Meow Recipes: Cashew Chicken

Oh my oh my oh my – saucy, sticky, sweet and savory cashew chicken is here, and it was my favorite recipe I made this month, and this just might be the recipe that will pull you (okay, fine, me) out of the winter slumps with texture, flavor, and a little extra jazziness. It’s just a really fun recipe.

My version of cashew chicken is actually based off of this Cheesecake Factory copycat recipe, which is lovely and reminds me that although haters like to hate, I should probably get back to the Cheesecake Factory for a feast ASAP. Great job, Sabrina.

I made it essentially the same as her cashew chicken recipe, but just a little easier, and with a shorter ingredient list.

And what resulted was glorious. We’re talking about bite-sized pieces of chicken, breaded and fried into a nice little crisp, tossed with a quick, sticky-sweet, soy-and-garlic sauce, all brought together with a handful of cashews. Ideally this would be served over a pile of hot, steaming rice with a side of something of the vegetable variety (steamed or roasted broccoli is a fave). But more practically, you won’t even get that far before you start popping bites of chicken straight out of the hot pan.

Let’s make Cashew Chicken!

Step 1: Make a dry bowl and a wet bowl.

Step 2: Make the sauce. Very easy. Whisk and done.

Step 3: Chicken goes in flour, then batter, then oil. Golden brown chicken bites, coming right up.

Step 4: Sauce and cashews go in, and it is GAME OVER. Life feels happy again.

There is a 100% chance that anyone who is in a 10-mile radius will come running into your kitchen when they smell the garlic, ginger, and soy in the sauce as it hits the pan. It’s a good moment.

Check out our video for how to make Cashew Chicken:

Cashew Chicken

Author: Lindsay
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes
Yield: 4-6 servings

Print Recipe

Description

Saucy, sticky, crispy, sweet and savory Cashew Chicken! Just like your favorite takeout, but made easy at home. Served with steamy rice and broccoli.

Ingredients

Chicken:

3/4 cup flour
3/4 cup cornstarch
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon paprika
3/4 cup cold water
about 1/2 cup vegetable oil for frying
1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into small bite-sized pieces
1 cup cashew halves

Sauce:

1/2 cup hoisin sauce
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons white vinegar
1 tablespoon sriracha (optional)
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 cloves fresh garlic, grated
a small piece of fresh ginger, grated

Instructions

Make Batter: Mix the flour, cornstarch, salt, and paprika. Set aside half of the flour mixture in a small bowl. Mix the other half of the flour mixture with 3/4 cup cold water to form a loose batter.
Make Sauce: Whisk all sauce ingredients together. Set aside.
Fry Chicken: Heat oil over medium heat until a drop of water sizzles across the top. Dredge the chicken pieces in the dry flour mixture, then dip into the batter. Let excess batter drip off. Add battered chicken pieces to the oil. Fry for 2-3 minutes on each side. Remove from the pan and drain on paper towel lined plate. Drain out any excess oil from the pan. (SEE NOTES FOR AN EASY SHORTCUT ON THIS STEP.)
Finish: Put chicken back in the pan. Add sauce and cashews. Stir for about 1 minute, until coated and you can start to smell the garlic. Done! Serve with rice and maybe some roasted or steamed broccoli. SO GOOD!

Notes

Chicken Shortcut: I find dredging, battering, and frying individual pieces of chicken to be kind of tedious. So I tossed *all my chicken* together into the flour, then stirred up *all the floured chicken* together into the batter. From there, I dumped about half of it into the pan of hot oil – it’s going to stick together and feel very wrong, but you can work quickly and use two forks to break the pieces apart. And repeat with the other half batch. Done!

Type of Pan: Personally I like to use a nonstick for this to avoid the chicken getting stuck to the bottom of the pan.

Caramelization and Stickiness Level: If you like extra browning, caramelization, chewiness, and stickiness, let everything cook in the pan together for more like 5 minutes instead of 1 minute. Personally I like the texture of the sauce at 1 minute, but it does look really pretty with that caramelization.

Leftovers: They get a tad bit soggy but I still really enjoyed them. For best results, brown the chicken in a nonstick skillet for a few minutes to get some browning / crisping on the outside.

Category: Dinner
Method: Fry
Cuisine: Chinese-Inspired