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Perfect recipe for busy weeknights
Who doesn’t love a quick, easy, yet HEALTHY dinner? As much as I love cooking, I am also a very busy person. (Aren’t we all?) Some days I spend a lot of time being creative in the kitchen, but other days I just want something to get on the table fast. Enter Green Cashew Chicken Stir-Fry.
My husband and I love Asian cuisine. Back in the states, we used to frequent some good Thai restaurants. With me needing to be gluten-free, it was a better choice than Chinese or Korean because many Thai dishes don’t use soy sauce. (In case you’re wondering, traditional soy sauce is made with wheat.) Here in Germany, we have not yet found a Thai place we love and have found ourselves not going out to eat very often anyway. So my husband really appreciates it when I make a delicious Asian-inspired recipe, always with a side of steamed rice.
Green Cashew Chicken Stir-Fry
Out of those two desires – needing something quick on the table + loving Asian food – this Green Cashew Chicken Stir-Fry was born. To make it really quick, have the chicken pre-cooked. Then you only need one pan for the main dish, plus a small pan for steaming the rice. Sriracha is my new favorite “secret” ingredient. It adds that kick I love (I’m from Texas so spicy in my life is a must!). Coconut aminos make a great soy and wheat-free substitute for soy sauce. Arrowroot powder allows you to thicken the sauce without cornstarch, plus you get a nice serving of veggies from the zucchini and broccolini.
Okay, enough with the chatting! Here is the recipe:
Green Cashew Chicken Stir-Fry
Ingredients
- 1 TBSP virgin coconut oil
- 2 shallots
- 1 garlic clove
- 3 small chicken breasts, cooked and cubed
- 2 medium zucchini
- 250 g broccolini
- 1/3 cup raw cashews
- 1/2 cup coconut aminos
- 1/2 TBSP arrowroot powder
- 2 TBSP sriracha sauce
- 1 TBSP fish sauce
- 2 TBSP full-fat coconut milk
- 1 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- Sprinkle garlic powder
- Fresh basil leaves
- Steamed basmati or jasmine rice
Instructions
- What makes this recipe easy and fast is having your chicken breasts pre-cooked. You can do this quickly in a pressure cooker, cooking for about 12 minutes after it comes to pressure. (My favorite brand is the Instant Pot, see Amazon favorites sidebar to purchase.) Cube the chicken breasts and set aside.
- Heat a large skillet or wok with the coconut oil over medium-high heat. While it's heating, dice the shallots and garlic, and cube the zucchini. Sauté the shallots and garlic for 3 minutes, and then add the zucchini. After about 5 minutes, add the broccolini and cashews. Cook until the veggies are slightly soft when pierced with a fork.
- While the veggies are sautéing, prepare the sauce. Pour the coconut aminos into a small glass bowl and sprinkle in the arrowroot powder. Whisk until fully dissolved/combined. Add the sriracha, fish sauce, coconut milk, salt, pepper, and garlic powder.
- When the veggies are cooked, add in the cooked chicken cubes. Pour in the sauce and mix everything thoroughly. Cook on medium, stirring often, until the chicken is fully warmed (if cold before) and the sauce has thickened.
- Serve over basmati or jasmine rice that has been steamed in chicken broth. Add a couple basil leaves to the top of the stir-fry before serving.
Let me know in the comments if you make this and how it turned out! If you use social media (Instagram is my fave!), tag me in the photo @warriorlifewellness and use the hashtag #warriorlifewellnessrecipe in your photo description. Happy cooking!
Diane Fuchs says
This tasted really good! I made some substitutions. I used regular broccoli and no zucchini, because I didn’t have any. So I substituted celery and carrots. And I forgot to put the raw cashews in at the right moment, so I put roasted cashews in at the end. They tasted really good in the dish! Also, instead of shallots, I used red (purple) onion. I would suggest not using the full two tablespoons of siracha sauce, unless you like your dish quite spicy! We liked it like that, though!
Malori says
Thanks for all the feedback!! Those sound like great substitutions, I know that people are always looking for that. Roasted cashews sound really good too!