This 20 minute Cashew Chicken recipe is great for weeknights but holy crap. WHY must easy meals always be for weeknights. Make it this weekend so you have more time for important weekend things. Like napping.
Every once in a while I'll rediscover a recipe that I used to make all the time. For whatever reason I'll forget about it - oftentimes for years - until I remember it and think Why don't I ever make that anymore? And then I make it. Such was the case with this Cashew Chicken recipe. I hadn't made it in years then a few weeks ago I decided to make it. I had to come back to this recipe on my own blog to remember the ingredients. As I read through my own blog post of my own recipe I found myself doubting myself.
Thinking - 20 minutes??? There's no way this can be done in 20 minutes. You're a dirty liar Karen. So I got my ingredients out, set up a timer, flipped on my video camera and got to work. The results of that little experiment a bit later on.
I learned to cook chicken from my mother. Ergo ... I cook my chicken until the pink is gone and it's nice and moist and tender. And then I cook for about an hour more.
My name is Karen, and I'm a chicken overcooker. Always. You hand me a chicken breast, and I'll hand you back chicken jerky. And then I'll ask you to give it back to me so I can cook it some more.
But it'll be cooked and no one will die and we'll all continue to live the exciting lives we lead, unless you happen to choke on my chicken. Which is entirely possible, since it isn't chewable you pretty much have to swallow the whole breast in one go, like a trained seal eats a fish you throw at it.
Because I am chicken challenged, I've taken to usually cooking chicken either in thin slices, or small cubes. For some reason I don't feel the need to overcook my chicken when I do this. Although it's not a guarantee.
I really do have military precision when it comes to overcooking my chicken. I know the *exact* point I need to go over to make it inedible. It's a gift.
This cashew chicken recipe includes the much heralded chicken cubes. Enjoy.
20 Minute Skillet Cashew Chicken
You're gonna get some green onions and cut them where the white meets the green.
Then chop those up.
Open that can of mandarin oranges and toast those cashews. Grab your chicken dice it up, plunk it into a plastic bag with corn starch and shake it.
Finally you're going to heat the oil, throw the chicken, white part of the green onions and garlic and cook until the chicken is done to your liking. Not MY liking. Yours.
The cubes take about 3 minute to cook through but I like to cook them for 7-8 hours. Take your pick.
If you double the recipe you'll have to cook the chicken in batches because if you add too much chicken to the pan it'll steam. Bad. NO steaming. You want the chicken to pan fry and get crispy.
Once everything is cooked you're gonna add a massive splash of rice vinegar, some Hoisin sauce and water. Cook it up, remove it from the heat, throw on the green onions, toasted cashes and drained mandarin oranges.
Your dinner is done.
10. Serve on a bed of rice.
This is soooooo good you could fool anyone into thinking it took all day. If you *did* want it to take all day you could marinate your chicken in an asian inspired marinade prior to cooking it. Just a thought.
Cashew Chicken
Ingredients
- 2 chicken breasts
- 1 Tbsp. corn starch apx.
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 8 green onions
- ¼ cup Hoisin Sauce
- ¼ cup Rice Vinegar unseasoned
- ¼ cup water
- ¾ cup cashews toasted over medium/low heat in pan
- 1 can mandarin oranges 284 ml.
- Salt & Pepper
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
Instructions
- Toast cashews in pan over medium/low heat.
- Clean and separate green onions into white and green parts.
- Chop both white and green parts into 1" sections. If the white part of the green onions is very large around, also slice in half lengthwise.
- Dice your chicken breasts into even, bite sized pieces.
- Add cornstarch and salt & pepper to plastic bag.
- Plunk your chicken into the bag.
- Blow a little air into the bag, twist it closed and shake the chicken in the cornstarch.
- Fry your coated chicken, the WHITE part of the green onions and garlic over medium/high heat in 1 Tbsp. vegetable oil. You may have to do 2 batches to avoid overcrowding (and therefore steaming) the chicken. Add another Tbsp. of oil if a second batch is needed and remove the first batch to a plate.
- Once the chicken, onions and garlic are cooked, return it all to the pan. Add ¼ cup of rice vinegar and cook until evaporated. Add ¼ cup Hoisin Sauce and ¼ cup of water. Cook and stir until fully combined.
- Remove from heat and stir in the green bits of the green onion, toasted cashews and oranges.
- Serve on a bed of rice.
Nutrition
If you're making this, you can make as much sauce as you want. Just use equal portions of vinegar, Hoisin Sauce and water. If you want it a bit sweeter, add more Hoisin Sauce. If you want it a bit spicier, throw in a few red pepper flakes.
Go nuts! Make it your own! You're cookin'! YOU are providing food and therefore life to you and all of those around you! They would shrivel up in the corner sucking on carpet fibres for sustenance if it weren't for you.
YOU ARE STUCK IN THE KITCHEN COOKING, BUT YOU ARE IMPORTANT DAMMIT!
Wondering if I'm a dirty liar or a truth teller? Watch my Cashew Chicken Instagram story highlight where I made this recipe live.
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As you were.
SIx years later. Good recipes never expire. Simple and elegant. Delicious and healthy. Thank you
Nice job! Considering how easy it is I really don't make this recipe enough myself. ~ karen!
Looks yummy! Side note though, a lot of Hoisin Sauces on the market are not gluten free. Sub in one that is and it looks like a great recipe to feed my GF crowd.
And I always tell my family "Liver and Onions and Beans with Cumin!"
Hi Karen,
Made it tonight, sure enough is fast. My guy really liked it!
I stretched it with some tofu that was hanging around in the fridge. That tofu became wayyyyy more tasty. Great recipe !
Thanks Karen.
In passing, picked up a bag of dahlias today, but coud not go through with it. That and gladioli just don't sit well with me. Sorry! I might change my mind later, I can be fickle.. or swayed by you😏 so much power you yield, dont't you know?
Catherine
Funny, my neighbour walking by the other morning when I was in the yard casually said "I bought some dahlias" as she sauntered by, lol. I bought Glads for the first time this year and I'm still not convinced of them. :/ Just something about them I don't like but the colours were great so I succumbed. ~ karen!
Hey Karen, do you drain the mandarin oranges or ever use the juice instead of water?
Hi Eva! I normally drain the can but good idea! Using the juice would work well. ~ karen!
Hey there, just thought you might like to know that I made this using the juice from the can in lieu of water. And, while we all really liked it, it was a tad sweet for our tastes so next time I'll use chicken broth (if there's an open box in my fridge) or just water and maybe a bit of red pepper flakes. Thanks for an easy and tasty recipe!
Ah! Yes, Hoisin sauce itself is pretty sweet so adding in the sweet juice might just take it over the top. I like the hot pepper flake route. ~ karen!