Thai Chicken in Cashew Sauce with Vegetables Recipe
This dish is a homemade version of a popular Thai stir-fry with chicken and crunchy cashew nuts. In Thailand, quick wok dishes like this are everyday lunches – a bit like our “pan-fried chicken”, just with more coriander and nuts. It’s great for a family meal, because the sauce is mildly spicy and creamy from the nuts, while the vegetables stay pleasantly crisp.
This dish is a variation on Thai kai pad med mamuang, popular in street food stalls where meat is quickly fried with vegetables and nuts in an intense sauce.
This is a homemade take on a Thai stir-fry where cashews play the leading role and give the sauce its character. The flavour is distinctly nutty and garlicky, but you can easily control the heat by adjusting the amount of chili. Thanks to simple ingredients, the dish is doable without any specialist shopping.
Why this version works
- The sauce is mixed in advance, so it’s easy to control its thickness and flavour in the pan.
- Searing the vegetables separately makes them slightly tender while keeping a firm center.
- The sequence – chicken – vegetables – sauce – nuts – protects the meat and cashews from drying out.
Chef's tips
If your pan is small, fry the chicken in batches – if it covers the whole bottom, it will steam rather than brown. Watch the vegetables: the edges of the pepper should catch a light char, and the carrot should still be slightly crisp when snapped. If the sauce thickens too much and starts to turn stringy, add a tablespoon of water instead of turning up the heat.
How to serve
Serve with hot jasmine or basmati rice; the grains should be fluffy so they can soak up the sauce well. Put lime wedges and chili flakes on the table so everyone can adjust the heat and acidity to their liking. It’s a great option for a quick weeknight dinner, as it takes less than half an hour from chopping to serving.
Watch out for
- Don’t turn the heat too low when frying the chicken – it will start releasing liquid and turn grey, without browned edges.
- Don’t add the sauce to a completely cold pan, as it will take too long to reduce and will make the vegetables soggy.
Substitutions
- You can replace cashews with unsalted peanuts, adding them at the very end of frying.
- Swap oyster sauce for thick soy sauce with a teaspoon of sugar, bearing in mind the flavour will be a bit less deep.
- Use broccoli or green beans instead of bell pepper, but stir-fry them 1 minute longer, until al dente.
Ingredients
- chicken breast - 400 g
- unsalted cashew nuts - 80 g
- bell pepper czerwona - 1 piece
- carrot - 1 piece
- onion - 1 piece
- garlic - 3 cloves
- soy sauce sojowy jasny - 3 tablespoons
- oyster sauce ostrygowy - 2 tablespoons
- brown sugar trzcinowy - 1 teaspoon
- rice vinegar or lime juice ryżowy lub sok z limonki - 1 tablespoon
- water - 60 ml
- oil roślinny o neutralnym smaku - 2 tablespoons
- red chili pepper - 0.5 piece
- chives or spring onion - 2 tablespoons
- rice jaśminowy ugotowany
Preparation
- Prepare the ingredients: cut the chicken into thin strips, the bell pepper into strips, the carrot into thin half-slices, and the onion into wedges. Finely chop the garlic and chili so they release their aroma quickly in the pan.
- In a small bowl, mix the soy sauce, oyster sauce, sugar, vinegar or lime juice, and water. Stir until the sugar dissolves and the sauce is uniform and slightly glossy, with no crystals.
- In a dry, large frying pan or wok, toast the cashews for 3–4 minutes over medium heat, stirring often. When they are evenly golden and intensely fragrant, immediately transfer them to a plate so they don’t darken further and turn bitter.
- Pat the chicken dry thoroughly with paper towels. In the same pan, heat 1 tablespoon of oil over high heat until it just begins to smoke. Add the meat in a single layer and fry for 4–5 minutes, until it turns white and some golden edges appear.
- Transfer the chicken to a plate. Pour in the second tablespoon of oil, then add the onion, carrot, and bell pepper. Stir-fry for 3–4 minutes over fairly high heat, stirring often, until the vegetables soften slightly but still feel springy when pierced with a fork.
- Add the chopped garlic and chili. Fry for 30–40 seconds, until you can clearly smell the garlic; it should stay pale. If it starts to darken quickly, lower the heat and stir so it doesn’t turn bitter.
- Return the chicken along with any juices it has released. Toss with the vegetables so the meat is evenly distributed and everything is clearly hot, with no raw pieces.
- Pour in the prepared sauce and cook for 2–3 minutes over medium heat, stirring. The sauce should thicken slightly, bubble in thick bubbles, and coat the meat and vegetables in a thin, glossy layer.
- Add the toasted cashews, mix thoroughly, and cook for about 1 more minute. The nuts should soften slightly on the outside but stay distinctly crunchy inside.
- Taste the sauce; if needed, adjust with a little soy sauce or lime juice. Serve the hot chicken over jasmine rice, sprinkled with chopped chives or spring onion – the rice grains should soak up some of the sauce.
Storage
No storage information available for this dish.
I most often make this stir-fry when I have leftover rice from the previous day – the sauce coats it so well that no one guesses it’s a “reheated” side.
