No-Marinade Cashew Chicken Recipe

Note: This cashew chicken recipe and post date back to 2008, but I improved the original recipe and updated the post in 2023.

Craving Chinese? You can make it at home. And a rich, tangy cashew chicken is a great place to start. Because there’s no way fried chicken mixed with a savory sauce, and topped with buttery cashews could be bad, right?

Why make this cashew chicken recipe

You’d make this cashew chicken recipe because:

• You want healthier Chinese food. I’m not going to say this recipe is healthy. There is a shallow fry involved, after all. But making your own cashew chicken, even with the frying, is likely to be more nutritious and have fewer additives than restaurant food.
• You want to customize your cashew chicken. See the notes for ways to customize this dish. You can swap out veggies, sauté the chicken rather than fry it, etc.
• Homemade is cheaper than eating out. Buy your boneless, skinless chicken breast at Sam’s Club or Costco and separate it into meal-sized portions that you keep in the freezer. While you’re in the club store, pick up a big container of cashews, too. That first meal will feel pricey, but you’ll have enough of the core ingredients to enjoy this cashew chicken dish several times.  
• You’re bored! Cooking is fun and it keeps you out of trouble. 😉
• You don’t have good Chinese near you. I live in Santa Fe, New Mexico. I can get a green chili cheeseburger at any hour of the day, but Chinese? Not so much.
• You’ve tried and loved our chicken stir-fry and you’re ready for something new.

Ingredients you need for cashew chicken

Here are the ingredients you need to make your homemade cashew chicken:

• Boneless, skinless chicken breast
• Flour, cornstarch, and baking soda to coat the chicken
• Eggs, also to coat the chicken
• Vegetable oil or avocado oil for frying
• Green bell pepper, white onion, and green onions
• Cashews, the star ingredient
• Chicken broth, fish sauce or oyster sauce, sugar, soy sauce, pepper, and cornstarch for the sauce

How to make cashew chicken

Let’s get into the how-to.

1. Prep your veggies and chicken

Start by seeding, coring, and slicing your bell pepper. Then peel and slice the onion.

Next, cut your boneless, skinless chicken into bite-sized pieces. You could go as small as 1-inch cubes, though I tend to keep them larger than that. It makes the coating process less tedious.

Now set out two shallow dishes. I like to use glass pie pans. In one dish, crack two eggs and beat them gently with a fork. In the other dish, mix:

• 1 cup flour
• 1 teaspoon cornstarch
• 1 teaspoon baking soda

You’ll want to set up an assembly line situation, so you can dip each piece of chicken in the flour, then in the egg, then back in the flour. Arrange a baking sheet or tray lined with parchment paper nearby, so you have a place to put the coated chicken.

Then, get to dipping:

• Coat each chicken piece in flour and shake off excess.
• Roll the floured chicken in the egg and let the excess run off.
• Roll the chicken in the flour again, shake gently, and set aside.

2. Fry the chicken

You can deep fry the chicken. I don’t have a deep fryer, so I shallow fried it in a large wok. I used the wok so I wouldn’t have an extra pan to clean — but it does take longer. A large skillet provides a bigger surface area for frying, so you won’t have to fry as many batches.

Whatever pan, wok, or skillet you’re using, place it on the stovetop and turn the burner on to medium-high. Add enough oil to cover the bottom. I use avocado oil for frying because it has a neutral flavor and high smoke point, but you can also use vegetable oil.

Once the oil is hot, add the chicken pieces to the skillet one at a time. Arrange them so they’re not touching each other, then leave them alone for 3 or 4 minutes. You should see the chicken pieces develop a golden-brown color on the edges. Flip them over and repeat.

Do a quick temp check with your meat thermometer to verify the chicken has reached 165 degrees F or 74 degrees C. Remove each piece from the oil. Set the chicken pieces in a single layer on a tray lined with paper towels.

3. Make the sauce

While the chicken is cooking, mix your sauce ingredients in a bowl:

• 2 cups chicken broth
• 2 tablespoons fish sauce or oyster sauce
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• 4 teaspoons cornstarch

4. Stir-fry the veggies

Now, heat a teaspoon of oil in your wok. Add the sliced onions and peppers to the hot wok and stir fry for 3 or 4 minutes. If you like the veggies crisp-tender, remove them from the wok. If you prefer softer vegetables, leave them in the wok for the next step.

5. Mix and serve

Add the sauce to the hot wok. Bring it to a simmer and let it thicken slightly. If you’ve removed your veggies, add them back in now. You can also add the chicken back. The chicken will lose some of its crisp, but the coating will absorb the sauce — which creates a nice flavor.

If you want to keep your chicken crisp, don’t mix it in with the sauce. Simply serve the veggies and sauce over rice, then place the chicken on top.

Sprinkle each serving with a healthy portion of cashews and sliced green onions. Add a shake of red pepper flakes if you like things spicy.

FAQs about cashew chicken