Tender, juicy pieces of chicken and toasted cashews are tossed in a sticky sweet-but-savory garlic sauce in this Cashew Chicken recipe. Ready in just 30 minutes, it’s both faster and tastier than takeout!
Cashew chicken is one of my favorite Chinese takeout recipes, right up there with Hunan chicken and General Tso’s chicken. This copycat recipe is based on my favorite Chinese restaurant, with crispy, tender pieces of chicken and toasted pecans tossed in a sweet and savory garlic sauce. I love the contrast of the crunchy cashews with the tender chicken and sticky sauce. This has become a family favorite served over rice with a side of steamed veggies for a quick, easy, and flavorful weeknight dinner.
Why I Love This Cashew Chicken Recipe
- Faster than takeout. It takes just 35 minutes to get this cashew chicken on the table. For me, that’s less time than calling and ordering takeout or delivery and the end result is much more flavorful too.
- Tender, juicy chicken. Coating the chicken in cornstarch before frying helps achieve a lovely browned, crispy outside while maintaining a juicy texture inside.
- The sauce! The sauce is made with a combination of garlic, hoisin sauce, sesame oil, and soy sauce. It’s garlicky, lightly sweet, and nutty. The perfect combination to accompany the toasted cashews.
Key Ingredients
Let’s take a look at what’s needed to make this recipe. Most of the ingredients can be found in the Asian section at the grocery store. Scroll down to the recipe card below for the exact measurements.
For the Chicken
- Chicken – I used boneless, skinless chicken breasts but thighs work too. The cooking time may just need to be adjusted a bit.
- Salt & pepper
- Cornstarch – Creates the crispy texture on the chicken.
- Cashews – Roasting the cashews is one step in the recipe so start with whole, unsalted cashews.
- Cooking oil – Such as vegetable or canola oil.
For the Sauce:
- Garlic – Adds an earthy flavor and aroma to the sauce.
- Hoisin sauce – Adds a bit of sweet and salty flavor to the sauce.
- Sesame oil – Adds the nutty taste to the sauce.
- Brown sugar – Sweetens the sauce and adds richness to the flavor.
- Soy sauce – Adds salty umami flavor. I recommend low sodium if you are sensitive to saltiness.
How To Make Cashew Chicken
One of the best things about this recipe is just how easy it is to make. The printable instructions can be found in the recipe card below.
- Season the chicken. Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Toss with cornstarch to coat.
- Make the sauce. Combine the sauce ingredients in a separate bowl.
- Toast the cashews. Roast the cashews over medium-high for five minutes. Set aside. They will turn crispy when cooled.
- Cook the chicken. Heat the oil in the pan on medium-high. Cook the chicken in a single layer until golden. Cool in batches if needed.
- Combine. Add the roasted cashews and sauce to the pan. Toss to coat. Cover and cook for 5 minutes, until the sauce thickens.
- Enjoy. Garnish with spring onion, sesame seeds, and chili flakes. Enjoy!
Recipe Tips & Tricks
Here are a few tips for making the best cashew chicken ever.
- Roast the cashews. I like to roast the cashews in the pan and char them a little bit to bring out an extra smoky flavor. However, if you don’t like that you can roast your cashews in the oven. Just place them on a baking pan and roast them at 350 F for 5 minutes or until they’re fragrant.
- Add veggies. You can add vegetables like bell peppers, broccoli, zucchini, etc. for extra color and flavor if you want. Cook the chicken then remove it from the pan when it’s done. Stir fry the veggies until tender then add the chicken back to the pan and continue with the steps.
- Don’t overcook the chicken. Make sure you cut the chicken into roughly similar size pieces so they cook evenly. Overcooking will make them chewy and rubbery instead of juicy and tender.
- Make extra sauce. If you like to have sauce to drizzle over the rice, feel free to increase the amounts of the sauce ingredients by 50%.
Serving Suggestions
I like to stick with the Chinese takeout theme and serve cashew chicken over white rice, fried rice (chicken, shrimp, or plain), or lo mein noodles. For sides, I love crab rangoon or cream cheese rangoon and egg rolls.
If you don’t add veggies to this chicken, you may also want to add some stir fry veggies or roasted broccoli.
How To Store & Reheat Leftovers
- Fridge: Store leftover Asian cashew chicken in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days.
- Freezer: It can also be frozen in an airtight container for up to 2 months. Thaw in the fridge.
- Reheat: Leftovers can be reheated in the microwave or on the stovetop. I personally prefer to flash fry cashew chicken on the stovetop to reheat it because it helps crisp up the cashews, which become a little soggy when stored for too long.
Cashew Chicken
Ingredients
- 1 pound chicken breast boneless and skinless, cut into bite-size pieces
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- ¼ cup corn-starch
- ¾ cup cashews whole, unsalted
- 2 Tablespoons cooking oil
FOR SAUCE:
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 1 Tablespoons Hoisin sauce
- 1 Tablespoons sesame oil
- 1 Tablespoons brown sugar
- ¼ cup soy sauce
- ½ cup water
Instructions
- In a bowl take the chicken pieces, add salt and pepper, and mix. Add ¼ cup corn starch, and mix well to coat properly.
- Prepare the sauce by mixing all the ingredients given under the sauce.
- Heat a large heavy bottom pan and add cashews, roast them on medium-high flame for 5 minutes. Set aside, the cashews will turn crispy once cooled.
- In the same pan heat 2 tablespoons of cooking oil on medium-high heat until smoking hot. Add the corn-starch-coated chicken pieces in a single layer in batches. Cook each side until golden brown.
- Add roasted cashews and sauce, and toss until the sauce is well coated with the chicken. Cover and cook for 5 minutes on medium heat until the sauce thickens.
- Garnish with spring onion, sesame seeds, and chili flakes (optional)
- Serve hot with rice and steamed broccoli.
Last Step:
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13 comments on “Cashew Chicken”
Excellent! Had to substitute cashews with macadamia nuts. All I can say is there were no leftovers.
Thank you JP!
Tried this easy recipe last night and it was a big hit. No leftovers!
i’ve been looking for this recipe, thank you. plan on making it next week. I couldn’t remember all the ingredients, but this is basically what i used to make and it was wonderful… i didn’t know about crisping the cashews ..yum
This is very good and easy to make it will be a new favorite
Happy to hear that Richard. Thanks!
Amazing! Made this tonight! Added some sriracha to sauce and made with broccoli. So glad I looked for another cashew chicken recipe before giving up lol. I tried another recipe last week that use ground chicken (big fail). It never got crunchy and was more like sloppy joes after all the cornstarch. Definitely needs chicken breasts instead. This is so good!
Thank you Jae!
Really good! Retired and trying to make my budget stretch by cooking more at home. This was perfect for a date night in.
That’s great Alice! Thanks!
This may be a dumb question but is there any chance I could air fry this? It looks amazing! Just trying to avoid the oil. Thanks!
Hi Rachelle. Actually a smart question! I think that’s a great idea and should work well in the air fryer.
Absolutely scrumptious! Definitely a make again and again!