Since I never meal plan, I just like to have certain ingredients on hand. This chicken cashew stir fry was born from a night of staring into my fridge and pantry to see what I could make quickly. Chicken, some paltry cashews I had left to use up, and a spare bell pepper or two that had been in the veggie drawer too long. Along with my arsenal of sauces, vinegars and seasonings, I came up with this sweet and sour stir fry. Along with making some rice in my rice cooker, I can get this together in less than 30 minutes!
We all need to be fed with all of us hunkering down and staying at home right now. Even though I have more time for cooking while social distancing, there’s something comforting about having a few recipes up your sleeves that are quick, minimal and easy to get on the table. When life gets back to normal (hopefully sooner than later), we will appreciate these kinds of recipes even more.
Jump to RecipeThings I keep in the pantry for Chicken Cashew Stir Fry.
If you have chicken (breasts or thighs), sugar, vinegar, cornstarch, garlic and soy sauce, you could make a simple version of this. It would just be sweet and sour chicken basically. In my kitchen, I usually have some fresh ginger, either in the fridge or frozen whole in the freezer. Most weeks, I’ll have scallions and vegetables to use up. For the vegetable, I made this with bell peppers but you could easily substitute broccoli, snap peas, cauliflower or whatever you like, really. With broccoli or cauliflower, I’d suggest a quick blanch in boiling, salted water for about 2 minutes to pre-cook them. This is because the stir frying part is so quick and it may be underdone otherwise.
For the cashews, you can use either raw or roasted. If using already roasted cashews, I’d add them last, right before the sauce, just to warm them up. Raw nuts need a little more time to toast up. In all honesty, this is a great recipe even without the cashews! So if you don’t have any, don’t sweat it and make this without them.
What to serve alongside this Chicken Cashew Stir Fry?
I like just plain, steamed white or brown rice. The sauce gives this dish plenty of sweet, sour and savory flavor. Any type of noodle would be good too and could be tossed in at the end. The sauce will do a nice job of coating everything. If you are gluten free, I’d suggest rice noodles or riced cauliflower. Even zucchini noodles would work too!
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Chicken Cashew Stir Fry
Ingredients
For the Chicken
- 1 pound (454 g) chicken breasts, cut into a medium dice
- ½ tsp salt
- ⅛ tsp black pepper
- ½ tsp baking soda (it acts as a tenderizer)
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch or potato starch
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil or other neutral oil
- 1 clove garlic, minced or grated
- 1 tsp fresh ginger, minced or grated
- 2 scallions, whites sliced into thin slices, greens sliced into 2" piece batons, separated
- 2 bell peppers, de-seeded and cut into medium dice
- ½ cup ( 65 g) cashews, raw or roasted, whole or pieces
For the Sauce
- ¼ cup (60 ml) rice vinegar (or white, apple cider, champagne vinegar, etc)
- ¼ cup (55 g) sugar, white or brown
- 2 tablespoons (35 ml) soy sauce
- 1 tsp cornstarch
Method
- Season the chicken: in a medium bowl, add the chicken, salt, pepper and baking soda. Stir well to combine. Sprinkle cornstarch over chicken. Stir to coat each piece. Set aside while you prep.
- Combine all the ingredients for the sauce in a medium bowl. Whisk until cornstarch is dissolved and sugar is mostly dissolved.
- Heat a large frying pan or wok over high heat. Add the oil. Add the ginger, garlic and scallion whites. Cook for 15 seconds, stirring constantly. Add the chicken and spread out into a single layer. Don't touch it and allow to cook for 30 seconds. Stir and flip chicken pieces to brown other side. Stir fry for 1-2 minutes more until chicken is lightly seared and browned on all sides.
- Add the bell peppers and stir fry for 1-2 minutes. If using raw cashews, add them to the pan and stir fry for 1 minute (if using roasted cashews, add and only cook for 20 seconds).
- Pour sauce over everything. Bring to a boil (reduce heat if needed), stirring and cooking, until everything is coated and glossy, about 1 minute. Turn off heat and stir in the scallion greens. Serve immediatey over plain rice or noodles.
Notes
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Yum! This looks delicious! 😋
Thanks!! Hope you try it!
This looks so good! I loooove anything cashew. But my kids are allergic to nuts… do you think this would work with sunflower seeds?..either way trying it! Also love that it gets done in only 30 minutes
Sure, you could use sunflower seeds but maybe just top it at the end right before serving? You could also add roasted cashews to your portion only so you can enjoy some cashews. 🙂
This looks so good! Thank you for the recipe!
You’re so welcome!
This looks so good, thanks for sharing 🙂
Thank you!! Hope you are well!
Love cashews in a stir fry! And yet I rarely remember to add them. This looks fantastic! Thanks for sharing!
They’re great, aren’t they!? So much nice texture and crunch. Thanks for visiting my blog.