Instant Pot Cheesecake Factory Cashew Chicken–an easy version of restaurant-style cashew chicken that’s a little spicy and a little sweet and really fast and easy to make.
Instant Pot Cheesecake Factory Cashew Chicken
This is an easy Instant Pot version of cashew chicken. Almost as good as what you can order at a restaurant! Maybe better because it doesn’t cost $12 a serving! It’s a little spicy but nothing that my wimpy kid couldn’t handle. It’s a tiny bit sweet but not over the top. It takes just a few minutes to get going…cut up the chicken, pour the sauce over the top and set it to go! Stir in some cashews and eat up! We served ours with brown rice and steamed vegetables.
This recipe is great to prep ahead of time for a super FAST dinner. Just cut up the chicken and stir up the sauce and keep in the fridge until you’re ready to cook. Then pour it all in your Instant Pot when you’re ready for dinner. This is what I did because we are staying in a VRBO this week and wanted to cook our own meals. It worked so well!
I used chicken thighs for this recipe because they stay more moist and tender. You can also use chicken breasts cubes, but only cook for 3 minutes with a 5 minute natural pressure release.
You’ll also like these recipes…
Instant Pot Butter Chicken Rice
Instant Pot Honey Garlic Chicken and Vegetables
Instant Pot General Tso’s Chicken
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Instant Pot Cheesecake Factory’s Cashew Chicken
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 4 minutes (plus 5 minute NPR)
- Total Time: 19 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
Description
An easy version of restaurant-style cashew chicken that’s a little spicy and a little sweet and really fast and easy to make.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 to 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs
- 1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce
- 2 Tbsp red wine vinegar
- 1/4 cup chicken broth
- 1 Tbsp sriracha
- 2 Tbsp brown sugar
- 1 Tbsp minced garlic
- 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
- 2 Tbsp cornstarch + 3 Tbsp water
- 1/2 cup cashews
Instructions
- Trim the chicken of excess fat. Cut chicken into bite size cubes. Add into Instant Pot.
- Stir together the soy sauce, vinegar, broth, sriracha, brown sugar, garlic and cayenne pepper. Pour into the Instant Pot.
- Cover Instant Pot and lock lid into place. Make sure valve is set to sealing. Set the manual/pressure cook button to 5 minutes. When time is up let pot sit for 5-10 minutes and then move valve to venting. Remove the lid.
- Stir the cornstarch together with the water until smooth. Turn Instant Pot to sauté and stir in the cornstarch slurry. Once sauce has thickened turn off Instant Pot. Stir in the cashews.
- Serve chicken and sauce with rice and top with more crushed cashews, if desired.
Notes
Make this in your 3 or 6 quart pot.
- Category: Chicken
- Method: Instant Pot
*Karen Petersen is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.
This is a fantastic recipe. I always double the sauce & it’s perfect.
★★★★★
Thanks Pam!
I tried this last night. My husband doesn’t particularly like chicken, but he loved this.
Thank you so much for sharing.
I have never tried a recipe of yours that wasn’t good.
★★★★★
Wahoo!!!! Thanks for the 5 stars!
We loved this! I served it over Success brown rice and mixed vegetables cooked in the microwave. Really easy, fast and delicious meal, which is perfect for a work night. It’s just my husband and I and we each had a regular-sized portion and I had enough to bring to work for lunch, so for a larger family, you might want to double, which would be easy and you’d have plenty of room in the 6 quart.
Thanks again for another fabulous recipe, Karen!
★★★★★
Thanks so much for the 5 stars Brenda!
This sounds so good! Can I combine breasts and thighs? I noticed the cooking times are different but I like to mix white and dark meat.
Thank you
Sure you could do that!
What’s a substitute for the red wine vinegar?
you could use another type of vinegar like white vinegar.
What times would you use for non -frozen chicken breasts? And would you cut the chicken up before putting them in the pot?
Use chicken breasts cut into cubes, but only cook for 3 minutes with a 5 minute natural pressure release.
Thanks I made this today. I accidentally bought chicken tenderloins instead but they turned out really good. I would probably double the sauce next time as we put it over rice and we like a lot of sauce.
★★★★★
chicken tenderloins would be perfect I bet!
Is there something I can substitute instead of using sriracha sauce ??
Do you have another hot sauce??
I only have an eight quart pot, what would be the best changes for a larger pot?
You may need to double the sauce so that it will come to pressure!
JUST WONDERED IF YOU HAVE TRIED CD KITCHEN ( DR PEPPER SHORT RIBS ) IN THE PRESSURE COOKER
★★★★★
Nope I haven’t, but that sounds good!
What kind of sriracha do you use? Seasoning or sauce? Brand?
I just use the sauce and the store brand.
This looks good and easy! If one doubles (for 4 Adults & 4 Kids) this recipe, does the time remain the same?
Yes same time!
Would this work without the brown sugar? My husband doesn’t like sweet sauces.
You could try it but it won’t taste as balanced, if that makes sense. Maybe leave it out and give him his portion and then stir some in for everyone else 🙂