Give your stir fry night a new twist with this Thai Cashew Chicken. It’s an easy dish that’s bursting with layers of flavor and texture.
Just a little chopping, mix up a sauce, and a quick stir fry is all the effort needed to put this tasty and nutritious dinner on the table.
Sounds like a great weeknight dinner option!
Stir fry dishes are some of our favorite meals. They’re so quick, and so delicious.
We’re always cooking up a big variety of them, from Mongolian Beef to Thai Basil Chicken to our fiery Hunan Shrimp.
This Thai cashew chicken is anothger great one to add to your recipe collection.
What Makes This Chicken Stir Fry Thai?
There is a lot of overlap among Asian stir fry dishes. Although some are very specific to one region, others have variations from country to country.
Cashew chicken is one such dish. If you frequent Chinese and Thai restaurants, you’ve surely noticed a dish so named on both menus.
Although many ingredients are common to both cuisines, two of them make this recipe uniquely Thai.
One is red chili peppers, which are a Thai staple. The other is the liberal use of fish sauce, which is not as common of an ingredient in Chinese food.
Ingredients
- Chicken – boneless skinless thighs, cut into bite sized pieces and coated in cornstarch, salt and peppers
- Veggies – onions, bell peppers, scallions
- Garlic
- Red chilis – we used dried red chilis this time. If you find some Thai bird eye chilis in your local Asian market, they are a great alternative (use 3-4 of them, roughly chopped).
- Sauce – oyster sauce, fish sauce, soy sauce, dark soy sauce, sugar, cornstarch, rice vinegar, water
- Cashews
How to Make Thai Cashew Chicken
First, toss your chicken with cornstarch, salt and pepper. Give it a sauté in a hot wok until just cooked through. Add garlic, give it a good stir and cook for a couple of minutes. Push the chicken mixture to the edges of the wok.
Add diced onions, bell peppers, white portion of scallions, and red chilis. Sauté for a minute or two.
Mix chicken and veggies together, stir in cashews, and cook till veggies start to soften.
Stir in prepared sauce, cook for a couple of minutes.
Add green portion of scallions, and give everything a good stir. Serve over hot rice, or your favorite Asian noodles.
Can This Recipe Be Made With Other Meats?
Certainly. Try it with thinly cut strips of flank steak or pork loin or tenderloin (see our Pork Stir Fry post for tips on how to make stir fried pork very tender).
If you prefer, you can use chicken breast instead of thigh meat. However, rather than cutting it into chunks, we recommend slicing it into very thin strips, against the grain.
We can also see this working very well with shrimp. Give them a quick sear, about 1-2 minutes per side, then remove to a plate when cooking the veggies so they don’t over cook. Add them back in at the end.
What Other Veggies Would Go Good In This Thai Stir Fry?
Any of your favorite stir fry veggies. Think:
- Broccoli
- Carrots
- Snow Peas
- Bean Sprouts
- Mushrooms
- Green Beans
Storage and Leftovers
You can refrigerate leftovers in an airtight container for up to 3-4 days. Then just re-heat on the stove top over medium heat, or in the microwave.
You can also freeze it for up to 2 months, again in an airtight container. Thaw in the fridge overnight before reheating. Great meal prep option!
Cook this Thai cashew chicken the next time you crave stir fry. Just a few varied ingredients will give your dish all new flavors.
Once you try it, you just may find yourself going the Thai way more often!
Thai Cashew Chicken, on our Gypsy Plate… enjoy!
Try these other great Asian inspired dishes!
Bun Cha (Vietnamese Pork & Noodles)
Katsudon (Japanese Pork Rice Bowl)
Gado Gado (Indonesian Salad)
Korean Beef Bulgogi Tacos
Giniling (Filipino Picadillo)
Thai Basil Fried Rice
Kung Pao Chicken
Thai Cashew Chicken
Give your stir fry night a new twist with this Thai Cashew Chicken. It’s an easy dish that’s bursting with layers of flavor and texture.
Ingredients
Chicken
- 1.5 lbs boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut into bite sized chunks
- 2 Tbsp cornstarch
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
Stir Fry
- 2 Tbsp oil
- 3-4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 1/2 onion, cut into chunks
- 2 colored bell peppers, cut into chunks
- 4 dried red Thai or Asian chilies, cut into chunks
- 4-5 green onions, cut into 1 inch lengths, white and green parts separated
- 1/2 cup cashews
Sauce
- 2 Tbsp oyster sauce
- 2 Tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tsp dark soy sauce (optional)
- 1 Tbsp fish sauce
- 1 Tbsp sugar
- 1 Tbsp rice or regular vinegar
- 1/2 tsp cornstarch
- 2 Tbsp water
Instructions
- Mix all the sauce ingredients in a bowl and keep it aside.
- Toss chicken pieces with cornstarch, salt and pepper. Heat oil in a wok on medium high heat. Once hot, add chicken and sauté until just cooked through. Add garlic, give it a good stir and cook for a couple of minutes.
- Push the chicken mixture to the edges of the wok. Add diced onions, bell peppers, white portion of scallions, and red chilis. Sauté for a minute or two. Mix chicken and veggies together, stir in cashews, and cook till veggies start to soften.
- Stir in prepared sauce, cook for a couple of minutes.
- Add green portion of scallions, and give everything a good stir. Serve over hot rice, or your favorite Asian noodles.
Nutrition Information
Yield 6 Serving Size 1Amount Per Serving Calories 346Total Fat 19gSaturated Fat 4gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 14gCholesterol 138mgSodium 1213mgCarbohydrates 16gFiber 2gSugar 5gProtein 31g
Nutrition information calculated by Nutritionix.
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