This Cashew Chicken recipe takes less than 30 minutes to make and is healthier than the deep-fried recipe for cashew chicken that you get at restaurants!
This Cashew Chicken recipe takes less than 30 minutes to make and is much healthier than the traditional deep-fried recipe for cashew chicken that you get at most local Chinese restaurants!
It has the perfect blend and depth of flavors. It is lightly sweet, slightly sour and has just the right hint of soy. Topping it with fresh green onions gives it just the right amount of "bite". If you want to make it even better, you can stir some steamed broccoli in to the sauce at the end!
Cashew Chicken is one of my husband's favorite dishes to order at a Chinese restaurant and I love the flavor as well, but don't really like that the restaurants around me only make it where the chicken has been deep fried. I have had it deep fried and I have had it where the chicken is just lightly sauteed...and I definitely prefer it sauteed!
But Brad prefers a little bit of a "crust" on his chicken, so we came up with a compromise....I coat the chicken with pan-searing flour before sauteeing it. It gives this cashew chicken recipe just enough of a crunch without adding too much breading (although I do occasionally like some seriously-breaded Chinese food - have you tried my Bang Bang Shrimp recipe yet?)
If you have never heard of pan searing flour, it is basically just seasoned flour that you can buy at Wegmans. If you don't have a Wegman's near you, you can easily make your own pan searing four by combining 1 cup Wondra Flour with a tablespoon of sea salt and a tablespoon of black pepper. Using Wondra Flour is crucial because it doesn't clump as much as regular flour
Seriously - this dish took me only 30 minutes from start to finish. It is absolutely delicious and you should consider adding it to your weekly/monthly meal planning!
Scroll down for the recipe!
Ingredients
- 1 ½ lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts diced into 1-inch pieces
- 1 ½ tablespoon cornstarch
- 2 ½ - 3 tablespoon olive oil divided
- pan searing flour
- ⅓ cup low-sodium chicken broth
- 3 tablespoon Hoisin sauce
- 1 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 4 green onions chopped, whites and greens divided
- 5 cloves garlic minced
- 2 teaspoon fresh ginger peeled and finely grated
- ⅔ cup lightly salted cashews
- Red pepper flakes to taste
Instructions
- In a mixing bowl, toss chicken with the pan-searing flour to evenly coat.
- In a large skillet, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium-high heat.
- Once oil is hot, add half of the chicken, and cook stirring frequently, until chicken is is golden brown and has cooked through (about 4 minutes).
- Transfer chicken to a plate and add another ½ tablespoon olive oil to skillet.
- Cook remaining chicken until golden brown and cooked through. Transfer to the plate with the rest of the chicken
- In a bowl , whisk together chicken broth, Hoisin sauce, soy sauce, rice vinegar, honey and cornstarch until well blended.
- Heat remaining olive oil to the skillet over medium heat.
- Add green onion whites, garlic, ginger and cashews and saute until cashews are golden brown, about 1 minute. If you like it spicy, add some crushed red pepper flakes.
- Add the sauce mixture and season with salt and pepper to taste
- Cook, stirring constantly, until sauce thickens.
- Remove from heat and toss the chicken with the sauce to evenly coat.
- Serve over rice. Top with green onions
Kathryn Doherty
Yum! I bet this is WAY better than anything you can get for take-out. Plus, so much healthier. I love the idea, too, of adding broccoli in with the sauce. Such a great flavor base and such a great easy, weeknight meal - thanks for sharing!
Amy
My husband loves Cashew Chicken! TFS!
Jessy @ The Life Jolie
This sounds delicious- I love making quick delicious meals like this on work nights!
I stopped by from Inspiration Monday.
Renz
THis looks yummy. I love finding recipes for takeout that I love so that i can control the flavors more. Found with from Kathe's #you'regonnaloveit
Abby
I don't have a (decent) local Chinese restaurant, so I'm working on learning to make my favorite dishes at home. This looks SO good. I'm adding it to my list!
I'm hosting a link party over on my blog, and I'd love to have you link this up! http://winsteadwandering.com/alder-collective-link-party-no-2/
Pauline Molinari
Your cashew chicken looks delicious! Thanks so much for sharing your yummy recipe on the Monday Funday Party!
Vickie @Vickie's Kitchen and Garden
This sounds so delicious! I haven't ever heard of Wondra Flour before. It's always great to learn new ideas. thanks for sharing at the #HomeMattersParty
Emily @ The Benson Street
Love this idea for a yummy dinner! Thanks for sharing at the Monday Funday Party. -- Emily
Amanda
Yum! Thanks for sharing on the Creative K Kids' Tasty Tuesday. I look forward to seeing what you create next week!
Vivian
It looks so delicious and just takes less than 30 minutes to make.
It is so great idea, thanks for sharing, Mindi.