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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.
Do you cut the chicken into pieces before adding to the crockpot? It doesn’t look like it’s cooked whole in the crockpot, right?
Thanks!!
Yes I cut the pieces. 🙂
Recipe looks delish! I see green onions in your photos. Did you add those after it was done cooking or into the crockpot as well?
I used the green onions for garnish when I served it. 🙂
This was delicious! Very flavorful. Family loved it & wanted the recipe. Will make again for sure!
Is the sauce already doubled?
•½ cup soy sauce
•4 Tbsp rice wine vinegar
•4 Tablespoons ketchup
•2 Tablespoons sweet chili sauce
•2 Tbsp brown sugar
•2 garlic cloves, minced
•1 tsp grated fresh ginger
•¼ tsp red pepper flakes
•1 cup cashews
I updated the sauce ingredients in the recipe to be doubled. 🙂
sorry, but this is getting confusing. Is the following as it should be or to be doubled? 🙂
•½ cup soy sauce
•4 Tbsp rice wine vinegar
•4 Tablespoons ketchup
•2 Tablespoons sweet chili sauce
•2 Tbsp brown sugar
•2 garlic cloves, minced
•1 tsp grated fresh ginger
•¼ tsp red pepper flakes
•1 cup cashews
also, why do you think it is so salty? I want to make it for family but all on a low-sodium diet. Thanks.
The recipe is correct as is. 🙂 And I didn’t think that it was too salty and a lot of other commenters are raving about it. I would try a low sodium soy sauce if you are on a low sodium diet. 🙂
I love this receipe but made it tonight doubling like the above and browned the meat .. I put it in the crockpot in one hour it was done and the meat absorbed all the sauce.. has this happened to anyone else.. is it supposed to have sauce left .. I still love it but trying to perfect it as it is still too salty.. I use braggs amino acid and put 1/4 cup.. we are used to a low salt diet so this may be why..
I don’t have a slow cooker appliance. Can this be made in a chasseur french oven on the stove? How long would cooking times be for this method?
Thanks
This recipe is such a winner. I’ve made it 3 times and I’ve finally perfected it. The reason some people say theirs is dark is because of the soy sauce. The first times I used regular, dark soy sauce (almost black) and it was so salty, this time I used light soy sauce and it was perfect! I used 4 chicken breasts (you must brown them first with the cornstarch as recommended, it improves this recipe tenfold!!) I also doubled the sauce but I didn’t double the rice wine vinager because it was really vinagery the second time I made it. My husband told me to put this meal in the rotation!
Made this for dinner and its…..So good. Both of my kids ate it…which is rare!
Making it again tonight!
How do you think it would do without the soy sauce? I’m highly allergic to it, but this looks too amazing!
The soy sauce helps to bring out that asian flavor. I have heard this is a good soy sauce alternative but haven’t tried it http://meljoulwan.com/2014/03/01/substitute-soy-sauce-coconut-aminos/. Good luck!
This looks fantastic! I can’t wait to try this.
However, you don’t mention anything about cutting the chicken into bite sized pieces.
This is probably a silly question but is the chicken cut into bite-sized pieces before placing into the cornstarch/black pepper mixture, or after browning?
Yes. Cut the chicken into bite size pieces and then coat in the cornstarch and brown. 🙂
Any suggestions?
Wondering if there are any good substitutions anyone’s tried and liked for the sweet chili sauce and brown sugar? Too much sugar in the chili sauce for me… For the brown sugar I was thinking stevia?
This recipe sounds so yummy and I really want to try it… but I can’t find any nutritional vlues to see if it fits in my weight watcher points;.
You should figure out your own Weight Watchers points for any recipe you make since the ingredients you use could be different than the ones the person posting the original recipe used. Just use the recipe builder on the WW site.
I made this recipe today and found it was really tasty – but INCREDIBLY salty! I used Kikkoman gluten free tamari soy sauce, but I think any soy, light or dark, would turn out ultra-salty in this quantity. I don’t know why I didn’t twig to this while I was stirring up the sauce, as I’ve encountered the effect before in other recipes! In future I’ll add either less soy or (probably) a good slug of rice wine …or indeed any white wine 😀 and some water to make the sauce go further and lessen the salty smack.
Love the ginger/garlic aspect.
I think the cornflour coating needs to be fried pretty hot to end up crunchy, and to be honest, 3 hours’ subsequent cooking in the sauce is enough to soften the crispiest coating. But then, coated pieces of chicken from the takeaway aren’t crispy, they’re just like ours were – gooey and yummy.
I think I might use your recipe as a launch-pad and marinade the chicken overnight in the sauce ingredients (adding a few drops of sesame, ‘cos sesame oil just breathes China to me), then make the sauce by itself in a small pan while I deep-fry the chicken in its cornflour jacket. Add the two together, serve with rice… and don’t do what I did today and totally forget to put in the cashew nuts! :”>
My very first crockpot recipe experience. I wanted to love it but sadly, my boyfriend and I did not. I think everything was good except for the fact that it was soooo unbelievably salty. And I LOVE soy sauce and anything Salty but this was just way too much. We ate our small portions but I gave the rest to my neighbor warning him beforehand about the saltiness. Sadly, I will definitely not be making this again, although for any one else wanting to make this, I highly recommend low sodium soy sauce.
Sorry this didn’t turn out for you! It gets rave reviews and is one of our all time favorites!
Looks Delicious! I Don’t have a slow cooker though. Will this work in a Dutch Oven? How long should I cook it for?
I’m so excited to try this tomorrow night! Was just wondering if you cut the chicken into pieces before or after cooking? Thanks so much!
I tried this recipe last night and was quite disappointed with it. First of all, I didn’t know I was supposed to double the sauce, which would certainly have helped a lot, since it was so dry. Maybe it should be mentioned at the top of the recipe and not only in the comment section. Secondly, it was soooo salty! I would definitely recommend cutting the soy sauce in half or at least using low sodium soy sauce. And finally, adding the cashews at the beginning left them with absolutely no bite at all, which meant that the entire dish was mushy. So mushy, dry and salty. Not great. But I think with double the sauce, half the salt and by adding the cashews at the end, it might turn out ok. I don’t know if I will try it again, though. My husband and I couldn’t even finish our plates and I don’t even know if I’ll be able to turn the leftovers into something palatable.