Simple and flavorful one pot cashew chicken ramen is the perfect 30 minute quick fix for your take-out cravings with veggies, chicken, noodles, and a tasty Asian stir fry sauce.
Want more tasty recipes? Try my One Pot Chicken & Veggie Ramen, Pineapple Chicken, and Fried Rice.
I am on a big ramen kick right now. When we were expecting the twins I suddenly had this revival craving of one of my favorite childhood eats – ramen noodles – and ate them daily for most of the second trimester of my pregnancy. In my junior high days my friend Abby taught me to add fresh squeezed lemon juice and black pepper to ramen noodles and my mind was blown. I ate them that way until I was pregnant whenI really branched out and started adding all sorts of things to my ramen bowls like curry and sriracha. (<—best stuff everrrrrrr)
Anyway, I had the kids and those cravings sort of died off for a bit, but lately they’ve been coming back (spoiler alert: no I am NOT pregs) and I’ve been making family-style ramen noodles for the past few weeks. One of my favorites has to be this one pot cashew chicken ramen.
Cashew chicken has always been one of my favorite Chinese dishes. I worked as a waitress at a Chinese restaurant all throughout high school and I ate way more than my fair share of cashew chicken. This simple version has fantastic flavor and requires minimal prep – maybe 5 minutes of chopping chicken and veggies and that’s it. I wish I could go in time 7 years and introduce my starving college self to this rendition of cheap ramen. For a few pennies more that ramen is turned into an actual meal. With protein and veggies and everything. Plus ONE POT(!!), even 18 year old me could have handled this.
What people are saying about this One Pot Cashew Chicken Ramen
“Made this last night. Hands-down itโs the best cashew chicken I have ever had! The whole family loved it!!!” – Sheri
“This is excellent. Easy, quick and tasty. Perfect for mid week dinner.” – Chris
“Thank you for sharing this easy and yummy recipe that I will use as an excellent jumping off point to tweak for personal taste. Your recipes are wonderful!” – Jennine
One Pot Cashew Chicken Ramen
Ingredients
- 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts - chopped into 2-inch pieces
- 2 packages chicken flavored ramen noodles - (including seasoning)
- 1 ยฝ cups water - divided
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 4 tablespoons hoisin sauce
- 4 tablespoons soy sauce - (I used low sodium)
- 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
- ยฝ teaspoon sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 1 red bell pepper - sliced
- 1 green bell pepper - sliced
- ยฝ white onion - sliced
- ยฝ cup cashews
- thinly sliced green onions
Instructions
- Drizzle your skillet (see note) with oil. Saute chicken until cooked through. Transfer to a plate and cover to keep warm.
- Place ramen noodles in the bottom of the skillet. Sprinkle seasoning packets over the noodles, then add peppers and onions to the skillet. Pour 1 1/4 cups of water into the skillet. Cover and cook over medium-high heat for 5-8 minutes until noodles are soft and liquid is absorbed.
- Whisk together remaining 1/4 cup water, hoisin sauce, soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil, and garlic and add to the skillet along with the cooked chicken and the cashews. Stir to combine.
- Allow to cook for 3-5 minutes until cashews start to become tender. Top with green onions, cracked black pepper (optional) and serve hot.
This looks soooo good.
My daughter would love this too, but she would sub tofu for the chicken. Either way would be yummy.
Will be cooking this very soon!
My husband hates rice, so I am always looking for alternatives to mop up the yummy sauce when I make Asian inspired dishes. He ate this up, but I found myself sensitive to the pungency of the hoisin sauce. I detest that black licorice aftertaste from Chinese five spices being in there (I didn’t realize it was in hoisin till I ate this), and even though it was faint, I felt it competed with the cashew flavor. I will definitely make this again with half the hoisin and maybe add a couple of teaspoons of sugar to offset the vinegar. Thank you for sharing this easy and yummy recipe that I will use as an excellent jumping off point to tweak for personal taste. Your recipes are wonderful!
Made this last night. Hands-down it’s the best cashew chicken I have ever had! The whole family loved it!!!
Thanks so much for the feedback Sheri!! So glad you enjoyed it!
This is excellent. Easy, quick and tasty. Perfect for mid week dinner.
Delicious! Whole family loved it – a keeper