Authentic Thai Cashew Chicken

I probably shouldn't bother rating this as I made so many changes (I have been to Thailand and the original recipe didn't look, taste or smell anything like thai cashew chicken - which is my favourite thai dish) I doubled the sauce, I added 1 tablespoon of lime juice, 1 tablespoon of grated palm sugar, 1 tablespoon of coriander (cilantro if you are in the US) and 3 tablespoons of peanut butter. It made a great satay chicken and lots easier than my other recipe. I also added bok choy, snow peas, broccoli and carrots.

First off, I think people shouldn't rate recipies that they change the heck out of. Almost every rave review did not follow the recipe- irritating. Seccond, chili paste is -very- concentrated. You will not get close to the same flavor using chili sauce or anything else. A good thai chili paste is worth having in your refrigerator if you enjoy spicy asain cuisine because it is made of authentic ingredients like palm sugar and tamarind and lemon grass- things that we can't find easily most places here in the US. Now for the recipe- it didn't do anything for me or my husband. I did add lime juice after cooking, and that helped. Wasn't bad, wasn't amazing. It just was.

Really 4 1/2 stars only because it's not quite restaurant quality but very good. I added both a red and yellow pepper; broccoli, mushrooms, zuchinni; and onion. I also added three tablespoons fresh chopped ginger and 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro. I doubled the sauce and used only one diced chicken broth. Definitely double the sauce because with all the veggies its great to have a nice coating. I didn't have chili paste and used garlic chili sauce instead. As a side note I prefer sauteeing the chicken first until its done, then adding the onion and broccoli and letting it simmer for five minutes. Then add the remaining veggies for another 5-10 min or until done - a least then your peppers and mushrooms aren't mushy.

I am glad so many peope like it but this is not authentic. I've lived in Thailand for 6 years, never seen ketchup as a cooking ingredient. Whole Dried chilis should first be fried, til they darken, then removed from pan. Then loads of chopped garlic is cooked with the chicken, some onon and a bell pepper if you like. Ths sauce is dark soy plus "nam prik pao" chili paste, maybe some cornstarch and water to thicken, chicken broth if u like...Toast or fry the cashews before adding them in, stir in some green onion , sprinkle with some coriander too if you like. FYI - Thais usually dont throw veggies in the dish, but serve a separate veggie dish... but hey, whatever you like :-)

Very good. I made a couple of additions. I added a generous Tablespoon of creamy peanut butter and the juice of 1 lime to the sauce as well as a little extra chili paste. I served this over Chinese Style Mie Noodles. I can't wait until lunch tomorrow for leftovers.

This recipe was delicious! I did not think of it as a stir fry at all. I did make some modification as other reviewers did, and if you do the same, I think you will find it to be delicious as well. To add additional color and variety, I used a red,orange,and yellow bell peppers. I added 1-1/2 tablespoons of peanut butter and 1 tablespoon of lime juice. I used bonless chicken thighs instead of breast..because it's moister. Next time I make this recipe, I will do one thing differently...I won't put raw chicken into the skillet on top of my vegtables. I did not like that at all, and it was a guessing game to make sure it was done good enough for serving. I will pre cook my chicken and set it aside before I start the vegis. Other than that I will leave the recipe as it is. My family really enjoyed this, and we will make it again for sure!

I rated it 4 stars but after making changes it was a 5. I doubled the sauce, added extra chilli paste, little cilantro and a big tablespoon of peanut butter and juice of 1 lime. I used the vegetables I had which was fresh mushroom, red and green bell pepper and onions ( lots of them). Added the cashews but it would be good with or without them. Put over rice. Delish!!! Dont think I would call it cashew chicken though!!

This was good. The only thing I did differently was to probably triple the amount of sauce, and I also had to use way less cashews as when I went to add them from what I assumed was a new, unopened container of nuts, I discovered they had been decimated by Husband over the course of the weekend... Thanks, Fairborn!

Wow! This was great. I have tried for so long to make some Thai food that is as good as the restaurants. This is it! I did double up on the sauces, and add a tbsp of peanutbutter and a tbsp of lemon juice as others suggested. Yummy!

This dish is Excellent, just like one I had in a Thai restuarant in CA, serving it with steamed or fried jasmine rice is a Must!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This was SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is great. I did modify slightly to add vegetables. I used fresh organic veggies and organic free range chicken from Trader Joes and this definitely tasted like a healthy meal. The veggies I used included broccoli, snow peas, one yellow squash, one red bell pepper, one yellow bell pepper, shredded carrots, crimini mushrooms, and an onion. I did things in a slightly different order than listed in the recipe. I heated the chili paste and then also minced some fresh garlic in the vegetable oil. Then I added the chicken. I cooked it until no longer pink and then added the broccoli and onion. I let those sautee for a few minutes before adding all the other vegetables. In addition to the sauce ingredients listed, I also added a heaping tablespoon of peanut butter, the juice from one lime, and some fresh cilantro. I omitted the sugar entirely as I did not think it was necessary. This was fresh and tasty. I accompanied it with jasmine rice. Thank you for the recipe.

Would add chicken earlier during onions & peppers. 2 T of sriracha. Needs a bit of corn starch. Add celery, maybe mango? Yum, though!

I've made this twice. First time followed the recipe except added the veggies at the end as I like them very crisp, would rate a 2 or 3. Never had Thai food so can't comment on that, but there wasn't enough sauce for me and it was a bit bland. Second time, followed tips in other reviews; added a pinch of red pepper flakes, 2 Tbsp peanut butter, juice of one lime, used baby portobella mushrooms, carrots, endamame, onions and fresh garlic(3 cloves, crushed). Also doubled sauce. WOW! Much better, now rate it a 5. I love jasmine rice, so now I have a great Asian-inspired meal.

This is a really good recipe that could be made wonderful by using a different cooking method. Next time I make this, I'll stir fry the veggies first, set them aside then cook the chicken, add the sauce and then add the veggies back in. At lot of reviewers added peanut butter as well, I'll probably do that, too.

This was pretty good. I pretty much followed the recipe plus the additions that elizabeth101 mentioned. Also I cooked the chicken separately and used vegetable broth since my husband is a vegetarian. I just cooked everything else, then left a little sauce in the skillet and cooked the chicken in that, and added it on top of my portion. I think it would have been a little bland without the changes.

Great recipe but I would suggest adding some peanut butter and some lime or lemon juice. The peanut butter made the sauce! The recipe was so good everyone was panicing they wouldn't get enough. For my veggies I used red and yellow peppers. I also added white pepper.

Super easy and delicious! I did add minced garlic, a dash more of soy sauce and extra chili paste : )

doubled sauce ingredients and omitted ketchup and added juice out of 1 lime. was not impressed with this recipe. needs more...of something..

I made this last night for the first time and it was Excellent! The only thing I did different was to add some soy sauce like some of the other reviewers. I tried it today for lunch and it was even better. I especially liked that I can control the sodium myself. Thanks for a wonderful recipe!!

I thought this was excellent. Easy to make, and allows for a little 'personalization' in terms of heat, veggies, etc. I agree with other reviewers that you should cook the chicken first, and then add back in when the vegetables are done.

Doubled the sauce and the whole thing was gobbled up with lots of compliments. Also added straw mushrooms instead of regular mushrooms and only used two large chicken breasts. Second time added a couple of celery stalks chopped, which was a great extra flavor, and cut down on the ketchup and sugar, as we thought it was a touch too sweet initially.

The recipe was delicious! I made it pretty exact except for using Tofu instead of chicken. Also, I didn't use any Oyster Sauce since it's not vegetarian, but didn't affect the taste at all. Next time I'll try a vegetarian oyster sauce to see if it makes a difference.

This was not good. There wasn't a bit of curry paste in this, and ketchup? This recipe has been thoroughly americanized.

i have made this two times with great success. its a keeper

I didn't use squash or broccoli, but added bean sprouts, green onion and red bell pepper. Added more chilli and garlic, which went in first in the oil, with the pepper. Then the chicken, and last the veggies. I don't like cashew in my cookings, so I also omitted that.

Surprisingly my whole family liked this meal and my husband is very picky. Great flavor!!! Will definately make again!!!

My husband and I loved this dish. I am going to make it again, and add some broccoli or sugar snap peas for a little more variety. I added a bit more crushed red pepper for more of a "kick."

This was very bland, we ended up adding Soya sauce at the table just to give it some flavor. Not nearly enough sauce. If I were to make it again (unlikely) I would double the sauce.

I used Chili Sauce instead of ketchup, and added peanut butter and lime juice, as others suggested. It was VERY good. Thanks!

I loved this !! easy to make and fast . I would suggest to make more more sauce to double the recipe!! I also added chili sauce to it because it was not spicy enough for me

This was awesome. I admit that I always read the reviews and incorporate the suggestions. Some people find that annoying, but that's the best part about this site - the pooled knowledge of so many cooks! The base recipe is an excellent base recipe. I made this spicier by first cooking 2 sliced habaneros in oil, then I dumped in the onion and other dry spices. I used roasted red thai chili sauce instead of chili garlic paste. I also tossed in some fresh chopped basil and red pepper flakes. I cooked the chicken in this mix and waited until it was cooked through before adding the veggies. Per other reviewer recommendations, I omitted the ketchup but used peanut butter and doubled the wet ingredients (broth, oyster sauce, soy sauce, peanut butter). At the end I mixed in some cornstarch to thicken the sauce and added the lime juice. This recipe totally blew away my Korean boyfriend who likes spicy food and also got rave reviews from a co-worker with whom i shared the leftovers. Oh and instead of toasting the cashews and cooking them whole, I ground them up with a mortar and pestle - about half a cup worth. I cooked with half the cashew crumbles and reserved the rest to top the finished product.

Pretty tasty and easy to make! Perfect amount of spice for our tastes.

This recipe tasted just like a Thai resturant that I have eaten at!! So make this recipe and you will enjoy:)

It tasted like chinese stirfry. I did add lime like the other reviews said, but skipped pb to save calories. I should have put it in. We really enjoyed it, but for all those ingredients, we were expecting more.

Great recipe. I never cook in oil so I cooked the meat, onions, and garlic in 2/3C of chicken broth. Used double zucchini since I didn't have yellow squash on hand. No peppers either so I left them out, too. I used Asian chili sauce since my grocery store doesn't have paste. It was not as spicy as I like so I went to dump a little extra chili sauce into the pan but dumped a whole bunch more than I wanted to (like 5T total). Added two extra T of sugar in to compensate. It tasted awesome. Added two bunches of bean threads to it as well since I had a lot juice in the pan.

This was good but there's nothing "Thai" about it. All it is is really good stir fry. If the recipe was called Chinese Chicken Stir Fry, it I wouldn't have expected anything different.

Looks, smells, and tastes wonderfull. I added extra paste for more spice...mmm, mmm!

This was sooo salty for my taste.

I subbed in asparagus for the broccoli and used more cashews. This was OK for a quick weeknight dinner.

Like the other reviews I read, I modified the recipe also. I took the suggestions on the peanut butter, coriander, and lime juice. I left out the garlic chile paste so it wouldn't be spicy for my young daughter. I thought it was awesome, I live in a small town with no Thai restaurants, so I have nothing to comapare it to, but either way, my family thought it was delicious!

This recipe is not "authentic". For it to be authentic it needs fish sauce. This is a very americanized version. Instead of using ketchup, use "SRIRACHA hot chili sauce". This will give it a spicy kick. I would add 1 Tablespoon at a time because it may be too spicy for some. It may be a little hard to find at regular grocery stores. Also, fish sauce has a very pungent smell so go easy with it too. The smell dissipates as it is cooked.

It was good. If you follow the recipe you end up with lots of food!!

This was VERY tasty! We really like it. It really doesn't scream "Authentic Thai" though.

very good flavor

Wow, this was not nearly as good as it should have been. Please, please, do not cook this the way the directions tell you to... you will end up with way overcooked vegetables. This could be so much better if it was quickly stir-fried and the sauce added at the very end.

This recipe has a really good flavor. I don't usually like my sweets with salties, but this is an exception. I doubled the sauce, but next time I will triple it.

Very good recipe. You can adapt the amount and types of vegetables the recipe calls for or adjust the sauce ingredients to your taste depending on personal "sweet" or "spicy" preferences. It's truly hard to mess up with this Asian dish. Worth the try!

This is a smashing recipe. The only thing I did was add a tad bit of red pepper flake to kick up the heat just a bit (I like things HOT). I guess I could have added more chili paste, but I didn't want to get it too hot, and I had never used it before. Other than that, didn't change a thing.

This recipe was great. I took the advice of another reviewer and doubled the sauce recipe plus I used a little more chicken and vegetables to serve 6-8 people. I stir fried the vegetables seperately then stir fried the chicken. When the chicken was half way cooked I stirred in all the ingredients. I did make one change to the recipe. I miss read it and used white vinegar instead of white sugar it still turned out great. I'll use the vinegar again next time. This recipe is definately a keeper.

I started out making this following the recipe pretty closely and enjoyed it! However, I found the original recipe a bit fishy tasting so went with the others and added some fresh lime juice and a Tb of peanut butter. I thought it was fabulous! Not quite the recipe I was hoping to replicate from my favorite restaurant but a winner none the less!

This recipe was so amazing! My husband was like in love with it, I made the whole recipe for just 2 of us and he ate the leftovers for days. (We're usually really bad at leftovers.) I used red, yellow, and green peppers (an attempt to put some color in it, but the sauce just covers it up anyway), and added the peanut butter.

Very yummy! I think I went overboard with the chili sauce, so I recommend tasting it as you go.

I thought this was very tasty, and pretty darn easy to make as well. I can only give it 4 stars, though, because both the boys (my boyfriend and his son) only thought it was okay. Maybe I'll make it just for me, next time!

i used this very versatile recipe as a base.. i used the veggies i had on hand like others did (zucchini, carrots, celery, bell pepper, mushrooms).. cooked the chicken (thighs) first in some leftover bacon fat from breakfast.. removed the chicken with a slotted spoon.. added the ketchup (2 tbsp), oyster sauce (1 tbsp), and soy sauce (light) .. also added 1 tbsp of fish sauce.. probably doubed if not tripled the garlic chile paste and left out the sugar.. cooked the veggies in that.. stirred in the chicken once they were done and topped off with chopped green onion and cilantro.. i toasted the cashews (almost burned them..oops!) and they were a nice little addition to the dish but it didn't make the dish.. i could have gone without.. so much for cashew chicken, right? i tried squeezing some lime over this as others did.. dont know if i like it w/ or w/o better.. either way this was just asian tasting enough for us.. ty for the recipe

This was really good and healthy too! Next time, I'll use tofu instead of chicken and double the sauce. Served on a bed of jasmine rice... outstanding!

This wasn't horrible but definitely not authentic and sort of weirdly bland--won't make again.

I thought this recipe was pretty good, although it seemed as though something was missing. A little on the bland side. Will maybe add peanut butter next time like someone else suggested. Not sure why they say it's thai, more like a regular stir fry. Very healthy though when you add lots of vegetables.

This is great! The sause for this recipe is a great base for any Thai recipe.

This was terrific. I changed a few things around a little bit. First, I cooked the chicken alone and then added the veggies to it. I added more veggies than called for, just because I like them. I served this over brown rice and will definately make this again!

wow! this was great! it tasted exactly like a chicken cashew dish that i had while in thailand! to make it more to my liking, i substituted the yellow onion for 3 green onions, and used red pepper and zucchini for the veggies.

We loved this recipe! It is a personal favorite of mine. Next time I should double the recipe for the sauce, but besides that it was perfect!

I thought it was OK but my partner loved it. I did as suggested and added peanut butter and lime juice and decreased the ketchup and sugar. Also as suggested, I added snow peas and cooked the chicken first. I used raw cashews and roasted them ahead of time. Served over basmati rice.

Thank you for this great recipe. I made it exactly as the recipe, but next time I'll cook the chicken first (as someone else suggested). The sauce was so good, even though we were skeptical about using ketchup. I will pass this one out - it is our new favourite.

Wow. I completely agree with the reviewer who said this isn't Cashew Chicken but a chicken stir fry. This is not authentic Thai food and it's only passable stir fry. I also followed recipe to the letter and the numerous suggestions on here including: doubling the sauce, adding peanut butter, lemon juice, etc. While not that bad, I'm certainly not going to make it again.

"mmmmmm....this is awesome" Those were my wifes first words after tasting this dish. I served it over jasmine rice. Do your prep work first and it's so simple,and so good. Thank you for the recipe. It's a definite keeper.

Not terribly exciting, but easy and pleased the entire family.

I thought the sauce was a little bland even with peanut butter and lime. I used chili garlic sauce instead of paste, so I don't know if this makes a difference. Perhaps I'll add coriander or thai basil and a couple of thai chilis next time.

This Thai cashew chicken recipe was a big hit with the wife and kids. In fact, she said it was just as good as what she gets at our favorite Thai restaurant! I had to cut way back on the salt and made some other changes due to family needs. Changes that I made for a lower glycemic, heart healthier version: No ketchup... No soy sauce... 1 tbsp oyster sauce instead of 2 tbsp... 1/2 tsp chili paste instead of 1 tsp... brown sugar instead of white sugar... Sesame oil instead of canola oil... Basmati rice instead of jasmine rice... Hope you guys like it as well as my family!

I was skeptical of adding ketchup, but was glad I did. It add just the right amount of vinegar to the dish. Overall I liked it and will probably make it again some day. Note: I did leave out the sugar and didn't miss it at all.

This is wonderful!! We only used the onions, mushrooms and broccoli because that's what I had and what we like most. My entire family, including 2 picky eaters LOVED it. The sauce has the best flavor. I think I could eat this every day!

What! No peanut sauce?

This is very good. A wonderful combination of flavor and spice. The cashews are really the perfect addition in this recipe.

Easy recipe, great Thai flavor.

OK. It's taken me awhile to review this, so, here goes.The 4 stars are for the original recipe. I made it the first time, as directed, with the exception of stir frying the chicken first. Everything else in the recipe I strictly adhered to. The first attempt I thought was not hot enough, so I added more chili paste the next time. I also increased the amount of oyster sauce, ketchup, etc. as suggested my the other "chefs." Much better. NOW it's 5 stars!