Easy cashew chicken, served with jasmine rice, tastes absolutely delicious, and is a much lighter version of the original takeout Chinese recipe!
Raise your hands if you’ve ever trawled the internet, looking for a simply weeknight dinner recipe? Of course you have! We all have. Much as I like to make a nice and elaborate meal, and follow recipes that often begin with ‘ browning the onions’ and approximately 20 steps later, end with ‘layering the rice, meat and browned onions’, I like keeping my weeknights simple. As do many of us.
I have a weakness for Chinese food, and back when we lived in India, Chinese takeout used to be a much-awaited Friday night meal, at the end of a hectic work-week.
In the Swiss town that we live in, Baden, there are a handful of Chinese takeaway places, none of which come anywhere close to the Chinese restaurants we were so content to order from, back in India. And Chinese takeout at Swiss prices – that’s a story for another day. So, to summarize, Chinese take-out isn’t really a viable option here. But the cravings need to be satisfied, and with a few pantry supplies, on a rainy day this week, this meal came together to satisfy all those longings for a nice little Chinese-inspired meal.
What do I need to make this Easy Cashew Chicken?
If your pantry supplies include soy-sauce, oyster sauce and rice vinegar, you don’t have to stress a bit. Whip up a Chinese-takeout style cashew chicken in under 30 minutes, without breaking a sweat. Serve it with jasmine rice and sit back and enjoy a delicious meal.
A healthier version of takeout cashew chicken
This easy cashew chicken is also pretty good for you. Now I’m no nutrition expert, but it has chicken, veggies and nuts. And rice. And its made with low-sodium soy sauce. That makes it healthy enough in my books!
If you’d like more weeknight recipes with chicken, here are a few you could try. I guarantee they are delicious!
Chicken cooked in spinach (Saag Murgh)
Chicken with za’atar and pomegranate molasses
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Easy Cashew Chicken
Ingredients
- 20 lbs (600 grams) skinless chicken breasts cut into small cubes
- 2 large bell peppers chopped into cubes
- 1/2 cup peanut butter
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped ginger
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 3/4 cup cashews
For the sauce:
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 3 teaspoons oyster sauce
- 3 teaspoons low-sodium soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon rice vinegar
- 1 teaspoon honey
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
To serve:
- Cooked Jasmine rice cook as per instructions on the pack
- 2 scallions or spring onions
Instructions
- Start by pre-heating the oven to 200C (390 F)
- In a large mixing bowl, mix together the chicken cubes, chopped bell peppers, peanut butter, sesame oil, ginger and garlic. Give it a good mix, so that the chicken and the veggies are well coated with the condiments.
- In a large baking sheet lined with foil, turn out the well-coated chicken and veggies, and bake for 5 minutes at 200 C (390 F).
- After 5 minutes, take out the sheet. The juices from the chicken will be running in the pan. Give the chicken and veggies a good mix with a spatula, add the cashews and return to the oven. Bake for a further 5 minutes.
- While the chicken, veggies and cashews bake, make the sauce.
- Turn up the stove to medium heat and in a sauce pan, and all the ingredients listed under ‘sauce’.
- Give it a good stir and let it come to a simmer. Turn off the heat once it starts to simmer. The sauce would have thickened.
- Once the chicken-veggies and cashes are done, take out the baking sheet and place on the counter top to let the chicken rest.
- When you are ready to serve, combine the baked chicken, veggies and cashew nuts with the prepared sauce and serve with jasmine rice garnished with chopped scallions.
I love Indo-Chinese too; Cashew Chicken sounds so exotic! Love the fact that you have baked instead of stir fried..a must try soon!
Thank you Vanitha! It is quite the treat.. Hope you give it a try sometime!
I would love to devour this!! Looks so delicious and I love cashew chicken! Thanks for bringing this at Fiesta Friday party table. I hope you are enjoying the party.
Thank you Jhuls! glad you liked the recipe, thanks so much for co-hosting!
Looks even better than takeout 😀
Thank you so much! Glad you liked it Alex!
It is so nice to be able to create meals you love without relying on take out.
That is so true! I think this way, we eat healthier, and appreciate what we cook even more so.
That’s so true! I think that we we eat healthier and also appreciate the food we cook even more, by avoiding takeout
I hear you, I don’t know of any decent Asian restaurants in Aargau. (I live in Lenzburg)
What I dislike about making my own is how many opened and rarely used bottles I have to keep in my fridge: soy sauce, fish sauce, curry paste, rice vinegar, etc.
I do LOVE cashews, and I have been known to order “chicken with cashew nuts” only for the cashews 😉
Your sidh looks delicious!
Such a pity that there are no good Asian restaurants around! And for that reason, I make Asian at home more often now. Thank you Tamara!
your “dish”!
We rarely eat out as it is very expensiv but we do its oftwn chinese food.
Not to questioning your methode of cooking but can we fry the chicken in the pan instead of putnit in the oven?
Absolutely! The traditional way of making this is on the stove top, I just chose to make it in the oven so that its more convenient for a weekday dinner.
This was one of my first Chinese recipes I learned to cook after taking a Chinese cooking class many, many years ago. Your ingredients are similar but the method of cooking is different.
Yes, I tried making it in the oven instead of the stove top, as that simplifies the whole process, and there is lesser babysitting involved!
The chicken sounds delicious and better than any takeaway! It looks so fresh! Love the addition of peanut butter!
Thank you for sharing with us at Fiesta Friday! 🙂
Thank you Petra, I did my own take on cashew chicken and love the way peanut butter enhanced the flavour of the dish!
That looks so yummy! I will surely try this recipe as I love cooking chicken.
Cathy, newborn photographer
thank you so much! glad you liked it!
Although my kitchen supplies don’t involve the oyster sauce, I think this is an easy and tasty recipe – I´ve just saved it on Pinterest as an inspiration for those days I´m desperate and have no idea what to cook (although our fridge is completely full)
Hey this recipe sounds delicious! I really must try that.
I do love such tasty plus quick and easy take out alternatives. Your cashew chicken sounds divine and I would be happy to devour it without even thinking twice. Thank you for sharing! 🙂
I love easy recipes like this and this one looks so full of flavour!
Thank you so much, Amy!
i just love making recipes with cashews. This sounds so delicious, loving the flavors!
Thank you, I’m quite fond of cashews and related recipes as well!
Yum!! I love homemade “takeout” and this sounds so delicious!!!
Thank you, I totally agree!
I really like to make a tasty fakeaway, so much healthier and cheaper too. This dish sounds delicious and so flavoursome, the rice is the perfect side too. Don’t need to worry about weekend meals with a recipe like this.
Glad you liked it!