Keto Slow-Cooker Cashew Chicken

Food prepped ahead of time is a great way to have a delicious meal when you need it. This keto slow-cooker cashew chicken will satisfy the whole family!

WHAT IS SLOW COOKER CASHEW CHICKEN?

Cashew chicken is a Chinese-American dish that combines chicken with cashews, covered in a delicious garlic sauce.

Traditional cashew chicken is made in a wok. Chicken is combined with many of the same ingredients mentioned above, but the sauce is thinned with water and various vegetables are added.

This recipe, however, combines the chicken with the delicious sauce, but leaves out ingredients that add extra sugars (including cashews). Believe it or not, ¼ cup of cashews has 10g of carbohydrates in it.

KETO SLOW COOKER CASHEW CHICKEN INGREDIENTS

Before you try to make this recipe, make sure you have the following ingredients on hand first.

• 2 1/2 lbs boneless chicken thighs
• 1/2 cup liquid aminos
• 1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp Lakanto Golden Monkfruit Sweetener
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• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 tsp fresh ground black pepper
• 1 tsp garlic chili sauce

After you have these, you’re set and ready to cook!

HOW TO MAKE SLOW COOKER CASHEW CHICKEN

1. Heat a skillet over high heat and add the olive oil
2. Sprinkle the chicken thighs with salt and pepper; add to the hot pan
3. Cook until well-browned, about 2 minutes per side
4. Transfer browned chicken to your slow-cooker
5. Combine the all remaining ingredients in a mixing bowl and pour over the chicken
6. Cover and cook on low for 5 – 6 hours
7. Serve over a serving of our Keto Cauliflower White Rice and gobble down!

WHY DOESN’T THIS RECIPE INCLUDE CASHEWS?

Quite simply, this recipe doesn’t include cashews because of their higher carb count. Before you think “well, cashew chicken isn’t complete without cashews,” know that ¼ of cashews has 10g of carbohydrates in them.

While yes, this is called cashew chicken and is made without cashews, the delicious flavors of the sauce is what truly makes this dish.

Combine this with cooking it all day long and you have a really delicious meal without much work (or carbs).

IS GARLIC CHILI SAUCE THE SAME AS SRIRACHA?

On the surface, no. In fact, this question was the topic of a huge debate on the online forum, Reddit. Tons of people weighed in their thoughts on the topic.

Most answers focused on the differences in the taste or the consistency of each sauce.

One answer stood out amongst the rest. It was simple, concise, and made a ton of sense.

Redditor “hatheaded” wrote the following:

Sriracha contains added sugar, which is then fermented to yield a sour note. Chili garlic paste doesn’t contain added sugar and is not fermented.

I tend to think of chili garlic paste as a seasoning/base ingredient to be cooked into or incorporated into the dish, and sriracha as a condiment, for the person eating the meal to add as they see fit. There’s no reason you couldn’t use the one for the other, though.

And, in short order, there you have it. The sauces contain most, if not all of the same ingredients. The main difference is the one thing we hate on keto/low-carb diets; sugar.

They are interchangeable as far as taste is concerned, so why not always use the one that has no added sugar?

CAN I USE CHICKEN BREASTS INSTEAD?

Using chicken breasts in this recipe instead of chicken thighs would be a totally acceptable substitution!

For this recipe, we chose a chicken thighs to maximize your fats and limit your protein intake. However, substituting chicken breasts would be totally acceptable.

THE CHICKEN THIGH VS. CHICKEN BREAST DIFFERENCE

While it might not seem like a big deal, there is actually quite a bit of difference in chicken thigh and chicken breast.

The first and most notable difference for anyone aiming to eat more fat in their diet, is that chicken thigh has a much higher fat content than breast.

In fact, thighs contain about 2x more fat than chicken breasts. They also contain a slightly (around 4g less) smaller amount of protein, helping to make them a better keto option for those aiming for certain macros.

The second difference has to do with the taste. For clarification, we aren’t suggesting that chicken breast and chicken thighs taste much different than one another, but there is a slight, yet noticeable difference in texture alone.

Due to its higher fat content, thigh meat has a juicier, sometimes considered more “soft” texture than breast meat.

This makes it great for use in a lot of Asian-inspired cuisine, since lots of Chinese dishes use thigh meat to start with.

If chicken thigh is your preferred cut of chicken for cooking, feel free to use it. It certainly won’t hurt the dish and will help make the dish more your own.

On the flip side, if chicken thigh is just not something you are able to get behind for whatever reason, using chicken breast is always a great go to!

WHAT TO EAT WITH SLOW COOKER CASHEW CHICKEN

Asian-inspired cuisine is absolutely delicious (we think, anyway). And like any meal, it is necessary to have a delicious side dish (or two) to eat with it.

Here are a few recipe ideas to get you started.

• Keto Cauliflower White Rice
• P.F. Chang’s Copycat Keto Lettuce Wraps
• Keto Japanese Onion Soup

For more ideas, you can check out our recipe index.

TOOLS USED TO MAKE KETO SLOW COOKER CASHEW CHICKEN

Click on the links to see the items used in making this recipe. You can also find these products linked in the recipe below.

• Slow Cooker – As you might have figured out by now, a slow-cooker is a necessary component of this recipe. A good slow-cooker can make your life so much easier by making meals ahead of time and cutting out a lot of cooking mess! Less work is always a “checkmark” in our book!

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