Stir-fried Chicken with Cashews - Cooking with Kids

This post was written in a paid partnership with Manitoba Chicken Producers. As always, all opinions are my own and I only promote products and services that I use and love.

September is National Chicken Month so I wanted to share Manitoba Chicken’s Stir-fried Chicken with Cashews recipe. It is flexible, quick and easy to prepare and that your kids can even help prepare it.

a bowl of rice topped with stir-fried chicken, cashews and vegetables.

Prepping this stir-fry

There are so many meal prep strategies that you can apply to this meal, to get it on the table in 15 minutes or less. A great tip for when you bring chicken home from the grocery store is to slice it up before you freeze it. This saves you a step on a busy weeknight and you can simply take the bag of sliced chicken out of the freezer the night before, thaw in the fridge and start cooking! Sliced boneless, skinless chicken breasts can be used in stir-fries like this one, sheet pan meals or fajitas.

Recipe tip: Did you know that you can find recipes for any cut of chicken you have, at manitobachicken.ca? Click the link and select the cut you’d like under the CUT menu.

This stir-fry recipe calls for carrots, snap peas, peppers and onions. You can swap them for other vegetables that you prefer. Snap peas are what I like to call a no-prep veggie, so they don’t require chopping. Other no-prep vegetables you can use to serve this stir-fry up quickly are frozen vegetables or pre-cut carrots, broccoli, mushrooms and cauliflower from the grocery store.

Did you know that you can cook and freeze rice? You can! This is one of my favorite meal prep tips for reducing the cooking time of my weeknight meals. I always make a double batch and freeze half for a future meal. You can reheat frozen rice in the microwave in two minutes. You can also serve this stir-fry over noodles.

a child pouring cooked rice from a bag into a dish — Cooking with kids can be a bit messy but it’s all in the name of connection and skill development!

Preparing the stir-fry sauce

I love this sauce because it contains ingredients that I usually have on hand, like chicken broth, soy sauce, sugar and red chili flakes. Other ingredients like oyster sauce and Chinese hot sauce can be used in many other recipes like these Ginger Chicken Wonton Cups and this Sesame Chicken with Black Bean and Ginger Stir-Fry. Once you have the sauce ingredients, you can use them in a variety of recipes for weeks to come.

Cooking with kids

Depending on how old your kids are, they can help prepare this recipe! Some kids might be reluctant to try a stir-fry because it is saucy and different ingredients are touching. Getting the kids to help prepare the stir-fry with you provides exposure to new foods and teaches them valuable cooking skills. Here are a few things they can do to help:

Measure out rice
Fill a pot with water
Pour cashews in a bowl for garnish
Wash vegetables
Slice chicken and vegetables (older kids)
Combine the sauce ingredients
Set the table

There is a complete list of ways that kids can help out in the kitchen on page 32 of the Ultimate Guide.

a child's hand picking up a snap pea from a plate of vegetables. — Setting aside some of the vegetables raw or serving the chicken without sauce is an easy way to ease kids into eventually enjoying a stir-fry.

Deconstructing this stir-fry

Some of my kids are reluctant to try stir-fry for a few reasons: different ingredients are touching, vegetables are cooked and there is a sauce! Here’s how I handle it without making them a separate meal. Serve the same vegetables on the side, raw, if they’re not into cooked vegetables. Before adding the sauce, you can set some stir-fry aside so they can enjoy the chicken and vegetables plain. Serve the cashews on the side as a garnish. My kids love adding toppings to their meals and self-serving helps them eat intuitively and develop their independence. We always serve meals family style so kids can practice good manners and interact as they pass and share dishes around the table.