Paleo Cashew Chicken Recipe
Paleo Cashew Chicken Recipe: So tasty, you won’t miss the naughty ingredients. This is a quick healthy meal, easy enough to pull together on any night!
Best Cashew Chicken
You, guys, Cashew Chicken is SO good… Thinking healthy thoughts… Thinking healthy thoughts.
I’m trying my best to ramp up our intake of greens and get rid of processed ingredients this month. Yet one week in, and I’m already tired of salad for every meal. Something’s got to give.
My plan to stay on the straight and narrow is to recreate some of our most-loved dishes into lighter cleaner versions of themselves.
You can find quite a few “comfort food reborn” recipes sprinkled around our site. And today’s cleaned-up meal idea, my Paleo Cashew Chicken Recipe, is an instant favorite. Guaranteed.
Paleo Recipe Ingredients
I’ve taken our classic cashew chicken recipe and substituted several paleo-friendly ingredients to make it (hopefully) fit into your eating plan this month.
Since paleo eaters avoid grains, legumes, and processed sugar, I’ve removed the typical cornstarch, soy, and sugar. Then replaced them with:
- arrowroot powder to thicken
- coconut aminos to add savory flavor
- palm sugar (or raw honey) to sweeten
The verdict in my house is that this paleo version is just as good, if not better than the original.
You still have the strong tangy essence of the original recipe, yet without the junk. The savory sauce is kissed with garlic, fresh ginger, a touch of palm sugar, and crushed red pepper. So it’s savory and a little spicy, bringing out the natural sweetness in the red bell peppers.
What Can I Sub for Coconut Vinegar?
You can sub coconut vinegar for apple cider vinegar, but be careful, it is more potent than coconut vinegar. So instead of subbing 1/4 cup, try 3 tablespoons.
Let me know how it turns out if you try it!
Cashew Chicken Recipe
Honestly, I love my new Paleo Cashew Chicken Recipe. I have a feeling we will be eating it a lot this year, no matter what diet we are following.
And if you are planning to make some dietary adjustments this year, the substitute ingredients used in this recipe are nice to have on hand.
See The Recipe Card Below For How To Make This Paleo Cashew Chicken Recipe. Enjoy!
other healthy chicken recipes you might like:
- Healthy Crockpot Potato Soup with Chicken
- Sheet Pan Keto Chicken Nachos
- Paleo White Chicken Chili Recipe
- Chicken Quinoa Bowls with Romesco Sauce
- Healthy Orange Chicken from The Clean Eating Couple
- Paleo Pumpkin Bread – from Well Plated
- Low Carb Thai Chicken Noodle Soup – from All Day I Dream About Food
- Perfect Paleo Chocolate Chip Cookies – from Texanerin
Paleo Cashew Chicken Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut into bite-size pieces
- 2 tablespoons coconut oil
- 2 red bell peppers, seeded and cut into bite-sized pieces
- 1 1/3 cups raw whole cashews
- 1 bunch scallions, chopped
- 2 tablespoons arrowroot powder (instead of 1 tablespoon of cornstarch)
- 1/2 teaspoons sea salt
For the Sauce:
- 1/3 cup coconut aminos (instead of soy sauce)
- 1/4 cup coconut vinegar (instead of rice vinegar)
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 3 tablespoons palm sugar or raw honey (instead of sugar)
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon fresh grated ginger
- 1/4-1/2 teaspoons crushed red pepper
Instructions
- Preheat a large deep skillet to medium high. Add the coconut oil and once melted, add the red bell pepper. Saute for 2-3 minutes to soften. Then scoop out the bell pepper.
- Sprinkle the arrowroot powder and salt over the cut chicken pieces and toss to coat. Add the chicken to the skillet. Stir and saute for 5-8 minutes until the chicken is mostly cooked through and seared on the outside.
- Meanwhile, whisk all the ingredients for the sauce in a small bowl. Once the chicken is mostly cooked, add the sauce to the skillet and stir. Add the red bell peppers and cashews to the skillet. Once the sauce starts to simmer, lower the heat to medium-low, and simmer another 3-5 minutes to thicken.
- If the sauce tightens up too much, add a little water to loosen it. Turn the heat off and add the chopped scallions. Serve warm with Roasted Cauliflower Rice.
This recipe is AAAAAAAAmazing! Â It tastes just so good.. my family loved it!
I’ve tried a few cashew chicken recipes and this one is by far the best. It is lighter than others I have enjoyed and bases its flavor less on the crispiness of the chicken and more on the overall flavor of the dish. My daughter is gluten and dairy-free so we are constantly looking for great dishes that meet these criteria and this one definitely does. We are already on our third round of the dish and my wife is taking it to a company party.
Looks amazing but cashews are in the list of ingredients but there are no directions for what to do with them?
Hi Lorie,
The cashews are added in step three.
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