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Thai Cashew Chicken

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

Overhead view of dish on a white plate with a blue napkin on the bottom.

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. 

Up close view of cashew chicken over rice on a white plate.

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. 

Cashew chicken over rice on a white plate.

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

Feature image of cashew chicken on a plate with rice.

Thai Cashew Chicken Recipe

Renee
Thai Cashew Chicken or Gai Pad Med Mamuang, is an easy stir fry with savory chicken, crunchy cashews, onions, and roasted chili peppers.
5 from 1 vote
Print Recipe
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Servings 4

Equipment

Ingredients
  

  • 3 tablespoon Neutral Oil Canola, Peanut, Avocado, or Grapeseed
  • ¾ Cup Cashews Roasted or Raw
  • 3-4 Dried Chili Peppers
  • 1.5 pounds Chicken Breast or Thighs Sliced Thin
  • 1 tablespoon All Purpose Flour or Gluten Free Blend Flour
  • ½ White Onion Cut into 1 in squares
  • 3 Green Onion Stalks or Chives Sliced into 2 in pieces
  • 1 tablespoon Oyster Sauce or Mushroom sauce
  • 1 tablespoon Soy Sauce or liquid aminos
  • 1 teaspoon Honey
  • 1 tablespoon Water Add water if your sauce is too thick.
  • Rice or Cauliflower rice for serving

Instructions
 

  • Place Oil in a wok over medium heat. Add Dried Chili's and Cashews and fry quickly for about 20 seconds, just to release aroma from peppers and add crunch to cashews. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on a paper towel.
  • Mix flour with sliced chicken breast until all pieces are coated. Bring heat on wok to medium high, add Chicken and cook chicken half way. 
  • Add sauce mixture and white onions. Cook chicken until done.
  • Then add half of green onions, cashews, and chili peppers. Stir well. Allow sauce to bubble, add water if it is too thick. Taste and see if additional soy sauce or sweetener is needed. Turn off heat, garnish with remaining green onions, and serve hot with rice. 

Video

Notes

Leftovers can be stored in the fridge for up to 3-4 days. 
Check out these other delicious stir-fry recipes:
Pork with Basil
Garlic Shrimp with Broccoli
Thai Ginger Chicken

Nutrition

Calories: 635kcalCarbohydrates: 17gProtein: 38gFat: 47gSaturated Fat: 10gPolyunsaturated Fat: 11gMonounsaturated Fat: 23gTrans Fat: 0.2gCholesterol: 128mgSodium: 503mgPotassium: 541mgFiber: 3gSugar: 6gVitamin A: 328IUVitamin C: 6mgCalcium: 40mgIron: 4mg

Nutritional information is provided as an estimate only and depends on ingredients and amounts used. Thai Caliente makes no guarantees to the accuracy of this information.

Keyword Gai Pad Med Mamuang, Thai Cashew Chicken
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