Put down that takeout menu! This Cashew Chicken is a recipe that truly stacks up to your favourite Chinese takeout. And it’s incredibly quick and EASY to make!
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!
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!
Chinese Cashew Chicken
Watch how to make it
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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
- Beef & Broccoli
- Chop Suey (Chicken Stir Fry)
- Spring Rolls
- 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. 🤓
Made this tonight and it really did taste like restaurant cashew chicken! Didn’t have green capsicum so used celery and snow peas instead. Delicious. Have bookmarked the recipe and look forward to making it again. Thanks Nagi!
Hubby’s favourite Chinese takeaway meal though he did say it was too salty for him. Next time I may use a reduced salt soy sauce (instead of the lite soy sauce I normally use). Otherwise, another brilliant recipe. Thanks Nagi.
Hi Sharon, it could be the light soy making it salty – just stick to regular/all purpose here 🙂 N x
Thank you for the pictures with each step and the link to Velvet chicken. Dinner turned out so well – especially with your directions for the sauce. We added sugar snap peas and broccoli as well. Looking forward to trying your other recipes!
This was delicious and I’m so happy to be finding out the secrets to cooking these dishes. A definite family favourite!
the first time I made this I found it too salty too (I eat low sodium so I may just be sensitive to salt). but once I reduced the oyster sauce it turned out perfect for me. thanks for posting the recipe
Oh my goodness. This was amazing. Way better than anything my local Chinese could make. I used bok choy instead of capsicum. We loved this. I have but it on instagram and hopefully have tagged you correctly. BUGSYAU
Amazing recipe!! Wow! Better than a takeaway! I’m never ordering again! Never realised how easy and tasty it can be when homemade! Thank you!
Made it today. I love this dish.
This looks so darn good that if i didn’t have a roast in the oven right now I would be cooking this. (promise I did NOT lick the screen). Question – is Chinese rice wine the same thing as used here? I have that in the pantry but if it isn’t then i will definitely go get the other one lol. Thank you!
Like some others I found the sauce quite salty. To counter-act the intensity I added brown sugar (a tablespoon at a time) until the sauce was desirable. Hope this helps. Otherwise great recipe and the velveting technique is easy and worthwhile doing. Thanks!
Hi Lisa, sorry you found it too salty – can I ask what size tablespoon you’re using? N x
Hi Nagi. No worries I’m sure it’s all a personal matter of taste. I have and use measuring spoons and level it off on the back of a knife.