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Made this tonight. My family and I are huge fans!! You are right, it totally is not spicy, just has bold flavors. So excited for lunch tomorrow!!!
Oh, wowz. This is cashews like you’ve never seen them before. Like, cashews on steroids. On vacation in India. I don’t know.
Indian food (read: take out) is at the tippy top of the food chain around this house. We affectionately call it the “leak” in our bank account. Well, one of the leaks. Part of our cutting-back-on-Indian-food spending plan is that I need to learn how to make Indian food, stat.
This Kickin’ Cashew Chicken fits the bill! It’s seriously kickin’ without being too complicated for a regular Midwestern home cook like mahself. The flavors are ridiculously mind-blowing. You can even make this healthier by adding fresh veggies to the mix. Heck, I’ve even made it without the chicken! This sauce is for reals.
So, now for the fun part.
You guys.
This is hilarious.
I found this picture in the archives on my old site.
Other than the peas, this is {the exact same recipe}! Both shots were even taken with the {exact same camera}! I really did not know what I was doing with that thing. Like, really.
Thanks for humoring me by looking at my old photos. I think we’ve bonded.
Alright, enough fun and games.
Go make this for dinner, stat.
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Kickin’ Cashew Chicken
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 4 1x
Description
This kickin’ cashew chicken is like Indian takeout at home! A a creamy cashew sauce with lots of Indian flavors. My favorite homemade Indian recipe!
Ingredients
- 2 medium onions
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1/2 cup cashews
- 1 tablespoon garam masala
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon plain yogurt
- 2 tablespoons oil
- 1 lb. cubed raw chicken breasts
- 1/4 cup golden raisins
- 1/2 cup fresh chopped cilantro
- 1 1/4 cup water
Instructions
- Peel and quarter the onions. In a food processor, process the onion pieces for about 1 minute or until a smooth puree forms. Add the next 8 ingredients (through oil) to the onion mixture and process for another 1-2 minutes.
- In a heavy pan, heat the oil over medium heat. Pour the spice mixture from the food processor into the pan and fry for 2 minutes. The lightly cooked spices will start to give off a nice aroma.
- Add the cubed chicken breast, half of the cilantro, and the golden raisins. Stir-fry for another 1 minute.
- Add the water and bring to a simmer. Cover and cook over low heat for about 10 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through. Serve over rice and garnish with remaining cilantro or cashew pieces.
Notes
I like the sauce to have some texture so I don’t process it all the way (check out the texture in the pictures).
I love cilantro and spices, and these amounts reflect my preferences. If you’re hesitant, reduce the amounts. (And actually, the sauce is not all that spicy. There are lots of flavorful spices, but it’s not firey-hot-get-me-a-glass-of-water spicy.)
For a more veggie friendly dish, add broccoli, peppers, potatoes, or peas!
- Prep Time: 5 mins
- Cook Time: 15 mins
- Category: Dinner
- Cuisine: Indian
Keywords: cashew chicken, indian chicken, creamy cashew chicken, chicken recipe
Have you ever made Indian food? I’m currently kind of stuck in a cashew chicken obsession, but I would be open to other homemade Indian recommendations.
I’m also open to take-out. Always open to that.
Made this for the first time tonight, and it is a winner. It makes enough sauce that next time I’m going to use 1.5 lb chicken and have some leftovers for lunch.
Hi Lindsay,
I gotta give it to you. I have no clue how you come up with these amazing dishes and recipes, but I gotta give to you they’re out of sight!
Keep doing what you’re doing my friend š
Hi, there’s one thing i don’t understand in the instructions. What is meant by “add the next 8 ingredients THROUGH OIL”? I’m not an experienced cook so i don’t understand some terms. Pls explain? Thank you.
Hi Adelynn! It just means to add the next 8 ingredients after the onion up until oil. So add the tomato paste, cashews, garam masala, minced garlic, chili powder, lemon juice, salt, plain yogurt, and oil to the food processor with the pureed onion.
I love to make Chicken Tikka Masalla at home. If I am in a big hurry then I use Mr. Cook’s sauce, but from scratch is way better.
We love indian food and this looks great – what do you use when you leave the chicken out? I’m assuming chickpeas or tofu? Just curious what you use b/c I really want to make it but my husband and one of my daughters are vegetarian. Thanks!
Yeah I think you could use anything! Chickpeas, tofu, cauliflower, broccoli, peas, spinach… any veggies, really!
This recipe calls for WAY too much onion. I halved the amount of onion and it still tasted mostly of onion and the texture of the sauce wasn’t too appealing, not very spicy either. It’s not something I would make again in the future.
Have you heard of Springfield style cashew chicken? It is famous in my hometown (Springfield MO) and surprisingly not well known anywhere else! It’s my go-to comfort food. Little fried pieces of chicken smothered in an oyster sauce (kind of reminds me of gravy), topped with cashews and green onions. It is unlike anything else you will have!
Sounds amazing!
Finally a tasty but easy way to make Indian at home! Came out really good, although I think next time I’d increase the tomato paste, yogurt, and golden raisins, and probably decrease the water. We like our Indian with some punch!
I love your recipe & photos. I love Indian food.
Hey Lindsay – I only recently discovered your blog but I LOVE it! First of all, I made this cashew chicken last night and it was delicious! A HUGE hit with me and my boyfriend. I also want to say that you sound like such an awesome, faith filled woman. My boyfriend and I have hopes to live abroad and do service for a year once we are married, and it’s great to know others who are doing the same. I’ll be following for updates!
I’m so glad you guys liked the chicken! And thanks for your nice message! How cool that you are both looking to live and serve abroad… do you know where you want to go?
Made this tonight. My family and I are huge fans!! You are right, it totally is not spicy, just has bold flavors. So excited for lunch tomorrow!!!
Yay! Hope you had fun in AZ Rach!
Hi again. I’m the American living in Delhi, India who is obsessed with your site. Just wanted to compliment you on this one. My husband and I (and even my 1 year old and 2 year old) love this recipe so much I make it once a week or make a whole bunch and freeze the sauce so its handy whenever we have friends over. Our indian friend the other day seriously went back for fourths!! good stuff and soo easy!
yay! I’m so glad that even people with a true taste for Indian food also enjoyed it! š
I will definitely be making this for dinner this week. Looks glorious.
Recently my husband and I just discovered Indian food, and we’re totally hooked. I’ve had mixed success with cooking Indian recipes, but here’s one that was absolutely delicious, just like Indian restaurant food:
https://www.cookingandme.com/2009/10/05/paneer-butter-masala-restaurant-style/
Awesome! Thank you so much… Can’t wait to check it out!
Yeah, let me know if it works out for you! š
I made this the other day – thanks for the recipe! Notes: It was delicious, and I hid a chopped orange bell pepper in there (cooking for my bf is like cooking for a toddler sometimes). It wasn’t nearly as pretty as yours though. Next time I’ll do less vita-mixing of the sauce for some chunks like yours. But it was also super brown instead of reddish. So maybe I didn’t add enough tomato paste? I made some channa masala too, and the dishes went well together.
Anyway it was a hit and will definitely be a repeat for us!
MMM channa masala would be the perfect accompaniment. Glad you liked it!
made this tonight – was super yummy! Added broccoli to it for some added veggies. Thanks for the great and super easy recipe.
Yay! So glad you liked it as much as we did.
It’s amazing to see how long we’ve come as food bloggers from some of our first photos to our photos now! This looks absolutely delicious and your photos are GORGEOUS!
This looks so fantastic! I love Indian food. Pinning it!
I love India food and since we can’t handle any bank account “leaks” I never really eat it – so glad this will change that! Love the recipe name, love the pics, love the comparison…you’re generally awesome. š
Wow – thanks Anna. Confidence booster! š
Gorgeous!! And too funny about your old photo. You’ve come a long way!
I like trying to make Indian food at home. This recipe looks delicious!
Thanks Amy! This is our go-to Indian dish when we cook at home!