Better Than Takeout Cashew Chicken

This Better Than Takeout Cashew Chicken recipe will be your new favorite stir fry. It tastes like a meal from your favorite local restaurant at a fraction of the cost. I love how easy it is to customize with extra spiciness or a favorite combination of vegetables. With just a few minutes of prep work to chop and slice the vegetables and chicken, you can have a takeout style meal ready in about 30 minutes!

Some of the stars here are my best homemade stir fry sauce, tender chicken, and all of the crisp vegetables. I used baby corn, water chestnuts, broccoli, onion, red bell pepper, celery, carrots, zucchini, and snow peas. Those are all of my favorites, but this recipe allows for you to choose what you want. At a minimum, 3-4 different vegetables give the dish great flavor and color. There is plenty of sauce to coat the chicken and all of those healthy and delicious veggies too!

Once you have your chicken thinly sliced, and all of the vegetables chopped, drained, and prepared, you can get started with the stir fry sauce. Just whisk it together quickly with a fork and it was ready to go!

The first step for a good stir fry is using a wok or cast iron skillet and a high smoke point oil. I used peanut oil, and it turned out beautifully. Preheat the skillet over high heat and add in the oil. When it begins to smoke, add the sliced chicken and stir fry until it is browned and appears mostly cooked through, about 4 minutes. Transfer the chicken to a bowl.

Next, add a bit more oil to your skillet, and let it reach high heat again for about 1 minute. Toss the vegetables (excluding the snow peas) into the skillet when the oil starts to smoke again. Stir fry the vegetables for 4-5 minutes until the vegetables begin to soften, brighten in color, and have some little char marks on them.

Add the chicken back into the pan with the vegetables, and pour the sauce over everything. Toss to coat, and continue cooking until the sauce is just starting to thicken about 2-3 minutes.

Toss in the snow peas and cashews and stir to coat everything with the brown sauce.

Turn off the heat and continue stir frying for another minute or so until the sauce is thickened and the snow peas are a bit tender.

Serve with jasmine rice, and enjoy!

There is so much deliciousness in the crisp vegetables and savory, spicy sauce. My husband makes fun of me for insisting on using chopsticks any chance I get, haha!

The color, crunch, and flavor of this Better Than Takeout Cashew Chicken are well worth the bit of effort. This stir fry is great for leftovers too, assuming you have any! 😉

Better Than Takeout Cashew Chicken

Crisp vegetables, tender chicken, and the best stir fry sauce complete this restaurant-style cashew chicken recipe

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Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 12 minutes mins

Total Time 27 minutes mins

Course Main Course

Cuisine Chinese

Servings 6

Ingredients

  

• 1-2 Tbsp Peanut Oil for Frying (or canola)

Stir Fry Sauce

• 1/2 cup Soy Sauce (low sodium, if desired)
• 2 Tbsp Hoisin Sauce
• 1.5 Tbsp Oyster Sauce
• 1 Tbsp Chicken Broth
• 1 tsp Ground Ginger
• 3 cloves Fresh Garlic, minced
• 1 tsp Toasted Sesame Oil (optional)
• 1.5 Tbsp Sriracha Sauce (or less, as preferred)
• 2 Tbsp Cornstarch

Stir Fry Ingredients

• 3 thinly sliced Chicken Breasts
• 1/3 cup Cashew Nuts
• 1 cup Broccoli, chopped
• 1 small can Bamboo Shoots
• 1 small can Sliced Water Chestnuts
• 1 regular can Baby Corn
• 1/2 cup Thinly Sliced Celery
• 1/4 cup Sliced Carrots
• 1 medium Yellow Onion, sliced into large pieces
• 1 cup Snow Peas
• 1/2 sliced Red Bell Pepper

Instructions

 

• To begin, ensure all of the canned vegetables have been opened and drained. Chop and prepare the remaining vegetables and chicken. Mix together the sauce ingredients in a small bowl or glass liquid measuring cup.
• Once you have everything ready, add about a tablespoon of peanut oil and preheat a large skillet or wok over high heat.
• Once the oil starts to smoke lightly, add the sliced chicken to the pan and stir fry until the edges are browned and the chicken appears mostly cooked through – about 4-5 minutes.
• Remove the cooked chicken from the pan and transfer to a bowl. Add about a half tablespoon more of peanut oil and let the skillet or wok heat back up for about 1 minute.
• Add in all of the vegetables except for the snow peas. Stir fry until the edges start to brown and the vegetables turn brightly colored about 3-4 minutes. Add the cooked chicken back into the pan with the prepared sauce from step 1. Stir to combine, frying another 2 minutes.
• Finish stir frying by adding the snow peas and cashews just until the sauce starts to thicken and everything is well coated, about 1-2 more minutes. Serve with jasmine rice, or fried rice.

Notes

*This recipe can have many substitutions for the vegetables or oils. Use whatever you prefer or whatever you have on hand. Just make sure to use an oil with a high smoke point such as grape seed, canola, vegetable, or peanut oil, etc.

 

Keyword Best Cashew Chicken, Best stir fry recipes, Best Stir Fry Sauce, Better than takeout cashew chicken, Cashew Chicken, cashew recipes, Restaurant Style Cashew Chicken, Stir Fry Recipes

This recipe pairs perfectly with my Takeout Style Fried Rice! Seriously better than delivery or takeout, at a fraction of the cost!