20 Minute Garlic Butter Cashew Chicken

Butter, garlic, and all the best flavors of hoisin, soy sauce, and sriracha?! It’s so many big, bold flavors used to enhance lean ground chicken breast and crisp-tender broccoli florets with lots of cashews in the mix — it’s a dish the whole family will love!

WHAT’S NEW?

Halfway through the week! I’m not sure if it’s the daylight getting to be less and less every day, allergies, or soccer season that has me completely whipped, but I am looking forward to the weekend and ample time to catch up on sleep! I’m a professional sleeper these days – mama needs her sleep! It’s also 1000% true when people told me that the older kids get, life gets harder/busier in new and different ways. So, so, so true! Tracking down jerseys and uniforms alone is a part-time job in my house. And dinner time? What’s that? We get to do that less all the time! 

Quick and delicious is what we need and that’s exactly what this recipe (from one of my favorite blogs!) delivers. It is incredibly flavorful, just spicy enough, and healthy enough, too! Enjoy!

ROLL CALL FOR THIS RECIPE

• Weeknight Warriors: Ready in about 20 minutes, this meal is the perfect weeknight dinner! The busiest of busy weeknights just got bit less chaotic and whole lot more delicious! Move over, chicken nuggets!
• No-More-Boring Chicken Breast: This ultra lean ground chicken has the right amount of spice, a tangy garlic sauce, and just enough butter to make it hard to believe it’s a healthy meal!
• Take-Out Fake-Out: Rivaling your favorite restaurant carry-out, this recipe has all the delicious flavors that can be found in other Asian-inspired recipes such as kung pao chicken, cashew chicken stir fry, or honey garlic chicken.

KEY INGREDIENTS AND SUBSTITUTIONS

• Chicken: Ground chicken breast contains only breast meat, so it is incredibly lean and low in saturated fat. Ground turkey breast makes an excellent substitution, however ground chicken or trukey can be substituted (but will increase the calories and fat in the recipe).
• Sesame Oil: If you don’t have toasted sesame oil, you can use peanut oil, olive oil, or avocado oil.
• Cornstarch: Arrowroot powder, potato starch, or tapioca starch/flour are all excellent substitutes for cornstarch.
• Broccoli: I recommend buying prepped florets that come washed and ready to go!
• Butter: Use an unsalted butter as there is lots of sodium coming from the sauce ingredients. Use more or less butter to your liking.
• Garlic: Feel free to omit or swap in 1 teaspoon of garlic powder. Fresh garlic is always the best, but jarred, chopped garlic or garlic paste works too (1 teaspoon per clove of garlic).
• Ginger: Fresh ginger root that has been peeled and minced or a tubed ginger paste are both great options. In a pinch, 1/2 teaspoon of ground ginger will suffice as a substitute.
• Cashews: Use a raw or unsalted cashews to reduce the sodium content that can be added from nuts. There’s no great substitute for the crunchy cashews but omitting is just fine!
• Hoisin: With a key ingredient of fermented soy bean paste, hoisin sauce also includes sugar, sweet potato, sesame seeds, cornstarch, garlic, chili pepper, and other spices. It is mildly sweet and salty and doesn’t have a great substitution. A low-sugar barbecue sauce is the closest option if you’re in a pinch! 
• Soy Sauce: Choose a low-sodium soy sauce variety, if available. Salad dressings are high in sodium, as is, and the additional salt is not needed. Not all soy sauces are gluten-free, so do be sure to check for gluten or contamination. Coconut aminos would be a great alternative that is naturally gluten-free.
• Maple Syrup: Use honey or agave in place of syrup or omit, if you wish!
• Apple Cider Vinegar: Rice wine vinegar is a great substitute.
• Sriracha: You can swap in chile paste that will offer more heat, or you can omit or reduce according to your heat preference.
• Crushed Red Pepper Flakes: Add more or less to your liking. You can also use half the amount of cayenne pepper as a substitute. 
• Black Pepper: White pepper is a good alternative here. Use more or less, or omit entirely.

FAQ 

How can a recipe with this many ingredients be ready in 20 minutes?

Gather all of your ingredients first, that’s the key! Because there is NO prep of meat or veggies required in this recipe, a few measuring cups and spoons is all you’ll need. If you have all of your ingredients at your fingertips, the prep time is very little and the cook time the same!

Can more vegetables be added? If so, what would you recommend?

In addition to or in place of broccoli, red bell pepper, green bell peppers, mushrooms, waterchestnuts, or onion would all be wonderful additions or substitions. Mandarin oranges, too, would make a great addition!

Why is ground chicken breast preferred to ground chicken or ground turkey?

The breast is the leanest part of poultry and ground chicken breast (or ground turkey breast) ONLY contains the meat, not the skin or dark meat portions. Therefore, it is sigificantly lower in calories and saturated fat.

NUTRITIONAL MERITS

• With the use of lean meat and just 1/2 tablespoon of butter per serving, this recipe has more healthy fats than unhealthy thanks to the cashews and unsaturated fat-rich oils
• This recipe is easily made gluten-free – check or swap the soy sauce and hoisin to be sure!
• This recipe is rich in protein and unsaturated fats giving it lots of staying power 

VARIATIONS, STORAGE, and TIPS

• Serve this recipe as is, or over top brown rice, white rice, cauliflower rice, or even pasta or salad!
• In addition to sliced green onions, a sprinkle of sesame seeds is a beautiful and healthy final touch to this recipe.
• Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days

Need dinner on the table FAST? Check out other 20-minute meals!

• Chicken Caesar Burgers
• 20-Minute Sweet and Spicy Noodles
• Easy Chicken Chimichurri Cauliflower Rice Bowls
• 20-Minute Green Onion Sesame Soba Noodles
• Individual Cubano Naan Pizzas
• 20-Minute Minestrone Soup
• Egg Roll-in-a-Bowl

Be well,