Thai Lemongrass Chicken with Cashews and Edamame
This flavorful Thai Lemongrass Chicken recipe is a quick and easy weeknight stir-fry, featuring tender chicken, edamame, and cashews. Ready in just 30 minutes, it's a delicious dish the whole family will love.
Ingredients
- 2 lbs. chicken thigh meat, cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces
For the Lemongrass Chicken Marinade/paste:
- 2 stalks of lemongrass, chopped (inner white parts only) or 1 1/2 tablespoon Gourmet Garden Lemongrass
- 3 cloves of garlic, minced
- 2- inch ginger, peeled and cut into small pieces (1 tablespoon grated ginger)
- 1 serrano chile, seeded and minced (optional) – more as garnish
- 2 tablespoons of honey
- 3 tablespoons sesame oil, divided
- 2 tablespoons fish sauce
- 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1/2 cup chicken stock, only used, if necessary, for more info please read the notes
- 1/2 cup cashews
- 1 cup edamame, shelled
Toppings:
- 2 stalks of scallions, green and white parts chopped
- 1/4 cup cilantro, roughly chopped
- 1 tablespoon black sesame seeds, optional
To Serve With:
- 4 cups cooked white, brown rice, or rice noodles
Instructions
- Using paper towels, pat-dry the chicken thigh pieces. Place in a medium bowl.
- Process lemongrass, garlic, ginger, chili, honey, 1 tablespoon sesame oil, fish sauce, and rice vinegar in a food processor until they are well blended and paste-like.
- Toss the chicken with the lemongrass paste. Cover it with stretch film and place it in the fridge. Let it marinade for 15 minutes.
- Heat 2 tablespoons of sesame oil in a wok or large pan (you can also use a 10-inch cast iron skillet) over medium heat.
- Stir in the soy sauce into the chicken mixture and give it a stir.
- Cook the chicken thigh pieces for 4-5 minutes on each side or until browned. (see note)
- If it dries and starts sticking to the bottom of the pan, add in some chicken stock. Simmer for a few minutes. Cook, stirring frequently until the chicken stock is reduced.
- Add in the cashews and mix until they are coated with the sauce. It will start getting caramelized.
- Stir in edamame at the last minute. Cook until warm, 3-4 minutes.
- Serve with rice and garnish it with chopped serrano chili (if using), scallions, cilantro, and sesame seeds.
Notes
- When cooking the chicken, make sure that each piece have enough room to brown. If your pan is small, I’d recommend to cook the chicken into batches. You want to make sure that your chicken is throughly cooked before adding in the edamame and cashews.
- In terms of chicken meat, I used thighs as I find them to be more flavorful but if breasts are all you have, feel free to use breast meat instead.
- If you want to switch things up, you can swap edamame and cashews with snow peas and peanuts.
- You can make the chicken stir fry marinade a day (or two) ahead and keep it in a jar in the fridge.
Nutrition
Calories: 1006kcalCarbohydrates: 67gProtein: 51gFat: 59gSaturated Fat: 14gCholesterol: 223mgSodium: 1436mgPotassium: 940mgFiber: 4gSugar: 12gVitamin A: 318IUVitamin C: 5mgCalcium: 96mgIron: 5mg
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