Cashew Chicken Stir Fry is full of sautéed chicken, veggies, and crunchy cashews, all coated in a simple savory sauce.
No need to order take out when you can make your own at home! Serve this easy cashew recipe over fluffy rice or noodles.
Take Out at Home
I love a good chicken stir fry and one of my favorite take out dishes is this cashew chicken recipe! I decided it was time to learn to make it at home, and my version is cheaper, healthier and tastes better than what you’d order at a restaurant.
First, let’s talk about the veggies. I make this recipe with a combination of onions, zucchini, and mushrooms. You can make cashew chicken with other veggies too like
- celery
- green or red bell peppers
- water chestnuts
- broccoli
- carrots
Cook the vegetables until tender crisp (so they aren’t soggy) and then the chicken goes into the pan.
How to Make Cashew Chicken Stir Fry
- Chicken: I use boneless skinless chicken breasts for this easy chicken stir fry, which I cut into 1-inch pieces. You could also use boneless skinless chicken thighs like I do in Chicken and Broccoli Stir Fry. The chicken is cooked until golden brown, then the chicken and veggies are coated in an easy sauce.
- Sauce: You probably have most of the ingredients for the sauce in your pantry already. The exception might be the hoisin sauce, which is available in most grocery stores in the ethnic foods section.
- Toppings: Cashew Chicken is great topped with green onions, cilantro, fresh crisp bean sprouts.
- Rice: Put a pot of rice on the stove to cook at the same time you start the chicken stir fry. Everything should be ready at the same time!
More Great Stir Fry Recipes
- Stir Fry Veggies – A great side dish for any meal!
- Easy Pepper Chicken Stir Fry
- Beef and Broccoli – Classic take out combo!
- Easy Pepper Steak
- Shrimp Stir Fry with Zucchini Noodles – Loaded with fresh veggies!
- Easy Mongolian Beef – Reader favorite, this recipe is so easy and so good!
- Kung Pao Chicken
Crunchy Cashews
I add the cashews to this stir fry at the very end so that they stay crunchy. I typically use unsalted or low sodium roasted cashews; if you use salted cashews it could make the finished dish overly salty.
Next time you’re about to pick up the phone to order take out, try making it at home instead! This cashew chicken stir fry is easy, simple to make and totally delicious.
Cashew Chicken Stir Fry
Ingredients
For the Stir Fry
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil divided
- 2 small zucchini quartered lengthwise then sliced into 1 inch pieces
- 1 cup mushrooms quartered
- 1 onion coarsely chopped
- 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts cut into 1 inch pieces
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- ⅓ cup roasted cashews unsalted or low sodium
For the Sauce
- ⅓ cup chicken broth or water
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon hoisin sauce
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
Instructions
- Heat 1 teaspoon of the vegetable oil over medium heat. Add the onions and cook for 3-4 minutes or until just softened.
- Add the mushrooms and zucchini to the pan and cook for an additional 4-5 minutes or until vegetables are tender and just browned.
- Remove the vegetables from the pan, place on a plate and cover to keep warm.
- Wipe out the pan with a paper towel and add the remaining 2 teaspoons of oil. Increase the heat to medium high.
- Place the chicken in the pan and season with the salt and pepper. Cook for 3-4 minutes on each side or until cooked through and golden brown.
- Add the garlic to the pan and cook for 30 seconds.
- While the chicken is cooking, prepare the sauce.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the chicken broth, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, sesame oil, sugar and cornstarch.
- Return the vegetables to the pan with the chicken and pour the sauce over the top. Increase the heat to high and simmer for 1-2 minutes or until sauce has thickened. Taste and add more salt and pepper if desired.
- Stir in cashews and serve immediately, over rice if desired.
Video
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Dinner
Cuisine American, Asian© SpendWithPennies.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited. Please view my photo use policy here.
This recipe was easy to make and was delicious!
made this for dinner tonight and it was delicious, better than takeout. I added celery and omitted the mushrooms based on what I’ve had at restaurants and what I had on hand. I also tripled the sauce based on others suggestions and to soak into our brown rice. I’ll definitely be making this again, thanks for the recipe!
Excellent recipe! The only thing I would change is to not mix the sesame oil into the sauce, but to drizzle it over the finished dish once plated. This will allow the flavour of the sesame oil to really stand out. Sesame oil should usually be used as a finishing touch, not as an ingredient to be mixed in with other things in a sauce where the unique flavour will be lost in the mix.
Love this recipe! This is one of my go-tos! I always double the sauce, my kids love the extra sauce over the rice. They are always excited when they find out this is whats for dinner! :) Thanks for sharing!!
Some stated that it lacked some flavor so I decided to add fresh ginger. The ginger definitely enhanced the flavor and I also added a bit more sesame oil and minced garlic to the sauce.
Great additions, Clasina. Thanks for sharing!
I love love love this recipe! Easy to make. Lots of left overs! 5 stars
I absolutely love this recipe, I am so glad you show the measurements to triple the sauce. However, I am curious if this can be put in the slow cooker after browning the chicken.
I haven’t tried it so I can’t say for sure Heather but that should work just fine! If you try it I would love to hear how it turns out!
So, I precooked the chicken and veggies, made the sauce and poured it all into the slowcooker and put it on low. I think for about 2 to 3 hours. Just long enough to thicken then put on warm for my family as I had to go to work. They left me no leftovers and said it was delicious!
This recipe is so easy and delicious!
Made this for dinner tonight. So good…served over noodles
Fantastic, really tasty and a very authentic taste, well done
My husband really liked this but I didn’t. Thats the reason for the 4 stars instead of 3 or 5. I felt that it was pretty bland even though I tasted the marinade and realized it needed more. I put in a couple teaspoons of Oyster Sauce and some more Soy and Hoisin sauce. I substituted honey for the sugar but that shouldn’t have made a difference. Anyway, I normally love your recipes and just got done making the Pumpkin Cheesecake and it’s looking to be a real winner. Thanks for all you do and know that I appreciate your website more than I can say.
Sauce definitely needs to be doubled. Needed a bit more pizzaz!!
You’ve got some awesome Asian recipes on here, and this one is no exception! I lived in Asia for a couple of years and am always missing good homemade food like this. Thank you for your recipes!
I tried this recipe and really like it. I added baby corn, carrot and capsicum. Bit more chicken to compensate to make a bulk meal. So yummy and would 100% do again.
My favorite stir fry recipe so far!! Husband and I love it.
This recipe nails it. The only change I made was to add carrots and water chestnuts. The sauce is what really makes this a keeper.
Top notch
Flavouring right on the mark. Will add to my collection of recipes. Thanks.
Very easy and delicious, however, I would add about half more of each ingredient in the sauce, as I did not find it to be the most flavorful. I upped the ingredients at the end with the addition of some Sriracha and it was delicious!!