Cashew Chicken Recipe
A healthy take on Cashew Chicken, tender garlicky chicken stir-fried with red bell peppers and roasted cashews tossed with a flavorful savory homemade stir-fry sauce.
How to Make the Best Cashew Chicken
This cashew chicken recipe brings the beloved takeout classic right to your kitchen with a healthier, homemade twist. Tender chunks of chicken are coated in a light cornstarch mixture, quickly pan-fried until golden, then tossed with colorful bell peppers and crunchy roasted cashews in a savory-sweet sauce that rivals any Chinese restaurant.
The secret to this dish is the homemade stir-fry sauce, blended until silky smooth with tamari, maple syrup, sesame oil, and warming spices like Chinese 5 spice and fresh ginger. It coats every piece of chicken perfectly and creates that glossy, flavorful finish you love from restaurant-quality stir-fry. The shiitake mushrooms add an umami depth that takes this dish to the next level.
Whether you serve it over steamed rice for a satisfying dinner or pile it into crisp lettuce cups for a lighter meal, this cashew chicken is sure to become a weeknight favorite. It comes together in under an hour and tastes far better than anything from a takeout container.
Cashew Chicken
A healthy take on Cashew Chicken, tender garlicky chicken stir-fried with red bell peppers and roasted cashews tossed with a flavorful savory homemade stir-fry sauce.
Ingredients
Chicken
Stir-Fry Sauce
Vegetables & Toppings
Instructions
Prepare the Chicken
- Add the chopped chicken to a bowl or a bag. Add in the cornstarch and salt. Stir or shake around until fully coated. Set aside while you prep the ingredients.
Make the Sauce
- In a blender place tamari (or soy sauce), maple syrup, sesame oil, sherry vinegar, molasses, ginger, garlic, chicken broth, cornstarch, Chinese 5 spice, white pepper and pepper flakes. Blend until completely smooth.
Cook the Dish
- In batches, fry the chicken over medium-high heat with high heat oil, about 1 minute each side until just light brown. The chicken will continue to cook in the sauce so don't worry about cooking all the way through. Set aside on plate with a paper towel to absorb some of the oil.
- In a pan or wok with oil, add onions, garlic, ginger and diced shiitakes. Sauté about 3 minutes on medium heat. Add bell pepper, the sauce, the chicken, cashews and half of the green onions. Let the sauce bubble for about 2 minutes. If you want the sauce to thicken more, mix 1 teaspoon cornstarch with 1-2 teaspoons water and add, bringing it to bubble again.
- Add the rest of the green onions and serve over rice if desired. Also makes a delicious filling for lettuce cups!
Notes
- Use gluten-free Braggs Liquid Aminos instead of soy sauce for a gluten-free version.
- Adjust the maple syrup to taste depending on how sweet you prefer your stir-fry sauce.
- For extra crunch, add the cashews at the very end so they stay crispy.
