This cashew chicken recipe is a one-pan wonder!
Tender chunks of chicken, bell peppers, and onions are stir-fried with toasted cashews and simmered in a thick umami sauce!
For take-out flavor without leaving home, try this easy low carb chicken with cashew nuts.
A Delish Low-Carb Meal!
- Low-carb, healthy, high-protein, and chock full of vegetables, this cashew chicken recipe couldn’t be easier!
- Great for batch cooking! Cook a double portion of cashew chicken and enjoy all week for quick work lunches and easy dinners!
- Enjoy chicken with cashew nuts on its own or serve it over cauliflower rice, zucchini noodles, or shredded cabbage.
Ingredients and Substitutions
This dish is all about the sauce. It thickens as it cooks and clings to each delicious bite of chicken and veggies!
Chicken – Boneless skinless breasts or thighs make this stir-fry easy. Be sure the chunks of chicken are uniform in size so they cook evenly. This is a great recipe for using up leftover steak, pork, or shrimp, too!
Vegetables – Colorful bell peppers and onions add crunch, nutrition, and tons of flavor!
Cashews – Toasting nuts burns off excess oil, keeps them crunchy, and intensifies their flavor. Peanuts can be prepared the same way in this recipe if desired. Be sure to use unsalted nuts or the dish may be too salty.
Sauce – This super easy sauce thickens up even without the traditional use of corn starch. Adjust the sambal (or red chili paste sriracha, gochujang, or chili crisp) to your spicy level. Coconut aminos have less sodium and are gluten and soy-free rather than soy sauce.
Variations – Make cashew chicken a vegetarian dish and replace the meat with loads of mushrooms, baby bok choy, spinach, celery, zucchini, shredded Brussels sprouts, broccoli, and cauliflower florets.
How to Make Cashew Chicken
- Sautée cashews.
- Mix the sauce ingredients in a bowl and set aside.
- Pan-fry chicken with some garlic.
- Sautee onions and vegetables. Then add the chicken and the prepared sauce. Cook until the chicken is cooked through, (per recipe below).
- Add the toasted cashews.
Serving and Storing Cashew Chicken
Keep leftover cashew chicken in a covered container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Reheat on the stovetop and season with soy sauce before serving. Freeze cashew chicken in zippered bags with the date labeled on the outside for up to 4 months.
Time-Saving Recipe Tips!
- Use ready-made frozen chicken strips. Simply add them to the pan with the peppers and onions.
- Use pre-cut frozen bell pepper strips and sliced onions instead of prepping from fresh.
- Keep leftover sauce in a jar in the refrigerator for up to a week and drizzle over veggies.
Low Carb Stir Fry Recipes
Have you tried this Cashew Chicken Recipe? Leave a comment and rating below!
Cashew Chicken Recipe
Ingredients
- ½ cup cashews
- 1 ½ pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut into 1” cubes
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- 1 ½ tablespoon oil olive, vegetable, avocado, or coconut oil
- 3 cloves minced garlic
Sauce
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce or coconut aminos*
- 2 tablespoons water more if needed
- 2 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
- 2 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1 teaspoon grated ginger
- 2 teaspoon sambal oelek optional
Vegetables
- 1 red bell pepper thinly sliced
- 1 medium white onion thinly sliced
- 2 green onions sliced
- toasted sesame seeds for garnish
Instructions
- Saute raw cashews in a single layer in a saute pan over medium heat. Toss frequently until brown. Remove from heat and cool on a paper towel.
- In a small bowl whisk together soy sauce, water, rice wine vinegar, sesame oil, ginger, and sambal oelek if using. Set aside (or shake in a jar with a tight-fitting lid).
- Pat chicken chunks dry and season with salt and pepper.
- In a large pan, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add chicken and garlic and cook until evenly browned on all sides. Remove chicken from the skillet.
- Saute peppers and onions until tender in the same skillet, adding additional oil if needed. Add chicken back to the skillet and pour in the prepared sauce.
- Bring to a boil, stir thoroughly, then reduce to a simmer until chicken is cooked through. Stir in additional water if the sauce becomes too thick.
- Add toasted cashews, stir and serve. Delicious on it's own, or over cauliflower rice or zoodles.
- Garnish with sliced green onions and toasted sesame seeds.
Notes
- Coconut Amino Acids can be used interchangeably with soy sauce. They have significantly less sodium and are gluten and soy-free.
- Thawed from frozen chicken strips can be used in place of chicken breast – add them to the pan with peppers and onions. Chicken should reach a safe internal cooking temperature of 165 °F.
- As a substitute for sambal, use red chili paste, sriracha, chili crisp, gochujang, or harissa.
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
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