Sweet & Sour Cashew and Chickpea Fried Rice – healthienut – Easy to follow plant-forward recipes (2024)

Savory, sweet and sour fried rice topped with glazed cashews and chickpeas. This recipe is so simple, easy, and will be ready in no time.

Sweet & Sour Cashew and Chickpea Fried Rice – healthienut – Easy to follow plant-forward recipes (1)

I used to consume countless amounts of fried rice as a kid…a little bit too much. It had tender vegetables, such as carrots and peas, scrambled eggs, a savory salty sauce, and perfectly crispy rice. You could say this is a carb lovers heaven.

I already have a fried rice recipe on my site, but I thought I would take another go at it because it has been a while since the release of that recipe.

This version is much better if I gotta say so myself. The sweet and sour sauce is more balanced and the addition of toasted cashews is absolutely delicious.

Sweet & Sour Cashew and Chickpea Fried Rice – healthienut – Easy to follow plant-forward recipes (2)

This recipe starts by cooking some short-grain brown rice. You could also use white rice!

Bake rinsed and drained chickpeas on a baking sheet for 25 minutes until crispy.

Meanwhile, prepare the sweet and sour sauce by combining lime juice, tamari, rice vinegar, sesame oil, maple syrup, garlic, sriracha, and a corn starch slurry in a small saucepan. Bring to a lower simmer and cook for a few minutes until thick and sticky. Set aside.

Saute vegetables in a large skillet. Add cooked rice and flatten in an even layer. This will allow the rice to crisp up. Cook for a few minutes until light golden brown on the bottom side. Add in additional seasonings and mix. Cook for a little while longer trying not to stir too much to allow rice to crisp up.

Sweet & Sour Cashew and Chickpea Fried Rice – healthienut – Easy to follow plant-forward recipes (3)

Toast cashews in a small skillet until golden brown. Add baked chickpeas and cashews to a bowl. Add sweet and sour sauce and stir to combine.

Serve fried rice topped with sweet & sour chickpeas and cashews and chopped green onion.

Bon appetit!

Sweet & Sour Cashew and Chickpea Fried Rice – healthienut – Easy to follow plant-forward recipes (4)

This recipe would also work great with baked tofu instead of chickpeas! Just rinse and drain your tofu, cut into cubes, and arrange on a baking sheet. Bake in a 425 degree oven for 30 minutes until crispy. Then add to a bowl with the cashews and toss in the sauce.

You can also sub in any vegetables of your choosing. In this case I opted for onion, garlic, red bell pepper, frozen peas and carrots. Other options could be: eggplant, broccoli or water chestnuts.