Sesame chicken with cashews and dates from Dinner: Changing the Game (page 45) by Melissa Clark

Where’s the full recipe - why can I only see the ingredients?

Always check the publication for a full list of ingredients. An Eat Your Books index lists the main ingredients and does not include 'store-cupboard ingredients' (salt, pepper, oil, flour, etc.) - unless called for in significant quantity.

Notes about this recipe

  • Eat Your Books

    Can substitute cilantro for basil.

  • amanda_ejt6ss on April 26, 2026

    Really liked it. Cut ginger and garlic smaller. Then added some oyster sauce at the end. Served with snap peas and rice. My mom thought it was “just okay”

  • dc151 on January 05, 2026

    I cooked the chicken x2 (doubled) then the rest. It was well received.

  • Happykikkers on October 22, 2024

    3.5* We like it enough to consider again, but didn’t love it. Husband would like less ginger (or smaller pieces) next time. I used neutral oil for frying the veg in the first step and added sesame oil when I added the chicken. This was a good call to still have sesame flavour but not overwhelmingly.

  • sosayi on June 05, 2024

    This was good, but somehow not great. Tasty, easy and kids actually ate it. If I happened to have the ingredients on hand again (which is what happened this time), I'd make it again, but I don't think that I'd be craving it and seek it out. Added some boy choy to the stir fry for some veg and that worked out great, fyi.

  • babyfork on February 28, 2024

    I followed the recipe as posted on the New York Times recipes site, but it appears to be the same as this one. I had read the NYT reviewers' comments about there not being enough sauce, so I reduced the amount of chicken to 1.5 lbs skinless, boneless chicken thighs and doubled the amount of dates. I also followed their rec not to use the sesame oil for cooking. I cooked with grapeseed oil and then sprinkled some sesame oil over the finished dish. Instead of the chili flakes, I added one fresh red Fresno chile pepper (I removed about 2/3 of the seeds and ribs, but kept some for a little heat) and it ended up being mildly spicy (which was good since I had a sore throat...LOL). I also minced the ginger instead of keeping it in "coins", used a dry sherry and both basil and cilantro. I followed the recipe closely except for those small changes. I really liked the result, but YES, MORE SAUCE PLEASE! Next time, I'll double the ingredients for the sauce. Served over brown jasmine rice.

  • averythingcooks on June 13, 2023

    With 14 EYB comments available, I was sure this would be successful and it was. With 14 oz of (skinless) thighs for a 1/2 recipe, I added sweet peppers & broccoli. I minced the garlic & ginger and diced a fresno pepper for heat. I chopped the whites of the scallions to cook 1st and added the chopped green parts at the end. I also finely chopped the dates. We liked the sherry in the sauce, the touch of sweet from the dates, the crunch of the cashews & the generous amount of basil. While I minced/chopped a lot more than she instructs, I tried to honour the flavour profile and we enjoyed this served over rice.

  • ozfoodie on December 20, 2022

    Loved this! My only quibble was that there's no way that amount of chicken pieces is going to brown in a wok or pan in a single batch. Still, they were lovely flavours and I'll make this again.

  • dinnermints on September 22, 2022

    We all really liked this (including our three year old) and found it to be plenty flavorful; I’d definitely make again. Unlike the reviews on the NYT Cooking site, I found I had plenty of sauce and wish I had cooked some vegetables in with the chicken instead of cooking them separately. I used both basil and cilantro, used salted roasted cashews, and topped with lime.

  • jhallen on August 10, 2022

    I thought this was really tasty and easy. No complaints, will definitely make again. Recipe executed very well.

  • snoozermoose on December 05, 2021

    This was enjoyable even if it didn't blow me away. The flavors were decent, though being Chinese, I prefer a more authentic three cup chicken. My husband was much more excited about it though and particularly loved the cashews. I subbed cilantro for basil as the recipe suggested.

  • TrishaCP on September 17, 2021

    This was a pleasant weeknight meal that worked well with ingredients that I almost always have at hand.

  • Jviney on January 26, 2021

    This was a nice healthy recipe for a weeknight. Our four- and six-year old boys loved it, as did my husband (who has been on a diet and said to me "this has got to have sugar in it" - nope, a lovely subtle sweetness from the dates). It may not be an outstanding, memorable, serve-to-company dish, but it's great for its purpose and we'll make it again. Next time, I would probably slice the garlic instead of leaving the cloves whole, and would tear larger basil leaves in half. Otherwise, I wouldn't change a thing.

  • kari500 on August 19, 2019

    I really liked this a lot. Dates add pretty much nothing, so could easily be skipped.

  • Rachaelsb on April 03, 2018

    I thought this was delicious. I used a medium sherry instead of rice vinegar which added a nice depth to it. So easy, quick and satisfying. Will definitely make again

  • mrshalf on November 01, 2017

    This is a quick weeknight meal. I think next time I'll use less oil as the last 3xs we've done it my stomach hurt after :( thighs plus oil - yikes! I love the nuts and dates added in. It's not a flavorful meal tho.

  • mfranklin125 on May 01, 2017

    Was pretty good. Nothing exciting but flavorful

  • clcorbi on April 28, 2017

    I also thought this was just okay. I was intrigued by the idea of using dates in a stirfry, and while the result was fairly tasty, I'd rather just turn back to one of my Dunlop books when I want a memorable Chinese stirfry. I also agree with the below comment that the aromatics didn't come through well--better to just mince them in.

  • Delys77 on April 22, 2017

    For us this was ok but I found the aromatics didn't really permeate the dish because they were left mostly whole. I would prefer to mince them in.

  • stockholm28 on March 23, 2017

    This is a variation of the 3 cup chicken recipe on the NYT website. It uses dates and cashews. My recipe looked nothing like the photo in the book as everything got a deep mahogany brown. Nevertheless, this was really good and the leftovers were also very tasty. Definitely worth a repeat.

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