Instant Pot Sweet Chili Chicken with Cashews {Freezer Meal!}

Tender pieces of chicken, fresh carrots and pea pods, combined with a sweet & tangy sauce complimented with a nice crunch of buttery cashews makes this Instant Pot Sweet Chili Chicken Dinner a total weeknight WINNER!

Why Make This Sweet Chili Chicken Dinner?

The chicken is made so tender in the instant pot, to begin with. And because you’re steaming the veggies near the end, they retain a nice crisp crunch but are still tender. The sauce gives the whole dish an overall sweet heat that’s not too hot on the palate.

You have the option of adding more heat if you wish, but I find this dish is perfect as it is.
Lastly, having spent a bit of time in the prep of making it a freezer dish saves you so much time during those busy weeknights where you don’t have time, nor energy to make something like this stovetop!

Directions For How To Assemble The Instant Pot Chili Chicken with Cashews Freezer Meal:

1. In a large bowl, combine the cubed chicken, minced ginger, garlic powder, optional dried chilis, salt, and pepper.  Add the sweet chili chicken sauce to the chicken. Mix together, and empty into an 8 x 7-inch freezer bag. Seal the bag, removing as much air as possible as you seal.
2. In another bowl, mix together the pea pods, onions, carrots, and celery. Place into another 8 x 7 freezer bag. Place the cashews into a separate bag as well. Seal the bags.
3. Group together all the smaller freezer bags and place into a larger gallon-sized freezer bag. Add the printed recipe into the bag as well for reference.
4. Freeze for up to 3 months.

Just so you don’t forget, (because I’m famous for forgetting food that I freeze without labeling it… ) you can print out the recipe and slip it into the big container bag when assembling the meals, so that the printed recipe can be re-used again the next time you make the freezer meal, and the cooking instructions are right there, handy as well!

Directions for Cooking This Cashew Chicken Dish From Fresh

Season the chicken with the ginger, garlic, salt, and pepper. Add it to the instant pot bowl. Press ‘saute’ and add a tablespoon or so of oil. Saute the mixture until there’s some color on the chicken.
Add the cooking liquid. Mix well.
Place the lid on the instant pot and move the toggle switch to “sealing”
Cook on manual high pressure for 5 minutes. Do a quick release to remove any steam.  Add the fresh vegetables. Stir.
Place the lid back on, seal, and press ‘steam’ for 1 minute. When cooking time is up, do a quick release.
Add the sauce and the cashews. The residual heat from the dish will heat the sauce.
If you’d like the mixture thicker, press ‘saute’ and bring to a boil. Add the cornstarch slurry and stir till the liquids are thickened.
Serve and enjoy!

Directions for Cooking Instant Pot Chili Chicken Dinner from Frozen

Remove the frozen marinated chicken from the bag. Place it in the instant pot insert and add one cup of cooking liquid.
Place the lid on, and move the toggle switch to ‘sealing’ position.
Press ‘manual’ high pressure for 5 minutes.
After the cooking time is complete, do a quick release.
Remove the lid and add the frozen vegetables.
Cover, move the toggle switch to ‘seal’ and press ‘steam’ for 1 minute. When the time is complete, do a quick release.
If you want the sauce thicker, press ‘saute’ and bring to a boil. Add the cornstarch slurry and stir until thickened.
Enjoy!
**Note: Expect the pot to take a longer time to come to pressure before cook time begins.

Directions for Making A Slow Cooker Sweet Chili Chicken with Cashews

Thaw the frozen bags of ingredients in the fridge the night before.
Add all the ingredients to the slow cooker bowl. Add HALF of the cooking liquid. Cook on high for 4-5 hours or low for 6-7. (Internal temperature of the chicken should be 165 degrees Fahrenheit)
Thicken the sauce at the end of the cooking time if you wish, by turning the pot on ‘high’ and adding the cornstarch slurry. Cover and let cook another 15 – 20 minutes until thickened.

How Long Will This Instant Pot Chicken Dish Be Good For In The Freezer?

As long as the ingredients are placed in freezer (quality) bags or containers, the meals should last up to 3 months!

What Else Can I Use As The Pressure Cooking Liquid For This Instant Pot Dish?

You could use chicken broth or veggie broth.  They will all add extra flavor but water works well too. I would not use beef broth as the beef flavors may overtake the delicate chicken flavors in this dish.

Tips and Tricks For Making This Chicken Recipe Even Better!

A good tip is to double the recipe ingredients and make TWO separate freezer meals at one time, or freeze one meal and make the other for dinner that night!
Using only fresh ingredients will end up producing a much tastier dish. Try not to use any canned vegetables for this dinner.
If you wanted to make this chicken dinner go further, you can add more vegetables to stretch the servings (and nutrition aspect) of this dish.
If you didn’t want to use cashews, you could substitute some crushed peanuts.

Can I Make This Dish Vegetarian?

Yes, that wouldn’t be a problem. For the chicken substitute, you could use canned young jackfruit (like I used in this ‘pulled pork’ recipe). The jackfruit will take on any flavors that you mix with it, and will have the texture of shredded chicken.  Also, you would want to use a vegetable broth for the cooking liquid.

What Side Dishes Can I Serve With This Instant Pot Sweet Chili Dish?

I would serve this dish on plain rice or a bowl of fried rice. You could also serve on rice pilaf!

How Can I Make This Chicken Recipe Low Carb?

Well, you would have to create the sweet chili sauce yourself (or find a sugar free version). You could try using this Sugar-Free Sweet Chili recipe from My Keto Kitchen. I would also serve this dish on cauliflower rice.

Can I Refreeze The Cooked Leftovers?

I don’t really think this dish would reheat nicely. Mainly because of the vegetables that may get over soft by being cooked too long. You could eat the leftover the next day for lunch or dinner, but I would not refreeze the leftovers.

This Instant Pot Sweet Chili Chicken dinner is one of a series of Instant Pot dishes that I made with time-saving, freezer meal applications in mind. Here are a few others that I’ve made in that collection for you to take a peek at!

Instant Pot Hearty Beef Stew
BBQ Instant Pot Sausages and Peppers On Buns
Instant Pot Smothered Pork Chops
Instant Pot Garlic and Honey Chicken 

I sincerely hope you like this recipe for Instant Pot Sweet Chili Chicken with Cashews! It’s like take out, but way cheaper! If you made any changes to the recipe or directions, I’d LOVE to hear your switch-ups! Thanks so much for stopping by The Salty Pot today and I hope you have a wonderful day!

**DON’T FORGET TO PIN THIS INSTANT POT SWEET CHILI CHICKEN WITH CASHEWS RECIPE TO YOUR FAVORITE PINTEREST BOARD TO USE FOR LATER!!**