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Cashew Chicken - Delicious and easy cashew chicken recipe with tender and silky chicken in Chinese brown sauce. Homemade is so much better than takeout.
Chinese Cashew Chicken
There are many recipes online, but I am going to teach you the best homemade and authentic Chinese cashew chicken recipe that tastes just like takeout from the best Chinese restaurants.
The secret to becoming an expert on this recipe lies in the silky velveting techniques of the chicken and the sauce. Master those and you won’t need takeout again, believe me.
How To Make Cashew Chicken Silky
If you have been to a good Chinese restaurant, you would notice that the chicken is extremely tender and silky smooth – almost velvety. Yes, most Chinese chefs “treat” the chicken with baking soda.
Baking soda removes the potential “meaty” odor from the meat and tenderizes at the same time (learn all about it in my Cook’s Note). Pairing the velvety chicken with crunchy cashew nuts adds texture and tastes absolutely delicious.
Cashew Chicken Sauce
What kind of sauce is used? Like most Chinese stir-fry, the sauce is a Chinese brown sauce that is made of oyster sauce, soy sauce, water (or chicken broth) and sugar.
For authentic flavors, sesame oil, ground white pepper and Chinese rice wine are also used to make the sauce. Lastly, corn starch is added to thicken up this traditional sauce.
Tips For The Best Cashew Chicken
- Use chicken breasts for the best result.
- Do not skimp on the cashews – include loads of cashew nuts.
- The brown sauce is the soul of this dish, so get the best quality Chinese soy sauce and oyster sauce.
- Add red or green bell peppers and cook in a wok or skillet. Make some steamed rice to go with it and you don’t need Chinese takeout ever again!
Frequently Asked Questions
This recipe is only 515 calories per serving.
What To Serve With This Recipe
For a wholesome meal and easy weeknight dinner, I recommend the following recipes.
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Other Recipes You Might Like
Cashew Chicken
Ingredients
- 10 oz (280g) boneless and skinless chicken breast, cut into small cubes
- 2 tablespoons oil
- 5 slices ginger, peeled
- 1 small red bell pepper, or green bell pepper, cut into small squares
- 1/2 cup unsalted cashew nuts
Marinade:
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon Chinese rice wine, optional
Sauce:
- 1/2 tablespoon oyster sauce
- 3/4 teaspoon soy sauce
- 3 tablespoons water
- 3 dashes ground white pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon rice wine, optional
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- salt , to taste
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
Instructions
- Rinse the chicken breast with cold water and pat it dry with paper towels. Cut the chicken into cubes and marinate it with cornstarch and rice wine (if using). In a separate bowl, mix all the ingredients for the Sauce together and set aside.
- Heat a wok or skillet over medium-high heat with 1 tablespoon of oil. Stir-fry the chicken until it turns white (it doesn't need to be fully cooked). Remove the chicken from the wok and set aside.
- Add the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil to the wok or skillet. Then, add the ginger and bell pepper, stirring until you can smell the aromatic scent of the peppers. Return the chicken to the wok, then stir in the sauce. Toss and stir-fry continuously until the chicken is fully cooked and the sauce thickens. Adjust the seasoning with salt to taste.
- Add the cashew nuts and stir quickly to combine. Dish out and serve immediately with steamed rice.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Just made this and it came out superb. Easily matching restaurant quality.
I love all your recipes, i live in Netherlands, married with a chinese-dutch and i’m romanian :) , i love to cook asian, your recipes are perfect, when i need a new idea i’m searching on your page and…go to market :). Thank you for all the hard work you are doing and for sharing everything with us!
Thanks Bianca.
Made this yesterday, what a hit it was. Your recipe was delicious. Cashew chicken has always been my wife’s favorite and this did not disappoint.
Oh My GOD just made this..Thank you sooo much what a little ripper of a dish..Absolutely delicious. I just love your site..Thank you again.
Just a question regarding the marinating of the chicken in baking soda. Do I just sprinkle it over the top of the chicken pieces & stir to combine, or do you cover the chicken with water & add the baking soda to the water? How do I ensure the baking soda is not just stuck to one or two pieces of chicken?
Sprinkle on the chicken and stir to combine. You rinse the baking soda off with water thoroughly.
What a joy, finding your web site. Circumstances have me setting up home as a single person, on fixed income, trying to keep a balanced diet – learning to cook for my self. You are right about the overly Americanized recipes that most Chinese restaurants serve. The problem with cooking at home is it takes a lot of pots, pans, cookers, etc. and a lot of preparation. Your recipes have been easy to follow, simple steps laid out clearly, and with a few simple (but important) tools, mainly a good wok and a couple accessories – the recipes I have tried all came out great. I would like to see more Asian recipes like steamed fish. Surprisingly – I have had a difficult time finding a good bamboo steamer. It’s on my list as well as a good rice steamer. I do pretty well with a small stove top pot – but I know what a good ricer can do and I am working my way to get that into my kitchen.
Beside your recipes tasting better than what I would get in a restaurant – it is far more economical doing it yourself, and far more healthier. The expanse and range of recipes you offer are great. It expands the palette and keeps cooking from being boring. It encourages buying fresh vegetables – which, when you living alone can easily become something you quit doing. I hated going to the grocery store and buying the same old stuff over and over again. Now my trips are far more interesting as I shop knowing exactly what meal I am planning.
It is nice to have a spice cabinet with a big range of spices instead of just a salt and pepper shaker. I had never heard of oyster sauce but now it is also one of my secret weapons.
Thanks, you effort is greatly appreciated
Hi Dennis, thanks for your sweet note. I do have steamed fish recipe, this one tastes like it’s straight from an authentic Chinese restaurant: https://rasamalaysia.com/steamed-fish-recipe/
Loved this dish, thought it was perfect exactly as published, then hubs-my masterchef-complained the flavor was too light. Should I marinate the meat in the sauce? Any suggestions?
If the flavor is too light, you can add a little of soy sauce to marinade the chicken, or you can increase the oyster sauce in the Sauce.
Can you place a “Print” button on your recipies? I’d love to print them out with the picture but can’t really do it on your site now. Thanks.
The print button is on the top right corner before the recipe starts here: https://rasamalaysia.com/chinese-food-recipe-cashew-chicken/2/
To print recipes, please register an account and you can print all of them. Thanks!
It would be nice if you could type the recipe in bold, it does not print out well. Also, the sliced ginger: how big are the slices supposed to be.
Really doesn’t matter about the ginger slices, big or small is fine.
Tried the baking soda on the chicken today. The chicken dish turned out really tender. Thank you for sharing the secret tip!