2013 is going to be GREAT, I can feel it!
This is the first recipe of the year and I already know that it’s going to go on next year’s “best of” list! It’s SO good and SO easy. Peanut and coconut combine to make an incredibly luxurious and creamy sauce for the chicken, which is then sassed up with just a little soy sauce, brown sugar, lime, and sriracha! If you don’t have sriracha, you can just add a pinch of red pepper flakes… or just leave it out for a mild version.
Of course this “luxurious” sauce is a little high on the fat content, so make sure to serve this up with a side of some yummy vegetables, like this Crunchy Asian Salad. And, if you can find it, serve it over brown jasmine rice for some added fiber.
Enjoy and HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Chicken in Peanut Sauce
Chicken in Peanut Sauce
Servings 4Ingredients
- 2 cloves garlic ($0.16)
- 2 inches fresh ginger ($0.14)
- 1 Tbsp vegetable oil ($0.08)
- 1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breast* ($1.99)
- 1 14oz. can coconut milk ($2.14)
- 1/2 cup natural peanut butter ($0.66)
- 1 Tbsp soy sauce ($0.10)
- 1 Tbsp brown sugar ($0.02)
- 1/2 tsp sriracha hot sauce, optional ($0.02)
- 1 lime ($0.50)
- 1/4 bunch cilantro, optional ($0.20)
- 4 cups cooked jasmine rice ($0.69)
Instructions
- If you don’t have cooked jasmine rice on hand, begin cooking your rice first so it will be ready by the time the chicken and sauce are complete. To begin the sauce, mince the garlic and then peel and grate the ginger into a large skillet or pot. Saute both in the vegetable oil over medium heat for about 2 minutes or until they are soft and fragrant.
- Cut the chicken into small pieces (about one inch across). Add them to your skillet or pot. Saute until lightly browned and cooked through (about 10 minutes).
- Turn the heat down to low and add the coconut milk and peanut butter. Stir gently to combine the two and dissolve any browned bits off of the bottom of the pan. Once the sauce is relatively smooth, add the soy sauce, brown sugar, sriracha, and juice from half of the lime. Stir to combine and heat through (about ten minutes).
- Pull the cilantro leaves from their stems and roughly chop. Scoop about one cup of jasmine rice into the bottom of each bowl and then top with the chicken and sauce (about 3/4 cup). Sprinkle the fresh cilantro over top and enjoy!
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Notes
Nutrition
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Step By Step Photos
Start by mincing the garlic and grating the ginger (peel the ginger with a vegetable peeler or scrape the skin off with the side of a spoon). Saute both in vegetable oil over medium heat for 1-2 minutes, or until soft and fragrant.
Cut the chicken into small pieces, about one inch across each.
Add the chicken to the pot/skillet and saute until cooked through (about 10 minutes). It’s okay if stuff sticks to the bottom of the pan because it will dissolve off into the sauce, just don’t let it go past “brown” to “burned.”
Next, add the coconut milk and peanut butter.
Turn the heat down to low. Gently stir (to minimize splashing) the two together until they are smooth and all of the browned bits on the bottom of the pan have also dissolved in.
Now it’s time to add a little pizazz! We’re touching all of the flavor bases here with the soy sauce, brown sugar, sriracha, and lime juice. You can start with juice from half of the lime and add more if you’d like. If you don’t have sriracha, add a pinch of red pepper flakes for a little heat.
Stir all of those flavor ingredients in and your sauce is finished! Allow the sauce to heat through and then serve. Just make sure to have the heat low enough so that the pot does NOT boil. If it reaches a boil, the coconut milk will separate.
Serve with cooked jasmine rice and a sprinkle of fresh, chopped cilantro. INCREDIBLE.
Nice recipe that was a hit. It seemed to be missing something in flavour. Solved it by frying half a medium white onion (diced small) with the garlic and ginger at the start. Overall, quick and easy to scale for family.
I normally love BB but wasn’t a fan of this. I think this could have been saved with some lime zest & lime in the actual sauce vs squeezed on top after. Way too much sauce to chicken ratio, and needed a lot of adjustments to make it edible. The other Thai peanut lime recipes on here are the bomb though. Maybe this one is due for a revamp?
I have made this several times over the years and it’s always a go to for me! This would be great with a side of broccoli.
This stuff is absolutely amazing! First time I made it, I served it with rice noodles which soaked up all the sauce, so I doubled the sauce ingredients for the second time. It’s got a great balance of flavours if you know how to treat the accoutrements. Definitely a recipe to use natural peanut butter in, since the other stuff would throw everything out of wack.
For heat I used a shredded jalapeno pepper — cheese shredder, big holes. The second time I made it I used half the peanut butter (I use Kroger Natural — no sugar and it’s under $2/jar). I also had diced red bell pepper on hand and a peeled onion (dice the onion and soften covered in the microwave 4-5 minutes). They added great texture and color. Looking forward to trying this with chicken leg quarters!
Can you just make a jar of this sauce and keep it in the fridge?? My boyfriend and I just want to put it on EVERYTHING but I don’t know how long it would keep.
You probably only want to keep it for about 5 days max. :)
You may want to experiment. Peanut butter can have a mind of its own, depending on the brand and how it’s processed. I made peanut butter frosting with regular sweetened peanut butter and it turned out great, but all the oil wept out when the cake was put into the refrigerator. Tried it again with natural peanut butter (no hydrogenated oils), and it held. Odd, considering the oil in natural peanut butter separates in the jar.
Just made it and it was great!
Easy and quick too.
I would like to know if this can be prepared & frozen fir future use?
I’m not sure how this one will hold up to freezing, unfortunately. I haven’t tried to freeze a sauce like that before so I’m not sure if it will separate.
Way too much peanut butter which overwhelmed the dish. And all the oil from the peanut butter made it oily.
Made this the other night and it didn’t turn out well since all I could taste was the peanut butter. I didn’t use natural peanut butter so perhaps that had something to do with it.
If I were to make this again I might increase the amount of supporting cast ingredients or reduce the amount of peanut butter. That or just try a different brand.
So easy and quick! Super tasty as well!
Love this.
Love! One of the best recipes online! I subbed honey in for sugar and used olive oil. What a delightful meal!
This was awesome! I used turkey instead of chicken and served it over roasted root veggies instead of rice. A-MAZ-ING!! Thanks so much for sharing.
I tried this recipe tonight, but unfortunately I didn’t see the part about using natural peanut butter until it was too late. I just used regular JIF pb, and tried to compensate for the extra sweetness by leaving out the brown sugar and adding extra lime juice and Sriracha. It still turned out pretty good.
(Although, still a tad sweet).
I’m excited to try this recipe again…correctly! I think it will be great with natural PB.
This dish is delicious, I have made it a few times over basmati rice love the heat of the sirracha
Thankyou for this recipe
So amazing. Such a simple, easy-to-follow recipe (just like all your recipes), and incredibly delicious. I am a sucker for a good satay and there’s nothing better than a homemade one, and this is just perfect. All the right flavours, perfectly balanced. The sauce to chicken ratio was also spot-on for me, there’s nothing better than a heap of extra sauce to soak into the rice you serve with. I will definitely be making this one again.
This looks FANTASTIC! I will make it tonight. I sincerely hope that using coconut oil instead of vegetable oil is okay. Seems like it would be.
Yes, that substitution would work well. :)
This turned out delcious. One of my favorites a great recipe. Thanks for sharing.
simon
I followed the recipe exactly, but I think this dish is awful. I am going to eat as much of it as I can..just so that I don’t waste all this money and work…but I I find this gross..
Love this recipe! I subbed the chicken breast for boneless skinless chicken thighs, reduced the peanut butter to 1/3 cup and also used light coconut milk. The sauce (probably as a result of my substitutions) turned out less thick than I’d hoped but the flavor was still really good. I also added some broccoli and sugar snap peas. Thank you for the delicious recipe, and next time I think I’ll go even bolder on the add ins – more spice, more lime, more soy sauce, etc.
Years later my family still cannot get enough of this. I always double the lime and sriracha, but otherwise this recipe is amazing!
I’ve made this twice now. It’s SO good and so easy. Tonight I sauteed some zucchini, yellow squash, and broccoli in towards the end of the chicken. Yum!
I just made this recipe tonight and it was fantastic! I subbed lite coconut milk for the regular. Still came out tasty. I also added a bag of California blend veggies. My super picky husband also loved this and asked me to remake it in the near future!
The best peanut chicken recipe! I subbed the coconut milk for regular and sauteed the chicken in coconut oil instead. Turned out lovely! I also added a bag of steamed broccoli to the sauce. What I really liked about this recipe was that the sauce didn’t get overly thick. So delicious!
Hi, what would you say a serving size would be, 1 cup? I want to add it into my fitness app.
By the way, I’ve made this many times and it never fails to please. Delish!!!
Yes, probably about one cup. :)
I tried this, followed the recipe to a T and found it came out pretty bland. It also really did not keep/reheat well the next day.
Thank you again Beth!
I made this and let me tell you it is delicious. I added some extra veggies. Carrots, red pepper and green onions. My husband and brother in law where WOWED. I so enjoy your website and believe me you have stepped up my game in the kitchen. Thank you so much for your straightforward and easy to follow instructions. I never dreamed I could attempt so many different types of delicious meals. THANK YOU!!!!
Really great flavor! I added carrots and water chestnuts for more crunch.
Great recipe! Love all the flavors. We make this one a lot and never get tired of it. Love to have leftovers from it, but sometimes there’s not any left. It’s that good.
What would be a good vegetable to serve with this dish? Thanks!
I like the Crunchy Asian Salad with this dish. It provides a great texture and color contrast to the peanut sauce.
Tried this recipe tonight and my husband and I loved it! It is so flavorful! We didn’t use the hot sauce since I’m a wimp with spicy food, but it was still delicious!
Looks delicious. Do you think you could use another oil besides vegetable?
Yep, you can use coconut, canola, olive, or any light neutral oil.
We cooked this last night and really liked it. The peanut flavor was just right, not too light, but not overwhelming and the hint of Sriracha and lime was perfect! Definitely a keeper.
My husband and I have been on a budget byte recipe marathon as of late. After over a year of having a food budget that had exploded into something north of scary and feeling more unhealthy than ever, we decided we needed to cut back and eat a little better. We’ve been cooking through your arsenal of recipes, along with others from other food blogs, to see what we want to add to our permanent rotation.
Thanks for spending the time to do this, and coming up with recipes that taste twice as expensive as they really are.
I have never commented on recipes before but I had to… this was amazing! I used left over cooked chicken, added a sad looking red pepper I had forgotten in the bottom drawer and voila’ I had dinner on the table in 10 minutes. I also used whipping cream instead of coconut because I had none and it still turned out amazing! Thank you for sharing, definitely a keeper:)
I finally made this tonight – with tofu, broccoli, and red peppers. Beth – you rule. The coconut milk and peanut butter where perfectly balanced. So much Thai flavor my husband asked if there was fish sauce in it. Then I realized our meal was happy-accident vegan. (Love that!)
Do you think this would work with almond butter? I don’t have an allergy or anything, I’m just simply not a peanut butter fan and I’m curious if different nut butters would work as plausible substitutes.
I don’t see why it wouldn’t work the same, although I can’t speak for the flavor. Not sure how it would taste. :)
This has become my husband’s new favorite recipe, and it took a couple tweaks, but this recipe really soars! We doubled the spice, doubled the lime, and… We added about a tablespoon of fish sauce!! That did it. Those adjustments gave this recipe the depth we were looking for. Had a great base, just needed a little boost.
I’ve tried this recipe out several times and love it! I was thinking about adding some curry powder, and was wondering if you had any thoughts on how much to add.
Start with 1/2 Tbsp, and add more if it’s too light. I usually add a lot of curry powder to things (1-2 Tbsp), but it’s definitely going to depend on the brand. They’re all so different!
Great recipe! I did a couple of minor things differently. I increased the sriracha because I like the heat in contrast with the peanut butter. Second, I waited to add the ginger and garlic to the pan. Garlic gets bitter when it is overcooked (and gets brown), so I NEVER add it at the start of a recipe. I add it at the end of cooking, and sauté it long enough that it becomes fragrant.
Made this last night and the family loved it! I took some advice from other reviewers and cut the p-butter to 1/3 cup and increased the siracha a bit but otherwise followed the recipe exactly. Yum! Thanks again – love your posts. :D
We’re a 2 person, 2 income family and we’re always looking for ways to cut costs so we can save more. This site is perfect for us!! My husband is a very picky eater, so I’m constantly looking for recipes that I can add to or remove things from and this is one that you can doctor until it’s just right for you. We both love this recipe (as well as many others on this site). I usually add stir fry veggies to spread the recipe out for lunches the next day. Also, we’re a Frank’s red hot house, but that works just as well as the sriracha. Please keep adding new recipes!!!
I’ve been looking for a peanut butter chicken/noodle recipe. I had a peanut sauce chicken dish at cheese cake factory that was noodles, chicken, veggies, crushed peanuts and it tasted like warm sweet peanut butter with a kick! They have discontinued that dish and it was my favorite thing to eat. I’ve been told to try Thai peanut sauces and Ive tried many many dishes and pre packaged sauces and a bunch of recipes and I CAN NOT GET CLOSE to the peanut buttery sweet taste that I want with a hint of spice. Is this sauce sweet and peanut buttery? If so please let me know
It’s not too sweet, although you could always add a little brown sugar or honey to make it sweet to your liking. But yes, it’s very peanut buttery :)
Do you think this recipe would work in a slow cooker? I’m hesitant to try it, worried about the peanut butter maybe burning. But it seems like slow cooking would really help the flavors blend.
Hmm, I’m not sure it would work because when coconut milk gets over cooked it curdles, so a slow cooker might be dangerous in that regard.
I didn’t have any sriracha, so I put 1/2 tsp red thai curry paste in the pan with the garlic and ginger and it came out wonderfully.
Everyone that tried this when I made it raved and loved it. Even my boyfriend…a non Chinese lover..LOVED it. Totally 100% will make again.
You have managed to achieve the trifecta of cooking: affordable, delicious, and healthy meals! May God bless you.
This was my first miss. I made this according to directions but it was bland and too peanut buttery. I added extra sriracha and extra lime to balance it and it was an improvement but still not good. My husband only got down one bit and wouldn’t eat more. We have eclectic tastes but it just wasn’t for us. After three glowing successes in a row, maybe my expectations were just too high.
Too good!
Absolutely delicious! I did about an extra half tbs of soy sauce and some extra lime. I also added a little extra Sriracha because we like the spice. This is amazing! Totally would do it again, hubby requested that it be added to our list of things we really like and do a lot.
This recipe is suppppeeeerrrr DELICIOUS . I made it and came just perfect , my boyfriend is a chef and I impressed him ;). Thanks
So simple yet so delicious! This recipe is so easy. You can add veggies or tofu. With the sauce you can also add on to pastas such as the zero calorie pasta or fetuccini for instant pad thai. Yummy!
Another hit! Seems like I could have used more chicken since there was a lot of sauce. Hubby went back for seconds. This will be a fun recipe to play around with.
I made this tonight and it was AMAZING!!! I didn’t use the hot sauce (I’m a wimp, lol) or cilantro (didn’t have any). I had to use ground ginger and lime juice, instead because they were all I had. This tasted just like our local Thai restaurants peanut chicken dish!!!! Thank you for sharing this awesome recipe!! I told my neighbor about it and printed a copy out for her tonight as well, as she tried a sample and loved it too! My toddler and husband agreed it was yummy!!
Just cooked this recipe with a little alteration as i wanted a thicker sauce. The sauce on the pics seemed to be a little runny. I added some crushed pepper to add abit of oomph. But overall, good recipe. Thanks
I was wondering how this freezes? I was thinking of making it all up, putting it on a bed of rice and freezing it in individual portions for my husband to take to work for lunch. Thanks for any thoughts!
If I remember correctly, I froze some portions of mine and they reheated well.
Thanks! I’m going for it. : )
This was awesome. Just made it and eating it as I type! I added onions and spices to the chicken pre-sauce. Thanks so much. Will be checking out your blog more often.
tastes like warm peanut butter and nothing else. my husband and daughter wouldn’t eat it. I tripled the soy sauce and it still didn’t help. way, way, way too much peanut butter. i’d say get that down to 1/8 of a cup. won’t be making this again
I could swim in the peanut sauce. It’s sooo good! This is probably one of my most favorite quick meals. The only change I make is I sautee onions and peppers to add in with the chicken.
Made this last night with stir fry vegetables added in, and it was amazing! We added the sriracha to taste at the table because my 16 month old son was eating it too, and we all loved it! thanks!
Just did this with extra firm tofu and half almond and half peanut butter, added some onion and a green pepper, two more tablespoons of sriracha sauce and it was OUT OF THIS WORLD. Thank you!
I made this tonight and added in some onion and spinach to try to get a bit more veggies with my dinner. This is amazing and tastes like it took a lot more work than it did!
My kids LOVED it…..I’ve made it about 5 more times. It’s become a staple. And its a cinch to make! I love it myself! I did add some Thai fish sauce to it….it takes care of my Thai fix!
Very Good. My hubby went back for 3rds and my kids had seconds before declaring it was very filling.
I made this with mock duck instead of chicken. So good! I will add some veggies next time.
Just wanted to let you know that this was fantastic and my whole family appreciated it’s deliciousness. It was great with steamed broccoli! Thanks for this great recipe! :)
Hey Beth! This recipe sounds fabulous and I can’t wait to try it.
Just a thought for some of the folks who found the peanut butter overwhelming or oily – check out PB2 from Bell Plantation (usually sold in health food stores). It’s a powdered peanut butter that has had 85% of the fat removed as they have essentially pressed out the oil. So you get alllll the peanutty tasted but with less fat and less oily texture.
I love using it in cookingc baking and in smoothies.
That is funny, was at the store today getting the ingredients for this recipe and saw that PB2 stuff and bought it. This was my peanut butter base for the sauce. It worked really well.
My boyfriend and I made this recipe a few weeks ago. It was so delicious! I have to admit, I probably would have found the peanut butter overwhelming had we not doctored the recipe a bit…we love spicy, so we added a ton of sriracha! We actually added some broccoli to it to balance it a bit, as it is a very heavy dish, and it was just spectacular. Will make it again! Thanks Beth!
Hi. I normally * love* all of your recipes, but I did not like this one at all, unfortunately. It was just way too “Americanized” for me with the peanut butter. It was so heavy and thick and not as flavorful as I would have liked. However, my two year old loved the “pee nee buttah chicka” and just licked the sauce off without eating the chicken!
I loved this and my husband did too. My only complaint would be the taste of the peanut butter. Kind of overwhelming, but I did cheat and used regular peanut butter since I didn’t have any natural peanut butter in my pantry… Next time I’ll try with natural!!
Jithu – Oh no! I can’t think of what may have made that happen… I’ll keep researching it and let you know if I find anything :(
The peanut butter separated into a layer of oil that would not mix back into the rest of the sauce… Any tips on how to mix it back together or prevent this from happening?
Yummy and easy recipe! Thank you so much for posting all your awesome recipes! =)
I recently made this recipe. It was delicious! I loved the sauce. I could just drink it Ha! I added veggies to mine, red pepper, onion and green beans. I also used brown rice although I have to admit I prefer the white Jasmine. But with a little one I try to be as “healthy” as possible :)
This was so yummy! I think next time I make it I’ll try it with less peanut butter and maybe some panang curry paste. I always have to tweak things the second time I make them.
Very good! It made me 4 work lunches :) It made so much sauce, though, that in the future I would plan ahead to add maybe a bell pepper and some broccoli. I also had to add some salt – I know that “season to taste” goes without saying for real cooks…but I often forget and wonder why my food is bland!
You know what might be great with this? Some chopped kale in the sauce… especially if you decide to use brown rice. Yum.
Tyler – That’s one cup of cooked rice per person, not uncooked :) I think 1/3 cup uncooked would be roughly one cup once cooked. I don’t think I’d pair this with the yellow rice because it would be too many flavors competing. I liked the subtlety of the plain jasmine rice against the peanut sauce, but who knows, you might like it!
This looks awesome! But one cup of rice per person is an enormous amount. From my understanding, 1/3 cup of uncooked is a serving.
How woul this be with your yellow rice? Weird combo of flavors?
Anon – Honestly it’s hard for me to imagine if lemon would be good or bad in this. The lime has a very distinct flavor that goes well with the coconut, so I’m not sure how lemon would change the flavor. If you decide to try it out, please let us know how it is!
I don’t have lime, but i do have lemons. Would this be an okay substitute?
Just made this for dinner and this recipe ROCKS! Keep inspiring and proving that you can even eat like a king on a dime :)
Another yummy looking recipe. Pinned this one too. Thanks!
This Recipe Rocks, thanks for sharing.
It made a ton of extra sauce so I put the extra in tiny plastic cups and then in the freezer. I’ll just cook some chicken and add the sauce.
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I was wondering about what 2 inches would amount to because I use store bought pureed ginger in your teriyaki meatballs and use 2 tbsp for 2 inches and it tastes perfect. I tried it with this but because the PB is so overpowering I think I need to add more next time.
This was really good. My 3 year old devoured it, my 14 year olds opinion I will not repeat. lol I threw in brocolli and I think because there is so much sauce, next time I will add other veggies as well.
I made this with almond butter, as I had it leftover from something else, and it was amazing. I was licking my spoon after storing the leftovers.
loved it, beth! so very good!
Easy and delicious. I used my own homemade seitan in place of the chicken and yours looked nice and saucy so I tossed in steamed broccoli and red bell pepper, too (and used light coconut milk). Fast. Tasty. Thanks, Beth!
Anonymous- I take that back… I just grated some ginger while making another recipe and one inch is definitely more along the lines of one *teaspoon*. It’s hard to estimate :)
Anonymous – I think two inches would be about two tablespoons, but it’s okay if you have a little more or a little less because of the girth of your ginger. It’s a very forgiving ingredient :)
Teresa – Because powdered ginger is a little more concentrated, I’d start with a teaspoon and adjust according to your tastes from there.
Do you know how much powdered ginger I would use for this recipe if I do not have fresh ginger? Thanks!
Tanks for the great dish! One question, though. Do you have a rough idea how much ginger your two inches yields? My yield is all over the place depending how big the ginger my store has. It would be helpful to know roughly how much I should have. Thanks!
Recently found your blog and am loving it! This dish was also excellent. With the leftovers, I threw in some fresh spinach I had lying around and it softened in the warm peanut deliciousness, adding a little green.
I’m so excited to try this out – I’ve been using store-bought Thai peanut sauce to cook my chicken in, and now I can make my own! I usually sautee some green beans in there as well for my veggie fix.
Ok, I just made this for dinner for me & my husband and we’re scraping the bottom of the pan! Thanks for the recipe!
Anonymous – Unfortunately the coconut milk is the main ingredient in the sauce and there’s just nothing suitable to replace it with. Even though it’s called “peanut sauce” the coconut is every bit as important to the texture and flavor.
Is there anything to substitute the coconut milk with?
Also Beth, you should definitely try this peanut sauce recipe – it’s from a local restaurant here in Victoria, B.C. where I live and it is honestly the best peanut sauce I’ve ever had. :)
http://gourmeh.wordpress.com/2012/02/26/peanut-sauce-with-ginger-lime-and-cilantro/
I have to agree with Nick about the peanut butter being overpowering. Also, the oil separated while everything was simmering together which looked very unappetizing. This is the first time I’ve had anything but a rave review for one of your recipes though! :)
This sounds amazing and right up my alley with tastes I love! I plan to try this very soon and add bellpepper, cauliflower, and sweet potatoes. I also plan to use tofu instead of chicken. We’re a big fan of curry like dishes in my household and love them veggie heavy.
I did learn something with the whole natural peanut butter discussion everyone has going on here. I didn’t know!
Although I buy my almond butter at Winco here where I live and they have a machine where you just grind it yourself and purchase by the ounce. It’s amazing :) I’ll certainly have to give my dishes a try with natural peanut butter from now on.
2 inches of ginger was a buck! Other than that the prices were right on! I did just look at my PB jar and see they have added sugar, so not one hundred percent right, but overall it was a good, tasty dish! We also used a lot more sriracha because it’s delicious!
Made this tonight. Wonderful! Used light coconut milk and added carrot in match-stick pieces. A definite winner. Will make again and again. Love your blog and recipes.
Another Fantastic Recipe!!! My husband and son made this tonight and WOW, we loved it. Thank you.
This one and your siracha hummus our my absolute favorites. Love your blog!
Happy 2013! If this is just the start of great recipes this year, I can’t wait to see what else you have in store for us. :D Simple, affordable, yet delicious and inspired. A college cook’s dream come true. YUM.
I made this for dinner last night, and my wife raved about it. I’m eating leftovers for breakfast as I type, if that says anything. I added some stir-fried vegetables then served it on a bed of green cabbage and rice noodles as rama.
I just made this for dinner and my husband loved it. I’m not a big fan of Thai food, but I am trying to expand my food horizons. Instead of the sriracha, I used some finely diced red bell pepper and I also used light coconut milk to cut down on the fat and make it more Weight Watcher friendly.
Zackzor – are you asking why the brown bits are difficult to get off of the bottom of the pan before adding the liquid? If so, it’s just because they are sticky and when you add the liquid, it helps them dissolve off. It’s kind of like when you add hot water to scrub a pan. It’s just a lot easier with moisture :)
My wife and I really enjoyed making this recipe; it was fun and I learned a few things. I am curious as to why the brown chicken bits were difficult to get the pan before adding the coconut/peanut sauce. Why is that? Thanks for the great recipe.
Found my dinner for tonight! Thanks so much for sharing. :)
This recipe is so delicious! I made it VEGAN by substituting “chicken” seitan instead of chicken meat and LOW-CARB by stir-frying assorted veggies (green onions, eggplant, carrot & red pepper) instead of rice. I also used less coconut milk to make the sauce thicker for the veggies. Definitely one I will be making again and again – THANKS :)
I want to know where the person who says they cant get chicken for less than 6.99 a pound lives…so that I never move there on accident.
My husband just made this for dinner tonight and it’s an awesome recipe. We make a lot of thai & thai-inspired dishes and this is one of my new favorites! Thank you!
My family makes a recipe very similar to this but with a heaping spoonful of curry paste for the spicy and added bell peppers and green beans. I also know for a fact that chunky peanut butter can be substituted for creamy. We love this recipe.
This sounds so good, and super easy besides! I also may try it with tofu, as we’re a half vegetarian household. But chicken is also delicious, so maybe I will just have an entire batch to myself… :)
Rie – I think you definitely could use tofu in place of the chicken :)
Dixya – I think lite coconut milk would probably still be good, although I’ve never worked with low fat peanut butters, so I don’t know about that.
what a great way you start off the new year. I love anything peanut and sriracha and coconut milk. The sauce looks pretty rich and do you think I could skinnyfy it little bit with low fat peanut butter and light coconut milk?
This looks great! Can this be done with extra firm tofu instead of chicken?
Ah, yes. You definitely want to use natural peanut butter. I forgot to specify that in the ingredients! I’ll fix it now :) I use Smucker’s brand because that’s what they have at my local grocery. Even on peanut butter that is labeled “natural” you do want to check the ingredients list. I had bought one once (I think it was Great Value brand) that was labeled natural but still contained brown sugar, which changes the flavor quite a bit.
Yep, you really have to read the ingredients on the peanut butter. Should just say “Peanuts” and maybe salt. All of Trader Joe’s peanut butter is natural, and pretty affordable. Mmm, I love this kind of stuff! But veggies and “Chickenless” strips for me (vegetarian).
Happy New Year, Beth! :)
i’m glad this was the first recipe i saw on this blog, because i make a similar recipe all the time and knew the rest of it should be good. :) instead of sriracha, i like to use a bit of red curry paste, and i’ll usually sub white or apple cider vinegar for the lime juice. i also tend to marinate the chicken beforehand with turmeric, garlic, pepper, sugar, coriander, and some coconut cream i reserve from the can for the sauce. (my poor thai grandmother, bless her, would come after me if she knew i only rarely grilled the chicken. it’s just so much easier on the stovetop or under the broiler.) the listed recipe is delicious as is, though!
i can field a couple questions about the peanut butter too: you’ll want to find a natural peanut butter that has no sugar added. you’re in the right direction if you open up the jar and there’s a nice, thick layer of oil on the top. the closer you can get to “nothing but peanuts finely ground in their own oil”, the more thai your sauce will taste. if you have peanuts and a food processor, you’re already good to go.
thanks for a recipe, and have a great new year. :)
Hey Beth. This looks like it would be a good crock pot recipe. Maybe adding some veggies in the last hour of cooking… What do you Think? I’m also thinking of trying your Greek chicken stew in the crock pot as well. I love all your recipes (if I could afford the ink and paper I would print and bind them all) and I am trying to make as many of them as I can work in the crock pot since I work til 7 each night and prefer to eat rather than start cooking at that time. :)
This looks super delicious!
This sounds great! Along the lines of Nick’s comment – whenever I’ve tried dishes that use peanut butter, they’ve ended up sickly sweet and overpowering. Is there a specific kind of peanut butter you recommend? I admit i’ve just used regular peanut butter before, not natural, so I’ll have to look for that. Thanks!
I just made this for dinner after you posted it :) It was definitely tasty!
My one criticism though, is that I actually found the peanut butter to be a little bit overpowering. Thai peanut sauce that I have had at restaurants seems to be a little more discreet and flavorful, and I feel like the coconut milk didn’t really shine through in the recipe as much as it could have.
All in all, though, I would make it again! Thanks Beth and happy 2013!
This was delicious and quick. I substituted lemon and rice noodles in place of lime and rice. Next time I will saute a red pepper and add some green onions to dress it up. Thank you!
This is like an easy version of the Thai dish Swimming Rama, which is traditionally served over a bed of fresh spinach – it is SO GOOD.
Mmmm, peanut butter…
yum! i am absolutely making this! sounds and looks so good. :)
This looks so yummy!
Anon – Now that I think about it, this sauce would be AWESOME over some stir fry vegetables, too! Then just spoon the whole lot over the jasmine rice :)
The recipe sounds delicious, but we are lucky if we can find chicken breast for less than $6.99/lb… and that is on sale!!!
Basic or best yet always 1.98\lb.