Sweet and Sour Cashew Chicken
I have become slightly obsessed with this recipe. This sweet and sour chicken has such wonderful flavor! It’s not the type of sweet and sour you think of getting from a restaurant (that bright red sauce that is sticky sweet). It’s a thicker sauce that is full of great flavor. It’s a very easy recipe to make and trust me, you’ll love it! The cashews are pretty much perfect too. They make this recipe what is it, in my opinion anyway, so I thought they deserved to be in the title! I really can’t even begin to tell you how wonderful this recipe is… I guess you will just have to try it out for yourself!
Ingredients:
Sauce
- 1 ½ cups evaporated milk
- ½ cup ketchup
- 3 tablespoons soy sauce
- 3 tablespoons lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
-
2 tablespoons cornstarch
Chicken
- Olive oil
- 1 or 2 teaspoons ground ginger (or 2 tablespoons fresh chopped ginger)
- 1 pound chicken breasts, thinly sliced
- 1 onion, thinly sliced
- 1 red or green (or both) bell pepper, thinly sliced
- Green onions
- Roasted cashews
Before I get started with the recipe, I wanted to quickly tell you how to roast your cashews. It’s very simple. Heat your oven to 350° and place your cashews on a baking sheet. Make sure they are all in a single layer. Cook them for about 10 minutes, but keep an eye on them. You want them to brown a little, but you don’t want them to burn. If you want, you can stir them after 5 minutes, but it’s not really necessary. They have a great flavor once they are roasted.
Now on to the recipe! First you want to combine all of your sauce ingredients in a bowl. Mix it all together well and set it aside.
Next, heat a skillet over medium high heat. Add a couple tablespoons of olive oil (you could use vegetable oil I suppose, but I am not a fan of cooking with it) and then place your chicken in the skillet. Add in your ginger and cook for about 3 minutes, more or less depending on how thick your chicken is.
As a note, you can tell I didn’t really thinly slice my chicken. I have been in the market for some new knives for a while and this is part of the reason. I can’t really thinly slice anything with my current knives! Oh well, cut your chicken however you can, it really doesn’t matter : ) Next, add in your onion and bell pepper. Cook these for a couple minutes longer.
Now you want to take the sauce you made and add it in your skillet. Mix everything together well, coating your chicken and vegetables. Stir this mixture constantly until it comes to a slight boil and thickens. Serve the sweet and sour chicken over rice.
Top this wonderful chicken with some of your chopped cashews and green onions. Be generous with both, they add great flavor and crunch. If you don’t like either, I still think this is a great meal. Remember to mold a recipe to your liking; don’t feel obligated to add in things you aren’t a fan of!
I honestly can’t put my finger on it, but something in this delicious sweet and sour cashew chicken makes the dish completely irresistible. It’s also very good reheated, as long as you store the cashews and green onions separately. Also, the best side dish I have found for this is my super simple Broccoli and Mushrooms (you can see them in both of my pictures here!). Just add a little soy sauce or ginger (or both!) and it really becomes the perfect side for this meal.
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