Thai Cashew Chicken

Thai Cashew Chicken or Gai Pad Med Mamuang, is an easy stir fry with savory chicken, crunchy cashews, onions, and roasted chili peppers.

This Thai Cashew Chicken is a fast and easy meal and makes great leftovers. The Thai name is ‘Gai Pad Med Mamuang’, which translates to stir fry chicken with mango seed. While you’re not eating a mango seed, this is just the term used in Thai for cashews.

I love that it’s mild in spice, so my kids can eat it, but the chili peppers can be eaten for extra spice. Whenever I order this dish for takeout, there are never enough cashews, so I love adding extra when I make it.

Stir Fry Sauce

Thai Cashew Chicken uses a basic stir fry sauce that you can customize to your taste or dietary restrictions. 

The traditional version uses a mixture of golden mountain soy sauce, oyster sauce, and honey or sugar. 

Here are some variations based on dietary restrictions:

Non-Soy: For a non-soy option, I recommend using a No-Soy Sauce like this one. Then adding a sweetener like Honey. Or my favorite Coconut Aminos which is low in sodium, soy free, and has a natural sweetness to it. 

Coconut Aminos with a couple dashes of fish sauce is a great balance. 

Gluten-Free: If you are gluten free, then you probably know that most soy sauces contain wheat flour. The No-Soy sauce, Liquid Aminos, and Coconut Aminos are all great Gluten Free options. Just be sure to check the labels. 

Low Sodium: For a low sodium option, I recommend using a low sodium soy sauce, liquid aminos, or coconut aminos. Regular soy sauce and golden mountain sauce will have almost double the sodium content. 

How to Customize

The base of this recipe is chicken, cashews, and onions. I’ve made it this way several times, and I’ve also customized it with additional vegetables based on what I needed to use from my fridge. 

Here are some other options to add to this dish:

Sliced celery, carrots, bell peppers, broccoli, cabbage, zucchini, or sugar snap peas.

Any of these vegetables would make great additions and bump up the nutrition factor. If you are adding more veggies, taste and see if more sauce is needed.

It’s also common to use dried Szechuan peppers to Cashew Chicken. They are pretty mild in spice, but if you want it to be spicy then use dried Thai chilis instead. 

Substitutes for the chicken include Shrimp or Tofu for a meatless version. If using tofu, then pan fry or bake the tofu till it’s slightly golden and crispy.

This way it won’t fall apart when added to the sauce and vegetables. 

How to Serve and Store

Thai Cashew Chicken goes perfectly with Jasmine Rice. However, you can also serve it with Brown Rice, Quinoa, or Cauliflower rice for a low carb version.

Leftovers can be stored in the fridge for up to 3-4 days. You can also portion out the cashew chicken with rice into containers for a desk lunch or meal prep. 

Check out these other delicious stir fry recipes:

Thai Beef with Basil

Garlic Shrimp with Broccoli

Thai Ginger Chicken