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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.
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. It saves you money and gives you control over the ingredients, which is a huge plus. Making your meals at home from scratch is often healthier and always tastes better. It is so fun to be able to eat your favorites but know you cooked them. If you have not tried it, you must. It is way easier than you think and your family and friends will think you are amazing. Try these 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 agree that after only 3 hours on low my chicken fell apart when I tried to cut it into chunks. It ended up being mostly shredded like Barbeque. Any idea of how to have it still be in nice chunks like Chinese food cashew chicken? Maybe if it’s cut into cubes first as you did? But even when I would try just gently stir it, it would shred on its own.
Just wondering if anyone has tried this recipe without the flour to reduce carbs?
She days in the description at the top my dear. Please re read. XOXO
I really want to make this meal but my slow cooker only has 4 settings, 4 hours high, 6 hours high, 8 hours low, 10 hours low. Any suggestions? I want to set it before I go to work in the morning.
i think I’m confused. Is the chicken better with or without the frying and do I need to double the sauce all the time?
I really want to make this tomorrow night!
I just made it and “browning” the chicken first is best – in my opinion. It also helped it cook faster – I put mine on high and it was done in 1 1/2 hours. Next time I would add extra water as it almost burned and I don’t know why but mine turned out pretty vinegary tasting so I plan to add more brown sugar next time as well. It turned out beautiful looking! ha and I love the way it coated the chicken 🙂
Was yours salty.. I tasted it part way thru and it seem vinegary so i added brown sugar but still too salty but delicious
Just made this recipe. The entire family LOVED it! Super easy and delicious!!! Definitely a keeper!
I made this for dinner tonight and it was a HUGE HUGE hit! My teenager only eats things deep fried and/or covered in cheese and he said that this is his new favorite dinner. Effortless deliciousness is my new favorite too! Thanks so much!
We just made this for dinner, doubling the sauce as recommended. It turned out pretty delicious but a little sweet. We are wondering what flavors the ketchup added and if it could be omitted. Also we left it in the crockpot a little closer to 5 hours and that allows a little too much sauce to absorb into the chicken. This was yummy and is worth a repeat! Thanks for sharing!
I was wondering about omitting the ketchup as well, I have to admit — ketchup is my least favorite condiment. We don’t even keep it in the house. have you tried it without the ketchup? How was it?
Holly – I’m not a fan of ketchup either, but sometimes there is just no good substitution. You could try using a equal amount of tomato paste + an extra teaspoon or two of brown sugar. If it were me, though, I stick with the ketchup. Like you, I generally don’t keep it around in the big bottles, but I do ask for a few packets when we hit a drive-thru fast food place. Then, I have two or three packets (tablespoons) around if we have guests that want it or if I run across a recipe like this one that just calls for a little.
Great recipe! I bought 2 lbs of chicken and it was more like 6-7 breasts, which was too much for the sauce. I added a bit of water to it part way through which saved the meal
This is a fab recipe. Whilst the sauce comes out a dark brown I thought that might be due to the soy sauce. My family loved this and wolfed it down including my picky 7 year old!! I added the cashews when I cooked the rice separately. I also w
I’m making this for dinner tonight hoping my fiancé will like it since this is his favorite dish when we get Chinese. I doubled the sauce (as I saw others suggest and then realized it myself.) I also added water chestnuts and green onion. I’m planning on serving it with some egg drop soup.
Fabulous. I changed just a little bit. More red peppers, etc. We like very spicy. I used both dark and white pieces and cut in small pieces at the beginning.. Also cooked only 2 hours.
I just pulled this out of my crockpot and its DELISH!!! And yes, it definitely has a kick to it! Only took 3 hours to cook. My hubby will be pleasantly surprised when he gets home from work 🙂
Just made this recipe and although it tastes good, it turned out not like the picture at all. The sauce is much darker (dark brown). Has that happened to anyone else?
Thats strange because mine wasn’t dark at all and almost had a reddish to it… Did you use dark brown sugar?
Same thing happened to me. Not sure why. It’s disappointing for sure.
i tried the same receipe but the secret is what colour soya saurce did you use. …… i find the original
receipe
so easy to follow. … kia. ora whan.au.
Have this cooking in the crock pot as we speak! It’s smelling yummy already!
If you want to have crunchy cashews, add them just before serving. Also, it you want them to stay crunchy, sauté them in a tiny bit of sesame oil (or olive if you prefer) before adding. That is a Chinese restaurant trick.
Thanks for the tip!! 🙂
I can’t seem to find rice wine vinegar. Is rice vinegar the same thing?
There really is no difference. Rice wine vinegar is a little bit milder but I have also used both and it turns our great! I hope you like it! XOXO
White wine vinegar? Could I use that? Thanks
yes, certainly you could substitute. When looking for Rice Wine Vinegar check both the vinegar area and also the section where there are Asian products. If recipe turned out too salty –use unsalted cashews or unsalted nuts.
Do u add the nuts while cooking or when it is done?
You can do it either way. I like to add them while they are cooking but they will be softer. 🙂