Use up some leftover grilled chicken breasts with this delicious cashew chicken recipe. Any cooked chicken will work for this, but leftover grilled chicken has a particular smokiness that makes this easy meal stand out. Over hot, cooked rice, serve.
| Prep Time: | 20 mins |
| Cook Time: | 10 mins |
| Total Time: | 30 mins |
| Servings: | 2 |
Ingredients
- 2 grilled skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch pieces
- 1 pinch salt and ground black pepper to taste
- ½ cup cold water
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 lemon, juiced
- 1 ½ tablespoons rice vinegar
- 1 tablespoon ketchup
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce, or more to taste
- 1 tablespoon packed brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons Asian chile pepper sauce (such as sambal oelek)
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 fresh hot red chile pepper, sliced
- 6 thin slices fresh ginger root
- ½ cup dry-roasted cashews
- 2 cloves garlic, sliced
- ¼ cup chopped cilantro
Instructions
- Season chicken cubes with salt and black pepper.
- Mix water and cornstarch in a bowl until smooth; whisk in lemon juice, rice vinegar, ketchup, soy sauce, brown sugar, and chile pepper sauce into cornstarch mixture, stirring until brown sugar has dissolved and cornstarch is free of lumps.
- Place a heavy skillet over medium-high heat; pour in vegetable oil. Add slices of red chile and ginger to the hot oil. Cook, stirring often, until oil is flavored, about 2 minutes. Stir in cashews and garlic; cook until cashews are lightly golden brown, about 2 minutes more.
- Lightly toss seasoned chicken cubes with cashew mixture in skillet until combined, about 30 seconds. Turn heat down to medium-low and pour cornstarch mixture into the skillet. Stir constantly until sauce has thickened, about 30 seconds. If too thick, add a splash of water. Simmer 2 more minutes to heat the chicken through.
- Adjust levels of salt, black pepper, soy sauce, and chile pepper sauce to taste. Stir in cilantro just until wilted, about 15 seconds.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 539 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 30 g |
| Cholesterol | 73 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 2 g |
| Protein | 34 g |
| Saturated Fat | 6 g |
| Sodium | 829 mg |
| Sugars | 12 g |
| Fat | 33 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
Super easy – pretty good sauce – toasted cashews are great
Very delicious way to use up leftover chicken! I made as written except I used galangal instead of ginger since I ran out. I found the spice level to be just right and the husband requested it even hotter next time. This came together very quickly in my wok and once you prep the ingredients it is a cinch. I look forward to experimenting with flavors and peppers. Thanks, Chef John!
Very good! I did use only a small amount of the hot pepper based on other reviews & doubled the sauce. I also added broccoli and fresh sugar snap peas for some veggies.
As with all Chef John recipes, fantastic. Would double the sauce next time.
The sauce was just what I was looking for. I added sliced peppers, water chestnuts & zucchini to the recipe. Because of remarks of to spicy, I used 1/2 teaspoon of chili garlic sauce. The meal had just the right amount of heat. I will make this again.
We loved this dish! I cooked the chopped chicken in a tiny bit of the sauce, which was doubled, to give it some flavor. After sautéing the ginger and cashews I threw in sliced red bell and chopped broccoli tops before adding the sauce. I used small salad shrimps at this time just to heat them, added the chicken to the hubs portion. Served his over jasmine rice. Cilantro and green onion on top were a great addition. Thank you! Will make again!
Both husband and I give it a thumbs up and will make again. I made with leftover rotisserie chicken (1/2 ), used Korean chili sauce, dried ginger and lots of veggies. I doubled the sauce. Excellent!
I omitted the cilantro. Overall good flavor. I had to adjust the soy sauce to give it more of an authentic taste. Also added sesame seeds at the end.
Delish! So flavorful and really easy..used rotisserie chicken. Only reason I gave it 4 was it was a bit lemony…will DEFINITELY make it again, maybe just use 1/2 a lemon and it will be 5 stars!
I would like to try this recipe without the ketchup. I added some veggies to this recipe since it didn’t have any, which was good. We all agreed that the ketchup gave it a little bit of a weird flavor.
The whole family, including toddlers, loved this dish. I did cut back on the spicy ingredients quite a bit though – did not add the hot red chili pepper and used about one third the recommended amount of Asian chili sauce; those who like spicy added some to their own serving. Other than that, all good as is!
I added 1 lb of sweet peppers for extra veggies, and consequently doubled the sauce. This was a winner in my household.
This was fair. I do believe that visually the dish would have looked better with a green vegetable. I backed off on the rice wine vinegar (I always use seasoned
This was fantastic! Thank you
Another amazing recipe from Chef John! We switched out the chicken with pan fried tofu, cut into strips fried 4 sides and then cubed it. Flavour was perfect. Will be making this one again
Loved it, Loved it….. So easy to prepare and wonderful flavors!
Made this today. Wanted to note that I didn’t have a lemon, so I used juice from half of an orange and omitted the brown sugar cause the orange was already sweet and it came out great!
It was great and easy
Too tart and spicy for me. I usually love Chef John’s recipes, but this one needs a little tweak. Next time I’m going to cut the vinegar by a third and leave out the Sambal entirely.
Too tart and spicy for me. I usually love Chef John’s recipes, but this one needs a little tweak. Next time I’m going to cut the vinegar by a third and leave out the Sambal entirely.
I made this with leftover turkey breast instead of the grilled chicken. Turned out great. I did back off the heat a bit from the original recipe. The cilantro is key.