Try this Instant Pot Cashew Chicken recipe, or contribute your own.
- 1/4 cup water
- 1/2 cup water
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons corn starch
- 1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds
- 2 tablespoons light brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon hoisin sauce
- 2 cloves garlic (minced)
- 1 lb chicken breasts (cut into bite size pieces)
- 2 cups fresh broccoli florets/peices
- 1 large red bell pepper (cut into bite-sized chunks)
- 1 cup roasted (unsalted cashews)
- 6 tablespoons low sodium-soy sauce
- 3/4 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
- 1/2 teaspoon fresh minced ginger
- Carbohydrate 49.5500669035751 g
- Cholesterol 0.48 mg
- Fat 14.102603063269 g
- Fiber 2.54415517800545 g
- Protein 3.00847594182741 g
- Saturated Fat 1.97688005149691 g
- Serving Size 1 1 recipe (741g)
- Sodium 277.94880190822 mg
- Sugar 47.0059117255696 g
- Trans Fat 0.507925999825311 g
- Calories 333 calories
Step-by-step
- Turn Instant Pot onto saute and add oil. Heat until hot. When hot, add chicken (salt and pepper to taste if you wish) and slightly brown.
- While chicken is cooking, in a small bowl whisk together soy sauce, hoisin sauce, vinegar, brown sugar, ginger, garlic, water and sesame seeds.
- When chicken has been slightly browned, add sauce mixture.
- Close Instant Pot and cook on manual high pressure for 5 minutes. When timer is done perform a quick release of pressure.
- Open Instant Pot and add the broccoli and red pepper.
- Close Instant Pot and cook on high pressure for 0 minutes (this is a real thing, you just keep hitting the negative time when on manual until you timer reads 0).
- While Instant Pot is cooking, in a small bowl whisk together corn starch and 1/4 cup of water and set aside.
- When timer is done perform a quick release of pressure.
- Turn the Instant Pot back on to saute and bring to a simmer. When simmering add corn starch and water slurry and stir until well combined.
- When sauce had thickened add cashews and stir.
- Serve over rice and enjoy!
Traditional stovetop stir-fries rely on continuous evaporation over high heat to reduce liquids, whereas closed-system pressure cookers trap moisture completely. This thermodynamic difference creates a distinct culinary challenge: chicken releases water continuously under 15 psi of pressure, which dilutes aromatics unless managed through deliberate starch manipulation. Starch molecules must be heated to between 203°F and 212°F in an active liquid phase to gelatinize fully; adding cornstarch directly to boiling liquid prevents the formation of hard lumps because individual granules swell rapidly and trap free water. Whisking two tablespoons of cornstarch with one-fourth cup of cold water creates a temporary suspension that pours cleanly into the simmering pot without dusting or clumping. When the slurry contacts the bubbling soy sauce mixture, the amylose chains uncoil, thickening the liquid within sixty seconds of sustained bubbling on the sauté setting. Undercooking the starch leaves a chalky mouthfeel, while boiling a fully thickened sauce for longer than two minutes breaks down the starch polymers, turning a glossy glaze back into a thin liquid. Maintain the pressure cooking duration at exactly five minutes for bite-sized poultry pieces, preventing the muscle fibers from tightening past the point of moisture retention. Overcooking pressure-cooked chicken forces out intracellular water, yielding a stringy texture that cannot be repaired by subsequent sauce additions. Incorporating roasted nuts at the final stage preserves their structural crunch, as prolonged exposure to hot liquid softens their cellular structure. Swapping broccoli for snap peas requires shortening the secondary zero-minute steam cycle to prevent color degradation of the chlorophyll pigments.
