Quick Cashew Chicken
Well, I did it! I made it through my first Foodie February and blogged a recipe every weekday. It was definitely a challenge for me at times, but I thoroughly enjoyed all of the cooking and baking. I came up with a lot of recipes and perfected others. BUT don’t despair, I still have plenty up my sleeve and several upcoming recipes I am pretty proud of. I couldn’t give away all of my secrets in February.
I LOVE Asian food. Ok, let’s be honest, I just love food…especially ethnic foods. But, Asian food is definitely in my top 3. When I finally purchased a wok, I just about cried.
Growing up, Fridays were for Chinese food dinners. When I lived in Nebraska, there was this hole in the wall Chinese food place that TOTALLY served the best cashew chicken; Mings. Mings is still there, and whenever I visit my inlaws, I insist we get take-out from Mings.
Since we don’t have the pleasure of Ming’s take-out as often as I’d like, I had to come up with a DIY version. While this recipe isn’t exactly like the Ming’s version, it still has all of the necessary flavors. I not only wanted to create an at-home cashew chicken, but I also wanted to make it as healthy as I could. So this version has A LOT less sodium, and no corn starch to thicken the liquid.
Quick Cashew Chicken
Equipment
- Wok or large deep skillet
Ingredients
- 2 large chicken breasts chuncked
- 1 large red bell pepper chopped
- 3 large shallots diced
- 3 large garlic cloves minced
- 1 Tbsp fresh ginger minced
- 4 cups broccoli florets
- 2 cups matchstick carrots
- 1 cup unsalted cashews
- 2 Tbsp avocado oil
- 1 Tbsp sesame oil
- 1 Tbsp rice wine vinegar
- ⅓ cup low sodium soy sauce
- ¼ cup honey
- 2 tsp fish sauce
- sesame seeds for garnish
Instructions
- Cooking in a wok is quick work, so make sure everything is chopped up and immediately ready to go into the wok.
- Drizzle wok with 1 Tbsp of avocado oil and add in the chicken. Cook thoroughly. Season with ground black pepper and then remove from the wok temporarily.
- Again drizzle in the other Tbsp of avocado oil and the sesame oil. Add in the broccoli florets and the bell pepper. These vegetables take a little longer to cook, stir and toss for 5 minutes until the broccoli begins to tender and the color of the broccoli and pepper are bright.
- Add in the cashews, carrots, shallot, garlic, and ginger and saute for another 3-4 minutes; stirring often so the vegetables don't burn on the bottom of the wok. Add back in the chicken.
- Stir the vegetables and chicken to combine, then add in the soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, fish sauce, and honey. If you have Mike's Hot Honey, then that is even better! If you only have regular honey and you want a spicy kick, add in some sriracha sauce. Saute for another couple of minutes to let the flavors meld. Then serve immediately over sticky rice or noodles.
Nutrition
I am telling you, you NEED Mike’s Hot Honey in your life! Spicy and sweet, the best part is it is tasty on anything. Toast, PB/honey sandwiches, cornbread, chili, Chinese food…I wouldn’t put it on my spaghetti…but maybe you would.
If you recreate this recipe, then please tag me in your post. I love seeing other people’s spin on my recipes. Hope y’all have an amazing week!
