Quick and Easy Weeknight Oriental Cashew Chicken

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It's time to say “bye, bye” to Chinese takeout with my quick and easy Oriental Cashew Chicken recipe! When you have all of your ingredients prepped and ready to go, who needs to pick up the phone and order out?! Perfect quick and easy weeknight dinner!

By using boneless, skinless chicken thighs, the Oriental Cashew Chicken recipe is ready in minutes and the chicken is super tender and juicy. Of course, you are welcome to swap chicken breasts if you prefer leaner meat or even thin-sliced beef or pork. Here are a couple more swap ideas for you… cashews can be swapped with peanuts or sesame seeds if you are nut-free. You can also use zoodles, as the recipe calls for, or swap those with rice noodles (available in the Asian food aisle). What could be fun is to make both types of “noodles” and do a taste test with your family! We'd love to know which version wins!

If you need a new spiralizer, here's my favorite one. These are great to have in the kitchen, especially with kids!

Print Recipe

5 from 3 votes

Oriental Cashew Chicken w/ Zoodles

Servings: 4 people

Ingredients

Cashew Chicken

• 3 cloves garlic
• 1.5" knob ginger
• 1 bunch green onions
• 1 T olive oil
• 3 T coconut aminos or tamari
• 1 T rice vinegar
• 1/2 c toasted cashews
• 6 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
• 1 T toasted sesame oil optional
• 1 T sesame seeds
• 1 pinch red pepper flakes optional

Zucchini Noodles

• 2 large zucchini (or sub pre-cut zoodles)
• 1/2 T olive oil
• S&P, to taste

Instructions

Oriental Cashew Chicken

• Mince 3 cloves garlic and grate ginger for ~1tsp.
• Slice 2 green onions, separating whites from greens. Set aside greens.
• Heat 1T olive oil in a sauce pan over low heat.
• Add chopped garlic, grated ginger, and sliced white part of green onion.
• Cover and cook over low heat for 3-5 mins.
• While sauce cooks over low heat, slice chicken thighs into strips, ~1" thick. Set aside.
• Add 3T coconut aminos + 1T rice vinegar + 1/2c toasted cashews to sauce. Cook 2-3 more minutes.
• In a large saute pan over med-high heat, combine sauce w/ sliced chicken thighs. Cook ~5-8 mins or until chicken is cooked.
• Divide chicken mixture over zoodles and sprinkle w/ sesame seeds and sliced green part of green onion.
• Top w/ 1T toasted sesame oil and pink of red pepper flakes, optional.

Zucchini Noodles

• Thinly slice 2 zucchini into long spaghetti-like stripes (best on a mandolin/ spiralizer).
• Heat a sauté pan over med-high heat, add ½T olive oil & zoodles, cooking for 3-4 min, Season w/ S&P.

Want more healthy weeknight meals?

You can never have too many healthy weeknight meals in your repertoire! Here are a few of my favorite resources for weeknight dinners:

• 15 Easy, Healthy Side Dishes: Meal prep friendly and quick to prepare, these healthy sides elevate a simple chicken dinner to the next level.
• 10 Gluten Free Family Meals: This roundup features gluten free dinners that are sure to be a hit with the whole family, like lasagna, meatloaf and pecan-crusted chicken strips.
• Quick Meal Prep: Prep 5 Healthy Dinners in 1 Hour for Under $100: Learn how our Super Fast meal plans enable you to prep 5 delicious, healthy dinners in just an hour.

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