Mango cashew chicken made in only 30 minutes! This soy-free, gluten-free, refined sugar-free take on cashew chicken is clean, healthful, and better than takeout!
Does cashew chicken remind you of all those nights you sauntered up to Panda Express at 9:38pm and ordered yourself a 2-entrée meal with fried rice and a side of chow mein because there was no way in hells bells you’d be able to choose between the two after your brain experienced 12 hours-worth of mind meld college lecture, and using your think tank always makes you haaaaangry so you’d need As Much Food As Possible (AMFAP) to enjoy while watching 5 episodes of Dexter prior to passing out in a PE food coma only to wake up the next day and do it all over again? Cause that’s what it reminds me of. And yes, that was the longest run-on sentence in history of The Roasted Root, hashag thanyouverymuch.
Cashew chicken may remind me of my college days of Chinese takeout, but haste: this recipe is clearly on the healthful side of takeout fakeout. First, there’s nothing fried, over-oiled, MSG’d, or HFCS’d about it. And then we add the mango. Because mangos are scrambunctious. And in season. And they’re 5 for $5…we never pass up the 1:1 deal.
This Cashew Chicken plus a side salad (all feeding times require greenery! Never skip a green is my motto < – – – that’s actually not my motto, but Kermit the Frog would be proud) will do wonders for your week night eating.
The recipe is quicker than quick to put together. When you’re fungry (Note: fungry is NOT “fun” and “hungry” put together. That is not what that word means) and you need AMFAP ASAP, this recipe is your jam. I made this meal in about 5 seconds flat. And by that, I mean 30 minutes.
You can do this any ol’ night of the week and still have time to watch 5 episodes of Dexter.
Ingredients:
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 large carrot, chopped
- 1 green or red bell pepper, chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts, chopped
- 1-1/2 cups fresh mango, chopped
- 1 cup cashews
- 1/3 cup coconut aminos*
- Zest of 1 orange
- 1 tablespoon pure maple syrup
- 1 tablespoon unsweetened creamy almond butter
- 1 teaspoon chili garlic sauce
Instructions:
- In a small bowl, stir together the coconut aminos, orange zest, maple syrup, almond butter, and chili garlic sauce until well combined. Set aside.
- Add olive oil to a large wok or frying pan and heat to medium.
- Add the carrot and sauté until it begins to soften, about 2 minutes.
- Add the bell pepper and garlic and sauté another 3 minutes
- Add the chopped raw chicken and cook for 5 minutes.
- Increase the heat to medium high and add the liquid aminos sauce and continue cooking, stirring frequently, allowing the mixture to come to a gentle boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and cook 10 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through.
- Add the chopped mango and cashews. Stir well and cook just until heated through.
- Serve the cashew chicken over cauliflower rice.
*You can replace aminos with low sodium soy sauce if you’re okay with the recipe not being paleo
Well, I can’t pretend I’m not a big Panda fan, but this looks pretty darn special, I have a mango ripening on the counter as I type…can’t wait!
1. Thank you for the squeeze! Squeeze back! 2. I’m totally eating one of those sweet rolls you saw on instagram just for you this morning. You’re welcome. 3. I love this post. Like, I want that plate of stirfry next to my roll for breakfast. We weren’t lucky enough to have a Panda Express when I was in college. We had Jerry’s Restaurant (I’m totally NOT making this up. Maybe it was a premonition). ANYWAY, it was sort of like Bob’s whatever-the-hell-it’s-called, where it’s just greasy crap food that after about four glasses of hooch just sat there in your stomach like a rock. Not that it ever happened to me, because I was perfect back then, just like now. I think I’m done. Wish you were here today to really eat a roll with me. Have a good Easter weekend, my dear. xoxo
Ok. Got a question. Do you have a new print button thing? I’m sure I’ve printed off numerous recipes, but all I could find was a print-friendly button at the end, which printed the entire post and not just the recipe. What did I do wrong? xoxo
Hahaha! You sounded so southern in your first comment, I want to give you another squeeze! Wish I were there to enjoy one of them sweet rolls with all of you 😀 Jerry’s Restaurant must have been a hoot – I’d totally take it as a premonition too.
So the recipe printy thing….it’s not you, it’s ZipList (my recipe plugin)…Stephie may have told you the latest update of WP is all wonkydoodle, and it caused me to be unable to post. I fixed it by disabling my ZipList plugin, so until ZL comes up with a new version, it’s old school recipes for me :0 So glad you like the recipe, and let me know what you think! P.S. Sorry about all the printer paper you must have had to use 🙁
HAPPY EASTERRRRRRRR!
No problem. I saw what it was going to do, so I just printed the last page with the recipe. I just couldn’t figure out why I couldn’t print. I thought it was me. And yes, she was quite annoyed at WP and the changes. I’ll raise a sweet roll to you tomorrow in an Easter toast.
And yeah. I have some good hooch stories I’ll share with you someday. Yikes. No wonder you go to college when you are young.
Dang it! This was awesome!! Jerry was sitting there eating and saying, “This is the best stir fry I’ve ever had”. Now, before you get a big head, you have to realize that this man LOVES to eat. He says that about everything, which he then admitted to. He did point out that it was much better than anything we could buy in a restaurant, of which I totally agreed (duh). We also used the low-sodium soy sauce, and the salt content was perfect. I think regular soy sauce would be too salty, but that’s just me. He really liked the little kick that the chili garlic sauce gave it. This is a “keeper” as it’s called in our house. Yum, yum, yum!! 🙂
YAAAAAAAAAAAY! I’m so glad you and Jerry enjoyed it! No big head round these parts – for every person who enjoys a recipe, there’s always one who doesn’t. But I’m glad you were on the enjoyment end of the spectrum 🙂 Thanks for letting me know about the soy sauce. I kinda figured full-blown soy would be too much, so I’ll inform anyone who asks about soy to definitely use low sodium. I can’t wait to cook dinner with you and Jer Bear. Wait, do you call him Jer Bear ever?
xoxo
This sounds so good – I LOVE cashew chicken, and the mango sounds fabulous with it!
Made it tonight! SO GOOD! I love the orange zest that comes through every so often 🙂
YES! So glad you tried it and enjoyed it! It was such an easy meal and I love how much flavor is in it. Not to mention, it’s worlds healthier than takeout 😀
I think “fungry” is my new favorite word. And this cashew chicken is my new favorite meal.
Swap out the chicken for tofu and I am so jumping on this gravy train! I mean…mango train. Yes, definitely want to be on the mango train.