Peanut butter chicken. Super flavorful, slightly spicy and ready in about 30 minutes. Imagine juicy chicken fillets coated in a creamy coconut peanut butter sauce jazzed up with Thai red curry paste. It’s next level delicious, especially when topped with cilantro and toasted cashews. Serve with rice or warm flatbread and a crispy cucumber salad.

Why you’ll love this peanut butter chicken recipe
This recipe holds some of the best flavors: a rich peanut sauce, enlivened with scallions, ginger, lots of garlic, coconut milk and of course red curry paste. It’s creamy, a little spicy and very hearty and savory. You can dig into these flavors after about 30 minutes of cooking.
First we whisk the peanut sauce together and marinade the chicken in this flavor bomb before being cooked. Then we sauté the garlic with ginger, simmer the sauce and add the chicken to hang out in all those flavors and continue to cook for a couple minutes. The result is a deeply flavorful dish with super-juicy chicken breasts.
Let me guide you through the recipe with this step-by-step VIDEO.

Helpful recipe tips
You can mix the recipe up a little if you want to.
- For example, you can use chicken thighs instead of chicken breasts.
- Or chopped peanuts instead of cashews.
- Serve with a cucumber salad, roasted broccoli or green beans.
- Swap out the rice for flatbread.
- Whatever you do, just make sure to garnish with plenty of scallions, toasted nuts, cilantro and some extra chili flakes. Enjoy!
How to store leftover peanut butter chicken
- Fridge: Store the leftovers refrigerated in airtight containers for up to 3 days.
- Freezer: You can freeze peanut butter chicken. Transfer the leftovers to airtight containers and freeze for up to 3 months.

More easy chicken recipes:
Easy Peanut Butter Chicken
Ingredients
Peanut butter sauce and chicken
- 1 cup unsweetened coconut milk - full fat
- ⅓ cup natural peanut butter
- 2 tbsp low sodium soy sauce
- 1 tbsp fish sauce
- 2 tbsp Thai red curry paste
- ½ tsp turmeric
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
- 1 tsp honey
- juice from ½ lime
- 2 small chicken fillets
Additional
- 4 garlic cloves - minced
- 1 tbsp grated ginger
- 3 tbsp peanut oil - or vegetable oil
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- 1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
- ½ cup low sodium chicken broth
- toasted cashew nuts - or peanuts, for serving
- fresh cilantro - for serving
- chopped scallions - for serving
Instructions
- Make the peanut butter sauce. In a large bowl, combine coconut milk, peanut butter, soy sauce, fish sauce, red curry paste, turmeric, sesame oil, honey and lime juice.
Add chicken breasts to the mixture, coating both sides. Set aside. - In the meantime, mince the garlic and grate the ginger. Boil the rice, if making.
- Heat the oil in a skillet, remove chicken breasts from the peanut butter sauce and add to skillet. Cook the chicken over medium heat, about 4- 5 minutes per side or until fully cooked and browned on both sides. Remove from skillet and place on a clean plate. Cover with foil.
- Add garlic, ginger, cumin, chili flakes and coriander to the same skillet. Sauté over low heat, for 2 minutes or until soft. Add peanut sauce and bring to a simmer. Add chicken broth, simmer for 5 minutes or until slightly thickened. Add more chicken broth if the sauce is too thick.
- Place the chicken back into the skillet. Allow to simmer until the chicken is cooked through, about 5 minutes.
- Top with cashews, scallions, fresh cilantro and some extra crushed red pepper flakes. Serve with rice or naan. Enjoy!
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