Dairy-Free Creamy Chicken Mushroom (with cashew sauce)
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This creamy chicken mushroom recipe is a flavorful dinner that is ready in only 30 minutes—made with garlic chicken thighs and a delicious cashew mushroom sauce.
Creamy chicken recipes are my absolute favorite—especially when they’re packed with hearty mushrooms, juicy garlic chicken, and finished in a silky, velvety sauce made with a little cashew butter. Yep, it’s dairy-free, but you’d never know it from the taste. This is cozy, comforting, crave-worthy dinner food at its best.
I use juicy boneless chicken thighs here (inspired by my Juicy Baked Chicken Thighs), but cook them directly in a skillet so they absorb even more flavor. Add in piles of mushrooms sautéed with garlic, then finish everything with a sauce that tastes like it’s loaded with cream. It’s rich, smooth, and perfect for spooning over everything on your plate.
You can keep things light by serving this with a simple side salad, but honestly, it really shines with something that begs for sauce—mashed potatoes, mashed cauliflower, or a bowl of basmati rice. And the best part? It all comes together in about 30 easy minutes.
How to make a dairy-free creamy mushroom sauce
Most creamy chicken mushroom recipes call for a lot of heavy (whipping) cream in the sauce. While it may be delicious, it’s not something you want to eat often. That’s why we use cashew cream (just a little cashew butter mixed with water) instead.
Using this cashew cream trick is a great way to enjoy comfort food without any guilt.
Here’s how you do it:
- Sauté sliced mushrooms until golden. Now add some garlic. Yum!
- Mix some store-bought cashew butter with a bit of water until it is the consistency of skim milk. It will seem too watery.
- Pour that cashew cream over the mushrooms and scrape the bottom of the pan as it simmers to lift off all the delicious browned bits left by the mushrooms.
- All you have to do now is season the creamy mushroom sauce with some salt and pepper. So easy!
More recipes using cashew cream-based sauces
We are big fans of using cashew cream to make creamy sauces. Here are a few other recipes that use this hack:
Creamy Mushroom Chicken Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 teaspoon EACH: paprika, garlic powder, and onion powder
- ½ teaspoon EACH: Italian seasoning and salt
- 8 boneless chicken thighs
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- 1 lb mushrooms (sliced)
- 3 cloves garlic (minced)
- 3 tablespoons cashew butter
- Salt and pepper (to taste)
- Minced parsley (to garnish)
Instructions
- Mix the paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, Italian seasoning, and salt in a small bowl then sprinkle the spices over the chicken.1 teaspoon EACH: paprika, garlic powder, and onion powder, ½ teaspoon EACH: Italian seasoning and salt, 8 boneless chicken thighs
- Heat the olive oil over medium-high heat in a large cast iron (or other heavy bottomed) pan. Add the chicken and let it cook for 12 minutes, flipping halfway through. Remove the chicken from the pan.2 teaspoons olive oil
- Add the mushrooms to the pan and let them cooked until they are nicely browned, about 8 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute.1 lb mushrooms, 3 cloves garlic
- Mix the cashew butter with 1 ¼ cups of water then pour it into the pan. Scrape the bottom of the pan to remove any stuck on bits then bring it to a boil. Let the sauce thicken then season it to taste with salt and pepper.3 tablespoons cashew butter
- Add the chicken back into the pan and let it warm for a couple of minutes. Serve the creamy mushroom chicken with a little parsley sprinkled over top.
Nutrition
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Creamy Chicken Recipes
For more inspiration, check out all of our chicken recipes!
Great recipe. Trying tomorrow. But had a question can you use regular cashews if you blend them instead of cashew butter
If you have a high-powered blender then that is a great option!
I made this for a couple who recently had a baby and they said it was delicious so I made it the next evening for my family and they were right! It’s such an easy recipe but it tastes like you did some impressive work in the kitchen which is always fun when you’re cooking for others. 🙂 And it’s nice for leftovers too if you don’t have a large family. This one is definitely going to be a go-to in the future for me! Thanks!
So happy to hear that everyone is loving this recipe!!
Whoa girl this is a keeper! I thought that I’d never again be able to eat a creamy sauce unless it had coconut in it. You’ve saved my life!
Haha I love it! Happy to be a lifesaver!
What can you use instead of the Cashew cream?
If you eat dairy, you can use whipping cream.
This recipe, a spin on what I would consider to be chicken à la forestière, was overall quite good. I used chicken breasts instead of thighs (no good cuts at my grocer today), and it worked out well.
Some adjustments I made and would possibly recommend to others:
– Added half a yellow onion, minced, after cooking the mushrooms. That’s in addition to the onion powder. Shallot could also work well instead.
– Upped salt from 1/2 tsp to 3/4 tsp, and still had to add a bit to finish.
– Also added at least 1/4 tsp of black pepper.
– Since I used breasts instead of thighs, I needed more olive oil.
The cashew was an awesome addition, loved the profile and creaminess it added in lieu of heavy cream. It would be great by itself or with potatoes/cauliflower, I chose linguine and that worked out pretty well this time.
So happy to hear that you enjoyed the recipe!
You’re amazing! Thank you so much for this recipe! I am a huge fan of cream based comfort foods, but my husband just learned he is lactose intolerant! It was a sad sad day for me, and I’ve tried to steer clear of these dishes for him, but I miss them so much! I’m so excited to have some new recipes to try that we can both eat!
Awww it makes me so happy to hear that you’ve found some recipes to make for your husband!