Craving Chinese takeout? This easy Sheet Pan Cashew Chicken recipe doesn’t call for a wok or even a large skillet! Best of all, it tastes utterly authentic despite being paleo, gluten-free, and Whole30-compatible!
Table of Contents
- The easiest cashew chicken recipe!
- Tips for the best sheet pan cashew chicken
- Ingredients
- How to make sheet pan cashew chicken
- Turn on the oven and prep the ingredients
- Bake the chicken, carrots, and celery
- Prep the sugar snap peas and mix the sauce
- Add remaining ingredients and broil the sheet pan
- Toss, garnish, and serve!
- What do you serve with Sheet Pan Cashew Chicken?
- How do you save leftovers?
- More Paleo Chinese sheet pan dinners!
- Sheet Pan Cashew Chicken (Whole30, Gluten Free, Paleo) Recipe
The easiest cashew chicken recipe!
Cashew chicken is a classic Chinese-American dish featuring tender chicken, roasted cashews, and assorted vegetables—all stir-fried together in a savory brown sauce. The sauce itself is typically made with soy sauce, dry sherry, oyster sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil, garlic, ginger, and thickened with a cornstarch slurry. It’s tasty, but definitely not gluten-free or Whole30-compatible.
If you love cashew chicken as much as I do but want to make it faster, simpler, and healthier, you’ll fall head-over-heels for this sheet pan cashew chicken recipe. It’s a one-pan wonder that’s gluten-free, soy-free, grain-free, and crazy-delicious.
The secret sauce for this recipe, you ask? Why, it’s my secret sauce! You’ll toss chicken and veggies with my All-Purpose Stir-Fry sauce that’s made with gluten-free coconut aminos instead of soy sauce. My indispensable “brown sauce” adds umami, savoriness, tanginess, and some sweetness naturally—without any gluten or soy. Then, just bake everything in the oven until the chicken is tender and juicy and the veggies are perfectly cooked!
Tips for the best sheet pan cashew chicken
- All-Purpose Stir-Fry Sauce and Umami Stir-Fry Powder are my secret flavor boosters for this recipe. They impart the perfect balance of flavor for any “stir-fry” dish, even if you’re making it in a sheet pan!
- Cut the chicken into the uniform-size pieces! To ensure even cooking, cut your chicken breasts into pieces that are about ½” by 1½”. That way, you won’t end up with dry and powdery chicken—I promise!
- Don’t cook all the vegetables at the same time! In early rounds of recipe testing, I tried cooking the chicken, carrots, celery, and sugar snap peas all at the same time, but the sugar snap peas ended up overcooked and soft. The solution? Toss the snap peas on the tray at the tail end of the cooking process, when you pop the sheet pan under the broiler. The quick blast of heat will turn them bright green and yield a perfectly snappy texture.
- Broil at the end! When the sheet pan is mostly cooked, pour on the sauce and stick the tray under the broiler. This final blast of high heat will thicken the sauce and cook the sugar snap peas until they’re tender-crisp. (Obviously, you should still keep an eye on the tray to make sure the ingredients don’t burn!)
Ingredients
- Boneless skinless chicken breasts: Although I’m a thigh girl, I purposely created this recipe with chicken breasts for my breast-loving Nomsters. The chicken breast will come out tender, juicy, and perfectly cooked! (If you prefer to use chicken thighs, just cut the pieces a little bit smaller and add 2-3 more minutes of baking time.)
- Carrots: To make sure the carrots and chicken finish cooking in the same amount of time, cut them on the diagonal so the carrot slices are about ¼-inch thick. (Yes, you can sub other veggies in place of carrots and celery—broccoli florets or asparagus work great!)
- Celery: Cut the stalks on the diagonal so the pieces are about ¾-inch thick.
- Sugar snap peas: I love perfectly tender-crisp sugar snap peas, which is why I toss them on the sheet pan at the end. No sugar snap peas on hand? Snow peas or little pieces of bell pepper will also work and can be added at the end.
- Roasted unsalted cashews: You can roast your own cashews by baking raw cashews at 300°F for about 10 minutes. Or just buy a bag of pre-roasted cashews.
- All-Purpose Stir-Fry Sauce: This amazing sauce (made with coconut aminos, fish sauce, orange juice, rice vinegar, ground garlic and ginger, and sesame oil) is my favorite shortcut to paleo-friendly Asian dishes! Always, always, ALWAYS keep a bottle in the fridge for dinner emergencies.
- Umami Stir Fry Powder: Longtime Nomsters know how much I love using my versatile seasoning salt in all of my Asian-inspired dishes. This seasoning salt (which consists of sea salt, dried shiitake powder, garlic, ginger, white pepper, and scallions) is featured in our green cookbook or you can buy it on Amazon or at The Spice Lab. If you can’t manage to make or buy some, you can use an equal amount of Diamond Crystal kosher salt.
- Avocado oil: This is my preferred high temperature vegetable oil, but in a pinch, you can use ghee or extra virgin olive oil instead.
- Arrowroot powder: To keep this recipe grain-free, I use arrowroot powder in place of cornstarch to help thicken the sauce. You can also use tapioca starch if you don’t have arrowroot powder.
- Green onions / scallions (optional garnish)
How to make sheet pan cashew chicken
Turn on the oven and prep the ingredients
Heat the oven to 425°F on convection roast or 450°F on conventional mode with the rack in the upper middle position. Grab a large rimmed baking sheet and lightly coat it with avocado oil or avocado oil spray.
In a large bowl, season the cut-up chicken breast pieces with arrowroot powder, Umami Stir Fry Powder (or Diamond Crystal kosher salt), and some avocado oil. Toss well to combine.
Transfer the chicken to the greased sheet pan.
In the now-empty bowl, toss the carrots and celery with some avocado oil.
Transfer the seasoned carrots and celery to the pan and arrange the chicken and veggies in a single layer.
Bake the chicken, carrots, and celery
Pop the tray in the hot oven and bake for 10 minutes.
Prep the sugar snap peas and mix the sauce
While the sheet pan is baking, toss the sugar snap peas in the empty bowl with some avocado oil.
Next, whisk together All-Purpose Stir-Fry Sauce and a teaspoon of arrowroot powder.
When the cooking time is up, the chicken, celery, and carrots should be mostly cooked through.
Add remaining ingredients and broil the sheet pan
Take the pan out of the oven and turn on the broiler on high. Add the sugar snap peas and cashews to the pan. Then, pour the sauce on top of the sheet pan and toss everything well.
Rearrange the chicken and vegetables to be in a single layer again and place the sheet pan back in the oven. Broil on high for 3 to 5 minutes.
This sheet pan dinner is ready when the sauce thickens slightly, the chicken is fully cooked and the sugar snap peas are tender-crisp.
Toss, garnish, and serve!
Take the pan out of the oven and toss the ingredients to make sure they’re coated with the sauce.
Sprinkle on the sliced green onions / scallions, if desired, and serve immediately.
What do you serve with Sheet Pan Cashew Chicken?
Like any traditional Chinese stir fry, you can serve my sheet pan cashew chicken with steamed white rice or jasmine rice. Of course, if you’re eating low-carb, paleo, or Whole30, you can serve it with a simple cauliflower rice, Golden Cauliflower Fried Rice, or on top of a bed of salad greens.
How do you save leftovers?
Leftover sheet pan cashew chicken can be kept in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months. You can reheat leftovers in an Anyday bowl in a microwave for about 90 seconds on high or until heated through. Please note that once reheated, the cashews will soften, so you might want to add some freshly roasted cashews to your leftovers if you’re missing that crunch!
More Paleo Chinese sheet pan dinners!
Looking for more recipe ideas? Head on over to my Recipe Index. You’ll also find exclusive recipes in my cookbooks, Nom Nom Paleo: Food for Humans (Andrews McMeel Publishing 2013), Ready or Not! (Andrews McMeel Publishing 2017), and Nom Nom Paleo: Let’s Go! (Andrews McMeel Publishing 2022).
Sheet Pan Cashew Chicken (Whole30, Gluten Free, Paleo)
Ingredients
- 1½ pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut bite-sized pieces (½” by 1½”)
- 2 tablespoons avocado oil, divided, plus more for greasing the pan
- 4 teaspoons arrowroot powder, divided
- ¾ teaspoon Umami Stir Fry Powder or Diamond Crystal kosher salt
- 1 cup sliced carrots, ¼-inch thick
- 1 cup sliced celery, ¾-inch thick
- 2 cups sugar snap peas, strings removed
- ½ cup roasted unsalted whole cashews
- ½ cup All-Purpose Stir-Fry Sauce
- 2 scallions, thinly sliced (optional garnish)
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 425°F on convection roast or 450°F on conventional mode with the rack in the upper middle position. Grab a large rimmed baking sheet and lightly coat it with avocado oil or avocado oil spray.
- In a large bowl, season the cut up chicken with 1 tablespoon of arrowroot powder, Umami Stir Fry Powder or Diamond Crystal kosher salt, and 1 tablespoon of avocado oil. Toss well to combine and transfer to the greased sheet pan.
- In the now empty bowl, toss the carrots and celery with 1½ teaspoons of avocado oil.
- Transfer the seasoned carrots and celery to the pan and arrange the chicken and veggies in a single layer.
- Pop the tray in the hot oven and bake for 10 minutes.
- While the sheet pan is baking, toss the sugar snap peas in the empty bowl with 1½ teaspoons of avocado oil.
- Next, whisk together All-Purpose Stir-Fry Sauce and 1 teaspoon of arrowroot powder.
- When the cooking time is up, the chicken, celery, and carrots should be mostly cooked through.
- Take the pan out of the oven and turn on the broiler on high. Add the sugar snap peas and cashews to the pan. Then, pour the sauce on top of the sheet pan and toss everything well.
- Rearrange the chicken and vegetables to be in a single layer again and place the sheet pan back in the oven. Broil on high for 3 to 5 minutes. This sheet pan dinner is ready when the sauce thickens slightly, the chicken is fully cooked and the sugar snap peas are tender-crisp.
- Take the pan out of the oven and toss the ingredients to make sure they’re coated with the sauce. Sprinkle on the sliced green onions / scallions, if desired, and serve immediately.
Video
Notes
- Leftover sheet pan cashew chicken can be kept in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
- Okay to substitute boneless, skinless chicken thighs in place of chicken breast. Simply cut them slightly smaller and cook for an additional 3 to 5 minutes (13 to 15 minutes at 425°F convection or 450°F conventional).
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I am a big fan, everything I have made from nomnompaleo is yummy! Make the all purpose sauce regularly, family favorite.
Really good! Made as written. My kiddo, a devoted take-out only Cashew Chicken aficionado, declared it good enough to take as leftovers for lunch at school. Going in the regular rotation. Now to go buy some Umami Stir Fry Powder to take it up another notch!
This was great and oh so easy. The steps helped make sure everything was fully cooked and I like the statement about reusing the same bowl.
Love this recipe with shrimp! I add it to the sheet pan with the sugar snap peas at the broiler stage. Great recipe. And love that it doesn’t mess up the stove top like a stir fry in a fry pan does.
I just love the ease of your cooking!
Yum yum yum! So fresh tasting! Made the stir fry sauce (only 1/2 recipe) and poured it all on top. Super satisfying!
This looks delicious! Can I substitute tapioca flour for the arrowroot powder?
Yes!
Love this recipe! It is so easy for a weeknight and dinner and delicious!
Absolutely love this recipe, it’s made it into our weekly rotation!