Easy Spicy Cashew Chicken recipe. Made with ingredients you probably have in your pantry, this makes a great weeknight dinner idea.
If you see me at a Chinese restaurant, you can bet that I will be the one ordering the Spicy Cashew Chicken.
In any other scenario, I will try new things. Go through the entire menu to find the best item and order it over and over.
But if there is Cashew Chicken on the menu? Chances are that is the best thing for my tastes. You really can’t go wrong with it.
There is this Chinese restaurant by our place that me and John would go to all the time, and order the same thing: Cashew Chicken and Spicy green beans. Every. Single. Time.
To save us the trip (and the extra $$ spent on eating out), I decided to try my hand at making it at home for the first time ever.
I am so happy with how it turned out!
Don’t be scared off by the seemingly long list of ingredients. The majority of the ingredients are pantry staples, and all the others can be easily substituted with what you have at home.
You can play with the amount of red pepper flakes you put into this dish to make it as spicy or as mild as you like. Me and John LOVE spicy food, so I sometimes add even more spice than what the recipe calls for.
This meal is ready in 30 minutes, so it makes a super quick and easy weeknight meal. It’s also great for lazy weekends, or for days you don’t want to spend a long time in the kitchen.
Who needs take out when you have this recipe? With this recipe, you can bet that I will be eating at home more often.
Spicy Cashew Chicken
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup unsalted cashews
- 2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken cut into cubes
- 1 Tbsp cornstarch
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
- 2 Tbsp avocado oil, divided
- 6 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 Tbsp rice vinegar
- 4 Tbsp hoisin sauce
- 1 Tbsp soy sauce
- 1/4 cup water
- 2 tsp red pepper flakes
- 1/4 tsp sesame oil
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350˚F.
- Place the cashews on a baking sheet in one layer. Toast for around 5 minutes, or until fragrant.
- In a medium bowl, toss the chicken in the cornstarch, salt and pepper until coated.
- Heat 1 Tbsp of avocado oil in a skillet over medium high heat. Cook 1/2 of the chicken for around 3 minutes, or until lightly browned. Transfer to a plate.
- Heat the remaining oil and chicken, and cook for around 3 minutes until lightly brownied. Return the first batch of chicken to the pan. Reduce heat to medium and add in the rice vinegar.
- Add in the hoisin sauce, soy sauce, water and red pepper flakes. Cook until chicken is cooked through. Remove from heat and mix in the cashews and sesame oil.
Pin for Later
This is one of my favorite takeout meals! I just took some chicken out of the freezer for a weeknight meal, so I can’t wait to make this!
Yay!! Let me know if you give it a go 🙂
I love the combination of chicken and cashews. This is so much better than takeout. What a great family dinner any night of the week. Leftovers would be delicious too.
YESS!! It is so good 🙂
I am definitely going to add this to my meal plan for the week. We all love spicy food, and cashews are always a big hit in our house!
I hope you do. It is one of my favourites!!
Mmm. I love chicken and cashews together. And add the spices and it’s a perfect meal. I get this a lot at restaurants but now I’m happy I can make your delicious meal when I’m home!
Yes! It is so good homemade too!! 🙂
Cashew works so well with chicken. One of the best combos ever. I’ve had it in a few other varieties, and it never disappointed. Really excited to try yours! Yum.
I absolutely love this combo 🙂
I am a sucker for Chinese take out too, and my fav is the sweet and sour chicken. Once in a while, I order cashew chicken. This will be a great quick dinner recipe since it’s done in 30 mins. Will be adding this recipe in my dinner rotation,for sure..
My husband HATES sweet and sour chicken. Otherwise I would order it a lot more often.
I hope you give it a go 🙂
I love cashew chicken and its always on my take out order. I ma so happy to find this recipe. I am bookmarking it so as to try it over the weekend after I refill my grocery.
It’s always on mine too!! Let me know if you give it a go! 🙂
This looks so so good. Am making this with soy curl real soon. Thank you.
OOh that sounds wonderful. Let me know how it goes!
YUM! This Spicy Cashew Chicken recipe would be a major hit in my house. This looks like a perfect weeknight recipe that would translate to meal-prep so well! Can’t wait to gobble this up!
I hope you give it a go It is one of my favourites!!
Yummmm! I love cashew chicken! I really appreciate the spicy flair to this dish. I love the prep is timely so I can make this for a weeknight. Thanks for the recipe!
This is perfect for weeknights. Thanks Amy 🙂
I’m a little late to the party, but this was a huge success for dinner last night and again at 2nd breakfast this morning! =)
That makes me so happy to hear 🙂