This cashew chicken is a whole dinner made in a flash on a sheet pan with a yummy, sticky sauce smothering chicken, and cashews roasted to perfection!
The race to the finish line!
Spring is on the way, and you know what that means! If you have school aged kids, you know that after spring break it is a full on sprint to June! The month of May is a blink of an eye, with all of the end of the school year events and field trips. And we don’t even really have kids in spring sports (you all are on a whole other level!)! So, busy spring parents, I have some new recipes for you that I have been leaning heavily on in the last few months as I started writing another cookbook. I just know you will love this particular meal for this active spring season!
Classic cashew chicken stir fry made quicker on a sheet pan!
Sheet pan dinners are a game changer, that is no secret! Earlier this year, I took a favorite honey garlic stir fry that our whole family loved and turned it into a sheet pan dinner to save time. It has been such a staple here that I have started making a couple more of our household favorite stir fry flavors into sheet pan dinners that can be served any weeknight.
The Method :: Preparing the Veggies & Chicken
To get started, you’ll prepare the veggies. One of the best parts of sheet pan dinners is giving typically boring veggies a roast. This method of cooking vegetable brings out the veggie’s natural sweetness, making them absolutely delicious. Kids that would typically only be able to eat one broccoli floret or pepper strip will magically be able to get serving after serving down. All you have to do is slice the veggies into strips and florets to prepare them for cooking, and cube up the chicken.
The Method :: The Sauce for the Sheet Pan Cashew Chicken
After preparing the veggies and chicken, the sauce whisks up in minutes. Simply add all the ingredients to the pan and whisk over medium heat until it thickens. The sauce is savory and sweet, with a classic Asian umami flavor from the coconut aminos. Cashew chicken sauce is typically sweetened with a hoisin sauce as well, which is represented in this sauce with molasses and vinegar. The combination of sweet, savory, and a sticky texture is incredible!
The Method :: Preparing the Sheet Pan Cashew Chicken for cooking
Once you’ve made the sauce, toss it with the chicken and veggies, and you’re set! Then, sprinkle the cashews over the top and pop the sheet pans in the oven. The sheet pans will cook in a little over 20 minutes, and that leaves you hands free cooking time to do what what you need! Change a diaper, homework with the kids, take a quick shower, get in a 15 minute work out, or just relax!
How to serve your sheet pan cashew chicken dinner
My crew loves this particular stir fry over gluten free rice ramen. But, any rice that you love will work too! Alternatively, if you cannot have grains, you could add the needed carbohydrate fiber by adding potatoes to the stir fry. Or, you could serve the stir fry and the sauce over a baked potato or sweet potato.
Let’s talk leftovers!
Because this is a *HOT* topic in our house! It’s typically my older 2 fighting over who gets what leftovers for the week. Parents of little ones, I think this is a tween and teen thing! My girls enjoyed leftovers for lunchboxes when they were little, but not to the degree of my teens! Could some of it be the ease of a quick warm up in the morning instead of them having to think about what to pack? Sure! But I’ll take that every day of the week when it means they are bringing a lunch like this to school! We like to pack this kind of leftover in a large, wide thermos that feels like a big bowl!
Sheet Pan Cashew Chicken Dinner
Ingredients
For the sauce:
- 1 cup water
- ½ cup coconut aminos
- 2 tbsp white wine vinegar
- 2 tbsp molasses
- 1 tbsp honey
- ¼ cup tapioca starch or corn starch
- 3-4 cloves of garlic minced
- 1 inch knob of ginger grated
For the sheet pan cashew chicken:
- 1 recipe of the sauce above
- 5 chicken breasts cubed
- 2 heads of broccoli florets
- 2 bell peppers sliced into strips
- 1 medium onion sliced into strips
- 1 ½ cups raw cashews
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. You’ll need 2 unlined sheet pans for the recipe.
- To make the sauce, put all of the sauce ingredients into a sauce pan, and whisk over medium heat. Let the sauce come to a bubble, whisking occasionally to be sure it doesn’t scorch. The sauce will thicken within a few minutes. Set this aside.
- Divide the chicken and veggies onto 2 sheet pans and toss with the prepared sauce (divide the sauce in half between the 2 sheet pans). Sprinkle the cashews on top of the sheet pan dinner.
- Bake the sheet pan dinner for 22 minutes until the chicken is cooked through and the cashews are roasted. Sometimes I like to put the sheet pans under the broiler to get more golden color. If you do this, use the broiler on high for about 2-3 minutes. Broilers can have varying heat output, so watch your sheet pan closely to be sure it doesn’t burn.
Notes
- Serve your sheet pan dinner as is, or over rice ramen or rice. Leftovers warm through stovetop easily, and makes a great thermos lunch the next day.
- This dinner feeds my family of 5 for 1 meal plus leftovers for maybe 1 or 2. If you have younger kids or a smaller household, you could half the amount and use 1 sheet pan if you don’t want leftovers.
