Instant Pot Cashew Chicken {20 Minutes}
Your favorite Cashew Chicken made in under 20 minutes in an instant pot. The juicy chicken smothered in a creamy cashew sauce, so delicious!
Servings: 8
Calories: 289kcal
Equipment
- Coconut Aminos
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 tbsp arrowroot starch
- 1/2 tsp 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
- 2 tbsp honey Optional
- 1/2 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 ***.*
Video
Notes
- *Coconut amino itself is salty, so take that into consideration when you salt the chicken.
- ***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 mixed with 2 tbsp of water 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.
Nutrition
Serving: 1g | Calories: 289kcal | Carbohydrates: 11g | Protein: 31g | Fat: 13g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 10g | Cholesterol: 93mg | Sodium: 319mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 8g