Name: Instant Pot Cashew Chicken
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 8 min
Total time: 18 min
Ingredients: 1½-2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 3 chicken breasts); 1/2 teaspoon salt; 1 tablespoon cornstarch; 1 tablespoon olive oil; 1/2 cup low-sodium chicken broth; 1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce; 2 tablespoons brown sugar; 2 tablespoons hoisin sauce; 2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar; 1 tablespoon chopped garlic or garlic paste (or 3 garlic cloves); 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil; 1/2 teaspoon ginger, ground or fresh (I use the ginger paste in the tube); 1 cup chopped broccoli; 1 cup chopped red bell pepper (about 1 red pepper); 1 cup cashews; 1 tablespoon cornstarch; 1 tablespoon cold water

Jump to Recipe Print Recipe

INSTANT POT CASHEW CHICKEN RECIPE

I am so excited to share this instant pot cashew chicken recipe with you all. Chunks of chicken, cashews, broccoli, red pepper, cooked in an easy homemade sauce right in the Instant Pot.

My kids each had 4 helpings of this! You guys, that never happens especially when rice is involved with dinner. For some reason my kids hate rice, which just happens to be one of my favorite foods ever. So yea, I am pretty excited about this cashew chicken just because my kids gobbled it up.

HOW TO MAKE CASHEW CHICKEN IN THE INSTANT POT

Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts - You need about 3 chicken breasts which is equal to about 1 1/2 lbs to 2 lbs of chicken. If it's a little bit over or under that's ok.

Olive Oil - Cook the chicken in olive oil inside the IP on the sauté function. This gives the chicken a nice sear but it does not have to be cooked all the way through in this first step.

Cornstarch & Salt - This is what the chicken pieces get mixed with. It provides a nice coating on the chicken that will brown up nicely when it's cooking in the olive oil.

Cashew Chicken Sauce - This is a mixture of low-sodium soy sauce, chicken broth, brown sugar, hoisin sauce, rice wine vinegar, garlic, sesame oil, and ginger.

Chopped Broccoli - This is fresh, raw broccoli from the produce section. Not frozen. Cut into smaller pieces if you want softer veggies (which my kids love) or leave in larger pieces for more crisp.

Red Bell Pepper

Cashews - I use the lightly salted cashews for this recipe.

Cornstarch + Cold Water - This makes the slurry which will thicken up the sauce after the 8 minute cook time.

MY HELPFUL TIPS FOR THIS RECIPE

Make sure the chunks of chicken are not too big. I like mine in small, bite-sized pieces. Same thing with the broccoli and red pepper. Make sure that they are all uniform size so that the chicken cooks through and the vegetables get nice and tender.
We love the softer veggies but if you want yours to have more crisp to them, then make the pieces larger OR you can add in the veggies after the cook time.
Prepare the sauce, cut the veggies and chicken first thing. That way making this recipe is so easy because everything is ready to go.
The recipe calls for low-sodium chicken broth and soy sauce. Unless you really like salt, you will want to use the low-sodium versions of each. By the time you add those cashews at the end, you will end up with the perfect flavor. Not too salty but still super flavorful.
Remember that it will take a few minutes for the Instant Pot to come to temperature/pressure before the 8 minute cook time starts. For this recipe it should only take about 5 minutes.
Use some garlic paste and ginger paste to make this recipe so easy. You can find the tubes of garlic paste and ginger paste in the produce area of the grocery store.
You can use ground ginger in place of fresh ginger.

TRY THESE FAMILY FAVORITE INSTANT POT DINNER RECIPES

Instant Pot Cashew Chicken

If you're looking for the best instant pot chicken recipe then this Instant Pot Cashew Chicken is it! Chunks of chicken breast, broccoli, red pepper, and cashews smothered in a delicious homemade sauce and cooks up quick in the instant pot. Dinner is ready in about 30 minutes.

4 from 14 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Main Course

Keyword: chicken, instant pot cashew chicken, Instant Pot Recipe

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 8 minutes

Total Time: 18 minutes

Servings: people

Calories: 334kcal

Author: Jessica

Ingredients

1½-2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts about 3 chicken breasts
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 tablespoon olive oil

cashew chicken sauce

1/2 cup low-sodium chicken broth
1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons hoisin sauce
2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
1 tablespoon chopped garlic or garlic paste or 3 garlic cloves
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
1/2 teaspoon ginger, ground or fresh I use the ginger paste in the tube

Vegetables/Extras

1 cup chopped broccoli
1 cup chopped red bell pepper about 1 red pepper
1 cup cashews
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 tablespoon cold water

Instructions

Cut chicken breasts into small bite-size chunks. Put chicken chunks in a mixing bowl and add the salt and cornstarch. Stir together until chicken is coated in the cornstarch.
Mix together all the cashew chicken sauce ingredients and stir with a whisk. Set aside.
Add the 1 tablespoon olive oil into the insert of the Instant Pot. Press the sauté function. Dump the chicken chunks into the insert and let cook for about 4-6 minutes. The chicken does not have to be cooked through, it should be cooked on the outside and will finish cooking in the next step. When chicken is done turn off the sauté function.
Add the cashew chicken sauce (that you set aside from earlier) into the instant pot along with the chopped broccoli and red pepper. Stir together. Put the lid on and turn the valve to sealed
Press 'manual' and set the cook time to 8 minutes.
Release the valve to let the pressure and steam out. Add in the cashews and the cornstarch slurry to thicken the sauce. To make the cornstarch slurry : mix together the 1 tablespoon cornstarch and 1 tablespoon water and stir.
Serve over rice and garnish with sliced green onions and/or sesame seeds if wanted.

Notes

UPDATE : The 8 minute Instant Pot cook time yields softer veggies (which is how we prefer them) but if you want veggies with a crunch to them, then you can try reducing the cook time by 1 minute (just make sure the chicken chunks are small so they will cook all the way through in that time) or you can add the vegetables in after the cook time. Another way is to use the 1 minute steamable frozen broccoli pouches. Cook according to directions and then add it into the IP after the cook time.

The recipe yields 6 adult-size servings. If you are feeding mostly kids + 2 adults then you can probably get closer to 8 servings from it. The calories given include a serving of cashew chicken over 1/2 cup cooked, white rice.

I've had readers comment and say that they add some chopped water chestnuts to the mixture with great results and more crunch.

Nutrition information is for one serving of the cashew chicken. It does not include rice or whatever else you choose to serve it on.

Nutrition

Comments

Cindi

May 28, 2018 at 12:21 pm

Good recipe. But 8 minuets was too long for me. My broccoli and red peppers were mushy. I like my veggie with a little crunch in them. I Will try again with a shorter cooking time. Thanks for posting!

- Together As Family
  
  May 28, 2018 at 1:22 pm
  
  Hi! Thank you for mentioning that because I realize now that I should mention that in the recipe. I will go change that. I don't care for crunchy veggies so we prefer the 8 minutes + softer veggies. Thank you again for coming back to comment, I love to hear from people. Hopefully it works out better for you next time with the reduced cooking time :)
  
- Michelle Douglas
  
  January 16, 2019 at 9:32 am
  
  Ditto, I'm gonna try 6 minutes next time. I may cook the chicken longer at the beginning. The flavor was excellent. Love it. Thank you!
  
- Janice
  
  February 27, 2019 at 4:54 pm
  
  8 min. Is longer than regularly steam my broccoli. I put it on zero minutes, and it was still too mushy for us. Aside from that we liked the flavor. Next time I will steam my broccoli on the side and add at the end. I will also adjust the liquid because the veggies gave off a lot which was necessary for the sauce. It
  
Teale

September 20, 2018 at 6:48 pm

Very tasty! I have a 8qt. Instant pot and even 6 min. Made the veggies mushy. Next time, I'll try 4. Thank you!

Faith

January 19, 2019 at 8:03 pm

I wanted to love this so much but I didn't. I did mine for 5 minutes and the veggies were almost disintegrated. I picked all the chicken out, strained the sauce and added fresh broccoli to it as an attempt to save dinner.

- Together As Family
  
  February 04, 2019 at 3:38 pm
  
  So sorry to hear this. I prefer the softer veggies, but I should definitely add a note in the recipe for those that want crunchier veggies. Thanks for letting me know.
  
cathy sanford

March 08, 2019 at 3:27 pm

I havent made this yet but based on many comments maybe people could just cut their veges bigger if they want them cooked less.

- Together As Family
  
  March 13, 2019 at 9:48 am
  
  I made a note in the recipe because I've had lots of comments about the veggies in this recipe. I prefer the softer veggies, but yes people can cut them larger if they want more of a crisp. I hope you like it if you try it :)
  
caree929

March 24, 2020 at 9:25 pm

This sauce was amazing! It tasted exactly like my favorite kind served in Chinese restaurants. I've had the hardest time finding a recipe that replicates that flavor so I'm so happy to find it! I ended up using frozen broccoli because it's all I had and it completely melted into the sauce, LOL. I may not add it next time anyways and may instead use the normal veggies that I've had from restaurants-- carrots, celery, and little mushrooms. If I do add the broccoli, I'll just add it at the end with the cornstarch. I'm so glad I found this recipe, thank you!! :)

- Together As Family
  
  March 25, 2020 at 6:15 pm
  
  You're welcome! I am so glad you found me and left a comment. And if you like the veggies more crisp then yes for sure add them in later. My kids won't eat it if the veggie are not soft so I guess we prefer it that way, haha :)
  
LIz Jackson

April 09, 2020 at 8:41 pm

I read all of the above comments and decided to do the following changes. I added steamed broccoli and water chestnuts along with the cashews at the end! It was very good!

Kathy C

January 18, 2021 at 4:53 pm

I made this tonight and it was delicious! I figured out that the meal is 10 WW points using the *green* plan. I also added 1/2 cup of brown rice which brought it up to 13 points. Well worth the splurge!