This Whole30 instant pot cashew chicken tastes better than our favorite Chinese takeout but is much healthier. Not only it is Whole30, Paleo, gluten-free, but it can be made in under 20 minutes. This is going to be your new favorite healthy dinner recipe.
You know I love to take traditional recipes and give them a healthy twist, especially take-out meals!
We’ve really been loving simple and tasty Asian dishes lately, like my
And now this Cashew Chicken recipe is no exception. It’s healthy, delicious, quick, easy, and virtually mess-free.
How to Make this Instant Pot Cashew Chicken
1. Marinate the Cashew Chicken
You can use either breasts or thighs. The first step, marinate with arrowroot flour and coconut aminos.
For best results to have the flavor soak in the chicken, let them marinate for at least an hour in the fridge.
2. Sear the Chicken in Instant Pot
Heat up a couple of tablespoons of oil in your Instant Pot on the “sautee” function.
Sear the chicken for about 1-2 minutes. This will give your chicken a nice crispy outside and also lock in some of that flavor from the marinade.
Be careful not to overcook during this step because the chicken will continue to cook in your Instant Pot throughout these next steps.
3. Stir in the Sauce
Once the chicken is done searing, add your sauce and turn the Instant Pot to high pressure.
4. Cook Sides for instant pot Cashew CHicken
Cook whatever you want to pair with your chicken: vegetables, cauliflower rice, stir fry, jasmine rice, etc.
Use the time while your Instant Pot is cooking your chicken so that everything will be ready around the same time.
You can find how to make cauliflower rice in this post in order to make a perfect Whole 30 Friendly dinner!
Why is Paleo Cashew Chicken Recipe Healthy?
Compared to the traditional Cashew Chicken you may have had for Chinese Food Takeout, this version is much healthier.
I made a few simple substitutions to make this recipe paleo, gluten-free, Keto, and Whole30 Friendly as well.
1. Coconut aminos
Traditional cashew chicken uses hoisin sauce which is mainly made up of peanut butter and soy sauce.
Coconut aminos are the paleo substitute for soy sauce.
2. Cashew Butter
Cashew butter replaces the peanut butter used in a traditional hoisin sauce.
Peanuts are a legume and are not part of a paleo diet. If you are not following paleo, feel free to use peanut butter to capture the authentic flavor.
3. Arrowroot Flour.
Arrowroot flour is used in place of cornstarch in the sauce recipe.
It thickens the sauce beautifully so that it coats the chicken and sticks to it nicely.
Other ingredients that you will need for this recipe are
- sesame oil
- rice vinegar
- honey
- garlic
- ginger
- red pepper flakes
How to Serve this Instant Pot Cashew Chicken
You can serve this healthy cashew chicken with any of your favorite vegetables, but some of my favorite ways to serve it are with
- Jasmine rice
- steamed broccoli
- cauliflower rice (for low carb and paleo rice options)
- zucchini stir fry
Additionally, I love to toast some cashews to add a little crunch on top!
The Perfect Instant Pot Cashew Chicken Recipe for the Family
This healthy version of Cashew Chicken is a great combination of lean protein and vegetables.
This easy dish is loaded with flavor and nutrition. In 20 minutes, you have a perfectly balanced meal that will keep you and your family satisfied.
Additionally, it’s also a great recipe to make a bigger batch to use for meal prep because you can pair it with a variety of sides (see the “How To Serve section” above) and you’ll have healthy meals all week!
What is your favorite way to eat cashew chicken? Leave a comment below!
I LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING YOUR CREATIONS! YOU CAN USE “TRIED IT” ON PINTEREST OR SHARE ON INSTAGRAM BY TAGGING #SHUANGYSEATS
You may also like these other Asian-Inspired recipes:
Instant Pot Cashew Chicken {Whole30}
Ingredients
- 1 inch of fresh ginger thinly sliced
- 2 cloves of garlic minced
- 2 – 3 tbsp avocado oil
- 1/4 cup onion chopped
- 2/3 cup raw cashews divided
Chicken Marinade
- 1.5 lbs chicken breast or thighs
- 2 tbsp coconut aminos
- 1 heaping tbsp arrowroot starch
- Salt to taste *
Sauce
- 3 tbsp coconut aminos
- 2 tsp sesame oil
- 2 tbsp rice vinegar
- 1 pinch of red pepper flakes
- 3 tbsp cashew butter
- 1 – 2 tbsp honey Optional**
- 1/4 cup filtered water
Instructions
- Cut the chicken into cubes. In a big Ziploc bag or medium bowl, marinate the chicken with coconut amino, salt *, and arrowroot flour. Make sure the chicken is completely coated.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the ingredients for the sauce – coconut aminos, water, sesame oil, rice vinegar, cashew butter, red pepper flakes, honey (if using any). Set aside.
- Using "saute" mode, heat up 1 – 2 tbsp oil in an instant pot. Add onion and garlic, saute until fragrant. Add additional 1 – 2 oil if needed ( I used extra 2 – 3 tbsp oil to prevent the chicken from sticking) then add chicken cubes. Flip a couple of times until the chicken is slightly browned on the outside. ***
- Turn off the saute mode on instant pot, stir in the sauce, cashew, garic and ginger. Make sure the chicken is evenly coated.
- Cover and set the valve to “sealing” and cook on high pressure for 10 minutes.
- In a small greased saucepan, toast half (roughly) of the cashews on medium heat for a couple of minutes. Flip often.
- Once the cashew chicken is done, do a quick release of the instant pot.
- Following an optional step: mix 1 tbsp filtered water with 1 tbsp arrowroot flour. Add into the cashew chicken and incorporate well ***.*
- Serve with rice or cauliflower rice for Whole30 option, stir-fried vegetables, a sprinkle of chopped scallion, and the toasted cashews on top.
Notes
- *Coconut amino itself is salty, so take that into consideration when you salt the chicken.
- ** Omit honey for 1 Whole30 compliant recipe. Use Keto-friendly sweetener for Keto option.
- ***I personally prefer pre-sear the chicken in a separate non-stick pan before adding it to the instant pot. Depending on the type of instant pot you are using, the arrowroot starch in chicken marinate may create a sticky layer on the bottom of the pot.
- **** Stir in 1 tbsp arrowroot flour at the end if you prefer a thicker sauce. Stir well until the sauce thickens.
- There will likely be a sticky layer on the bottom of the instant pot after cooking, it is due to the arrowroot starch. Use a wooden spatula to scrape and stir the chicken gently before serving.
Recommended Products
Nutrition
The Nutrition Facts above are specific to the ingredients I chose to use for this recipe, which may vary.
Disclosure: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. This does not result in any extra cost for you, but it does mean that I make a commission if you click through and make a purchase.
Hi I’m excited to try this. Have you ever prepared the dish and then frozen it? If so, how was the quality? I wasn’t sure with the cashews. Thanks!
Hi Kearstin,
You can absolutely make this and freeze it. Since the cashews aren’t added until the end to put on top, it shouldn’t affect the recipe at all. When you thaw each portion, you can sauté cashews to add after being reheated.
Happy Cooking!
-Constance
I love your recipes and I love following you, but this recipe was a total fail. I could not get my instapot to work with this recipe and it kept turning off saying “BURN”. I ended up taking everything out of the instapot, scrubbing the pot clean, putting it all back in, adding 1/2 a cup of water, and trying again. I got it to cook for 6 min before it said burn and i decided it was cooked enough and ate it. IT was DELICIOUS but it was a total pain to make in the instapot. Honestly, I couldn’t successfully do it in there.
This sounds like more of an issue with your instant pot than the recipe. It works for everyone else.
Can this be made using a slow cooker? Thanks 🙂
Hi Krystl,
I haven’t tried it with slow cooker. But you could try using the same ingredients and cook in slow cooker until the chicken is cooked through. Hope this helps.
Shuang
Hi- when do I add the filtered water to the recipe?
Thank you
Hi Sarah,
The water would be part of the sauce! Hope you enjoy.
Shuang
What is your recipe for the zucchini stir fry? It looks amazing!
Hi Amanda,
The recipe is here :
https://shuangyskitchensink.com/zucchini-mushroom-stir-fry-gluten-free-vegan/
Shuang
I just made this recipe for dinner on the stove top since I don’t have an instant pot, and my family loved it! Thank you so much for posting this recipe. It was super easy and quick so it was a perfect weekday dinner. I’ll definitely make it again!
This recipe is amazing! This is the first one of yours I have tried and you now have a new fan! 🙂
Hi Aly,
Aw yay! So glad you enjoyed it. That makes me so happy! 🙂
Shuang
I really enjoyed the flavor of this recipe, however I do not think that it works in the instant pot. After about three tries of pressurizing and getting the burn alert, I gave up and moved the mixture to a pot on the stove to finish cooking. After that, the rest went fine.
I don’t know if you need my email on that last comment but I’ll add it below 🙂
Thanks again!
Ashley
Hi Ashely, Thank you!
Hey there, Shuang! I just want to say thank you for putting your recipes out here for the anonymous people of the internet to borrow, tweak, recreate, build upon and enjoy. I am so sorry you have received a couple pretty negative comments – you handled each of them with grace and dignity. I’m about to make this recipe and I hope it’s as delicious as I’m sure it would be if I were eating it in your kitchen tonight – but regardless of how it turns out, I just appreciate so much your willingness to share your heart with the world. Keep doing your thing – no matter what rude people have to say about it. (BTW – I had 6 children in 9 years. I know what it’s like to cook dinner with a baby strapped to me nursing, a baby sitting on the counter beside me and a toddler in the high chair. Under all those stressful conditions, there is no reason whatsoever to be rude to someone else who is graciously sharing her recipes for me to try. I’m sorry these people were so unkind to you. I don’t usually sound off like this – but today I’m just over people blaming others for their own mistakes.)
Hi Ashley,
This means a lot! I truly do work hard for my recipes and it makes me feel bad for my readers’ time and cost of ingredients if they fail a recipe that I have tested many times. Thank you for the kind and supportive words. It really has made my day/more than a day 🙂
Shuang
I am so upset. This recipe looked amazing. I’m a newbie to the instant pot so I thought I would give it a try. As soon as I got to the pressure cooker part my instant pot said “burn” because there was not enough liquid in the recipe. Then I could not find where to add the ginger or the cashew butter after I made it. I have a newborn strapped to me and now all of this food is going in the garbage 😭
Hi Christy,
I am so sorry it didn’t work out for you. I can’t imagine how difficult it is already to be cooking with a newborn strapped to you (I will be right there with you in a couple of months). Did you follow step 2 – mixing the ingredients for the sauce (which includes the cashew butter)? I also just updated the direction with each ingredient listed to make it more clear. Again I sincerely apologize for the confusion and your waste of effort.
Shuang
The sauce ingredients need to be separate from the garlic onion and arrowroot powder
Hi Laura,
The arrowroot powder needs to be incorporated in the sauce at the end in order to make it thick and sticky. I also updated the direction with each ingredient in each step to make it more clear. Sorry about the confusion. Hope this helps.
Shuang
The instructions are wrong. I put all of the “sauce” ingredients into the sauce. Only to find out the ingredient list is wrong. Waste of time.
Hi Chelsea,
Thank you for your feedback. I just double-checked the instructions to make sure they are for this cashew chicken recipe as listed. Let me know which part is perhaps confusing that I could help you resolve.
Shuang
Hi Chelsea,
The arrowroot powder needs to be incorporated in the sauce at the end in order to make it thick and sticky. I also updated the direction with each ingredient in each step to make it more clear. Sorry about the confusion. Hope this helps.
Shuang
This was very delicious!