Description
A healthy take on Cashew Chicken, tender garlicky chicken stir-fried with red bell peppers and roasted cashews tossed with a flavorful savory homemade stir-fry sauce.
Ingredients
Units
Scale
Chicken
- 1 pound chicken thighs or breast, cut into 1 inch chunks
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Stir-fry Sauce
- 3 tablespoons low sodium tamari or soy sauce (or gluten-free Braggs Liquid Aminos)
- 3 tablespoons maple syrup (or honey) adjust to taste
- 2 teaspoons sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon sherry vinegar (or Chinese cooing wine or rice vinegar)
- 2 teaspoon molasses
- 1 teaspoon fresh ginger root, sliced
- 1 garlic clove
- 1/4 cup chicken broth
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- 1/8 teaspoon Chinese 5 spice
- 1/8 teaspoon white pepper (optional)
- a pinch or two of pepper flakes for spice or a squirt of sriracha
Stirfry
- 1/2 cup onion, chopped
- 4 large garlic cloves, roughly chopped
- 2 teaspoons fresh ginger, finely chopped
- 1/2 cup (1 1/2 ounces) shiitake mushrooms, chopped fine
- 2 green onions
- 1 bell pepper, chopped in 1-inch pieces
- 3/4 cup cashews, roasted
Instructions
- Prepare the Chicken: Add the chopped chicken to a bowl or a bag. Add in the cornstarch and salt. Stir or shake around until fully coated. Set aside while you prep the ingredients.
- Make the sauce: In a blender place tamari (or soy sauce) maple syrup, sesame oil, sherry vinegar, molasses, ginger, garlic, chicken broth, cornstarch, Chinese 5 spice, white pepper and pepper flakes. Blend until completely smooth.
- Cook the chicken in batches, frying over medium-high heat, with high heat oil, about 1 minute each side until just light brown. (It will continue to cook in the sauce don’t worry about cooking all the way through.) Set aside on plate with a paper towel to absorb some of the oil.
- Stir-Fry: In a pan or wok with oil add onions, garlic, ginger and diced shiitakes sauté about 3 minutes on medium heat. Add bell pepper, the sauce, the chicken, cashews and 1/2 of the green onions. Let the sauce bubble for about 2 minutes. (If you want the sauce to thicken more, mix 1 teaspoon cornstarch with 1-2 teaspoons water and add, bringing it to bubble again.)
- Add the rest of the green onions and serve over rice if desired! Also makes a delicious filling for lettuce cups!
Notes
Toast raw cashews in a 350F oven for 10-15 minutes- don’t walk away!
The cashews will soften in the stir fry. Add them on top after cooking if you prefer the crunch. Or half cooked and half as garnish.
If you prefer you can skip the cornstarch slurry and add the chicken in with the onions and sauté.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cup
- Calories: 316
- Sugar: 13.3 g
- Sodium: 440.6 mg
- Fat: 5.1 g
- Saturated Fat: 1 g
- Carbohydrates: 56.5 g
- Fiber: 3.5 g
- Protein: 14.9 g
- Cholesterol: 28 mg