A saucy chicken stir fry with cashews, this is a terrific combination of flavours. You’ll love how saucy this is, and how you can adapt this to your taste by using vegetables of choice. Try this with Hot and Sour Soup or Chinese Corn Soup with a side of Fried Rice for a homemade takeout experience!
This is a reader-favourite recipe included by popular demand in my debut cookbook “Dinner”!
Cashew Chicken
This is takeout made at home that truly stacks up to your favourite Chinese restaurant. No false promises here! Just read some of the glowing reviews from the many people who have tried this. 😇
You’ll have it on the table faster than ordering home delivery, it’s healthier (way less greasy!) and it’s versatile so you can add or switch the vegetables as you please. So much easier to just adapt this yourself rather than trying to explain what you want over the phone to your Chinese takeout place…… right?? 😉
The secret ingredient is Chinese Cooking Wine
Chinese Cooking Wine, also known as Shaoxing wine or Shaosing wine, is the secret ingredient that makes homemade Chinese food truly taste as good as take out.
It’s an alcoholic wine used for Chinese and other Asian cooking. Totally unpleasant to drink, salty, cheap as chips from Asian stores (~ $1.50 for a big bottle), lasts forever and you can read more about it here (if you’re so inclined).
While you’d never drink it straight, when used cooking, it completely transforms. It seasons the sauce, gives it depth of flavour and complexity, that “something something” to make it just like Chinese restaurants.
Substitutions for Shaoxing Wine
The best substitute is Mirin, or dry sherry – these produce virtually the same result. If you can’t consume alcohol, the best alternative is to substitute low sodium chicken broth for the water in the sauce.
Ingredients in Cashew Chicken
I promised quick and easy, and I exaggerate not! There’s not that many ingredients in the sauce (see photo above) nor in the stir fry itself (see below).
I like to use chicken thigh for stir fries because it’s juicier than breast and tenderloin. If I make this with chicken breast, I always tenderise it using a Chinese restaurant technique using baking soda (bi-carb). It’s super simple, see directions here: How to Velvet Chicken.
I make Cashew Chicken with green capsicum (bell peppers) and onion because they are the most common vegetables I’ve seen in Cashew Chicken. But feel free to add other vegetables into this. I’ve also seen it with red capsicum, celery, Asian Greens, broccoli, carrots and scallions/shallots.
Making Cashew Chicken
Cashew Chicken is very straight forward to make and also very forgiving (especially if you use chicken thigh).
Mix the Sauce, use a bit to marinate the chicken just for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, chop the vegetables, have a glass of wine, browse through the Asian Takeout recipe collection and think about all the other things you want to try one of these days…😊
When you’re ready to cook, have everything ready to go because it takes less than 5 minutes! Sauté garlic and onion (1 min), cook chicken and capsicum (3 min), add sauce, simmer 1 minute until thickens, serve over rice.
As with all my stir fries, this Cashew Chicken comes with plenty of sauce. There’s nothing sadder than when you’re left with a bowl of plain white rice with no sauce to eat it with. Right??!
Hope you enjoy! – Nagi x
PS For a healthy low carb option try Cauliflower Rice – 77% fewer calories and 87% less carbs than rice!
Watch how to make it
This recipe features in my debut cookbook Dinner. The book is mostly new recipes, but this is a reader favourite included by popular demand!
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Chinese Cashew Chicken
Ingredients
Sauce
- 1 tbsp cornstarch / cornflour
- 3 tbsp soy sauce , all purpose or light (Note 1)
- 1 1/2 tbsp Chinese cooking wine or Mirin (Note 2)
- 3 tbsp oyster sauce
- 2 tsp sesame oil
- Dash of white pepper (sub black)
Stir Fry
- 500g / 1 lb chicken thigh , skinless boneless, cut into 2.5cm/1″ pieces (Note 3)
- 2 tbsp peanut oil (or vegetable oil)
- 2 garlic cloves , minced
- 1/2 onion , chopped into 1.75 cm / 3/4″ pieces(yellow, brown or white)
- 1 green capsicum / bell pepper , chopped into 2 cm / 0.8″ pieces
- 6 tbsp water
- 3/4 cup roasted cashews , unsalted
Instructions
- Sauce: Mix cornflour and soy sauce until there’s no lumps. Then add remaining Sauce ingredients and mix.
- Marinate: Transfer 2 tbsp Sauce to chicken, mix to coat. Set aside for 10 minutes+.
- Cook: Heat oil over high heat in a wok or heavy based skillet. Add the garlic and onion, cook for 1 minute.
- Add chicken and cook for 2 minutes. Add capsicum and cook for 1 minute.
- Add Sauce and water. Bring to simmer and cook, stirring, for 1 minute or until Sauce thickens.
- Stir through cashews, remove from stove. Serve immediately with rice – or for a low carb, low cal option, try Cauliflower Rice!
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
Originally published October 2015. Updated post with new photos, better video and most importantly, Life of Dozer section added! No change to recipe.
More Chinese takeout favourites
- Chow Mein
- General Tso’s Chicken
- Sweet and Sour Pork
- Crispy Honey Chicken
- Beef & Broccoli
- Chop Suey (Chicken Stir Fry)
- Spring Rolls
- Prawn (Shrimp) Stir Fry
- Chinese BBQ Pork (Char Siu)
- See ALL Chinese Takeout recipes
Life of Dozer
Wow, it’s true. You really can make anyone look intelligent with glasses. 🤓
This was AMAZING, but of course is there anything other than that from you Nagi. Another all time winner. Delicious and easy
just replying as I forgot to rate the recipe and it definitely deserves a 5 Star
I tried this recipe via your new and fabulous cook book and YUM!! Super quick, easy and delicious! Thank you Nagi, Dozer and the RecipeTin Eats team!!
I do love this recipe… but I’m not too sure if you need to add water. For me it cooks just fine with only the sauce.
I followed the ingredients while Doubling the Chicken and Tripling the sauce but using only 3/4C Water (12Tbsp) however:
I also used 2lbs of Breast instead of Thigh, and I didn’t use the velveting technique (although I have in the past!)
I used 2 Green Bells, and 1 Red.
I also used a pack of scallions (cut in ~1″ pieces) and sauteed them along with the onion and garlic before adding the chicken.
This was Delicious!!! Tasted just as good as takeout! I made this with sticky rice in my rice cooker (just add *slightly* more water than the normal level) as I do all my Asian dishes!
Quick, easy & Yummy.
I added carrot, broccoli & shallots as well as capsicum as I like more veg with mine.
It was great
I’ve made many of Nagi’s recipes, all have been hits! This one was particularly good. I made it with chicken breast, extra onion/peppers, subbed mirin (what I had on hand), and added a bit of szechuan pepper. SO delicious! Will definitely be making again.
Tastes like a restaurant meal but I get to eat it from the couch, watching the news with my Ugg boots on! Yet another quick, tasty and easy to follow gem of a recipe from Nagi.
you do good my family loves your recipes
Yum! Loved this – so quick and easy. I used carrot instead of capsicum and added some tinned pineapple pieces to offset some of the saltiness. So good!
I am sooooo happy I found this recipe!! Thank you Nagi, it’s another easy and quick after work dinner (especially if you have frozen cooked rice in the freezer!) and it’s absolutely delish.
I just made this for the 2nd time tonight and it was spectacular. My all time favorite Chinese recipe. I did add water chestnuts as I love them (cooked when I put the green pepper in). And the best part? I have leftovers for tomorrow which I hid in the fridge so the husband wouldn’t find it. Thanks as always Nagi for awesome recipes.
Oh stop !! This recipe is just waaay to delish ! No chance this would ge feeding 4 in my house ! Just gorgeous xx
Another 5 star success. Velveting is a key trick
What is the serving size? I couldn’t find it.
This by far was the best cashew chicken we have ever had! I used mirin and we doubled the sauce though did not have to! Reheated for lunch the next day and it was even better! Posted pic on Instagram, can’t wait to try more of your delicious authentic recipes, thankyou
I don’t have the right wine, so used mirin. Hubs doesn’t like cashews, so I added celery and carrot. This is delicious and the sauce is just perfect! I feel healthy in body and wallet!
I followed exactly except adding broccoli. We did tenderize the chicken using your tips on another thread, Wow, our entire family loved it and felt it was just as good or better than going out. Thank you!
Made this tonight. Added carrots, broccolini.
Better than Chinese takeaway.
Will make again. Love your recipes
Can this recipe replace the chicken with shrimp?
Every time I make this dish it gets better and better. Your tips have made me a much better cook for the dishes we love. This is definitely one of our favorites, but we never rule out trying anything that looks amazing, which is everything. My problem is any noodle dish I try because most times my noodles are a lot softer then we would like. Am I using the wrong kind? I usually get fresh ones from the Asian store and I’ve even tried to under cook them but are still softer than we would like. Any suggestions?
I use the Maggie dried ramen noodle cakes ,without the seasoning satchels, just soak them in boiling watwr