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This amazing slow cooker cashew chicken is way better than takeout! The chicken is breaded to perfection, the sauce is full of flavor and the cashews hidden throughout are the best part!
Make this a restaurant-worthy meal with these sides. My tried and true favorites will make it yummy, Wontons, Egg Rolls, and of course, Rice. Don’t have time for the slow cooker? You can make cashew chicken right on the stove!
Slow Cooker Cashew Chicken Recipe
My love for cashews runs deep. One time I bought a big thing of cashews from Costco and ate the entire thing by myself. Cashews are amazing. And when added to this amazing Chinese slow cooker meal. Mind blown. If you haven’t ever tried coating and browning the chicken before adding it to the slow cooker. It is a must, it makes a HUGE difference in taste and texture. It will take your Cashew Chicken to the next level. Instead of the sauce being thin, it thickens it up while it cooks and soaks the delicious marinade into the breading. As soon as it was done, I couldn’t believe that something that delicious was just made in the crockpot.
Slow Cooker Cashew Chicken has to be seriously one of the best slow cooker meals that I have ever had! The cashews add so much amazingness to this meal and it was uh-mazing! Like I couldn’t stop eating it amazing. This is one meal that you aren’t going to want to pass up! I know that your family is going to love it as much as we did!
Ingredients For Cashew Chicken
Super simple ingredients that come together to make a divine dish.
- Chicken breasts boneless skinless: About 4 pieces, cut into 1-inch pieces
- Cornstarch: Coats the chicken to create the crust when pan-cooked.
- Black pepper: Flavor booster.
- Canola oil: This is a great choice to cook the chicken in.
- Soy sauce low sodium: You can use regular if you want to.
- Rice wine vinegar: Mild flavor that still has the tang.
- Ketchup: Sweet and savory, perfect for the sauce.
- Sweet chili sauce: Adds a touch of heat.
- Brown sugar: Adds sweetness and caramelization.
- Garlic cloves: Mince your garlic
- Grated fresh ginger: Packs a punch of flavor and heat you will love.
- Red pepper flakes: More heat.
- Cashews: The nut of choice.
How to Make Cashew Chicken in the Slow Cooker
The slow cooker makes this so easy and so delicious. The extra step of browning the chicken is divine.
- Prep the Chicken:Combine cornstarch and pepper in resealable food storage bag. Add chicken. Shake to coat with cornstarch mixture.
- Brown: Heat oil in skillet over medium-high heat. Brown chicken about 2 minutes on each side. Place chicken in slow cooker.
- Sauce: Combine soy sauce, vinegar, ketchup, sweet chili sauce sugar, garlic, ginger, pepper flakes, and cashews in small bowl; pour over chicken. (I like my cashews to be softer so I add them during the cooking process, if you want more of a crunch, add them right before serving)
- Slow Cook: Cook on LOW for 3 to 4 hours.
- Enjoy: Serve over rice. Makes 4-6 servings.
Other Ways to Cook Cashew Chicken
No Slow Cooker, No Problem: This can easily be made in a large skillet on the stovetop. After you saute the chicken add the sauce to your large skillet, let it simmer for 20-30 minutes covered. If you need to thicken the sauce more, make a cornstarch slurry of 1Tablespoon cornstarch and 2 Tablespoons cold water, mix and then stir into the sauce and bring to a gentle boil. Serve as desired.
Instant Pot: Sauté the chicken in the instant pot, once cooked remove and add the sauce. If you are getting a burn notice add half a cup of chicken broth. Pour on the sauce and manually cook for 20 minutes.
Tips and Variations for The Best Cashew Chicken
The fact that you can make this luscious of a meal in the slow cooker is insane. It seriously tastes like take out, only better!
- Chicken: You can use chicken breasts or chicken thighs. If you do not like chicken, pork or beef are also good choices. Shrimp is not recommended as it does not do well in the slow cooker.
- Breading and Frying: It takes an extra step and a few extra minutes, but it is totally worth it. Please try to work this step into your plans. You can thank me later!
- Vegetables: Add some vegetables to round out the dish. Broccoli, zucchini, bok choy, snap peas, celery, mushrooms, edamame, and green pepper all make great choices. Add to the crockpot the last 30 minutes of cooking.
- Cashews: I do not recommend using salted cashews as they will cause the dish to be too salty. If that is all you have, you can rinse them off and sauté them dry before adding them to the crockpot.
- Serve: We love this dish on rice, but you can use brown rice, cauliflower rice, zoodles, ramen noodles, or quinoa.
Storing Your Cashew Chicken
This dish tastes even better the second day.
- Fridge: Keep in tightly sealed in the fridge for up to 5 days.
- Freeze: Place the cooled cashew chicken in a freezer-safe bag or container that is air-tight and freeze for up to 3 months. When ready to use thaw in the fridge overnight. Heat in the crockpot for 1-2 hours or on the stovetop till warm and bubbly.
- Make-Ahead Freezer Meal: Make a double batch of this insanely delicious meal and freeze one batch for later use. For the freezer meal, skip dredging the chicken as it will make it a bit messy. Add everything to a freezer-safe bag except the cashews. Press all the air out of the bag and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw in the fridge overnight, add to the crockpot, and cook as directed by the recipe. Add the cashews and enjoy!
More Asian Inspired Recipes to Try
Being able to make take-out at home and have it taste even better than the real thing is epic. Like my honey garlic chicken stir fry, YUM! Try these other tried and true recipes that will have you thinking you may never go out again!
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Slow Cooker Cashew Chicken
Ingredients
- 2 pounds chicken breasts boneless skinless, About 4 pieces, cut into 1 inch pieces
- 3 Tablespoons Cornstarch
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 Tablespoon canola oil
- 1/2 cup soy sauce low sodium
- 4 Tablespoons rice wine vinegar
- 4 Tablespoons ketchup
- 2 Tablespoons sweet chili sauce
- 2 Tablespoons brown sugar
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1 cup cashews
Instructions
- Combine cornstarch and pepper in resealable food storage bag. Add chicken. Shake to coat with cornstarch mixture.
- Heat oil in skillet over medium-high heat. Brown chicken about 2 minutes on each side. Place chicken in slow cooker.
- Combine soy sauce, vinegar, ketchup, sweet chili sauce sugar, garlic, ginger, pepper flakes, and cashews in small bowl; pour over chicken. (I like my cashews to be softer so I add them during the cooking process, if you want more of a crunch, add them right before serving)
- Cook on LOW for 3 to 4 hours.
- Serve over rice. Makes 4-6 servings.
Video
Notes
-If it is too salty you can simply use low sodium soy sauce.
-If there isn’t enough sauce, you can double the sauce or make it 1 and 1/2 times. Updated on May 20, 2021 Originally Posted on July 13, 2012
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I haven’t tasted it yet, but it smells amazing and looks just perfect! BUT I would add to please add to cut chicken into chunks somewhere in the instructions. I thankfully watched the video that showed large chunked chicken.
My store doesn’t carry Rice wine vinegar. I got rice vinegar… is that the same thing? Or should I have gotten a wine vinegar?
That will also work!
I love making Asian food like this at home and have even gotten good at balancing the flavors. I came across this recipe and was excited that it was tailored for the crockpot. I have never seen ketchup used in an Asian sauce so I was skeptical. I did double the amount of sauce as many comments had suggested. I felt like I was putting in too much ketchup and I wish I had stopped short of the amount it calls for. All I could taste was ketchup! So I doctored it a bit, poured it in, and hoped for the best. But still, the ketchup shined through. The chicken did come out nice and moist which I usually have trouble with when cooking on the stove top. I might give this another try and leave out the ketchup. I’d probably use a little bit of chili garlic paste instead.
This looks so yummy! My husband LOVES cashews and he’s always wanting me to cook him something with them but I’m not a fan. But this…this looks YUMMY!! And very easy!! I will be making this tomorrow for dinner and I’m sure I will be making it again soon. Can’t wait to try it!
Delicious. Although I made a few modifications. Don’t eat ketchup so didn’t want to buy that. Had some other coconut / mango sauce – used that instead. Don’t use Rice vinegar, only apple cider vinegar, so did 3 T of that instead. Didn’t have cornstarch, so used glutino gluten-free bread crumbs with thyme and red chili pepper in the mix. Browned them in coconut oil. Perfect. Added cashews raw at end. Still very salty, so likely next will use beef broth and some other stuff I make up. Kind sorta not the same recipe, but the gist of it was the same and it was quite tasty. Plus the juxtaposition of tender chicken and crunchy cashews makes me happy.
Really fab recipe, thank you.
So many options with this too, and its a slice of Asian cooking for those that have never tried 🙂
You rock! Cheers
Well I must say, very yummy! I also added some green pepper, carrot, and pineapple chunks and woooohoooo I got the best take out in town!
Nowhere does it say to cut the chicken into pieces, yet it looks like the picture is showing pieces of chicken. So confused.
You cut the chicken into about 1 inch cubes.
Just want to say…this chicken is DELICIOUS!! The entire family rated it a ten…and that hardly ever happens. 🙂 Thank you for an awesome recipe!
Great recipe. I’ve been looking for crock pot recipes and am glad I found your site. Looking forward to trying more of your recipes.
I made this dish for dinner tonight. I followed the recipe entirely and used 1.5 times the sauce as suggested, cooked for 3.5 hours on low. I used low sodium soy sauce. The chicken stayed whole (in chunks) and was nice and tender without being dry. Having said that, the sauce was extremely salty and the dish bordered on being unedible. I don’t think I’ll be making this again.
I loved this recipe. Reminds me of kung pal chicken at PF Changs. It was not salty at all and I even salted the chicken. It was not hard to figure out that you should cut the chicken even though you didn’t list it…common sense 🙂 I wish my dish came out more darker like yours and the chicken a little more crispy like PF Changs. And I cooked mine in oil a little longer. Can’t wait to make it again. Thank you.
I made this last night and absolutely LOVED it! That said, I wasn’t able to cook it in the crock pot, so I did make it in a wok instead. The sauce was way too salty when I tasted it, but for some reason, letting it caramelize on the (totally unsalted) chicken in the wok for about 5 minutes rounded it all out and it worked perfectly. I also served it with rice that I didn’t add any salt to, just in case, but I wouldn’t worry about it making it again. If anyone wants to try it without the slow cooker, I plan to make it again this way for sure, it was so delicious!
I don’t have a slow cooker. Is there any alternative?
I had such high hopes for this. I followed the recipe TO THE T! It smelled amazing, I couldn’t WAIT to try it. I’m glad I did before I served it. It had an odd flavor, salty/vinegar with a giant spicy kick at the end… it looked amazing just didn’t taste amazing. I grabbed the chicken chunks out and put the sauce in a separate pan and added more brown sugar, some water, orange juice, and coconut milk. Let that simmer then added it back to the chicken to try and infuse the flavors. I won’t be making this again.
This is delicious! I cooked it entirely in a wok and pot (chicken in the wok, sauce thickened in a pot) for a quick late night dinner. It turned out so good! I can’t wait to make it again! Putting the sauce in the pot with a pinch of cornstarch to simmer for a little bit while the chicken cooked produced a nice thick sauce that really stuck to the chicken well.