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Spicy Cashew Pasta With Crispy Chicken

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Make this spicy cashew pasta with crispy chicken for a satisfying, high protein dinner you can cook in under 30 minutes.

Cashew pasta with crispy chicken.

You can always count on us for unique pasta recipes, thanks to our Pasta of the Month series. This month’s pasta was inspired by one of our latest obsessions: spicy cashew butter sauce! Using our favorite cashew butter dressing recipe as a starting point, we created a super satisfying, high protein spicy cashew pasta with crispy chicken that you can make in under 30 minutes.

Contrasting textures like this creamy cashew pasta sauce paired with super crispy pan fried chicken (just like in our spicy chicken chipotle pasta!) make a dish so much more exciting to eat. It’s creamy and decadent, with crunchy bites of chicken and a bit of fresh parsley flavor to brighten things up.

Once you try this creamy cashew pasta, you won’t want to go back to regular pasta sauce! And you’re going to want every excuse to make this crispy chicken again and again. It’s that good.

What This Recipe Entails

Our spicy cashew pasta with crispy chicken is one of the best quick and easy dinners you can make in under 30 minutes. All it takes is whipping up a quick sauce, boiling the pasta, and pan-frying super thin crispy chicken breast.

  • Prep time: 10 minutes
  • Cook time: 18 minutes

It will take about 5 minutes to make the sauce, 5 minutes to prep the chicken, 12 minutes to boil the pasta, and 6 minutes to cook the chicken. If you time things right, you can prep and cook the chicken while the pasta is boiling. Then this dinner will come together in less than 20 minutes!

Crispy chicken and cashew butter pasta.

Spicy Cashew Pasta with Crispy Chicken Recipe Ingredients

Here’s what you’ll need to make spicy cashew pasta with crispy chicken:

  • Spicy cashew sauce – We actually use our Sweetgreen spicy cashew dressing copycat recipe for the pasta sauce! It’s ultra creamy even though it’s made without milk or heavy cream. Cashew butter for the win!
  • Pasta – We recommend a long, thick noodle like fettuccine or linguine for this dish. You want something the sauce can cling to well.
  • Crispy chicken – A simple pan fried chicken breast coated in egg, flour, and breadcrumbs and fried to perfection

Note that you’ll need a few pantry ingredients to make our spicy cashew dressing recipe. (It’s quite spicy, so hold back on the red pepper flakes if you want a less spicy version to use in this pasta).

Spicy cashew pasta with crispy chicken.

How To Make Spicy Cashew Pasta with Crispy Chicken

Making our crispy chicken pasta recipe is a simple 4-step process:

  1. Make the sauce. Follow our spicy cashew butter dressing recipe for details.
  2. Boil the noodles. Cook according to package directions, then drain and set aside. Make sure to reserve some pasta water for using later in the sauce.
  3. Make the chicken. Coat the chicken in flour, egg, and breadcrumbs before pan frying in about a quarter inch of vegetable oil. We like to use our 10-inch cast iron skillet to fry 2 cutlets at a time.
  4. Combine and serve. Stir the cashew butter dressing into the boiled noodles, adding a splash or two of pasta water to thin it out and help it cling. Slice the crispy chicken into strips and serve over the pasta, drizzled with extra cashew sauce.

Serving Suggestions

This spicy cashew pasta is the perfect dinner for when you’re craving a comforting, high protein meal. Enjoy it by itself, or serve it with a side salad or Italian bread if you want a little something extra.

Pasta with a spicy cashew butter sauce and chicken.

Storing and Reheating

Store leftover cashew pasta in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. We recommend storing leftover crispy chicken in a separate container from the pasta so that it doesn’t become soggy from being in contact with the pasta sauce. The chicken will also stay good for up to 5 days.

To reheat, combine pasta and crispy chicken in a bowl and microwave single servings for about 2 minutes, stirring halfway through. Or, reheat crispy chicken in an air fryer or toaster oven until warmed through, then add on top of microwaved pasta.

Expert Tips

  • Pound the chicken breast thin before coating it. Aim for about a quarter inch thickness and it will fry in just a few minutes.
  • Set up an assembly line with 3 shallow dishes to efficiently coat the chicken in flour, egg, and breadcrumbs. Gently shake off excess before transferring the chicken from one dish to the next, and make sure it’s completely coated before frying.
  • Make sure the oil is very hot before adding the chicken to the pan. This helps crisp the chicken immediately and lock in the moisture for a perfectly tender cook. If it’s not hot enough, the chicken will soak up too much oil as it cooks and will become soggy.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

This creamy pasta with spicy cashew sauce and crispy pan fried chicken is so satisfying! It’s packed with protein which makes it perfect for when you’re craving something hearty. Plus, you can cook this pasta dinner in under 30 minutes. What’s not to love about that?

Try our spicy cashew pasta with crispy chicken recipe and don’t forget to rate, comment, and share below!

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Tell us what you think!

We hope you enjoy this recipe! When you try it out, please leave a review and a star rating in the comments below. Happy cooking! – Nicole and Alex

Cashew pasta with crispy chicken.

Spicy Cashew Pasta With Crispy Chicken

Nicole & Alex Langdon
Make this spicy cashew pasta with crispy chicken for a satisfying, high protein dinner you can cook in under 30 minutes.
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Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 18 minutes
Total Time 28 minutes
Course Dinner, Main Course
Cuisine American, Fusion, Italian
Servings 3 servings
Calories 891 kcal

Equipment

Ingredients
 
 

  • ½ pound fettuccine
  • ½ pound chicken breast pounded to quarter-inch thickness
  • ⅓ cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 pinch salt
  • 1 pinch black pepper
  • 2 large eggs beaten well
  • ⅔ cup plain breadcrumbs
  • 1 cup spicy cashew dressing
  • ¼ cup pasta water
  • Vegetable oil
  • Fresh parsley chopped (optional garnish)

Instructions
 

  • Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the fettuccine and cook according to package directions.
  • In the meantime, prepare the crispy chicken. In one shallow bowl or dish, whisk together the flour, salt, and pepper. In a second shallow dish, beat the eggs. In a third shallow dish, add the breadcrumbs.
    Coat the chicken well in flour, then egg, then breadcrumbs. Gently shake off any excess before transferring the chicken from one dish to the next, and make sure the chicken is completely coated.
  • Heat about a quarter inch of vegetable oil in a large cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. Once it’s hot, add the chicken and fry until crispy and golden brown on both sides, about 5 to 6 minutes total (flip halfway through).
    Transfer the cooked chicken to a cutting board and let it rest for at least 2 to 3 minutes, or until the pasta is done cooking.
  • Once the pasta is cooked, reserve some pasta water (about a quarter cup), then drain and return to the pot. Stir the cashew dressing into the pasta until it’s well-coated, adding a splash or two of the pasta water to help the sauce cling to the noodles if needed.
  • Finally, slice the crispy chicken into thin strips and serve over the pasta. Drizzle extra cashew sauce over the crispy chicken and optionally garnish with fresh parsley.
One last step:Please consider leaving a review to let us know how it was!

Notes

Spicy cashew sauce: We use our favorite spicy cashew dressing recipe for this creamy cashew pasta sauce! There’s not really  a great store-bought alternative for this, so we recommend following our recipe linked above. This sauce is quite spicy, so if you want less heat reduce the amount of red pepper flakes (or omit them entirely).
Pan frying chicken: Make sure to pound the chicken breast thin before coating it. This will help it become super crispy without overcooking, and make sure each piece of chicken cooks at the same rate (if you’ve split your chicken breast into smaller pieces). Also – make sure the oil is hot before you add the chicken to the pan! If the chicken sits in not quite hot enough oil for too long before it really starts to fry, the breadcrumbs will soak up too much oil and become soggy. 
Serving suggestions: This spicy cashew pasta is the perfect dinner for when you’re craving a comforting, high protein meal. Enjoy it by itself, or serve it with a side salad or Italian bread if you want a little something extra.
Storing and reheating: Store leftover cashew pasta in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. We recommend storing leftover crispy chicken in a separate container from the pasta so that it doesn’t become soggy from being in contact with the pasta sauce. The chicken will also stay good for up to 5 days.
To reheat, combine pasta and crispy chicken in a bowl and microwave single servings for about 2 minutes, stirring halfway through. Or, reheat crispy chicken in an air fryer or toaster oven until warmed through, then add on top of microwaved pasta.

Nutrition

Serving: 1servingCalories: 891kcalCarbohydrates: 105gProtein: 43gFat: 34gSaturated Fat: 7gPolyunsaturated Fat: 8gMonounsaturated Fat: 16gTrans Fat: 0.1gCholesterol: 236mgSodium: 780mgPotassium: 891mgFiber: 6gSugar: 11gVitamin A: 1043IUVitamin C: 4mgCalcium: 145mgIron: 7mg
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If you have any questions regarding the information presented in this post, please refer to our Nutrition Disclaimer here.

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90% of Nicole’s thoughts are about food. She’s had a passion for cooking (and eating) for as long as she can remember! Growing up, she started cooking with her mom at a young age, learned family recipes from her Italian grandmother, took every opportunity to make cookies (so many bake sales), and always loved going out to restaurants to try new foods.

Nicole currently works part-time as a marketing professional for OmieLife while also working nonstop on The Candid Cooks. As a former mechanical engineer, Nicole has consistently found herself at the intersection of creativity and logical reasoning. She credits not only her passion for photography, design, and writing, but also her problem-solving nature and desire to learn, as the foundation on which The Candid Cooks was built.

Nicole’s hobbies include anything that gets her moving - mainly hiking, skiing, ice skating, and dancing - as well as reading fantasy novels and scrapbooking. Her favorite food is a big plate of nachos, as long as they’re cheesy enough!

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