Air Fryer Cashew Chicken

This Air Fryer Cashew Chicken has made a popular Asian Cuisine dish healthier and more affordable. Tender chicken thighs are cooked to crispy goodness is your Air Fryer and then are tossed with my homemade cashew chicken sauce. It’s just like ordering takeout!

ALSO BE SURE TO CHECK OUT MY AIR FRYER BEEF FRIED RICE!

When I was younger, I worked at The Cheesecake Factory. It’s actually where I met my wife! Love at The Cheesecake Factory… It sounds so romantic, doesn’t it? In the years that I worked there, I ate just about everything on the menu, which is a lot (have you seen the size of their menu?). But my favorite dish of all was their cashew chicken. I just couldn’t get enough of it and would often spend my hard earned tips on ordering it at the end of my shift!

What Is An Air Fryer?

An Air Fryer is a small electrical kitchen appliance that is able to cook your food by using fast moving, heated air. The hot air evenly moves over your food and results in a crispy outside and a tender inside. This is much like you would get if you traditionally deep fried your recipe. Except, with the Air Fryer, you use very little oil to get the same results!

About three years ago, my wife gave me an Air Fryer for Christmas. Ever since then, I’ve discovered that I can Air Fry just about anything! I’ve found that I can take healthy meals and make them even more tasty, just like these Air Fried Vegetables. I’ve discovered that I can take decadent meals and make them a little more healthy, just like these French Toast Sticks. And I’ve found that I can make never versions of some of my favorite meals, like this recipe for Air Fried Chicken Cordon Bleu.

Asian Inspired Air Fryer Recipes

I’ve ALWAYS loved Chinese Takeout food. I’m a sucker for ordering from my favorite restaurant down the street on a Friday night. The problem is that I always feel a bit guilty. First of all, it gets SO expensive. Second, let’s be honest, I’m quite certain it isn’t the healthiest ingredients to put in your body. So, I’ve discovered that I can now make Air Fryer Versions of some of my favorite Chinese Food. I started out with Air Fryer General Tso’s Chicken. For this, I used a store bought General Tso’s sauce that was actually pretty delicious. It is all natural too!

Next, I decided I wanted to make an Air Fryer Orange Chicken with my own, homemade sauce. That turned out awesome too! So, I decided to keep that train rolling for this Air Fryer Cashew Chicken Recipe!

Air Fryer Cashew Chicken

This recipe for Air Fryer Cashew Chicken makes a great lunch or dinner. If you time everything right, the rice, the sauce and the chicken all take about 10 minutes to cook each. So if you get them all going together, they will all finish at the same time and you can just plate them and start eating!

For all of my Air Fried Asian Dishes, I’ve used boneless skinless chicken thighs as the protein. I’ve seen some other people use boneless skinless chicken breast for their recipes and I’m sure that will work fine too. So, if you want to make this a little healthier, you could certainly go that route. But I LOVE chicken thighs, what can I say? Also, many people will coat their chicken in Potato Starch instead of Corn Starch. I just use Corn Starch and feel that it works fine for me. But, it your one of those people that swear by your Potato Starch, don’t let me stand in your way! Go for it!

I hope you enjoy this recipe for Air Fryer Cashew Chicken. Let me know how it turns out for you in the comments! Thanks and happy frying!

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Air Fryer Cashew Chicken

This Air Fryer Cashew Chicken has made a popular Asian Cuisine dish healthier and more affordable. Tender chicken thighs are cooked to crispy goodness is your Air Fryer and then are tossed with my homemade cashew chicken sauce. It's just like ordering takeout!

Course Main Course

Cuisine Chinese

Keyword Air Fryer, cashew chicken

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes

Servings 2 people

Calories 589 kcal

Ingredients

For The Chicken

• Chicken
• 1 lb boneless skinless chicken thighs
• 1 egg scrambled
• 1/4 cup corn starch

For The Sauce

• 1/4 cup water
• 2 tsp corn starch
• 1/4 cup cashews
• 1/3 cup hoisin sauce
• 1 tbsp rice viniger
• 1 clove garlic minced
• 1 tbsp sesame oil
• 2 tbsp brown sugar
• 2 tbsp corn starch
• 2 tbsp water
• 1/4 cup broccoli cut into small crowns
• 1/2 bell pepper cut into one inch pieces
• 2 Green Onions Diced
• Sesame Seeds (optional) To Garnish

Instructions

1. Preheat Air Fryer to 375 degrees

2. Cut chicken thighs into 1 inch pieces.

3. Salt and pepper chicken thighs to taste. Dredge in egg and then in corn starch. Make sure fully coat chicken.

4. Spray Air Fryer with cooking spray and cook for 10 minutes, turning over halfway through. Take out when chicken is crispy on the outside and at least 165 degrees inside.

5. Cut Broccoli into small crowns. Cut red bell pepper into one inch pieces.

6. While chicken is cooking, combine brocoli, red bell pepper, water, hoisin sauce, soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil, cashews and brown sugar in a sauce pan. Cook for 5 minutes.

7. After 5 minutes, add garlic, corn starch and water. Lower heat and cook for 5 more minutes.

8. Combine chicken in sauce pan with sauce and vegetables.

9. Serve over white rice, garnish with green onions and sesame seeds if desired.

Recipe Notes

For all of my Air Fried Asian Dishes, I've used boneless skinless chicken thighs as the protein. I've seen some other people use boneless skinless chicken breast for their recipes and I'm sure that will work fine too. So, if you want to make this a little healthier, you could certainly go that route. But I LOVE chicken thighs, what can I say? Also, many people will coat their chicken in Potato Starch instead of Corn Starch. I just use Corn Starch and feel that it works fine for me. But, it your one of those people that swear by your Potato Starch, don't let me stand in your way! Go for it!