Craving a warm, tasty dinner, but don't want to spend hours in the kitchen? This 15-Minute Spicy Cashew Chicken is your lifesaver. Juicy chicken, crunchy vegetables, crispy roasted cashews, and a sweet-spicy glossy sauce. And yes-it's ready in just 15 minutes.
Quick Cashew Chicken Stir-Fry with Sweet-Spicy Sauce
I used to make cashew chicken from a store-bought kit. It was easy and quick. Or I ordered Chinese takeout. But then I tried making it myself-and wow! So much tastier, fresher, and just as fast. Since then, I've never gone back to the kits. This is one of those dishes that quickly became a family favorite. It's full of flavor, easy to adjust to your own taste, and perfect for busy evenings.
The flavor of homemade spicy cashew chicken is deeper, richer, and far more satisfying. Plus, you can tweak the heat, sweetness, and crunch exactly to your taste. And the best part? It doesn't take any longer than heating something premade.
This is now one of our go-to weeknight dinners-and a favorite of the whole family.
What do you need for these Thai-Style Chicken with Cashew Nuts in 15 Minutes?
For the preparation of this spicy cashew chicken recipe with a delicious sauce, you need the following ingredients (you can find the correct amounts at the bottom of the blog in the recipe card):
- Chicken breast: boneless chicken breast halves or chicken thighs are both good to use for spicy cashew chicken. In any case, use boneless chicken.
- Soy Sauce: In this recipe, we use two types of soy sauce. Light soy sauce that has a salty taste (you can also replace it with kecap asin, low-sodium soy sauce, dark soy sauce, or Japanese soy sauce).
- Kecap Medja: And which is syrupy and sweet (and if you have nothing else then replace it with with a teaspoon of brown sugar).
- Oyster Sauce: This Cantonese sauce is dark brown and syrupy. And it is the umami of this Thai dish. It is made from fermented soy sauce, and it is flavored with oyster juice, caramel, and salt. You could substitute it with half the amount of fish sauce.
- Sweet point pepper: A point pepper is a bit sweeter compared to normal red bell peppers. If you have it in stock, you can use it too.
- Cashew nuts: The cashew nuts are lightly fried in oil, resulting in a delicious, full nutty taste, and you'll get crunchy cashews.
- Red Pepper: For the spice in this dish.
How to make this Easy Weeknight Dinner: Spicy Cashew Chicken Recipe
A recipe with extensive steps, the right amount of ingredients, and that can be easily printed, can be found at the bottom of the blog.
- Preparation: Mix the sauce in a bowl and make sure the sugar has dissolved. Fry the cashew nuts and the red pepper in the oil.
- Baking chicken: Mix the chicken with flour and fry until golden brown and cooked through, and remove from the pan.
- Vegetables and sauce: Fry the onion, garlic, and pepper, and pour in the sauce. Continue to heat until the sauce becomes sticky.
- Serve: Add the chicken, cashew nuts, and fried pepper to the wok and mix well so that the sauce coats everything. Garnish with finely chopped spring onion.
Did you make this delicious recipe? Tag #byandreajanssen via Instagram! I love to see what your creation looks like and regularly share the most beautiful photos of you! Did you like this recipe? Then leave a rating on the recipe card! Your feedback helps other home cooks and me enormously.
Need more inspiration?
- You can find video recipes on my YouTube channel.
- And don't forget to save the recipes on Pinterest, so you can easily find them again next time!
📖 Recipe
VIDEO
RECIPE CARD
Ingredients
Sauce ingredients
- 1 tablespoon light soy sauce
- ½ tablespoon kecap Medja
- ½ tablespoon oyster sauce
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 3 tablespoons water
Spicy Cashew Chicken
- ⅓ cup sunflower oil, olive oil or peanut oil
- 3 oz. cashew nuts
- 1 red chili pepper, cut into fine pieces
- ⅔ pound chicken breasts, In cubes of 1 x 1 inch (2 × 2 cm)
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon sunflower oil
- 1 onion, cut into rings
- 4 cloves garlic, fresh, squeezed
- 1 sweet point pepper, without seeds, in cubes of ½ x ½ inch (1 x 1 cm)
Garnish
- 3 spring onions, cut into strips
All my recipes are written both in Metric (gram / ml) and US Customary (cups / pounds). Here you can select which type of amount you would like to see.
Instructions
Sauce
- Mix soy sauce, Kecap Medja, oyster sauce, pepper, salt, sugar, and water in a bowl. Stir until the sugar is dissolved.1 tablespoon light soy sauce, ½ tablespoon kecap Medja, ½ tablespoon oyster sauce, ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper, ⅛ teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon sugar, 3 tablespoons water
Spicy Cashew Chicken
- Heat oil in a wok. Fry the cashew nuts for 1 minute until golden. Remove and drain. Do the same with the red chili.⅓ cup sunflower oil, 3 oz. cashew nuts, 1 red chili pepper
- Toss the chicken with flour. Fry until golden and cooked through (about 5 minutes). Remove from the wok.⅔ pound chicken breasts, 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- Drain most of the oil, add fresh oil, and fry the onion for 2 minutes. Add garlic and bell pepper and stir-fry for one more minute.1 tablespoon sunflower oil, 1 onion, 4 cloves garlic, 1 sweet point pepper
- Pour in the sauce. Let it simmer for 1-2 minutes until thickened.
- Return the chicken, cashews, and chili to the pan. Toss to coat with sauce. Garnish with spring onions.3 spring onions
- Serve hot with white rice or noodles.
Notes
- Fridge: Keep leftovers in an airtight container for up to 2 days.
- Freezer: Store in a sealed container for up to 2 months.
- Reheat: Add three tablespoons of water and reheat gently in a pan or microwave.
Nutrition
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