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Enjoy a delicious and low-effort meal that tastes like it could come from your favorite Asian takeout spot, but it’s low-calorie and gluten-free! This Cashew Chicken Casserole is loaded with protein and vegetables, but is way healthier than eating dinner out.
This Asian-inspired casserole contains rice, chicken, fresh cashews, vegetables, with coconut aminos, ginger, and rice wine vinegar. It’s flavorful, hearty, simple, and cooks in a single dish in the oven. It’s a great, easy weeknight meal or a meal prep lunch.
If you like Asian recipes made healthy, you will love my healthy chop suey and healthy chicken and broccoli too!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Healthy Spin on Takeout: This simple Chinese chicken casserole has all of the flavors of the beloved takeout dish, but is healthier and lower in calories. It only takes 20 minutes to prepare, while the rest of the cook time happens hands-free in the oven. That’s less time than it takes to order and pick up takeout!
- One Pan Dinner: One of my favorite things about this casserole is the easy cleanup! The whole meal cooks in the same baking dish, so you aren’t left with a lot of cleanup after dinner.
- Gluten-Free and Dairy-Free: Instead of soy sauce, this baked cashew chicken contains coconut aminos to make it gluten-free. It’s a great dinner for anyone who doesn’t eat gluten or dairy. If you’re not gluten-free, regular soy sauce works fine!
Table of Contents
Ingredients
- Instant Brown Rice: You must use instant rice for this recipe because regular rice won’t cook fully. I used Minute brown rice, but any brand works.
- Chicken Breast: Boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut into bite-sized chunks are ideal for the casserole. You could also use boneless, skinless chicken thighs.
- Water Chestnuts: These vegetables grow in water and are crunchy with a slightly nutty flavor. They are most commonly found in Asian dishes, which makes them perfect for this casserole.
- Coconut Aminos: This is a gluten-free and soy-free substitute for soy sauce. It has a similar flavor, but is derived from coconuts. Regular, low-sodium soy sauce is fine if you’re not gluten-free.
- Rice Wine Vinegar: This tangy and mildly sweet vinegar adds a distinct Asian flavor to the dish.
- Cashews: You can’t have cashew chicken without fresh, whole cashews. They are crunchy and add a lot of flavor to the casserole.
- Garlic and Ginger: This recipe calls for fresh minced garlic and ginger because they have a great flavor. You can use jarred garlic and ginger if you don’t have fresh. Powdered also works, just reduce the amount to ¼ of what the recipe calls for because dried has a more potent and concentrated flavor.
See the recipe card below for exact ingredient amounts, nutritional information, and detailed instructions.
Variations & Dietary Modifications
- Try a Different Protein: This casserole is versatile and works with pork, lean cuts of beef, shrimp, or even tofu for a vegetarian option.
- Add More Vegetables: Asian dishes taste amazing with so many different vegetables. Add carrots, onion, bok choy, broccoli, zucchini, snow pears, or mushrooms to this casserole for a variety of flavors and textures.
- Use Different Grains: Try serving this casserole over quinoa or regular brown rice. You’ll need to prepare it separately and serve the chicken and veggies over it, though. For a low-carb option, try making your own cauliflower rice.
How to Make Cashew Chicken Casserole
This chicken cashew casserole is a simple and delicious healthy one-pan meal. It’s loaded with protein, vegetables, and flavor, but doesn’t require much effort to cook. All you need is a baking dish liberally coated with nonstick cooking spray and an oven preheated to 375°F.
Step 1: Add the Rice to the Bottom. Pour the instant brown rice into the bottom of the casserole dish and add the water.
Step 2: Layer on the Veggies. Add the celery and bell peppers to the dish.
Step 3: Add the Chicken. Next, place the chopped chicken over the vegetables.
Step 4: Mix Up Your Sauce. Whisk together the coconut aminos, rice wine vinegar, garlic, ginger, cumin, salt, and pepper.
Step 5: Top with Water Chestnuts. Pour the sauce over the chicken and layer the water chestnuts on top.
Step 6: Bake and Add Cashews. Bake the casserole uncovered at 375°F. Then remove it from the oven, add the cashews, and bake it for another 10 minutes. Top with green onions before serving with this Asian broccoli salad on the side.
Expert Tips
- Add the Cashews Last: Keep your cashews crunchy by adding them at the very end. Mixing them in at the beginning will make them soggy because they absorb the moisture in the casserole.
- Layer Correctly to Keep It Moist: This recipe calls for layering the ingredients in a specific pattern. This pattern helps all of the ingredients cook thoroughly and maintain their moisture throughout the process. Don’t deviate from the order of the layers in the recipe card.
- Let It Rest: Let the casserole rest for 5-10 minutes when it’s done cooking before you serve it. This gives the rice time to absorb a little more liquid and flavor from the pan for a better-tasting casserole.
- Storing: Keep leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. You can also freeze leftovers for a month.
Serving Suggestions
When you can create a healthy, flavorful meal at home without a lot of fuss or cleanup it beats takeout everytime! This cashew chicken casserole recipe has all of the flavors of Chinese takeout, but it’s better for you.
- Since this casserole is so hearty, it doesn’t really need a side dish, but you could serve this Thai-inspired salad with it for dinner if you wanted more veggies.
- If you’re hosting an Asian-inspired dinner party, chicken lettuce wraps are always a crowd pleaser as an appetizer.
- Use any leftover cashews to make lemon cashew cookies for dessert!
Recipe FAQs
Sure! If you don’t want to make a casserole all in the same pan, you can cook the rice separately from the veggies, chicken, and sauce on the stove. Soften the veggies over medium heat with a splash of olive oil in a skillet for 2-3 minutes. Then add the chicken and sauce and cook until the chicken reaches 165°F internally. Then add the water chestnuts and cashews and cook for another 2-3 minutes before serving it over your rice.
It sounds like too much of your water evaporated in the oven. Try covering your casserole for the first 30 minutes of cook time, then uncover it when you add the cashews. Covering the dish will keep the steam trapped and the casserole moist.
The easiest method is to reheat it in the microwave in 60-second intervals, stirring every minute to ensure even heating. You can also reheat it covered in a 350°F oven for 15-20 minutes. Add a splash of water to keep the rice from becoming dry. Thaw frozen leftovers for 24 hours in the refrigerator before reheating them.
Absolutely! You can prepare aspects of this recipe in advance to make dinner even more effortless. Chop the vegetables and chicken and store them in the refrigerator for a few days until it’s time to cook. You can also prep the whole casserole, cover it, and keep it in the refrigerator overnight if you know the next evening is going to be busy.
More Delicious Healthy Casserole Recipes
If you tried this Cashew Chicken Casserole recipe or any other recipe on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it goes in the 📝 comments below.
Cashew Chicken Casserole
Ingredients
- ½ cup Brown Rice, instant, I used Minute Brown Rice
- 1 lb Chicken Breast, cut into 1 inch pieces
- 1 cup Celery, diced
- 1 Red Bell Pepper, chopped
- 1 Green Bell Pepper, chopped
- ½ cup Celery, chopped
- 8 ounce Water Chestnuts, rinsed and drained
- ⅔ cup Water
- 2 tablespoons Coconut Aminos, or low-sodium soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon Rice Wine Vinegar
- 1 tablespoon Garlic, minced
- ½ tablespoon Ginger, minced
- ½ teaspoon Cumin
- ¼ teaspoon Salt
- ½ teaspoon Pepper
- 1 cup Cashew, raw
- Green Onions, for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 F and spray a large casserole dish with nonstick cooking spray.
- Place brown rice on the bottom of the casserole dish, add water then layer celery and bell pepper. Rice should be instant rice and does go in the casserole dish uncooked with chicken and veggies. Regular rice will not cook fully. If using regular rice, cook it separately.
- Place chicken on top of veggies.
- In a separate bowl, mix seasonings with coconut aminos, rice vinegar, garlic and ginger then add mixture to casserole. Layer water chestnuts on top.
- Bake 45 minutes at 375 F uncovered.
- Remove from oven, add cashews and bake another 10 minutes.
- Top with sliced green onions for garnish and serve.
Video
Notes
- Don’t cook the cashews for the full cook time. You must wait and add them in the last 10 minutes so they stay crunchy and don’t turn soggy.
- Be sure to follow the order laid out in the recipe for the layers of the casserole. This order ensures that every ingredients cooks thoroughly and stays moist.
- Let the casserole rest for 5-10 minutes when it’s done cooking so the rice can reabsorb more of the liquid and flavor from the dish.
- You can use another rice for the recipe, but note that it will not cook fully like Minute rice will. You will need to cook it ahead of time and add it to the casserole dish.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I was looking for a healthy recipe and stumbled across this. I substituted Quinoa for the rice and it turned out great. I will definitely make this one again. Thank you for the recipe!
That’s awesome to hear! Love the quinoa addition, I need to try that.
Do I cook the rice first?
No, you put it in with everything in the casserole as it states in the directions and it bakes in the oven.
You think I could make this in my rice cooker?
You know I’ve never used a rick cooker, but I’m thinking it definitely could work. Let me know if you give it a try!
I’m making it tonight so I’ll let you know how it goes. I love my rice cooker. Just turns itself to warm when everything is done. Rice is always perfect.
The rice isn’t cooking, it’s just regular brown rice and my dish is just left filled with water
The rice will cook. When it doesn’t, this means the pan is either too big or there are not enough veggies and chicken. The pan has to be full to the point of overflowing so that the water heats and the rice cooks.
I made this for my family and they all absolutely loved it! Thanks for the great recipe!
Glad you liked it!
Do I cook the chicken first or raw?
You put it in raw.
DELISH !!!!! Ohhh my goodness this was so good, hubby liked it too. I only did two things different. I used chicken stock instead of water and I didn’t have rice vinegar so I used Braggs Apple Cider Vinegar. This WILL be served at our home many more times. Thank you so much for the awesome recipe! ❤️
Glad you liked it! It’s one of my favs, and apple cider vinegar? That is genius! I will definitely be trying that. 🙂
Hmmm, I already cooked the rice! Can I use cooked rice and omit the water?
I’m not sure, I never made it that way. I suspect you would need some water otherwise the chicken will get really dry.
I’m not a water chestnut fan but I could probably substitute some snow peas, thoughts?
I’m sure you could!