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.
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