Easy Cashew Chicken

IamMrsG · ‎08-29-2010

I shared a much bigger recipe for an Orange Cashew Chicken Stir-Fry a few years ago. It is a delicious meal, but I wanted a quicker preparation last night. Here is a recipe and tips from SimplyRecipes<dot>com that I tried and heartily recommend. Apparently, this recipe was not written by a professional, as there is a qualifier at the end that advises measurements are approximate. I cut the quantities down for one serving, and "eye-balled" them as I went along. The dish was delicious, so I certainly agree it's hard to go wrong.

Easy Cashew Chicken

Prep time: 10 minutes Cook time: 35 minutes Marinating: 30 minutes Yield: Serves 4-6

For the chicken:

4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves (1 ½ to 1 3/4 pounds), cut into 1-inch cubes

3/4 cup peanut oil or vegetable oil

3 Tablespoons chili powder

½ cup Tamari (or soy sauce)

½ cup honey

2 cups raw cashews

Salt

3 cups roughly chopped onions (about 2 medium large onions)

3 cups roughly chopped mushrooms

Optional:

1 to 2 teaspoons minced fresh ginger

1/4 cup chopped scallions, green parts only

To marinate the chicken: In a medium bowl, mix the oil and Tamari until the marinade turns dark brown (about 2 Tablespoons per breast). Stir in the honey, about 2 tablespoons for each breast. Add chopped ginger if using.

Sprinkle the chili powder over the chicken pieces so that each piece of chicken gets well coated. Add chicken to the marinade and stir.

Cover, refrigerate and marinate for ½ hour to several hours, the longer the better.

To toast the cashews: Heat a skillet on medium high heat. Spread the cashews in a single layer over the bottom of the pan. Stir until lightly browned, remove from heat.

To sauté the chicken: Heat a large skillet on medium high heat. Working in batches so you don't crowd the pan, remove the chicken pieces from the marinade and place them in the pan. Reserve the marinade.

Sauté the chicken pieces until just cooked through, remove from the pan and set aside.

Pour all the marinade back into the pan and simmer for several minutes (to kill any bacteria). Pour off all but 1 tablespoon into a clean, separate bowl and set aside.

To sauté onions and mushrooms: In the same pan, with the 1 tablespoon of the marinade, sauté the onions on medium heat for several minutes to soften.

Add mushrooms and continue to sauté until onions are translucent and mushrooms are cooked, several minutes more. Add some reserved marinade to the pan, if necessary.

To combine all the ingredients: Add the chicken and cashews back to the pan with the mushrooms and onions. Stir to combine.

To serve: Stir in onion greens (if using) right before serving. Serve over rice. This will keep for about 5 days in the refrigerator, covered.

Author's Notes: This cashew chicken is a good base recipe from which one can easily expand. Several people suggested the addition of some ginger and onion greens, which I agree works well and I’ve added in this updated version as an option.

I’ve also enjoyed it with some fresh chopped pineapple thrown in, giving it some sweetness. Others have added vegetables such as broccoli or snow peas.

Note that the amounts specified in the recipe are all approximate. But with these ingredients, in approximately the right proportions, it’s hard to go wrong.

You can marinate the chicken the night before or at least a few hours ahead of time. The minimum it needs is a half an hour.

Mrs. G's notes: My Planter's cashews were not raw, but I toasted them anyway which, I thought, woke up flavor. I brought the chicken out of the refrigerator about 20 minutes prior to cooking (I prefer to start cooking with nearly room temperature foods) and blotted off the chicken as best I could to get better browning and let the chicken get a good color. (Instead of caramelizing, wet foods steam.) Then during the sautéing of vegetables, scraped the fond in the skillet into them. Served over Jasmine rice.

In spite of cutting back quantities, I still had enough leftovers for another meal. That's not a bad thing.

Strive for respect instead of attention. It lasts longer.

KingstonsMom · ‎03-09-2010

@IamMrsG

OMG!

I had to follow your links to the Orange Cashew Chicken and the Banana Sour Cream Cake too!

They all sound so delish, I must have some!

Thank you for posting this/these!

You never know how strong you are until being strong is the only choice you have.

judy0330 · ‎01-03-2011

@KingstonsMom wrote:
@IamMrsG

OMG!

I had to follow your links to the Orange Cashew Chicken and the Banana Sour Cream Cake too!

They all sound so delish, I must have some!

Thank you for posting this/these!

Ditto!!!!

Kachina624 · ‎03-10-2010

@IamMrsG. You have so many wonderful recipes. It's so good of you to share them. Thank you.

New Mexico☀️Land Of Enchantment

doxie1 · ‎03-09-2010

@KingstonsMom

Her recipes are great. I love her pork tenderloin in dijon, almond stuffed chicken and cider pecan pork tenderloin too.

doxie

@IamMrsG Thanks for the great recipes

KingstonsMom · ‎03-09-2010

@doxie1

Hey sweet lady!

I love @IamMrsG 's recipes too, I have a lot of them in my recipe file!

OMG, you got my attention with almond stuffed chicken, I'll have to look for that one, I absolutely love almond flavor.

Good to hear from you, I wish you'd visit more often!

You never know how strong you are until being strong is the only choice you have.

IamMrsG · ‎08-29-2010

@KingstonsMom , @doxie1 , @Kachina624 , @judy0330

Aren't y'all just the nicest people?! Thank you for the compliments and the reassurance that you've enjoyed a few of the recipes I've shared.

Thank you also, @doxie1 , for the reference to the pork and chicken recipes. Your timing couldn't have been better as out-of-town guests are coming for a few days, and I have been scrambling to assemble a menu. I try not to repeat meals often, and you've brought to mind some I probably haven't made since I posted them here.

Strive for respect instead of attention. It lasts longer.