I have no idea why this is, but Christmas always makes me crave Japanese and Chinese. Yup, not an Asian ancestor in me, but the holidays, a time we reflect on family and make family favorite recipes always makes me want Chinese food like our crispy honey chicken. I have never had cashew chicken at home, and I’m sure there are gobs and gobs of recipes out there, but this one is our personal favorite, especially because this is quick and easy cashew chicken. For real.
I adore cooking, but there’s nothing I love more than a delicious dinner that took no time at all to clean up and then busting out our pajamas and relaxing. It’s my favorite time of day. I loooooooove sending everyone upstairs to hop into pajamas.
Especially during the winter because it means I can really get cozy and warm. I have the worst circulation and unless one of you know of some secret way to fix that I depend on layers all winter long. In fact, even during the summer you’ll always catch me in slippers or socks because my feet are freezing. I can’t be the only one, don’t any of you love getting into your pajamas and snuggling up?
Are Cashews Tree Nuts?
Cashews, almonds, pecans and walnuts, are all tree nuts.
Most tree nuts do not cause allergies, although some people have allergies to peanuts and tree nuts.
Are Cashews Fattening?
Healthy Fats in Cashews are Not Fattening.
Most of the fat contained within cashew nuts is the heart disease fighting, cholesterol lowering, healthy type of fat.
Of course, overeating anything can cause you to gain weight.
Is Chicken Breast Lean Protein?
The leanest poultry is white meat from the breast with no skin.
A 3-ounce serving of cooked chicken breast has about 140 calories, 3 grams of fat, and 25 grams of protein.
Quick and Easy Cashew Chicken
Quick and Easy Cashew Chicken
Ingredients:
- 2 boneless, skinless, chicken breasts, chopped into 1″ cubes
- 1/4 cup flour
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 1 tablespoon ketchup
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
- 1/8 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 1/2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/2 cup cashews, dry roasted
- canola oil
Directions:
- Place the flour, salt and pepper in a bowl and toss with the chicken.
- Shake off any excess flour.
- Heat a nonstick skillet over medium high heat, add a drizzle of canola oil.
- Add the chicken and brown on each side for about 2 minutes.
- Meanwhile, in a small bowl, whisk the ketchup, soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil, garlic, brown sugar and ginger.
- Pour over the chicken in the pan and turn the heat to medium low.
- Allow to simmer for another 2-3 minutes or until thick and the chicken is cooked through.
- Toss the cashews in and serve over rice.
Nutrition Information
Yield: 4-6 servings, Serving Size: 1
- Amount Per Serving:
- Calories: 238 Calories
- Total Fat: 13.7g
- Cholesterol: 37.1mg
- Carbohydrates: 13.2g
- Fiber: 0.9g
- Sugar: 4g
- Protein: 16.5g
I made this tonight and it was amazing! I used boneless skinless chicken thighs. I made extra for leftovers and made 2 cups of sauce which was perfect! I added broccoli and used sticky rice from the freezer section. My fiancee loved it and this will be added to our favorites!
Thank you so much for the feedback and taking time to share your experience with us! So glad it was a hit!
I’d like to make this for my boyfriend as a make-ahead lunch for the week (i.e. it would be kept in the fridge a few days), should I omit the flour step or will it be OK?
Love the simplicity of this one. I had everything prepped in advance. When we got home I simply tossed the chicken in flour mixture & started cooking. I used coconut oil throughout. Added approx 2 tsp honey & doubled the Soy sauce. Also, some sliced green onion tops went in with the sauce. But the biggest addition was chicken broth, at least 1 cup. I found it was way too thick to mix with the rice. Hubby really loved it! Served it with a fresh asparagus. Think I’ll also try thighs next time. Thanks much.
Oh asparagus sounds like a great addition!
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I made this tonight and it was delicious! I added canned mushrooms and sliced water chestnuts for extra crunch. Best of all though, I quadrupled the sauce to have plenty to put over our rice! Yummy! Everybody loved it but there’s no leftovers…. :(. Lol.
We loooove to make extra sauce as well.Thanks for the great review!
This was a quick and tasty dish. A bit of child gives it a bit of a kick.
sorry, meant to write CHILI
Haha! Well a child can give things a kick sometimes too. 😉 Seriously though, chili is a great addition. Thanks!
This was fantastic! I have made many Chinese take out recipes at home and none have turned out this delicious! I forgot to thaw my chicken so I baked them frozen, and breaded the cooked chicken with whole wheat flour, and doubled the sauce. I will certainly have to double or triple the recipe as a whole next time for leftovers. Just wonderful, thank you!!
Jessica,
Thank you so much!! What a sweet comment on this long Monday night. xoxo
This was amazingly good!!! I subbed coconut flour for white flour, honey for the sugar, coconut aminos for the soy sauce, added a few dashes of fish sauce, and some red pepper flakes. Also added carrots and broccoli and served over cauliflower rice to make it paleo friendly. Will definitely make again. So so so good!
Emma, I’m so glad you took the time to comment so we all could try it your way!
I just found your website and cant wait to start trying out some recipes on my family! I have printed off a few recipes, and your print option works wonderfully but would it be possible to insert a small image of the dish in the print? I love to see what it will look like when I am browsing my recipe file … Thanks!
Great idea, I’ll write our plugin company and see how to do that. I’ll be honest, our old one did it automatically so I had no idea it wasn’t printing. Thanks!
Made this for supper tonight. It was delicious!! I doubled the sauce and added snow peas, scallions and green pepper. I’ll be making this recipe again for sure! thank you!
Love the addition of snow peas and I always double the sauce as well. 😉
I made this dish last night, and it was soooooooo delicious! I doubled the recipe, and used 12 thighs (skinless and boneless).
I have the same problem as Jeff with slow loading. Although this one is not as bad as 2 other recipe blogs that I subscribe to and wait patiently for because the food is so good! Carrian, if you have a suggestion, please email me too.
The best suggestion I have is to use Chrome and make sure you keep your cookies cleared.
Is anyone as frustrated as I am with how slow this site loads because of all of the pop ups and ads? Anyone know how to speed the load up or how to shut down the pop up marketing stuff so we can keep using it?
Hi Jeff, I’ve emailed you. Thanks for your concern. I do hope we can help you.
I think I have saved dozens of your recipes, but never have enough time or the right ingredients on hand to actually try any. I made this cashew chicken dish tonight and it was a huge hit! The ingredients are all pretty much pantry staples and it took no time and very little effort for my 11yr old son and I to make. We have a huge family, and it’s rare to find a dish out of the norm for everyone to love. This one’s going down in the recipe book for sure.
I loved the flavor of the cashew chicken but would suggest doubling the sauce.
I’m always on board for more sauce. Thanks Dee!