Are you craving some good Asian cuisine but could not find any?
Or is it too late to order it from your favorite restaurant? No worries. I've got you a recipe of a very delicious, tenderly juicy, and melt-in-mouth Cashew Chicken making you forget your restaurant favorite once you try it!
This would never make you wait so long because you can cook it in 15 minutes only using your Instant Pot. This recipe contains very easy steps and would result in a big smile on every family member's face I bet!
Table of Contents
Why This Recipe Works
The soft and juicy chicken, covered with a bit of spicy but heartwarming sauce and the crunch of cashews in every bite of it 🙂 Doesn't it sound like heaven on a plate? Yes same for me when I ate it. It's a very easy, economical, and a lifesaving recipe for you to make whenever you've got to rush.
I have used simple ingredients and you are flexible to make changes the way you like! I can safely recommend another recipe if you like the Cashew one, which is sweet-sour chicken thighs.
Learn how to make the juicy and very tender Cashew Chicken as tasty as Cola Chicken at home using an Instant Pot!
Recipe Video
Recipe Ingredients
Chicken- I've used boneless chicken thighs but you can use the breasts part too. If you like breasts pieces, you can explore steamed garlic chicken breasts too. Freeze the chicken first so it would be easy for you to cut it into pieces.
Sauces- Soy sauce, Ketchup, and Rice vinegar makes the deadly combination together and stop at giving us the finger-licking sauce which is the best part of this dish. You can also do more variations by adding Oyster sauce, Sriracha to level up the spice, or Chili Garlic instead of Ketchup depending on your taste and choice. After reading this recipe, you can also jump to another vegetarian chili that I love a lot!
Spice and Herbs- Salt and pepper are the necessities. Besides it, I've used ginger powder and garlic to make the sauce tangier, Brown sugar for some caramelized texture, and Corn starch for thickening purposes. That's the actual recipe and I prefer it but you can do variations here by adding some herbs like Oregano or thyme 9r any other spices you like.
Cashews- I've used roasted unsalted cashews here so they give a crunchy buttery flavor that your dish needs. I would not recommend using any other nuts instead of cashews because the life of your dish comes from them.
How to make Cashew Chicken
Gather the required ingredients first.
Take 1 and ½ lb of chicken thighs. Remove the skin and extra fat from it then cut it into bite-size pieces. Place the chicken in the Instant Pot.
Add salt to it as per taste.
Add Black Pepper to the meat as per taste.
Add 2 tablespoons of Soy sauce to it.
Now add 2 tablespoons of Rice Vinegar to the pot.
To make it further saucy, add 2 tablespoons of Ketchup to the pot.
Meat without garlic never goes well. So add 2 minced Garlic cloves to it.
Then add a teaspoon of ginger powder.
Add ½ teaspoon of brown sugar.
Stir well to coat the chicken properly and lock the lid into place. Set to High pressure. Adjust the timer to 7 minutes. Once the cooking cycle is done, perform a quick pressure release.
Now whisk 2 tablespoons of corn starch with water in a bowl. Pour the slurry over the chicken. If you love spicy meat, go and check my chili con carne recipe!
Then add ¼ cup of cashews to it.
Cook on Sautè for 2 minutes until gently thickened.
The delicious Cashew Chicken is ready to be served. Dish it out over Jasmine Rice, Garnish it with some chopped spring onions and enjoy!
How to Serve Cashew Chicken
I prefer serving this chicken over White Rice with some stir-fried veggies (broccoli, zucchini, bell peppers, etc) or sometimes baked shrimp aside. Perhaps with lemon garlic shrimps too. That's how my family loves it.
But for other options, stir fry some veggies with black pepper and soy sauce and mix them up in a boiled pasta then serve Cashew Chicken over it. You can never have them better than this! Or you can substitute pasta with egg noodles or beef and noodles.
FAQ About Cashew Chicken
What more amendments I can do to my recipe?
You can marinate the chicken first with Paprika, salt, and pepper similar to the way I did in the chicken paprikash recipe. This will enhance the flavors more adding the extra good texture to your chicken making it super soft. I've not done this because I like this recipe to be more quick and easy for me and others.
You can also add some chicken stock to your sauce as it gives out a good aroma and taste.
For how long can I store it in the refrigerator?
Yes, you can! And that is the best part of it because who wouldn't love this fall-in-love dish at midnight or any other time of the day!
For storing purposes you have to let it cool first or else the cashews would go soggy tasting in disaster after it. So cool it first then refrigerate it in an airtight container or ziplock. You can store it for 4-5 days max.
More Chicken Recipes
Instant Pot Chicken Burrito Bowl
Instant Pot Cashew Chicken
Ingredients
- 1 ½ lb boneless chicken thighs
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 2 tablespoon soy sauce
- 2 tablespoon rice vinegar
- 2 tablespoon ketchup
- 1 teaspoon ginger powder
- ½ teaspoon brown sugar
- ¼ cup cashews
- 2 tablespoon cornstarch
- water as needed
- salt and pepper to taste
- spring onion chopped to garnish
Instructions
- Clean and cut the chicken - Remove excess fat or skin (if there is any) from the chicken and cut it into bite-size pieces (Or ask the butcher to do it for you).
- Place the chicken in the Instant Pot and add salt, pepper, soy sauce, rice vinegar, ketchup, garlic, ginger powder, and brown sugar. Stir well to combine.
- Close the lid and cook at high pressure for 7 minutes.
- Do a quick pressure release and open the lid once done.
- In a cup, mix corn starch with water and pour it over the chicken. Then add cashews and saute for 2 more minutes.
- Garnish spring onions on top. Serve it over rice and enjoy.
Nutrition
Video
Notes
Instant Pot Nuttylicious Cashew Chicken
I assume from the photo that cut green onions are added as a "garnish" at the end, though according to the recipe they aren't used.
Also, and this seems to apply to virtually all of your recipes, for someone making this recipe for the first time, the term "salt and pepper to taste" is hopelessly vague. could please provide some suggested measures for these to start with?
Other than that I've enjoyed making every recipe I've made from your collection and I keep finding new ones to try, so I haven't repeated one yet!
I'm glad you've enjoyed the recipes! Yes that's correct, they are used as a garnish in the final step. Salt and pepper to taste is purposefully vague because it really depends on personal preference and dietary considerations with salt. Try starting with 1 tsp. of salt and 1/2 tsp. pepper, taste it, and add more if you wish
Hi there! ♀️ You probably will think this to be very odd but I’m allergic to ketchup. Is there anything I can substitute for it? Could I just omit ketchup from the recipe or will it change everything in the taste if I completely leave it out? I can’t use tomato paste either. It’s the processing procedure of the tomatoes that creates my allergy. I’m not allergic to tomatoes and can use tomato sauce yet absolutely can not use ketchup or tomato paste based food items or I end up with a severe allergic reaction.
Sorry to hear that! You can definitely substitute tomato sauce for the ketchup. I would also add a bit more sugar in that case to balance it out.
Can you freeze this? Also, if you double or triple the recipe do you change the amount of cooking time? Thanks
Excellent recipe!! Lighter and more flavorful than anything I have been served in a restaurant. And very quick to make.
I added chopped onions (which melt into any sauce in IP recipes, I find) as well as shredded carrots and chopped celery. If I had bell peppers, I would've added strips of those, too -- trying to get all my veggies in one pot! And I doubled the sauce recipe, because I was serving it on "9¢ noodles" (they used to be 9¢... ramen soup packets without the seasoning) and I knew they would soak up the sauce.
This one's a keeper!
I'm glad you enjoyed the recipe, Barbara. Thanks so much for the stellar review!
I don't have an instant pot. Can I make this using a slow cooker?
I am certainly going to try this,,,,sounds delicious!!!
As I'm avoiding sugar these days, will it be okay to substitute it with truvia brown sugar?
Yes sure! You can substitute truvia brown sugar.
This is an excellent recipe and one of my favourites for the instant pot. I make it quite often and I make it in a large quantity so that I have enough leftover to serve on the rice next day. In order to cut salt down, I put unsalted raw cashew nuts. Highly recommended recipe!
I'm really glad that you have liked the recipe!
Gonna try this.
Sure! Would love to listen to your experience
It is a great recipe that I will use frequently. In addition to the chicken and cashews, I added a small can of chestnuts and some mixed vegetables. It turned out to be perfect!
I love your idea of adding more veggies in. I'm glad you like my recipe.
Thanks for the tip, what a great addition.