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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!
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 them 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
History of Cashew Chicken
When you bite into the sweet and savory flavor of cashew chicken, you might imagine a heritage-rich, ancient backstory for this food. In reality, cashew chicken heralds from Springfield, Missouri 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 quickly became popular as the recipe was widely circulated with other restaurant owners. Now, more than 50 years later, this delectable entree of bite-sized pieces of fried chicken coated in 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’re 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, it’s a breeze! 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 the best and her Crockpot recipes are all outstanding. 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
Yes, you can put raw chicken in the slow cooker. However, because this chicken has an extremely light flour breading, you’ll want to brown it first in a skillet before adding it to the slow cooker.
For this recipe, I recommend using at least a three quart crockpot.
Sometimes I like to add stir-fry veggies (just use the frozen kind from Costco) and they work great in the recipe.
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
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.
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?