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This Crockpot Cashew Chicken is better than most Chinese takeout cashew chicken. Throw it all in the slow cooker and have a delicious, no fuss dinner!
Featured with this Recipe
This is an easy-to-prepare Crockpot recipe that the whole family will love! It can also be adapted to be an Instant Pot Recipe or a Freezer Meal. Serve this for dinner with rice, roasted vegetables, or roasted asparagus.
In addition to being delicious, this Crockpot Cashew Chicken is super easy to make! You can have this ready and in the crock pot faster than you can get your kids in the car and drive to the nearest Chinese place for take-out. My family absolutely LOVED this recipe! We served it with some steamed veggies and it was the perfect pairing. You can throw veggies in the crockpot with this dish or you can serve it on the side — whatever is easiest for you!
Ingredients in Crockpot Cashew Chicken
- Chicken Breasts
- Flour
- Black Pepper
- Canola Oil
- Low Sodium Soy Sauce
- Rice Vinegar
- Ketchup
- Brown Sugar
- Garlic Cloves
- Fresh Ginger
- Red Pepper Flakes
- Cashews
Cashew Chicken | Tasty History
When you bite into the sweet and savory flavor of cashew chicken, you’re probably imagining some rich, Chinese heritage for this food. Not so. Actually, this dish heralds from Springfield, Missouri in the United States in 1963. A chef from China, David Leong, created the dish as he was trying to incorporate the flavors of his homeland with the tastes of the local residents. It became a very popular dish and he was very open to sharing the recipe with other restaurant owners. No, more than 50 years later, the entree that consists of bite-sized pieces of fried chicken in the rich brown sauce with crunchy cashews is on the menu of almost every Chinese restaurant in the United States.
Cashew Chicken Freezer Meal
This cashew chicken recipe can easily be adapted to be a freezer meal. Make double the amount and freeze half for later! When making this a freezer meal, skip dredging the chicken in flour. That will just make a mess after freezing. Simply add the chicken pieces (un-dredged) to a gallon-sized plastic zip-top freezer bag, combine the sauce ingredients, and add the sauce to the bag. Squeeze the air out and seal tightly. That’s it! To enjoy later, thaw your bag in the refrigerator then add it to the Crock Pot just as you would in this recipe. Add cashews after cooking.
Instant Pot Cashew Chicken
If you are in a hurry to make dinner and would rather make this cashew chicken in an Instant Pot, it’s easy to do! You can even brown the chicken right there in the Instant Pot before cooking so you don’t have to dirty a skillet. You will just have to do it in batches.
- After browning the chicken, remove the chicken and add the sauce to the bottom of the Instant Pot.
- To avoid getting the “burn notice” on your Instant Pot, you will want to add ½ cup of chicken broth over the sauce.
- Add the chicken over the top of the sauce, seal the Instant Pot, and cook on high pressure for 20 minutes.
- Do a quick release and stir to cover the chicken in sauce.
Stove-Top Cashew Chicken
If you don’t have a Crock Pot or an Instant Pot and just want to make this on the stove top, that is easy too! Just be sure to use a skillet large enough to hold everything.
- After cooking the chicken in the skillet, there is no need to remove it. Just pour the sauce right over the chicken.
- Cover and simmer on low heat until the chicken is cooked through (165-degrees F), stirring occasionally. This should only take about 30-40 minutes.
- If the sauce seems to be getting too thick, just add some chicken broth to thin out.
A Big Thank You!
This recipe for this version of Crockpot Cashew Chicken was adapted from Karen at 365daysofcrockpot.com. She is such a sweetheart. I have had the pleasure of meeting her several times and she has some awesome recipes. She gave this one a 5-star rating and I couldn’t agree more. It is delicious! Check out her blog for even more amazing crockpot recipes!
Frequently Asked Questions
You can put raw chicken in the slow cooker, but because this chicken has an extremely light flour breading, it has to be cooked in a skillet first.
Our cashew chicken sauce is made of soy sauce, vinegar, ketchup, sugar, garlic, ginger, and pepper flakes.
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge.
Read Next: Easy Crockpot Chicken Recipes
More Crockpot Recipes to Try
- Slow Cooker Chicken and Rice Soup: Chicken and Rice Soup warms you up on cold fall and winter days. It is also ideal for busy days. The ingredients go into the Slow Cooker in the morning and a nice, hot meal awaits in the evening.
- Slow Cooker Lasagna: This Slow Cooker Lasagna recipe is not only delicious, it is definitely the easiest way to make lasagna. You don’t have to boil the lasagna noodles ahead of time and deal with wet, sticky noodles.
- Slow Cooker Cheese Tortellini Soup: This Cheese Tortellini Soup is a flavorful, easy slow cooker meal. Tortellini, sausage, and spinach in a creamy tomato soup and slow cooked to perfection.
- Slow Cooker Kalua Pork: Kalua Pork with Cabbage is a Hawaiian dish often served at Luaus. This version is made in the slow cooker and tastes just like authentic shredded Kalua Pig.
- Slow Cooker Pasta E Fagioli Soup: Our version of the Olive Garden Pasta E Fagioli Soup tastes just like the original.
- Slow Cooker Zuppa Toscana Soup: Many agree that this Zuppa Toscana Soup Olive Garden Copycat is actually better than the original! It has a creamy both base and is loaded with sausage and potatoes.
- Slow Cooker Molten Chocolate and Caramel Cake: I am in love with this Slow Cooker Molten Chocolate and Caramel Cake. Besides this being rich, chocolatey, and delicious, it is so easy to make and the clean up is a breeze!
- Easy Crock Pot Pork Chops: With four ingredients and a sauce you’re going to love, you won’t want to miss this comfort food!
How to Make Crockpot Cashew Chicken
Crockpot Cashew Chicken
Video
Equipment
- Crock Pot (Slow Cooker)
Ingredients
- 2 pounds chicken breasts boneless skinless , about 4 chicken breasts, cut into smaller pieces
- 1/4 cup flour all purpose
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 Tablespoon canola oil
- 1 cup low-sodium soy sauce
- 1/2 cup rice vinegar
- 1/2 cup ketchup
- 4 Tablespoon brown sugar
- 4 garlic cloves minced
- 1 teaspoon fresh ginger grated
- 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1/2 cup cashews UNSALTED, or to taste
Instructions
- Combine flour and pepper in resealable food storage bag. Add chicken. Shake to coat with flour 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, sugar, garlic, ginger, and pepper flakes in small bowl; pour over chicken.
- Cook on LOW for 2 to 3 hours. Stir in cashews and serve.
Notes
- After cooking the chicken in the skillet, there is no need to remove it. Just pour the sauce right over the chicken.
- Cover and simmer on low heat until the chicken is cooked through (165-degrees F), stirring occasionally. This should only take about 30-40 minutes.
- If the sauce seems to be getting too thick, just add some chicken broth to thin out.
It was okay, but 1 cup of soy sauce seems like way too much. It was SO salty, it was hard to eat. Now I’m seeing some comments saying its supposed to be 1/4 cup… Which would make more sense but should be updated in the recipe. I’m not someone that likes to watch videos
Our recipe uses 1 cup of low-sodium soy sauce. If you used regular soy sauce that would explain the saltiness. Usually you can find low-sodium soy sauce next to the regular soy sauce in the grocery store.
Can you place chicken into crockpot raw and just cook in pot longer vs. the 2-3 hours?
We haven’t tried it that way before, but let us know how it comes out!
Are there green onions in this? It looks like it in the picture but I can’t see it calls for it in the recipe.
They are not in the recipe, we just used them for garnish!
The recipe and the video don’t match. Is it 1 cup of soy sauce as stated in the recipe or 1/4 as shown in the video? I followed the recipe but it is swimming in sauce…. looks nothing like the video or photos of finished product.
We have updated the recipe since the video was created, so the info in the recipe card is the most updated version. Hope this helps!
This is about a 45 minute prep time. Cutting the chicken, coating and browning the chicken, mixing the other ingredients, chopping the garlic…. You would have to be a magician to do all that in 10 minutes. The taste is great. One of my family’s favorite crockpot recipes. I double the sauce ingredients so there is enough to pour a little over the top of each serving.
Thanks for the heads-up, we will re-evaluate those prep times to make sure they are accurate. So glad you liked this recipe!
Loved the flavor and ease of preparing it; however, mine also dried up after just two hours cooking. I turned it to ‘warm’ until dinner time and added some water to thin it down. I did add some celery to give it some crunch. Will make it again.
Thank you for your honest review of this! We will have to re-visit the recipe and see if the cooking times need to be adjusted.
My sauce is very red and the video didn’t LOL like it added ketchup!
Hi Sherri, we’ve updated the recipe since the video was made. How did you like the flavor?
A definite miss for me. I followed this to a T, added a bit of extra brown sugar to compensate for the saltiness of the soy sauce. I used regular soy sauce and unsalted cashews. My sauce was dark and way too salty. There is clearly an ingredient in this recipe that has two versions. I fail to see how 1/4 cup of soy sauce gives you an orange sauce.
I honestly wonder if it depends on the soy sauce you use. We have followed the recipe exactly so many times and have never had a problem. What brand soy sauce did you use?
I just made this for my family last week, and they loved it so much, they requested I repeat it again this week. (Last week I used cut up chicken thighs, this week I am cooking cut up chicken breast.) I made sure to make a generous quantity of sauce this time, and cooking on low heat has worked well so far.
I’m so glad your family liked the recipe! Thank you for sharing!
What size of crockpot do you need for this recipe? If it is a larger one can you half the recipe and use a 3 quart crockpot?
For this recipe as-is, you should be able to use a 3 qt. without any problems. Hope this helps!
Has anyone tried using coconut cream for more moisture.
What vegetables could I put in with this that would cook well and be good with it?
Sometimes we like to use stir-fry vegetables (just the frozen kind from Costco) on the side as a veggie but I am sure you could mix them in, too!
Just made it and it was delicious! Next time I will add a few hot peppers to the sauce — heat was the only element that felt missing to me. I also added 3 cloves of fresh garlic, as is my way.
We always add Sriracha after the fact.. all of us like different levels of heat!
My wife surprised me with this meal today when we got home from church. One plate was not enough, and I have left-overs to bring to work tomorrow. This is a must-have/must-make meal for any food lover.
So glad you liked it! You have one awesome wife 😉
I am vegetarian and substituted the 2lb of chicken for 14oz of frozen tofu. Worked out great!
What size crockpot do you use. I know the shape of crockpot matters. If it’s oval it leaves more surface area and stuff can burn easier or not cook the same as something with a smaller surface area like a round crockpot.
This was lip smacking delicious! I used pork loin diced instead of chicken and cooked it on the stove because I was in a hurry. I added veggies to it also and served it over brown rice. Can’t wait to have leftovers tomorrow. Thank you for this great recipe!
You are very welcome! You will find that the leftovers heat up great 🙂 My husband’s favorite to take to work!
Mine turned out just like picture. Was a hit! Thanks! Will make again!
can you use ginger that is in the spiced isle or does it need to be fresh ginger?
Thanks.
It’s best with fresh but you can use the spice
I tried this tonight, and it came out VERY SALTY. I used salted cashews. Is there any way to make this a little sweeter?
Definitely use unsalted cashews and low sodium soy sauce. If it is still too salty you can add a little brown sugar to balance it out.
I made this tonight and it was a hit. I did make a few alterations, but the general idea of the recipe remains the same and I am grateful for the inspiration.
I did all of this on the stove top (rather than the slow cooker) and it took less than 45 minutes, start to finish. I added a bit of Chinese 5-Spice to the flour/pepper mix to coat the chicken, browned the chicken in a skillet, then removed it from the pan. Then I stir-fried some chunks of green pepper and onion in the pan, added the sauce (doubled the recipe, next time will triple it for our family’s preference) and added the chicken back to the pan. Let it simmer for about 10 minutes in the sauce. Served it with white rice and broccoli. Was a big hit (even for my newly-picky two year old).
Thank you for your tips! I don’t always remember or have time to get things going in the crock pot earlier in the day. Thank you for sharing a stove top version!
The recipe shown is the exact recipe on the post. I’m not sure how people keep getting black sauce? It may be the type of soy or brown sugar? I have made this dozens of times and have never had it come out black. I honestly don’t know what is going on?
I made this for dinner tonight. It was fabulous. It looked exactly like your picture, especially after I added the green onions. Thank you for a wonderful dinner.
A couple of things – one: 3-4 hrs is TOO long, maybe hence the blackness of the chicken, for some – mine took almost less than 2 hours two: very little flavor. this isn’t a typical cashew chicken recipe. IF, i make this again – i will either choose a different recipe or tweek this. Not a bad STARTER, to the recipe. Because I do not waste food, I will just add soy sauce to this, when served.
What size crock pot is this for? I have a 5 quart. Would it work? This is on my menu for the week
Thanks
Yes, a 5qt should work great
I would use boneless chicken thighs instead of breasts; much more flavor. Also, I don’t understand the point of using a crock pot. You fry the chicken to get it crisp and then put it in sauce and cook for 3-4 hours, which loses all the crispiness. I would cook the sauce sans the chicken and cashews; and then add the chicken and toasted cashews just before serving.
I made this tonight, and doubled the recipe. It came out PERFECT! My kids LOVED it!! I used tamari instead of soy sauce, since it was what I had on hand. It wasn’t too salty at all (I read all the comments) and it looked just like your picture. The only thing for me was it was done in about 1 1/2 hours on low…maybe I made my bites too small or browned them a little longer. So, I’ll always check it around 1 1/2 hours so the chicken doesn’t overcook. Overall, this was a winner in our book. Thanks for a great recipe!
Could I use peanuts instead? We have cashew allergies. Looks yummy!
Of course!
i doubled the sauce part of the recipe and my whole meal came out SOOO salty!!!! Any ideas why? I messed up somewhere. I couldn’t eat even a bite, it was so nasty!
Did you use salted cashews? If so, go with unsalted next time.
I have made this 3 times. we all love it! (and I use regular soy sauce and salted cashews and it’s never been dark or too salty)
I’ve made this recipe a few times, but this is the first time I read the comments. On the black chicken – in addition to the rice wine vinegar check, also check your soy sauce to make sure you aren’t using DARK soy sauce. (It will be on the label.) My husband loves the dark stuff, and I used that the first time. Looked terrible, but taste was good enough that I gave it another shot using regular soy sauce and it was great. The colour will also be affected by your choice of brown sugar – dark or yellow. I found the yellow (lighter) brown sugar will result in a lighter colour.
Thank you for sharing your suggestions Laura!
The sauce is not covering the chicken in the crockpot. I used the same amounts & measurements you have. Just doesn’t seem like enough. Is that weird? Do I need to make more so it doesn’t dry out or just stir it often?
It should be fine, the chicken shouldn’t be completely submerged in sauce..
Can I just say this was better than restaurant food? And it was ready the minute we walked in the door- amazing! I made a few tweaks- due to my daughter’s food allergies, I used an all-purpose gluten free flour instead of regular flour. We only had 2 chicken breasts on hand (1.4 lbs), which I cut into small, bite-size pieces. I also sprayed the slow cooker with vegetable oil cooking spray before putting the browned chicken in, to prevent it from sticking. I mixed in 1 c. diced carrots, 1 stalk of celery (diced) and 1 can of water chestnuts (coarsely chopped). Based on other reviews, I doubled the sauce except for the low-sodium soy sauce and mixed everything well before putting the lid on and cooking for 2 hours and 45 minutes on low. I did rinse my lightly salted cashews under running water and then lightly roasted them in a pan. It was fabulous- thank you!
So glad you liked it! Great substitution ideas!
The reason some people’s sauce turned out dark is because there are different kinds of rice vinegar (or rice wine vinegar): clear/light and dark. You didn’t specify which. They should taste the same, it’ s just not as pretty! Especially if you’re making orange chicken.
Hmmm I had no idea there was a darker one! I will have to put that on the recipe, thank you!
I made this for dinner tonight and we really like it. I think next time I will double the sauce because I really would have liked a little extra to moisten the jasmine rice that I served the chicken over. I contemplated tossing the steamed veggies that I made into the crockpot but decided against it for the same reason, not much sauce. Mine did not appear black, as some posters described, but it was darker than your photo. (I actually snapped a photo to post of my results but I don’t see anywhere to add it. All in all this is a good recipe. Thanks!
Just made it tonight (hi from Brussels, Belgium!), it was excellent, absolutely the same as in the picture 😉
I was concerned about the amount of liquid, seemed not enough but it all worked out perfectly, was a hit for everyone including the fussy 7 years old!
Thank you!
I am so glad it turned out well for you!!! Thanks for commenting all the way from Belgium! 😀
are you sure it is 3 to 4 hours !!! it really does not take that time at all !!! maybe 15 minutes or so
Its 3 to 4 hours in a slow cooker.
I haven’t been able to locate red pepper flakes at any of my local supermarkets. Does the recipe definitely need them or can I leave them out?
If you can’t find red pepper flakes, crushed red pepper is a good substitute. They are essentially the same thing and give the same flavor to the dish. You can also use cayenne powder as a substitute, but you would want to use about half the amount so it’s not too hot. I wouldn’t skip using it altogether. It gives great flavor to this Cashew Chicken recipe. Thank you for your question!
If you don’t have access to rice vinegar, how much and what kind of regular vinegar should you use?
Here are some substitute suggestions for the 2 Tbsp of rice vinegar:
2 Tbsp White Vinegar plus 1/2 tsp sugar
2 Tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar plus 1/2 tsp sugar
I hope this helps! I think you will really enjoy this recipe!
Yummy! On the second batch I doubled the sauce receipe, but only used 1/3 cup soy sauce. It was toooooo salty using 1/2 cup. I also steamed some brocolli and grilled some red peppers, adding to mixture right before I served it. The guys were asking for more!!
Great ideas! I’m going to mix in some colorful veggies next time I make it. Thank you for commenting!
Can I put the chicken in the slow cooker uncooked and increase the cooking time?
You CAN, but it may not turn out the same. Frozen chicken tends to make the sauce watery. Let me know if you try it and how it turns out!
this is easy to fix on short notice and is yuuummmmyyyyy !!!!
Can I just leave out the vinegar ~ or use something else. I, typically, do not buy speciality vinegars because I rarely use them and it’s a waste of money. But, this looks amazing and I really want to try it. Suggestions? 🙂
You could probably leave it out but I can’t promise it will taste the same! :S Especially in Asian-type food like this the vinegar is necessary to give it that extra little something.. even just white vinegar would be better than no vinegar IMO
Loved this dish! I cooked it on the stove instead, using chicken thighs and added more vegetables. I did add some chicken broth because the sauce was too thick (from the flour and sauce mixture). My hubby said it was restaurant style food. So we’ll be making this again in the near future. Thanks!
I’m going to make this tonight but would really like to be able to throw the veggies into the crockpot to cook & marinate in the sauce! How much time before the meal is done cooking should I do this (to keep them from getting soggy) thanks so much!
I bet 30 minutes should be plenty of time. Depends on how chopped up the veggies are. The bigger the pieces the longer they will need to cook.
What are the red pepper flakes? Is there an alternative?
You can use a dash of cayenne. They are those little round flakes that a lot of people put on pizza.
This can easily be converted to GF by not adding flour and watching ingredients. Putting this in my menu rotation.
I made this tonight…and my VERY picky, chicken hating hubby LOVED it! He asked for seconds and for it to be for his lunch tomorrow. Thank you for helping this chicken loving lady find something that he will eat 😀
So glad that you (and the hubbs) liked it!!!! We love that stuff too. It heats up well too so I hope he enjoys his lunch today!
I don’t have a delay timer on my crokpot and I am gone from home for about 12 hours every day at work. My crockpot does have a keep warm setting after it’s finished though. If I leave this on the “Keep Warm” setting for approximately 8 hours until i get home, will the chicken still come out ok?
Thanks!
yes, it should be fine!
I was going to do the same thing, how did it turn out?
I made it the taste even though it was salty and strong flavored was okay. the chicken turned out really dry. Between the salty flavor and it being dry I can’t give this a good review. I might make some of the alterations mentioned before I scrape the recipe.
I am making this recipe as we speak. I suggest the recipe be changed to show unsalted cashews. I doubled the sauce and added the bones removed from the chicken breast. Tasted the sauce, hmmmm good but a little salty. I had already bought the salted ones while shopping for the recipe and didn’t want to go back to the store. As someone else posted, I rinsed them several times to get rid of some of the salt. I tossed the cashews about 3 minutes on medium heat in a skillet to get rid of some of the moisture. I love crispy nuts. My sauce is rather thick since I browned the chicken in flour. To thin it out a bit, added a cup of water. This also helped with the saltiness. The additional water didn’t take away from the flavor since I already had the extra flavor from the bones. I am going to serve it over white rice. In retrospect, I shouldn’t have added salt to the rice but I don’t think it is going to be a problem.
I will change it on the recipe! We have had a lot of people confused on which kind of cashews to use… thanks!
oops…what I wanted to know is this : is it RAW or ROASTED cashews (I know it’s unsalted from the start)…
We always just use roasted…
Took about 15mins to prepare – chicken came out juicy, not dry which was really nice. A small bit of water would give you some sauce to go with it.
Just made this for dinner tonight. I made some fried rice to go with it. I can’t believe how good it was!! Definitely a repeater.
This was EXCELLENT. I used alot more chicken since my family is large used more brown sugar and 1/2 of the soy sauce, and more vinegar…not salty at all and one of the best things I have ever made.
This is probably a silly question – bit is the sauce supposed to cover all of the chicken pieces…I don’t know
This was a delicious, better than any Chinese restaurant I have been to. Can you give me the calorie information? I count my calories so I need to know the nutrient value. Thanks!!
This was excellent. Easy to make and a nice mix up from the old standards. I wouldn’t use salted cashews and I did use low sodium soy sauce and it was a good balance of salt. Thanks!
I think this would also be good with pineapple. When would you add it?
I would love to try this. We love cashew
chicken, but we do not love alot of salt. I am thinking of cutting the amount of soy sauce and adding chicken broth, do you think this would work?
Make sure to get low-sodium soy sauce, unsalted cashews, and feel free to ALSO do as you suggested.. cutting the soy sauce and using low-sodium broth. That should help a lot!
Thank you Erica for your response. I made this tonight and it was a huge hit. I doubled the amount of sauce . I also used 1/4 c low sodium soy sauce,1/2 c chicken broth and lightly salted cashews along with the rest of ingredients in the recipe and my family really liked it. Thank you again for this recipe, it will get a lot of use. Blessings to you, Carla
I am making this now and even with using lower sodium soy sauce and unsalted cashews it is really really salty. Not sure this is going to work out well. Any suggestions to cut the salt taste?
Can I make this the night before? Or will the soy sauce cause the chicken to get wonky from marinating too long? Thanks!
hmmm…. haven’t tried that before. I don’t know how if would affect the chicken. If you try it, let us know how it turns out!
I cooked the chicken and made the sauce the night before but didn’t put the together until I wanted to cook it. It turned out great. I cooked it for an hour longer since everything was cold going into the crock pot
can you use chicken thighs?
We have never tried it with chicken thighs, Im sure it would be fine. If you try it, let us know how it turns out!
I made this tonight and it was so good. I did not make it in a slow cooker since I don’t get home in time from work and even on “warm” my food overcooks. I did it on the stovetop, adding the sauce after I browned the chicken. I let it cook about 25-30 minutes. I did add some water to the sauce while cooking to compensate for the moisture that would accumulate from being in a slow cooker. I also doubled the sauce. The whole family ate it, even my extremely picky 5 year old daughter!!
Delish! I added a bunch of green onions after cooking. Super good! Next time might add some water chestnuts as well. Yuuuuum! Thx!
oooh I like the idea of water chestnuts! Good thinking! Glad you liked it! 🙂
When should I add the cashews? Same time I put In the sauce or cook for a couple hours then add? Thanks! Making it tonight for dinner!
I usually just add them with the sauce!
I just put this In the crockpot, but I just noticed that you said you add the cashews with the sauce. I thought the instructions said to pour the sauce, cook for 4-4 hours and then add cashews and stir. That leads me to believe that they got added after cooking, not with the sauce. I am confused. Please help
You can do it either way– it doesn’t make a big difference. If you add them later on they will be slightly more crunchy
I’m so excited I found this! I’m going to try it tonight. I want to add chopped celery, carrot and mushrooms to make it more like the one my husband and I eat when we’re out. I’m afraid if I add the veges too early, they’ll just go to mush. When would you suggest I add them to the slow cooker, and do you think they’ll have the same cooking time? Thanks so much!
You can add them at the beginning. They shouldn’t get too mushy. I haven’t tried it before but you should be fine!
Great dish! You need to add the sliced green onion to the ingredient list though. : )
Cooked today & was very happy. I made a little more sauce than the recipe calls for & cooked for about 3 hours. The chicken was super tender. Served with some fried rice. Will definitely do this one again.
This looks soooo good! Pinned!! Deb
Just finished this and holy crap it was awesome!!!
I used chicken tenderloins from Publix and cut them in half, which gave me roughly 10 large-bite-sized pieces of chicken. It was perfect for just me and my husband.
Definitely the easiest cashew chicken recipe I’ve seen and I can now confirm it’s one of the most delicious!!
Yay! So glad you like it! That makes me the HAPPIEST girl ever! 😉
I only tried the sauce so far and it was very salty not using low sodium soy saice. So i think you should put low sodium soy sauce and lightly salted cashews.
I used low sodium soy sauce and unsalted cashews and it was way too salty!! I even tried to add a little extra sugar to cut the salt and it was terrible!! I am disappointed because I wasted all the money to buy the ingredients and nobody liked it. I am on a tight budget ugh!
I don’t know what you did differently… It has never been too salty when I have made it– even with regular soy sauce. I always use unsalted cashews though. I’m so sorry it didn’t turn out well for you. 🙁
If you used the frozen chicken breasts that come in a bag that could have been the problem. They are injected with a salty brine.
If you check the packages of the unfrozen chicken breasts sold in the meat department, you will find that they are also injected with the brine. The only way to get around this is to buy ‘fresh’ breasts. They do this with turkey too. You can order fresh turkey (without brine) at Thanksgiving time, so you may also have to order the chicken breasts too. This might be marketed as ‘organic’??
has anyone made this but left it warming in the crockpot for longer than the 3-4 hours called for? I’d love to be able to make in the morning and eat for dinner. thanks!
My chicken kept sticking in the crock pot. I had to add water. I wouldn’t recommend leaving it all day. I have to keep going to stir mine. I even doubled the recipe for the sauce but the chicken still keeps sticking.
This coming from a Chef of 32 + years….. I will NEVER buy Cashew Chicken from a Chinese restaurant again, this is fantastic!
Thank you! That is a big compliment!
Have you ever used mirin instead of rice vinegar?
Nope! Haven’t tried it
Is it okay if you dont have rice vingear and used only half of what the recipe saids using white vingear?
I love recipes that use ‘proper’ ingredients rather than relying on envelopes of this or cans of that (especially the cream of soup ones). And this recipe is so easy to make without resorting to all those unhealthy ingredients 🙂
Thank you !
Yum! My daughter declared this her new favorite food!
I’ve made this in the past and substituted almond meal for the all-purpose flour and agave nectar for the sugar. When I make it again I’m going to try coconut sugar (same calories as regular sugar, but low glycemic). Those changes make it more Paleo/diabetic friendly, and the almond flour adds another layer of nuttiness to an already tasty dish. 🙂
I have a food-safety concern: Is it safe to only partially cook chicken and then let it slow-cook at a low temperature for such a long time?
Yes, it is completely fine! There are so many recipes out there that call for you to sear meat before slow cooking.. that way you still get the outer part a little crispy and the juices stay in better.
Would really love to try this, how long do you cook chicken if not using a slow cooker? thanks
I have never done it that way before so i can’t tell you for sure, but I would do it in a covered skillet for appx 30-40 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through.
How many servings does this make?
appx 4-6– depending on how big of eaters you have!
This turned out great, but I had to make extra sauce, it seemed a little dry when it was in the crock pot. I double the “sauce” and just poured it over the chicken.
Seeing that so many said there wasn’t enough sauce.. I also doubled those ingredients…. as I was preparing the.chicken, I realized that part of the reason for it being dry was because the flour on the chicken thickened up the sauce.. (like gravy)…. Soooooo, I added several tablespoons of low sodium chicken broth to the sauce mixture… plus 1 additional T of brown sugar… there is ample sauce.. 😉
Great ideas – thank you for sharing!
Looks amazing. Thanks for the wonderful recipe.
Can you freeze?
haven’t tried it.. might work though. Let me know if you freeze it and how it turns out!
Hi Erica,
Sounds super yummy! I’m putting this on my menu plan for next week. One question: Do you use raw cashews (unsalted)? I would think so, right?
Thanks!
Karen
Yes, unsalted… but if salted is all you have on hand I am sure it would be ok
I made this with salted cashews and it was NOT okay. We couldn’t even eat it!
If you use salted cashews be sure to use low-sodium soy sauce. That should help balance out the saltiness…
Absolutely loving this!! It’s currently in the slow cooker! My boyfriends favorite meal is cashew chicken so I’m hoping he will love it as much as I loved the sauce when I tried it!! Can’t wait for it to be done!
Thanks for the recipie!!!
Looks delicious. I love using my slow cooker. I was wondering can you exchange cornstarch for the flour?
Yes, absolutely!
This might be a silly question…. But what kind of veggies do you like to steam with this?
Not silly at all! I usually do steamed broccoli or a couple handfuls of a frozen stir fry veggie mix (I like the kind from costco but you can get them anywhere). With the stir fry mix I usually just saute it in a little oil (follow the bag directions) and a dash of salt. It is totally lazy but at least it is incorporating veggies!
This looks like a delicious recipe! I just shared it with our G+ Community, The Crock Pot Crowd! https://plus.google.com/u/0/communities/114827774947567444997
Everything looks very yummy. I love it
Thank you for sharing
And if you are interested in slow cooker , you can go to my blog .
Do you leave the chicken breasts whole, or are they cut up at some point?
You cut them into small pieces to begin with. I will make that clear on the recipe. Thanks for catching that!
Thanks so much, Erica!
This still remains one of my very favorite recipes! We all love it 🙂
Yum! I’m adding this to the menu for next week!
Wow amazing! I couldnt find the regular cashews so just bought salted ones and rinsed them a few times! Perfect! Will definitely make this again. Thanks for the recipe!
The recipe didnt call for green onion, but the picture shows it. Did you cook it with out them? If not when do I add them to the crock pot? I didnt buy any. Would it taste ok without them?
I just used it as a garnish to make the picture pretty. Usually I leave them out 🙂
Yodels anyone know the nutritional facts on this recipe. It sounds Delish but I need to know the fat and sugar amounts per serving. Thank you
There didn’t seem to be enough sauce? It dried up and burnt a little on the bottom. Did anyone else have this problem?
I haven’t had this happen when I’ve made it, but crock pot’s can vary in their temperatures. You could try adding a little water to the bottom next time.
I doubled the sauce and
added 1 cup of low sodium chicken broth and it was perfect!
Hi Jenny- thanks for sharing how you made this a success! So glad you liked it! Thanks for the 5-stars!
I had the same problem, I even quadrupled the sauce and it still wasn’t enough. The sauce was also very dark like the sauce for Beef & Broccoli.
I loved this dish. I made this last year for a potluck last year someone requested me to make again for a potluck so I came here to reprint the recipe. I had not problem with the sauce burning last time I do have a new crockpot so I guess I will be checking on it to make sure it doesn’t burn. But I loved this chicken and it was a big hit there were no leftovers.
Thank you! We are so glad you like the recipe!
I have been making this for years, No need to do this in the crock pot..It comes out better on the stove top, I double the sauce and add roasted red peppers, also use rice flour to brown chicken (gluten free)..crush he cashews or peanuts.
I didn’t have nearly enough sauce and it went dry after a short time. Thought the liquid was low when I started it. Should have trusted my instincts. Also the sauce was black.
I’m not sure why it is turning black for many of you… we will have to research this and update the recipe. Sorry!
tried the recipe….didn’t look like the picture at all…my sauce was black and not orangy-red like on the picture. It tasted ok but nobody else in my house ate any 🙁
that… is odd. I have never had it turn out black before?
My sauce is also very dark … like the soy sauce?….i have made this once before at a friends house and it turned out perfect… why is it not now?
Did you use a different crock pot? I am totally stumped with this one. I make this all the time and have never had it turn out dark…?
Same thing happened to me. I don’t understand.
I used rice vinegar but read online it’s the same as rice wine vinegar.
Very disappointed.
I’m thinking that the ladies whose sauce turned out black may have either cooked it on high instead of low or let it go longer than the 3-4 hours maybe? Could that have caused it?
I’m imagining this picture was stolen from another page/recipe. Mine was also black. It can’t be a coincidence that ours don’t look like the picture. Please take your own pictures of the recipes you advertise.
Every single photograph on our site is an original photograph that we have taken with our own cameras. We’re sorry your recipe didn’t turn out. We have made this many times and have always had great results.
We love this recipe! We also add about 3/4 c of peanut butter and it’s an amazing addition to an already great recipe!!
Did you do vegetables at the same time or serve after?