Your favorite takeout with a healthy twist! My Healthy Cashew Chicken is sure to satisfy your takeout cravings for a fraction of the calories. Say goodbye to expensive, salty takeout and add this recipe to your dinner rotation. Fakeout takeout recipes are a blog favorite because they’re proof that healthy eating doesn’t mean boring. Chicken breast, bell peppers, scallions, low sodium soy sauce, and chili garlic sauce are some of the signature ingredients that keep this recipe flavorful and lightened-up. This Healthy Cashew Chicken will keep you feeling satisfied. You’re sure to impress with this recipe!
Fakeout takeout meals
My website is full of lightened-up takeout inspired meals. They are some of your favorites! Whether it’s my Lightened-Up Sesame Chicken, Air Fried Pork Egg Rolls, Healthy Slow Cooker General Tso’s Chicken, Healthy Vegetable Fried Rice and beyond there’s something that everybody loves! These Chinese food inspired recipes are easy to lighten up with a few simple ingredient swaps. Even better–many of the fakeout takeout recipes on my blog tend to use similar ingredients–so don’t worry–that sesame oil isn’t going to waste!
The next time you’re in a rut about what to make for dinner, lean on these recipes. They’ll keep you on track with your health goals and save you from getting bored of lightened-up recipes. They’re great for a delicious weeknight dinner, but also perfect for a fun weekend dinner the whole family will love.
What you will need to make Healthy Cashew Chicken
Like I stated earlier, a lot of these ingredients are similar to other takeout-inspired meals on my blog. If it’s not already considered a pantry staple in your home, it’s worth stocking up on these ingredients and trying out some of the other recipes on the blog as well!
- Scallions
- Garlic
- Ginger (squeeze tube)
- Bell peppers
- Chicken breast
- Corn starch
- Kosher salt
- Fresh cracked pepper
- Non-stick cooking spray
- Low sodium soy sauce
- Rice wine vinegar
- Coconut sugar
- Sesame oil
- Chili garlic sauce
How to make Healthy Cashew Chicken
To start, chop the scallions, making sure to separate the white and green parts. Follow by mincing the garlic. Heat a large frying pan or walk over medium high heat. Add nonstick cooking spray to the pan, and add the white parts of the scallions, the garlic, and the ginger. Sauté for 1-2 minutes until fragrant. Chop the bell peppers and add them to the pan. Cover with a lid to help the peppers steam. Cook the peppers for about 10 minutes until tender and slightly caramelized. Remove from the pan and set aside.
Next, combine the kosher salt with the corn starch. Cube the chicken breast and toss the pieces in the corn starch and kosher salt mixture. Add more cooking spray to the same pan you used for the bells peppers, and add the coated chicken pieces (working in batches to prevent over crowding). Cook on both sides until golden brown and cooked through (internal temperature should be 165F). Remove the chicken from the pan and repeat with the remaining chicken pieces.
Now, combine the sauce ingredients.
Add the cooked peppers to the pan with the cooked chicken, and then add the sauce. Simmer for about 5-10 minutes on medium low heat or until the flavors meld and the sauce thickens. Garnish with the green parts of the scallions.
I recommend serving this with rice and a vegetable. You may opt for simple white or brown rice with broccoli–or try my Healthy Vegetable Fried Rice!
How-To Video
Healthy Cashew Chicken
Equipment
- frying pan or wok
Ingredients
Chicken and Vegetables
- non-stick cooking spray
- 3 scallions, chopped; white and green separated
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tsp ginger, squeeze tube
- 2 bell peppers, about 3 cups, chopped
- 2 lbs chicken breast, cubed
- 2 tbsp corn starch
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 1/2 cup cashews
Sauce
- 6 tbsp low sodium soy sauce
- 4 tbsp rice wine vinegar
- 4 tbsp coconut sugar
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
- 1 tbsp chili garlic sauce
Instructions
- Chop the scallions and separate the white and green parts.
- Mince the garlic.
- Heat a large frying pan or wok over medium high heat. Add non-stick spray to the pan, and add the white parts of the scallions, the garlic and the ginger. Saute for 1-2 minutes until fragrant.
- Chop the bell peppers and add them to the pan. Cover with a lid to help the peppers steam. Cook the peppers for about 10 minutes until tender and slightly caramelized.
- Remove from the pan and set aside.
- Combine the kosher salt with the corn starch.
- Cube the chicken and toss the pieces on the corn starch.
- Add more cooking spray to the same pan, and add the coated chicken pieces (working in batches to prevent over crowding).
- Cook on both sides until golden brown and cooked through (internal temperature should be 165F). Remove the chicken from the pan and repeat with the remaining chicken.
- Combine the sauce ingredients.
- Add the cooked peppers to the pan with the cooked chicken, and then add the sauce. Simmer for about 5-10 minutes on medium low heat or until the flavors meld and the sauce thickens.
- Stir in the cashews and garnish with the green parts of the scallions.
- Optional: serve with rice and a vegetable.
Weight Watchers
Notes
Nutrition
Related Posts
Hi I would love to make this but do not use coconut sugar can I substitute regular sugar i don’t know if the calories are the same? Thanks for all you do and delicious recipes
Excellent dish. Steph’s recipes never disappoint. Will be making this on repeat.
Are you using raw cashews or does it matter?
i am!
Can you substitute the coconut sugar for something else?
This was so seriously amazing. I have never made a recipe from here that I didn’t love, but this one was beyond!
This recipe is out of this world! It comes together quickly and a lot of it can be prepped in advance. It was absolutely delicious! Who needs takeout?! Thank you for this amazing recipe!
this is soooo good! thank you for another great recipe!
This was delicious; love cashew chicken as takeout and so WW point friendly. I didn’t have ginger in the tube but keep a fresh piece in the freezer which worked really well too chopped up. One of my new faves from this site 👏
This was seriously SOOO good!! I didn’t have coconut sugar so used regular sugar. Can’t wait to make it again, thank you for another great recipe!!
Amazing!! My whole love this!
What’s coconut sugar? Those who used sugar instead did it work? I don’t like sweet
I had to use regular sugar. I just used 1 tablespoon and it was delicious! Coconut sugar is slightly less sweet than regular sugar in my opinion..
This is by far the best fakecaway I have made. I cooked it for our New Years meal and it is so tasty, I could have eaten double, the flavour OMGosh you have to try it x
I use light brown sugar as didn’t have coconut sugar 👍
Amazing!! My whole loved this!
This was amazing! It had more of a kick than my local takeout cashew chicken but in a good way.
I tolerate sugar substitutes well so I used truvia instead of sugar, worked great for anyone wondering!
This is absolutely amazing!! I made it exactly as written and I would rather have this than takeout any day! Do yourself a favor and give this one a try. Thank you for a fabulous recipe!!
It was fantastic! Even my picky husband liked it! Will definitely be in our normal rotation. I used brown sugar in it, though. 😬
Excellent Cashew Chicken!! We are now spoiled, don’t think we can order take out again!!! Once again you have made a great recipe!!!! Thank you!!!
This recipe was so delicious. Will be adding this into our rotation!
Awesome
Delicious! Great textures and flavors.
Wow! Wow! Wow! Incredible recipe! Served it with some rice, broccoli and spring rolls and felt like I was at a true Thai/Asian restaurant!! Incredible recipe! I cannot get over how good this was.
I did use regular white sugar – the flavour was great, only trade off is the white sugar is higher in points. 🙂
I can’t wait to have this again, seriously tasty- it’s already a family favorite! Once prepped this comes together quickly. Served it with rice and a side of steamed broccolini. Filling and satisfying.
Love this recipe! Made it last night and served it over noodles and it was delicious. The cashews were such a great crunch and the tiny bit of spice from the sauce really made the flavor interesting. Will definitely be making this again!
Loved this one! Reheats amazing still days later. Going to repeat this one often.
Thank you for making some Chinese inspire dishes. I have a seafood allergy so I can’t eat at a normal Chinese place so I love finding recipes that I can do a Chinese takeout fakeout
I made this for my lunches this week and it is so flavorful and amazing! Also very filling
Sooooooo good!!!! The flavors were amazing!!! Another winner!!!
I have made this twice already. It’s so delicious!
So good! This recipe is going to be on repeat at our house! I only had one pepper, so added some zucchini and yellow squash, so good!! Thank you, Steph, for another amazing recipe. New favorite!
This was so good! My husband said “wow” quietly like four times 🤣 And I even somehow burnt the bell peppers when I was cooking:steaming them. This was user error for SURE but I kind of liked the way it tasted. I’ll make this again!
The portions were huge! I tracked the 1 cup and had leftovers. I love that about Steph’s recipes ❤️
We really enjoyed this quick and easy meal. Very delicious. I used honey instead of sugar. And it has some good heat! We will be making this again soon!
This was SO GOOD! I never doubt Steph, but this one truly impressed me. It was so flavorful and the chicken was so tender. I could have eaten a second helping! This is definitely going on my list of favorite recipes!!!
Made this the other night for the family, and it was a huge hit! The whole family loved it, including my picky eaters. I made it again the next day for lunch meal prep. Definitely making again and again!
Excellent! My 4 year old ate every bite! It is very similar to a dish our local Thai restaurant called Siam chicken that has fresh pineapple in it. This will
be a regular for us!
This was perfect fake out take out. My whole family liked it and it will be in rotation. If you have kids sensitive to spice consider only a 1/2 Tbsp of Chile garlic sauce. There’s a bit of prep work but after that it comes together very quickly. Delish Sunday night dinner with enough left for my husband and I to have lunch tomorrow.
Steph, I love all your recipes but you out did yourself with this one! Soooo good!!!
Wow!!! Would give more stars if I could. I can’t wait for lunch tomorrow. I used monk fruit and left out the cashews for even less ww points. This is fabulous!!
Really easy and tasty takeout recipe! I had to stop myself from eating the whole thing. As always, thanks for another great recipe!
This Cashew Chicken is fabulous! We both loved it and it will be on our weekly menus, moving forward!
This is EXCELLENT!! I made it for my lunches this week and it gets better each day. Definitely a repeat meal.
This meal was absolute perfection!
This was incredible, I can see why it is so popular! My picky husband even liked it. Lots of flavor, just a little kick. I did substitute brown sugar for the coconut sugar. Will definitely be making often in my house!
So good!! Can’t wait to make again! I had to sub out light brown sugar for the coconut sugar and siracha for the chili garlic sauce due to my limited grocery store availability, but so good!
This was delicious! I had all the ingredients on hand, expect for the peppers and green onion. I substituted the peppers for frozen petite broccoli florets and subbed the green onions with a bit of yellow onion. I also added a can of water chestnuts that I had in my pantry. The sauce is perfection and so simple to make that would probably be delish with a beef stir fry as well! Thanks Steph for ANOTHER AMAZAING HEALTHY RECIPE! This one will be on repeat!
Another winner. I used the veggies I had in the house – sugar snap peas, carrots and celery. Great taste, great texture, great zing to the sauce.
This was delicious. I can’t rave enough about this . It was so good. I also made a vegetarian version for my daughter subbing tofu for the chicken.
So delicious! Even better than take out and great as leftovers as well. The whole family enjoyed it!
My family and I loved this. I added broccoli. Thank you, Steph!!!
Great week night meal. The next time I will sub peanuts for the cashew’s
Delicious, tastes like takeout, tons of flavor!
This recipe is easy and my entire family loved it! Thanks for the recipe Steph
This was amazing! I didn’t have coconut sugar so I used brown sugar like in the Mongolian beef recipe, and it was delicious!
I made this before as cashew chicken, but tonight I didn’t have really any of the veggies or even chicken on hand. I used the sauce recipe and used shrimp, celery, carrots, and broccoli with cashews. It was still delicious!!!
This is a favorite in my house! Last night I added broccoli!
Made this the other night for dinner and it was amazing!! Delicious and better than takeout!! I served it over rice with some roasted broccoli and it will definitely be added to our SSS recipe rotation.
Every recipe I make from Steph is always such a hit this was no exception! O was actually craving this!! The only think is it has a kick so I tone that done for the kids but we love this recipe!
BOMB!
Holy cow! This was awesome! Thank you so much for this easy delicious recipe!
Soooooo good!! Might be my fave now from your blog!
Delicious!! Perfect recipe as written. Family loved it. Can’t wait to make it again.
This recipe is so fantastic I can’t say enough about it. The flavors are amazing together. The chicken stays juicy. This will be in our regular rotation for sure! So easy! Thank you!
This is very delicious and my whole family loved it! It will be on repeat for sure! Thank you so much Steph for all your tasty recipes!!
I subbed sriracha for the chili garlic sauce, monk fruit in lieu of coconut sugar, and doubled the amount of cashews. This recipe is better than takeout!!! This was so good. Stephanie’s recipes have never disappointed!
Delicious. Easy to make. Will definitely add this to my family’s meal plan rotation.
So delicious!! We make this at least once a week now, sometimes more 🤣 but we cannot get enough of it!
This was absolutely delicious! My husband, 9 year old and I all loved it. Thanks Steph!!
I’ve made a lot of your oatmeal bakes, but this is the first time trying something savory, Absolutely delicious!! Will definitely be trying more of your savory recipes. Thank you for doing what you do!!
5 stars this was amazing made it for my meal prep this week!
This is so dang good! We have made it 3 times and plan to keep it on our rotation. It’s quick and easy and tastes like it took hours. I sub 2 T of brown sugar for the coconut sugar since I don’t keep that on hand and it works just fine. Love this recipe so much!
Delicious! Made this for the second time even better than before. Ate with brown rice and roasted broccoli. So good and healthy.
Delicious!! Hard to stop eating…idk why but I had too much sauce and it didnt thicken…wonder what I messed up?!
After seeing Steph make this multiple times, I knew I had to try it! Will definitely be a staple in our dinner rotation! Delicious!!
Months later and we still have this almost weekly! Have been eating vegetarian for over a month and have modified with mushrooms, tofu, veggies. So good! I forgot the sugar/monk fruit and it’s still delicious!
This was a delicious dinner! I used brown sugar instead of coconut sugar and it was so good! I will definitely be making it again!
The his was so delicious!!
The his was so delicious!! Made for the first time last night and loved it!
Made this for my husband and I and it was delicious. I used the extra dark soy sauce because it’s what I had in hand and ginger paste. Better than takeout. Thank you
Love this recipe gets better ever time I have it
This recipe is delicious and really easy to make. I also made Healthy Fried Rice as a side and everything was perfect. I made this as a dinner meal prep for the week. I did use some white sugar because we don’t have coconut sugar.
This was incredible! It tasted decadent without the guilt!
We had family over for dinner and everybody loved this dish! I don’t usually order cashew chicken out at restaurants, but heard that this recipe is delicious and it is! I’ve tried several other Asian inspired recipes from Steph’s website and they’ve all been great. Thanks for the recipe!
Love it!
Can’t wait to make it again
This recipe is amazing!!!! I definitely recommend it. 🙌🏽
Yet another recipe that exceeded my expectations! So good! I didn’t have coconut sugar so I subbed brown sugar as someone else had mentioned, worked great!
Steph- I don’t know what I would do without you!! Thank you!!!
Excellent! My whole family loved it. Will definitely make again.
This is so good! Thank you so much for this recipe!
Have made this 3 or 4 times. It’s delicious and my whole family loves it!
My family requests this recipe at least once a week AND they want me to make a double batch for leftovers the next night. It is our favorite SSS recipe, but all of Steph’s recipes are amazing!!! The majority of my weekly meals are from SSS, and we feel better knowing that it’s healthy.
I just made it and it is very good. My husband really likes it so definitely making it again
Wow!! Tastes just like a dish at a Chinese food restaurant. My most favorite recipe I’ve made of yours. ❤️
Made this tonight for my husband and I and it was SO good! My husband said it taste just like if you ordered it out. Definitely adding this to our rotation!
This recipe has become a go-to in my house. We all LOVE it and it’s easy to make! The flavors are amazing. Steph always comes through with with the most delicious recipes and this is no exception.
I love this dish! I make it all the time and I prefer it over Chinese takeout now!
This was so delicious! So much better than the takeout version! Thanks Steph for another great recipe!
Fabulous fake out meal! I used a yellow onion instead of scallions and it turned out great! We enjoyed the slight kick with the chili sauce as well. Definitely adding to the rotation.
This tastes better than anything you can get at a Chinese restaurant and far better for you. I’m so thankful for your recipes Steph!
This was delicious! Can’t wait to make again!!
I love this recipe so much!! It’s delicious and I prefer this to take out now!
I do have a question though – I can’t find the chili garlic sauce anywhere now (apparently there is a chili shortage?). Do you have any suggestions for a substitute for this sauce?
How did you do this???!! This recipe is ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS! better than any takeout! Thank you so much for sharing these light delish recipes with us! My first of yours of many I assume🤩
This recipe is fantastic! We joked that if it had been in a takeout style Tupperware upon serving, we would’ve been fooled. Great spicy kick. Will be making on repeat.
I did this without bell peppers and did brocolli, matchstick carrots and sugar snap peas instead. I only had one pound of chicken so I cut the cornstarch/salt in half and the sauce and I only did 4 teaspoons of coconut sugar (4 TBSP seems like way too much even with 2 lbs of chicken). It was really good!
I did this without bell peppers and did brocolli, matchstick carrots and sugar snap peas instead. I only had one pound of chicken so I cut the cornstarch/salt in half and the sauce and I only did 4 teaspoons of coconut sugar (4 TBSP seems like way too much even with 2 lbs of chicken). It was really good!
Can this dish be made ahead of time and then be reheated right before company comes? Thanks.
I meal prepped this for my daughter who just went back to work after having twins. Easy to throw together especially using microwave rice and very delicious really takes like Chinese take out. Thanks for all your hard work your recipes have been a staple and are very much enjoyed!
Steph thank you for sharing your lightened up recipes. This Heathy Cashew Chicken is delicious! Your website is one of my go-to’s when I meal plan for quick and easy macro friendly meals.
This was so good. Delicious! Thanks girl the recipe! All of your recipes have been great!
This was delicious! I used brown sugar instead of coconut sugar and it turned out great. Even my husband commented that it was really good.
Oooooooohhhhhhhhhhmmmmmmmmgggggggghhhhh this was amazing I crave shrimp Kai cashew from our local Thai joint and this hit the spot! It was almost identical in taste and the family loved it! You have to cook this. Thank you for creating this.