I like to use nut butters to thicken my stir-fry sauces; either cashew butter or peanut butter. Cashew butter is the most mild and acts as a thickening agent without adding any nut flavor to speak of. Peanut butter also acts as a thickening agent but adds a delicious peanut flavor. It's actually great to use when making Kung Pao Chicken. I used cashew butter in tonight's stir-fry. I use chicken broth as the base for the sauce along with garlic, chili garlic sauce and Tamari sauce for flavor. Nut butter is a great substitute for the cornstarch typically used to thicken stir-fry sauces. I stumbled upon using nut butter as a thickener one night, shortly after going grain free, on a whim just to see what it would do. What it did was nothing short of amazing! I've been using it ever since. I've also used almond butter before, but prefer either cashew or peanut butter. I snapped a few photos below as well as included my easy peasy recipe. If you miss Chinese food, this is a great alternative to the regular version that contains cornstarch. You can swap out your favorite veggies or make a beef or shrimp stir-fry the same way, too. Enjoy!
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| Chicken is stir-fried until cooked and opaque |
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| Garlic, green onion and bell pepper added |
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| Sauce has been made |
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| Broccoli added; topped with peanuts and red pepper flakes |
Quick & Easy Chicken Stir-Fry
Ingredients:
1 tablespoon coconut oil
1-1/2 pound boneless chicken breast, cut into 1-inch chunks
2 cloves minced garlic
1 sliced green onion
1/2 bell pepper, diced (red, green, yellow or orange)
2 to 3 tablespoons cashew butter (or peanut butter)
1 teaspoon chili garlic sauce, optional
1 tablespoon organic gluten-free Tamari sauce, or to taste
1 cup chicken stock (added 1/4 cup at a time to desired sauce consistency)
2 to 3 cups lightly steamed broccoli florets
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes, optional
1/4 cup dry roasted unsalted peanuts or almonds
Directions:
Heat oil in wok over medium high heat until hot. Add chicken and stir fry until opaque, about 5 minutes. Add garlic, green onion and bell pepper and stir-fry about 2 to 3 minutes. Push chicken and veggies toward the outed edges of wok, making a well in the center. Add cashew butter and stir until melted. Add chili garlic sauce and Tamari and combine everything together until coated. Stir in chicken stock, about 1/4 cup at a time, until desired thickness and consistency of sauce. Add broccoli and stir until evenly coated. Season with red pepper flakes, if desired. Top with roasted peanuts and serve.
6 comments:
Looks fantastic! I do love the taste of peanut in stir fry but will have to keep my eyes peeled for the cashew butter, I have never tried that.
Yummers, that's my kind of dinner!
Hi GG, I saw this on Pinterest this morning and thought it sounded interesting. I made it for dinner tonight.
I don't have a wok so I used my stainless steel frying pan. Also didn't have the green onion so subbed some chopped sweet onion. Also didn't have the peppers so I used some krinkle cut carrots that needed to be used up.
I used the peanut butter but next time I will definitely try the cashew butter.
Thanks for a quick recipe!
Hi Peg,
It's nice to have the kind of dish like this where you can swap out or add whatever you have on hand isn't it and nice you can use a frying pan instead of wok, too. I like adding peanut butter, but if you don't want the sauce overpowered by peanut flavor, the cashew butter is the most mild to use. Glad you enjoyed it. :-)
Mine too! Thanks Luana! :-)
Hi Mindy,
The reason I initially tried using cashew butter one time instead of the peanut butter I usually used...was I made a shrimp stir-fry and didn't want to overpower the flavor...and it worked great. You can buy jarred cashew butter but it is a bit pricey. My Whole Foods actually has where you can grind your own which is nice...you can just get a small amount to try first so you don't end up with an entire jar of expensive nut butter in case you don't like it. :-)
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