  4. Use low sodium light soy sauce in this recipe. Dark soy will have strong taste and will taste bitter.
  5. If you find the sauce to be too thick and the chicken is turning thick and dry, add chicken stock or water to the pan as required to help cook chicken.
  6. Whole cashew nuts are better choice. Brown ones can do, but it won’t look as pretty as whole nuts and you won’t get a mouthful taste of cashews when you bite in.
  7. Don’t use raw cashews directly in the dish. Also don’t use salted and roasted cashews. Buy raw whole cashews and dry roast them at home in oven or on stove top. Do NOT brown cashews, roast for just about 3 to 4 minutes and remove from heat just when it starts to brown.
  8. The recipe for sauce does not make the dish spicy. If you like spicy stir fry chicken, add more chili sauce. You can also reduce the amount of sugar by half in the recipe to make it spicy. But do it with caution so you are able to handle the heat you add to the sauce.
 
Nutritional Info – Please keep in mind that nutritional information provided is only a rough estimate and can vary greatly based on products used. Nutritional information mentioned is excluding rice.

Nutrition

Calories: 563kcalCarbohydrates: 19gProtein: 31gFat: 41gSaturated Fat: 14gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 73mgSodium: 953mgPotassium: 711mgFiber: 2gSugar: 7gVitamin A: 186IUVitamin C: 5mgCalcium: 34mgIron: 3mg
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    Comments & Reviews

  1. Lauren says

    January 04, 2023 at 4:35 am

    how would that ever be enough liquid for a sauce? 5Tbsp? I make dishes like this all the time from recipes I find online, and they never have enough liquid for the sauce.

    Reply
    • Jyothi Rajesh says

      January 04, 2023 at 3:41 pm

      You can increase the sauce quantity mentioned in the recipe to suitable levels to suit your taste preference. You can use 3 tablespoons of soy sauce and 3 tablespoons of hoisin sauce and increase corn starch to 1 tablespoon. Use chicken stock or Chinese wine to thicken.

      Reply
  2. Janet says

    November 22, 2022 at 3:02 am

    5 stars
    This was so delicious. I followed the recipe as written. I’ll make it again for sure. My family loved it. It’s a tad spicy for my granddaughters right now but the rest of the family didn’t mind the spice. Thanks for the recipe.

    Reply
    • Jyothi Rajesh says

      November 22, 2022 at 7:48 am

      I’m so glad your family and you loved this cashew chicken recipe Janet! Please feel free to adjust the spices to suit your granddaughters palate next time. Thank you for your valuable feedback!

      Reply
  3. Samuel A Shaw says

    November 10, 2022 at 3:39 am

    I juat have a question in the ingredients is say about corn starch for the chicken but down in the directions is say about corn flour for on the chicken. I was just wondering which one it is

    Reply
    • Jyothi Rajesh says

      November 10, 2022 at 9:31 pm

      Sorry for the confusion, it’s corn starch

      Reply
  4. Sheri Davis says

    October 09, 2022 at 11:25 am

    5 stars
    Excellent Recipe! My Hubby said BRAVO he loved it! I only used 1/2 Tablespoon of sesame oil and I altered it a tad by adding 2 green pepper and 1/2 bunch green onion and used only 5 oz Cashews.
    I will definitely make this again and again.
    Thank you for sharing!
    Sheri

    Reply
    • Jyothi Rajesh says

      October 10, 2022 at 12:18 pm

      So glad you and your husband loved this recipe Sheri Davis. Thank you for trying

      Reply
  5. Elaine says

    July 24, 2022 at 5:19 am

    5 stars
    I like lots of sauce and my husband doesn’t like too spicy so I doubled everything except the chili sauce. I also gradually added about a half cup chicken broth at the end to get up the brown bits on the bottom and loosen the sauce up. Delicious.

    Reply
    • Jyothi Rajesh says

      August 03, 2022 at 7:10 pm

      Thank you very much Elaine. So glad to know you and your family loved the recipe!

      Reply
  6. Donna says

    September 27, 2021 at 3:18 am

    5 stars
    Per your request I am posting a review here. This recipe is delicious! I use one chicken breast, make the full recipe of sauce and add whatever vegetables I have on hand. I make it about twice/month. Husband is not a big chicken fan but really likes this!

    Reply
    • Jyothi Rajesh says

      September 29, 2021 at 11:28 pm

      Thank you very much for sharing you feedback Donna

      Reply
  7. RC Marti says

    April 09, 2021 at 10:51 pm

    Hello Jyothi, maybe its me but I don’t see cashews in the recipe ingredient list. How much should be dry roasted and added to the recipe?

    Reply
    • Jyothi Rajesh says

      April 12, 2021 at 11:18 am

      Oops sorry. And thank you for bringing it to my notice! Updated the recipe card now. Hope you try and like the recipe

      Reply
      • Jessica says

        July 01, 2021 at 12:16 pm

        5 stars
        That was a delicious meal! I will be making it again for sure! Thanks for the recipe!

      • Jyothi Rajesh says

        July 01, 2021 at 5:50 pm

        Thanks so much Jessica, so glad you love the recipe! Jo x

  8. Becky says

    January 04, 2021 at 7:42 am

    5 stars
    This recipe is perfect!

    Reply
    • Jyothi Rajesh says

      January 04, 2021 at 11:12 am

      I’m so glad you are loving the recipe Becky!

      Reply
  9. Valerie says

    October 23, 2020 at 2:13 am

    5 stars
    Loved this recipe. Made it last week and my family wants it again so guess what is for dinner.

    Reply
    • Jyothi Rajesh says

      October 23, 2020 at 8:43 am

      Glad you and your family enjoyed it Valerie!

      Reply
  10. Kacey Perez says

    March 17, 2020 at 9:13 pm

    Cashew Chicken is one of my favorites and this recipe couldn’t look any better! Thanks for sharing!

    Reply
  11. Daniela says

    March 17, 2020 at 3:06 am

    Looks like some deliciously comforting chicken! And I love your in process shot and how you labeled what each ingredient is… so useful!

    Reply
    • Jyothi Rajesh says

      March 17, 2020 at 8:39 pm

      Thank you

      Reply
  12. LaKita says

    March 16, 2020 at 8:40 am

    5 stars
    This cashew chicken looks absolutely delicious and definitely better than take out. Cannot wait to give it a try!

    Reply
    • Jyothi Rajesh says

      March 16, 2020 at 12:33 pm

      Hope you try it, it’s definitely our favorite stir fry now. Rich and delicious!

      Reply
  13. Paige says

    March 15, 2020 at 10:32 pm

    5 stars
    This looks beautifully prepared, definately better than take out, and I’m going to make it! Very pretty photos too.

    Reply
    • Jyothi Rajesh says

      March 16, 2020 at 12:33 pm

      Thank you Paige

      Reply
  14. David says

    March 15, 2020 at 4:49 pm

    5 stars
    Yum! Chicken with cashews is one of my favorites at Chinese restaurants. Your version looks even tastier! And easy to make too with your step by step instructions.

    Reply
    • Jyothi Rajesh says

      March 16, 2020 at 12:34 pm

      Glad you found the post useful. Thank you

      Reply
  15. Colleen says

    March 15, 2020 at 1:39 am

    5 stars
    This recipe was a hit. My whole family loved it. Thanks for posting!

    Reply
    • Jyothi Rajesh says

      March 16, 2020 at 12:34 pm

      Yay, so glad you got to try the recipe. Thank you for trying!

      Reply
  16. Marwin Brown says

    March 14, 2020 at 4:26 am

    5 stars
    This recipe looks good especially that sauce. I’m partial to chicken breasts, so might tweak the recipe slightly

    Reply
    • Jyothi Rajesh says

      March 16, 2020 at 12:34 pm

      Thank you Marwin

      Reply
  17. Bernice Hill says

    March 14, 2020 at 4:12 am

    5 stars
    Though I’m not much of a cashew fan, I do love this dish. It looks so saucy and delicious. Best of all, it’s a quick dinner and who could argue with that?

    Reply
    • Jyothi Rajesh says

      March 16, 2020 at 12:35 pm

      You could definitely reduce the amount of cashew in the recipe. If stir fry recipes is your favorite, you should definitely try it.

      Reply
  18. Aleta says

    March 13, 2020 at 8:15 pm

    5 stars
    Cashew chicken is one of my favourite take out dishes, though I have never tried it at home. This recipe is really easy to follow and I have all of the ingredients on hand! Thanks for the awesome recipe!

    Reply
    • Jyothi Rajesh says

      March 16, 2020 at 12:35 pm

      Thank you Aleta

      Reply

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Jyothi - Author of Curry Trail.

Welcome, I'm Jyothi

My food philosophy is simple, fresh and full of flavors! I love ‘spicy’ food. In fact so much so that I can skip dessert for extra spicy savory food!

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