Cheesecake Factory’s Spicy Cashew Chicken (Copycat)

by Sabrina Snyder

Last Update:

201 Comments

4.90 from 38 votes
6 servings
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 50 minutes
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Save your money on take-out and try this Cheesecake Factory Spicy Cashew Chicken Copycat at home. You’ll be sure to make it again and again!

If you’re craving a Chinese Chicken Recipes, try out this Spicy Cashew Chicken Copycat! Try my Oven Cashew Chicken or P.F. Chang’s Spicy Chicken Copycat to mix up Chinese night every week.

Sabrina’s Cheesecake Factory’s Spicy Cashew Chicken (Copycat) Recipe

This recipe is full of a ton of ingredients and looks like it takes forever to make. It is true, there are more steps than normal, definitely more ingredients than I normally use and the set-up does require a number of bowls. Yes, this dish is officially high maintenance, but worthwhile. If you’ve actually been to the Cheesecake Factory and enjoyed this dish, then you know that while it may take a while to make, you would make it even if it took twice as long. It is THAT GOOD.

Recipe Card

Dinner, then Dessert

Cheesecake Factory’s Spicy Cashew Chicken Recipe

Save your money on take-out and try this Cheesecake Factory Spicy Cashew Chicken Copycat at home. You'll be sure to make it again and again!
Yield 6 servings
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 50 minutes
Course Dinner
Cuisine American Fusion
Author Sabrina Snyder
chicken with sauce and cashews
PrintRate

Ingredients
 

  • 1/3 cup canola or vegetable oil
  • 1 1/2 pounds chicken breast , cut into bite size chunks
  • Seasoned Rice Flour , (ingredients below)
  • Rice Flour Batter , (ingredients below)
  • Spicy Soy-Sherry Sauce , (ingredients below)
  • 8 ounces Cashews
  • 6 green onions , cut into 1/4" pieces

SEASONED RICE FLOUR

  • 3/4 cup Rice Flour
  • 1/4 teaspoon Kosher Salt
  • 1/8 teaspoon Ground Black Pepper
  • 1/8 teaspoon Paprika
  • 1/8 teaspoon Baking Powder

RICE FLOUR BATTER

  • 1 1/2 cups Rice Flour
  • 1/4 cup All-Purpose Flour
  • 1/4 teaspoon Kosher Salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon Ground Black Pepper
  • 1 1/2 cups Ice Water

SPICY SOY-SHERRY SAUCE

  • 1 cup Hoisin sauce
  • 1/4 cup soy sauce
  • 1/4 cup Sherry Wine
  • 2 tablespoons  red wine vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon Sriracha sauce
  • 1/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 2 ounces fresh garlic , minced
  • 1/4 teaspoon Crushed Red Chili Flakes

Instructions

TO MAKE SEASONED RICE FLOUR:

  • Mix the ingredients into a bowl together.

TO MAKE THE BATTER:

  • Combine all the ingredients together, in a bowl over ice. Keep COLD.

TO MAKE THE SAUCE:

  • Combine the sauce ingredients together and mix well.

TO COOK THE DISH:

  • Toss the chicken with the seasoned flour.
  • Put the batter into a large bowl with the chicken.
  • Carefully combine the two until well coated.
  • Heat the canola oil in a large pan or wok on medium high.
  • Add the chicken pieces to the pan, and cook 3 minutes on each side until browned and crispy.
  • Break apart any pieces that stay stuck together.
  • Add the sauce and cashews into the pan. Add in the green onions.
  • Toss all the ingredients together until well coated.
  • Let cook for 30 seconds to a minute for the sauce to thicken.
  • Garnish with sesame seeds, parsley and crushed cashews.

Nutrition

Calories: 854kcal | Carbohydrates: 97g | Protein: 38g | Fat: 35g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Cholesterol: 74mg | Sodium: 1677mg | Potassium: 876mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 24g | Vitamin A: 200IU | Vitamin C: 8.6mg | Calcium: 73mg | Iron: 4.4mg

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Sabrina’s Tip

Most of the ingredients in this recipe are easy enough to find. If you have trouble finding rice flour, you can use cake or pastry flour. In a pinch, you can even substitute half all-purpose flour and half cornstarch.

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About this Recipe

Cheesecake Factory’s Spicy Cashew Chicken is straight from the restaurant’s menu. This is a really spicy Mandarin-Style chicken dish with scallions and roasted cashews. It is crispy while being coated in this amazing sauce thanks to the light texture of the tempura style batter and the rice flour.

Ingredients

  • Rice Flour: To make this dish authentically I use rice flour. I have also made it using cornstarch and flour in a 1:1 ratio in the past and the flavor is a bit different but in a pinch go for it!
  • Hoisin Sauce: This is like Asian BBQ Sauce, a ton of flavor and easy to use.
  • Sherry Wine: A sweet wine. If you can’t source this, you can swap for white wine since the sauce already has sugar in it.
  • Low Sodium Soy Sauce: I find that regular soy sauce is much too salty. Remember, you can always add salt, but you can’t subtract it. Starting with low sodium allows you to alter to your tastes if necessary.

How to Store

  • Serve: Serve hot for the best taste and sauce consistency. Keep at room temperature no more than 2 hours before chilling.
  • Store: Cool and store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
  • Freeze: Once leftovers are cooled, place in a sealed container and freeze for up to 2 months. Reheat after thawing overnight in the refrigerator for best results.

More Cheesecake Factory Chicken Copycats!

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Photos used in the previous post

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The best copycat of Cheesecake Factory's Spicy Cashew Chicken is perfectly sweet, spicy and crispy!
The perfect Cheesecake Factory's Spicy Cashew Chicken copycat recipe you can make at home!

About the Author: Sabrina Snyder

Sabrina is a professionally trained Private Chef of over 10 years with ServSafe Manager certification in food safety. She creates all the recipes here on Dinner, then Dessert, fueled in no small part by her love for bacon.

Sabrina Snyder is a professionally trained personal and private chef of over 10 years who is the creator and developer of all the recipes on Dinner, then Dessert.

She is also the author of the cookbook Dinner, then Dessert – Satisfying Meals Using Only 3, 5 or 7 Ingredients, published by Harper Collins.

She started Dinner, then Dessert as a business in her office as a lunch service for her coworkers who admired her lunches before going to culinary school and becoming a full time personal chef and private chef.

As a personal chef Sabrina would cook for families one day a week and cook their entire week of dinners. All grocery shopping, cooking and cleaning was done along with instructions on reheating. As a private chef she cooked for private parties and cooked in family homes in the evenings for families on a nightly basis after working as a personal chef during the day.

Sabrina has been certified as a ServSafe Manager since 2007 and was a longstanding member of the USPCA Personal Chef Association including being on the board of the Washington DC Chapter of Chefs in the US Personal Chef Association when they won Chapter of the year.

As a member of the community of food website creators Sabrina Snyder has spoken at many conferences regarding her experiences as a food writer including the Indulge Food Conference, Everything Food Conference, Haven Food Conference and IACP Annual Food Professionals Conference.

Sabrina lives with her family in sunny California.

See more posts by Sabrina

Dinner, then Dessert, Inc. owns the copyright on all images and text and does not allow for its original recipes and pictures to be reproduced anywhere other than at this site unless authorization is given. Read my disclosure and copyright policy. This post may contain affiliate links.

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Comments

  1. I made this a year or so ago only did cornstarch and flour it was ok. This time I did rice flour and followed your instructions only doubled it and glad I did it feed six adult and some leftovers. They raved that it tasted exactly like Cheesecake Factory! Only problem was it took me 2and a half hours to make.

    Reply

    1. Ouch that is something to take into consideration for sure. Thanks for the great review. Appreciate the feedback.

      Reply

  2. I made this recipe about a year ago and i still salivate thinking about it. I just ran to my pantry to make sure my rice flower is still good so I can make it for friends to try. absolutely love it!!!!

    Reply