You’ll make this simple cashew chicken a part of your weeknight menu once you try it. It’s simple, quick and the kids love it!
A simple cashew chicken on rice is the perfect weeknight meal. Despite the many ingredients, there are three key steps: chop, mix, and cook!
This dish is full of flavour and nutrients and even my kiddos love the colours and flavours.
Preparing Simple Cashew Chicken
Ingredients
Meat
Chicken breasts: Chicken breasts are considered the white meat of a chicken. They are thick and tender when cooked just right. When overcooked, however, they become dry and tough to eat.
Produce
Garlic: Garlic is a bulb that is edible and is grown in soil. Though the green shoots it sprouts, called garlic scapes, are also edible, we are referring to the actual bulb that the scapes grow from. Garlic bulbs are made up of multiple cloves and depending on the variety you may have anywhere from 4 to 10 cloves, if not more. This is important to know because recipes will often call for a specific number of cloves which can vary in size greatly.
Ginger: For this recipe, we use fresh ginger which is the root of the ginger plant. It is native to Asia and is packed with antioxidants. Ginger is often used for medicinal purposes in eastern medicine and is packed with flavour. 
Onion: Onion is a very common vegetable that is used both raw and cooked in food preparation. It has a sharp flavour raw that often sweetens once cooked. There are many varieties of onions, some that are milder than others. We use the common onion or yellow onion in this recipe.
Bell pepper: Green bell peppers are the most bitter of the bell pepper varieties because they are harvested the earliest in the growing season. They are a deep green colour and are extra crunchy. Though they pack less nutritional value than their red pepper counterparts they contain a similar amount of protein only slightly less fiber. Green peppers also give your daily required dose of Vitamin C per every 100g consumed.
Pantry
Corn starch: Corn starch is a flour made from corn kernels. It is a white powder, finer than other flours and is most often used as a thickening, as it is in this recipe.
Baking soda: Also known as sodium bicarbonate, baking soda is a leavening agent that is alkaline, and is activated by acid in recipes. It gives baked goods a fluffy and light texture.
Soy sauce: Made from fermented soybeans and wheat, this Chinese condiment is salty and very dark in colour. There are many different varieties of soy sauce but we use dark soy sauce for this recipe.
Hoisin sauce: Hoisin sauce is a plant-based sauce that is used as a glaze for chicken or as an addition to stir fry. It’s slightly sweet and slightly tangy in flavour and has a thicker consistency, similar to barbecue sauce.
Stock: Stock adds the base for this
delicious sauce so the flavour it brings is very important. Make sure you don’t have one that’s too salty. If it is, reduce the amount of salt you add to the recipe.Neutral oil: They are called neutral because they have no flavour. These oils include sunflower oil and vegetable oil among others.
Cashews: Cashews come from the cashew tree making this nut a tree nut which is a common allergen. The tree is native to South America and is an evergreen tree. Cashews are rich in fiber, protein and fats. We use raw cashews for this recipe.
Long-grain white rice: Basmati and Jasmine rice are both types of long-grain rice as well as American long-grain white and brown rice. Long-grain rice stays fluffy when cooked and separates nicely.
How to Make Simple Homemade Cashew Chicken
This recipe is very simple, as the name suggests, so get all of your ingredients ready and let’s get cooking.
Step 1: Cook the Rice
Start by cooking the rice. If you are using a microwave, place the rice, water, and salt into a microwave-safe dish and cover with a lid. Set the microwave time for 20 minutes and power level to 60%.
TIP for setting the power level on a microwave: Most microwaves have either a ‘power’ or ‘power level’ button. The power level will be entered in either single digits – 6 = 60% – or double digits – 60 = 60%. If you haven’t used this feature before a quick internet search will yield videos for your specific microwave oven.
If you are cooking the rice on the stovetop, pour the water, rice, and salt into a pot. Set it to medium and cook for roughly 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
CAUTION: Keep an eye out to make sure that the rice doesn’t burn. You want to cook it just until all the water is absorbed, which may be less than the estimated 15 minutes.
Step 2: Prep the Veggies
Wash and dice the onion and bell pepper. I like to cut them into about ¼-inch pieces but this is up to your preference.
Next, peel and slice the carrots. I used mini carrots here so I just sliced them length-wise and then cut them in half width-wise. If I am using regular carrots I slice them on the diagonal.
Set the veggies aside.
Step 3: Prep and Cook the Chicken
Cut the chicken breast into a medium dice, roughly ½-inch cubes.
Add the flour to a medium bowl with black pepper and baking soda. Whisk or stir with a fork to combine.
Now add the chicken cubes to the bowl and toss gently to coat. I like to use two silicone spatulas to minimize the mess and get all the chicken coated well.
Next, add oil to a large pan and heat up on medium-high heat.
Once hot, add the chicken and sauté for 3 minutes per side.
Step 4: Make the Sauce
To make the sauce you can use a small bowl or glass measuring cup.
Add the soy sauce, hoisin sauce, and stock to a glass measuring cup.
Peel the garlic and ginger and grate into the liquid using a microplane or fine grater.
Finally, whisk in the cornstarch until it’s fully dissolved and there are no lumps.
Step 5: Sauté the veggies
Once the chicken is cooked, set it aside in a bowl.
To the same pan, add another tablespoon of oil and heat it.
Add the chopped veggies and sauté for 2-3 minutes just until the edges begin to soften. Stir frequently to prevent burning. Remove the veggies from the pan and set them aside with the chicken.
Step 5: Bring it all together
Finally, add the cashews to the hot pan and toast them for a minute or two. Lower the heat to low, add the veggies and chicken back to the pan and stir in the sauce.
Cook for 5 more minutes until the sauce thickens.
Substitutions
Chicken: If you’d like to make this dish vegetarian, simply replace the chicken with tofu and prepare it the same way as the chicken.
Green Bell Pepper: You can use any colour of pepper that you have on hand. If you don’t have bell peppers or don’t like them, you can use broccoli or celery instead. Or both!
Serving Simple Cashew Chicken
This recipe is for a whole meal so once the rice is cooked and the cashew chicken is done simply add some rice to a bowl, top with the simple cashew chicken and serve.
You can top it with green onions for some added colour and freshness.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is cashew chicken vegetarian?
If you use chicken then this dish is not vegetarian but it can be. Simply use tofu! Cut the tofu into 1/2-inch cubes and prepare it the same way that you would the chicken.
Let us know in the comments if you have any other questions. And if you like this recipe be sure to leave us a five-star rating below.
Are you looking for more dinner ideas? Check out our recipes:
Simple Cashew Chicken Recipe
Equipment
- Knife
- Large pan (11-inch)
Ingredients
- 2 chicken breasts
- 1 onion
- 1 bell pepper
- ½ cup carrot
- 3 tbsp neutral oil
- 1 cup cashews
- 1 cup long-grain rice like jasmine or basmati
Chicken Coating:
- 2 tbsp corn starch
- 1 tsp baking soda
- ⅛ tsp ground black pepper
Sauce:
- ¼ cup soy sauce
- ⅓ cup hoisin sauce
- 1 cup stock
- 1 clove garlic
- 1- inch cube of ginger
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
Instructions
- Add the rice and two cups of water to a microwave-safe dish like Corningware. Cook for 20 minutes on 60% power.1 cup long-grain rice
- Peel and roughly dice the onion.1 onion
- Wash, core and roughly chop the bell pepper. Peel the carrot and slice it into thin but larger slices. Similar in size to your pepper and onion.1/2 cup carrot, 1 bell pepper
- Cube the chicken breast into 1-inch pieces then sprinkle with ground black pepper2 chicken breasts
- In a medium bowl combine cornstarch and baking soda. Stir until mixed well. Add the chicken cubes to the bowl with the cornstarch and baking soda. Toss to coat using two spatulas until all the pieces are coated evenly.2 tbsp corn starch, 1 tsp baking soda, 1/8 tsp ground black pepper
- Add 2 tablespoons of oil to a large pan and heat on medium-high to high heat. Once the oil is hot add the chicken to the pan in one single layer. Cook on each side for 2-3 minutes.3 tbsp neutral oil
- While the chicken is cooking, combine all of the sauce ingredients in a glass measuring cup or small bowl. Add the soy sauce, hoisin sauce, and stock to a glass measuring cup. Peel the garlic and ginger and grate into the liquid using a microplane or fine grater. Finally, whisk in the cornstarch until it’s fully dissolved and there are no clumps.¼ cup soy sauce, 1/3 cup hoisin sauce, 1 cup stock, 1 clove garlic, 1- inch cube of ginger, 1 tbsp cornstarch
- Next, remove the chicken from the pan and set it aside. Add another tablespoon of oil to the pan and once hot add the veggies. Sautee for 2-3 minutes just until the edges begin to soften. Stir frequently to prevent burning. Remove the veggies from the pan and set aside.3 tbsp neutral oil
- Add the cashews to the pan and toast for two minutes then add the chicken and veggies back to the pan. Reduce the heat to low and stir in the sauce. Stir everything until it’s well combined.1 cup cashews
- Cook for 5 minutes on low heat stirring occasionally.
Looks so good! Can’t wait to make it!