This peanut butter chicken with juicy tender chicken thighs and crunchy vegetables cooked with a homemade peanut butter sauce is a dish the whole family will love. It is basically an amped up stir fry that is perfect for weeknight dinners.
Recipe Price: $7.85 | Per Serving: $1.96 | Makes: 4 servings
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What is Easy Peanut Butter Chicken?
This chicken dish is a simple stir fry of chicken and vegetables with a homemade peanut butter sauce with Asian-inspired flavors. Peanuts have been used in traditional cuisines around the world, and peanut sauce is most often associated with Asian cuisines, including Indonesian, Thai, and Chinese dishes.
This version of the recipe uses Asian-ish flavors (which is sort of a white/European way of saying "soy sauce"), but I would not consider it to be traditional in any sense.
If you're looking for more Asian-inspired chicken recipes you might enjoy this Chicken Satay (so so good!) or my twist on Healthy Butter Chicken!
Why You Will Love This Peanut Butter Chicken Recipe
- Full of Flavor. The creamy peanut butter sauce makes the simple combination of chicken thighs and vegetables truly special! We're only using a little peanut butter here so as not to overwhelm the palate - it's just right!
- Easy to Make. It requires a bit of simple chopping, as any good stir fry does, but is very simple!
- Family-Friendly. This dish will be one the whole family will love including kids and adults.
Ingredients
We're using a bunch of fresh vegetables, chicken for protein, brown rice for a starchy component, and a handful of pantry items to make a flavor-packed sauce! Be sure to check out the recipe card for the full list of ingredients & amounts.
- Brown rice: For serving! You can swap it with your favorite rice recipe like this cilantro lime rice, or feel free to serve it with rice noodles!
- Veggies: Red onion, red bell pepper, fresh green beans, and shredded carrots add color and nutrition to this recipe for peanut butter chicken.
- Chicken: Use boneless skinless chicken thighs for a chicken that stays deliciously juicy when cooked. You can also use chicken breasts, but you may have to adjust the cooking time since breasts cook more quickly.
- Rice vinegar: This is a mild vinegar that flavors the shredded carrots and the peanut chicken sauce without being overly acidic.
- Seasoning for the Chicken: A simple blend of onion powder, garlic powder, and red pepper flakes gives the chicken an extra layer of flavor.
- Peanut butter: Use a creamy, unsalted, and unsweetened peanut. Using all-natural peanut butter adds only peanut butter flavor without altering the flavor of the sauce with salt or sweetness. If you are using salted peanut butter be sure to reduce the salt elsewhere in the recipe (such as when cooking the chicken and vegetables).
- Savory flavors: A combination of tamari or soy sauce along with tomato paste enhances the savoriness of the peanut butter chicken sauce. Remember to look for a gluten-free variety if you need your peanut butter chicken gluten-free.
- Fresh ginger: Adds a punch of flavor to the peanut butter sauce. It's essential to use fresh ginger as you won't get the same flavors with ginger powder.
- Honey: For sweetening the peanut butter sauce for chicken that also thickens it a bit.
- Garnish: You can use any combination of black sesame seeds, fresh cilantro, and chopped peanuts on top of your chicken and peanut butter recipe.
Dietary Modifications and Variations
- Paleo: No, peanuts are considered a legume so this recipe isn't paleo!
- Vegetarian: No, but you can easily swap the chicken for tofu or tempeh instead and add more vegetables.
- Vegetables: You can easily mix and match veggies in this dish to use up ingredients you may already have on hand or those veggies you enjoy. Depending on those you use you may need to adjust the cooking time slightly.
- Frozen Vegetables: If you're in a hurry, frozen veggies can be a lifesaver. You can use a stir-fry mix instead. I do find frozen veggies aren't quite as crisp as fresh.
- Spicy: If you want it a bit spicier you can add red pepper flakes or a bit of Sriracha to the peanut butter sauce.
How to Make Peanut Butter Chicken
Here's a look at the main steps involved in making this chicken in peanut sauce. You will find all the details in the recipe card so be sure to review it when you're ready to start cooking.
- Prepare the vegetables. Cut the red onion into wedges, the bell pepper into strips, and slice the green beans into 2-inch pieces. Mince the garlic and set aside.
- Shred the carrot. Add a teaspoon of the rice vinegar to the carrots and toss them together.
- Make the sauce. Combine all the sauce ingredients in a bowl except the water. Stir it until the mixture is smooth, adding a bit of water to make it smooth.
- Chop the chicken thighs into bite-sized chunks.
- Heat a large skillet and cook the red onion in the cooking oil with a pinch of salt. Add the chopped chicken with another pinch of salt to the skillet and stir fry until the chicken is fully cooked. Add the red pepper flakes and the minced garlic to the skillet. Last, add the tablespoon of apple cider vinegar and use your utensil to scrape up any stuck bits from the bottom of the pan. Set the chicken and onions aside.
- Add another teaspoon or so of oil to the hot skillet. Add the chopped green beans and sliced bell pepper to the skillet with a pinch of salt, onion powder, and garlic powder. Sauté for about 5 minutes to cook the vegetables al dente but keep them bright in color.
- Add the chicken back to the skillet and pour in the sauce. Cook to infuse the vegetables and chicken with the sauce.
- Serve your chicken with peanut butter sauce with cooked brown rice, and garnish with black sesame seeds, peanuts, and cilantro.
How to Store
- Leftovers: Store them in an airtight container for up to 2-3 days.
- Freezing: For best results, I don't recommend freezing this dish after cooking. The vegetables will not hold up well and the texture of the sauce may change slightly upon thawing. I did freeze this and it was still tasty, but the textures were inferior.
- Make Ahead: If you're making this recipe a few days ahead, you can make it all the way through. If you want to bulk cook, freeze the chicken and sauce separately, and cook the vegetables fresh the week you want to consume this meal. When you're ready to store heat up the chicken and vegetables in a skillet and add the sauce to finish the dish.
- Reheat: This heats best in a pot on the stove or in the microwave in short intervals, stirring every 30-40 seconds.
Serving Suggestions
- Garnish: Chopped peanuts add a nice crunchy texture along with more peanut flavor. I also really like using black sesame seeds for some contrasting color along with some chopped cilantro. You can easily swap the cilantro for green onion instead.
- Noodles: Swap the brown rice for your favorite noodle dish. You might try these spicy peanut noodles or my Japanese yakisoba.
- Side Dishes: This cabbage crunch salad or sesame cucumber salad makes a simple side for this easy chicken recipe.
Expert Tips and Recipe FAQs
- Choose a "natural" peanut butter. This recipe was tested with single-ingredient peanut butter (with oil on top). Other types of processed and sweetened peanut butters may not work the same in this recipe.
- Use fresh ginger to add depth of flavor to the peanut sauce.
- Use broth or coconut milk instead of plain water for flavor in your sauce. The coconut milk makes it creamier and slightly sweeter.
- Cut the vegetables and chicken into similar-sized pieces so they cook evenly and are all done at the same time.
Yes, technically you can but it will significantly change the flavor of this dish. Other nut butters such as almonds and cashews have a much milder flavor than peanuts, while sunflower seed butter has a more similar flavor. I haven't tested it but if you try it, I'd love to know how it turns out.
More Asian-Inspired Chicken Recipes
Peanut Butter Chicken
Ingredients
Chicken and Vegetables
- 1 cup brown rice
- 2 ½ -3 cups water
- 1 red onion
- 1 large red bell pepper
- ½ pound fresh green beans
- 1 medium carrot shredded (or ½ cup shredded carrots)
- 1 Tablespoon cooking oil of choice olive oil, etc.
- 1 pound boneless skinless chicken thighs
- ½ teaspoon fine salt divided, more to taste
- 1 Tablespoon rice vinegar divided
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
For the Peanut Butter Sauce:
- ⅓ cup unsalted creamy peanut butter 1 ingredient, all natural*
- 3 Tablespoons tamari / soy sauce
- 1 Tablespoon rice vinegar
- 1 Tablespoon tomato paste
- 1 Tablespoon grated ginger
- 2 teaspoons honey
- 3 Tablespoons of water more or less to preference
Garnish
- black sesame seeds fresh cilantro, a few Tablespoons of peanuts
Instructions
- Cook the rice in a rice cooker or according to package directions.
- Prepare the vegetables: wash all vegetables first! Peel and slice the red onion into wedges. Remove the stem and seeds and slice the bell pepper into strips. Remove the stem ends of the green beans and slice into 2-inch pieces. You can also measure out the onion powder and garlic powder, which we will use to season the vegetables.
- Shred the carrot on a box grater. Sprinkle with just a teaspoon of the rice vinegar and toss to combine.
- Make the sauce: add all sauce ingredients, except the water, to a large bowl. Stir until smooth, then stir in the water to create a slightly thinner consistency.
- Chop the chicken thighs into bite sized chunks. Mince the garlic and measure out the red pepper flakes.
- Bring a large skillet to medium-high heat. Once hot, drizzle in some cooking oil and add the sliced red onion along with a small pinch of salt. Stir fry the onions until frizzled. Then add the chopped chicken thighs with another pinch of salt. Stir fry chicken until fully cooked, then add the red pepper flakes and the minced garlic. Stir and cook for 1 more minute, then deglaze the pan with 1 Tablespoon of apple cider vinegar to remove any stuck bits from the bottom of the pan. Remove the chicken and onions to a bowl and set aside.
- Add another teaspoon or so of oil to the hot skillet and then add the chopped green beans and sliced bell pepper. Add a pinch of salt, along with the onion powder and garlic powder and stir. Sauté for about 5 minutes. You want the vegetables to be bright in color but still have a nice al dente texture.
- Once the vegetables are ready, add the chicken back to the skillet, and pour in the sauce. Stir to combine.
- Cook for another 60 seconds or so to infuse the vegetables and chicken with the sauce, then remove from the heat.
- Serve with cooked brown rice, and garnish with black sesame seeds, peanuts, and cilantro. Top with your punchy carrots and enjoy!
Jessica
Love this recipe! The sauce is perfect and does not overwhelm the flavors of the veggies. I kind of missed where to mix in the carrots so we added them as a garnish with cilantro. So good. Thank you Caitlin!
Caitlin Self, MS, CNS, LDN
Ooo you are correct! They are meant to be a garnish -- I just added it to the recipe card. Thank you for catching that. :)