Easy Classic Thai Cashew Chicken Stir Fry recipe loaded with chicken, crispy golden cashew nuts and vegetables. Seasoned with a spicy, sweet, sour and savoury authentic Thai flavour. Incredibly easy to make at home, you just need to pair it with a bowl of jasmine rice to compliment the dish. Perfect dinner recipe that the whole family will love!
If you love quick and easy spicy stir fry dishes, you might also like our Thai Basil Chicken Stir Fry and Seafood Udon Stir Fry recipes.
What is Thai Cashew Chicken?
Thai Chicken Stir Fry or Gai Pad Med Mamuang is one of the most popular stir fry dishes in Thailand and is loved by people across the world. Basically made with tender chicken pieces, crunchy cashew nuts, vegetables and delicious stir fry sauce. Very similar to Chinese Cashew Chicken but Thai Cashew Chicken is spicy, sweet, salty, savoury and bold in flavour. Chinese cashew chicken is sweet, savoury and mild in flavour.
In this post, I'll share our recipe on how to make a Thai restaurant-style Cashew Chicken recipe, packed with authentic flavour. Taste just like you have had at your favourite Thai restaurant!
What do we need
Protein: You can simply use tender boneless chicken breast or thigh meats. If you are bored of chicken, you can swap it with beef, lamb, pork prawns/shrimps, or any protein you wish. Tougher meat takes extra time to be tenderized.
For the vegetarian option: you can simply substitute meat with firm tofu or Quorn meat. For stir fry sauce mixture, use vegetarian oyster sauce instead of oyster sauce and use regular soy sauce instead of fish sauce.
Vegetables: Onion, bell pepper, mushroom, spring onions, dry or fresh chillies are ideal to use. Feel free to add other stir fry vegetables like carrots, mushrooms, snow peas, baby corn, bird eye chilli, etc.
Cashew Nut: Crunchy roasted cashew nuts brings a rich nutty taste, which makes this dish very unique. We usually use unsalted raw cashew nuts and pan-roast with a bit of oil. You can also add ready roasted cashew nuts, roasted peanuts or almonds.
Dried Chillies: I usually use hot dried red long chilies, deseeded and cut into small pieces. Dried chillies has a smokey, spicy, sweet flavour which is ideal for this dish. You can also any of your favourite mild or hot dried red chillies.
Thai Stir Fry Sauce: Classic Thai stir fry sauce are salty, sweet, and savoury taste. To create this umami sauce you will need, light soy sauce, dark sweet soy sauce, fish sauce, oyster sauce, sugar and sesame oil. Add a dash of corn starch to thicken the sauce.
Dark thick soy sauce - Thai thick sweet soy sauce is ideal for this recipe, available in Healthy Boy, ABC, Lee Kum Kee brands. You can also use regular dark soy sauce or Kecap Manis ( Indonesian sweet soy sauce ).
Fish Sauce - is a liquid condiment used widely in Burmese, Thai, Lao, Vietnamese cooking, made from fermented anchovies or fish. The taste is salty, savoury, earthy and umami at the same time. You can add in many Asian soups, noodles and stir fry dishes. You can either substitute with light soy sauce or salt to taste.
How to make it
- First,add all the sauce ingredients in a small bowl. Mix it well and set it aside. Cut the chicken into small dices, gather and prepare all the ingredients.
- Next, marinate the chicken pieces with soy sauce, baking soda, corn starch, and sugar. Set aside for at least 15 minutes. If you have more time, you can leave for an hour.
- Heat the wok into low medium heat, drizzle 1 teaspoon of oil and saute the cashew nuts for 2-3 minutes until crispy golden brown. Then remove wok and set it aside.
- Drizzle a bit of oil in the wok and bring the heat over medium-high heat. Add the marinated chicken pieces and stir fry for 2-3 minutes until the chicken is cooked through. Remove the pan and set it aside.
- In the remaining pan, add more oil if needed and bring it to medium-high heat. Add onions and stir fry for few seconds, and follow with the dried chillies. Next add the garlic, red peppers and mushrooms.
- Place the cooked chicken back in the wok and pour the sauce mixture in. Toss well to combine everything evenly.
- Once the sauce become thick and glossy, turn off the heat, sprinkle cashew nuts and spring onions. Combine well with other ingredients. Serve immediately while hot with a bowl of plain rice or noodles.
Top Tips
- Do not skip the marinade process, marinating with corn starch and baking soda keeps the meat moist and tender.
- Prepare all the ingredients before you heat the wok, as this is a very fast cooking dish.
- Use large wok or pan to spead enough heat to all ingredients.
- Do not overload the pan, fry with batches if you are making for crowd.
- Make sure to stir fry over medium-high heat to prevent the dish from wet and soggy.
- Adjust the spicy level by reducing the dried chillies or use the mild chilli. If you cannot eat too spicy, deseed the chillies by cutting the top off and toss the seeds out. Then add the whole chilli instead of cutting into small pieces. If you love extra spicy you can also add fresh Thai birdeye chillies.
FAQ
This dish perfectly goes well with a simple bowl of plain jasmine rice, egg fried rice, or noodles. You can also pair it with Thai Tom Yum Soup, Crispy Fried Wonton, or Thai Drunken Noodles and make it a perfect Thai banquet dinner.
Both dishes are very similar in general. Chinese cashew chicken is sweet and savoury in taste is usually made with chicken, cashew nuts, and bell peppers. The sauce consists of sugar, soy sauce, oyster sauce, sesame oil, and Shaoxing Chinese cooking rice wine.
Thai Cashew Chicken is originally is a Chinese dish but in Thailand, Thai recreated with a spicy version of it with extra chillies and a splash of fish sauce. If you wish to make it a less spicy or kid-friendly version, you can omit the chillies.
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📖 Recipe
Thai Cashew Chicken Stir Fry Recipe
Ingredients
Ingredients
- 400 g Chicken breast About 14oz, Boneless chicken breast/thigh, cut small cubes.
- 80 g Raw cashew nuts About half cup or use roasted cashew nuts
- 3 cloves Garlic Finely chopped
- ½ Onion Cut small dices
- 8-10 Dried Chillies Deseeded and cut small pieces,
- 100 g Mushroom About 3.5 oz, Straw, button, white mushrooms, etc
- ½ Bell Pepper Cut small squares
- 3-4 Spring Onion cut 2'' pieces
- 2-3 tbsp Vegetable oil Peanut, canola, sunflower, or neutral flavour oil
Marinate for Chicken
- 1 tsp Light soy sauce Or regular soy sauce
- ½ tsp Baking Soda
- 1 tsp Corn starch
- 1 tsp Sugar
Stir Fry Sauce
- 1 tbsp Light soy sauce Or regular soy sauce
- 1 tsp Dark sweet soy sauce Or dark soy sauce or Kecap Manis
- 1 tbsp Fish sauce
- 2 tbsp Oyster sauce
- 1 tsp Sesame oil
- 2 tsp Sugar
- ½ tsp Corn starch
Instructions
- First, add all the sauce ingredients to a small bowl. Mix it well and set it aside. Cut the chicken into small dices, gather, and prepare all the ingredients.
- Next, marinate the chicken pieces with soy sauce, baking soda, corn starch, and sugar. Set aside for at least 15 minutes. If you have more time, you can leave for an hour.
- Heat the wok into low medium heat, drizzle 1 teaspoon of oil and saute the cashew nuts for 2-3 minutes until crispy golden brown. Then remove wok and set it aside.
- Drizzle a bit of oil in the wok and bring the heat over medium-high heat. Add the marinated chicken pieces and stir fry for 2-3 minutes until the chicken is cooked through. Remove the pan and set it aside.
- In the remaining pan, add more oil if needed and bring it to medium-high heat. Add onions and stir fry for few seconds, and follow with the dried chillies. Next add the garlic, red peppers and mushrooms.
- Place the cooked chicken back in the wok and pour the sauce mixture in. Toss well to combine everything evenly.
- Once the sauce become thick and glossy, turn off the heat, sprinkle cashew nuts and spring onions. Combine well with other ingredients. Serve immediately while hot with a bowl of plain rice or noodles.
Video
Notes
- Cashew nuts - If you use ready roasted cashew, you can skip the roasting step. Instead of cashew, you can add roasted peanuts or almonds.
- Dried chillies - Adjust the chilli amount by adding mild or hot dried chilli peppers to your preference. You can add the whole deseeded chilli or cut it into small pieces.
- Mushroom - If you use small button mushrooms, you can add them in whole. If you use large mushrooms, cut them into small dices.
- Vegetables - Customize the vegetables by adding more of your favourite stir fry vegetables.
- Dark soy sauce - Dark sweet soy sauce ( Kecap Manis ) or regular dark thick soy sauce can be used to bring some colour to the dish.
- Fish sauce - There is no exact same substitute for fish sauce, which has a unique salty, umami taste. If you can't have fish sauce, you can substitute it with regular soy sauce or light soy sauce.
- Oyster sauce - Oyster sauce can be substituted with mushroom stir fry sauce, available in Lee Kum Kee brand.
- Salt - You don't need salt as soy sauces and fish sauce contains salt content.
- Can you freeze it? Do not recommend freezing as this dish taste best when freshly cooked. If you have any leftovers you can keep it in an air-tight container and store it in the fridge for a couple of days.
- Can you reheat it? Reheat in the microwave or stovetop until piping hot. Add a splash of water if the sauce is too thick.
Alain says
So easy to make. I don't cook a lot, but this is easily my way to go meal to impress guests or friends at any gathering. The flavors are simply wonderful and you can use all kind of veggies for the stir fry. Found out green beans go exceptionally well with it. Since i like spicy food, I always put a generous amount of chilies, and even though people find it hot, they can't stop eating more of it. Can't thank you enough for this recipe.
Khin says
Hi Alain, so glad that you enjoyed this recipe. Thank you for sharing your lovely feedback. It's also our go-to stir fry.
Robert Futcher says
Another successful recipe Khin as always very easy to follow. Had to swapped Oyster sauce for mushroom sauce as out Oyster.
Many thanks
Khin says
Happy that you enjoyed it, Robert. Thanks for trying it out and sharing your feedback.
Sylvia says
Hi Khin, this is another winner! I followed your clear steps and my meal was delicious!! Restaurant quality from my own kitchen. Thanks for the easy to follow steps and all the info you share about the ingredients.
Khin says
Thank you for sharing your feedback, Sylvia. I am so glad that you enjoyed it.
Adi Ema Sauyalewa says
Amazing..I will give it a try..
Thanks so much..
Explanation is really understandable..
Thank you so much..together with the video makes it more easier and well understood..💖💖
Khin says
Very glad that you enjoy it, Adi. Thanks for taking the time and sharing feedback.
Dennis says
This recipe is easy for me to make than other website. Your cashew chicken is better than my local take away and even healthier. I add more soy sauce instead of fish sauce. Because I am allergic to fish sauce. I never thought cashew need to be toasted first before adding them in the stir fry. Thank you for the recipe.
Khin says
Hi Dennis, I made it with soy sauce for my family members who don't like the fish sauce too! Thanks for trying out and sharing feedback.