Easy Peanut Butter Chicken

Total Time: 30 minutes

4.75 from 31 votes

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. 

Spicy Peanut Butter Chicken

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.

Spicy Peanut Butter Chicken

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. 
Spicy Peanut Butter Chicken
easy peanut butter chicken
4.8 from 31 votes

Easy Peanut Butter Chicken

Super flavorful, slightly spicy and ready in 30 minutes. Chicken fillets coated in a creamy coconut peanut butter sauce jazzed up with Thai red curry, served with rice and a crispy cucumber salad. It’s next level delicious!

Prep 10 minutes
Cook 20 minutes
Total 30 minutes
Servings 2
Calories 502

Ingredients 
 

Peanut butter sauce and chicken

  • 1 cup unsweetened coconut milk - full fat
  • 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!

Video

Nutrition

Calories: 502kcalCarbohydrates: 20gProtein: 62gFat: 41gSaturated Fat: 8gPolyunsaturated Fat: 27gCholesterol: 4mgSodium: 468mgFiber: 4gSugar: 6g
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was below!


Comments

22 responses to “Easy Peanut Butter Chicken”

  1. Liana Woskie Avatar
    Liana Woskie

    5 stars
    Made this & loved it!! Allergic to peanuts, so used sunbutter and it actually worked great. Thank you!

    1. Love to hear that! Thank you Liana.

  2. Danielle P Avatar
    Danielle P

    5 stars
    This recipe was delicious! My whole family loved it and there were hardly any leftovers! Great, fresh, nutty flavor. Used chicken thighs instead of breast and worked great. Thank you for posting!

  3. Danielle P Avatar
    Danielle P

    Delicious recipe!! Such fresh, nutty, Thai infused flavor! Used chicken thighs instead of breast and it worked great. Thank you for the post!

    1. So happy to hear this Danielle! Thanks for giving the recipe a try!

  4. Amanda Yan Avatar
    Amanda Yan

    5 stars
    Made this and loved it – boyfriend said it’s in the top 5 things I’ve ever made! One question – could I freeze with the raw chicken in the marinade? Then defrost and cook later? Or best to cook then freeze? Thanks

    1. Thanks so much! I am so happy to hear this! Yes, you can easily freeze the chicken raw in the marinate. Happy cooking!

  5. why can i no longer see the method?

    1. Thanks for noticing! The recipe is fixed, hope you love it!

  6. Pooyeh Avatar
    Pooyeh

    5 stars
    It is a lovely recipe with ingredients which are easy to find. The food is very yummy, goes very well with red rice.

    1. Thank you! So glad you enjoyed!

  7. Carol A Avatar
    Carol A

    So you use the marinade for cooking after the raw chicken was marinated in it!? This that ok? I never reuse marinade that has raw chicken usually.

    1. yes, we’re turning the marinade into sauce here. We do this by bringing it to a boil. This is a complete, rolling boil to ensure that all of the bacteria is gone (you need to reach 165°F/75°C). So the most effective way to kill the germs and make the marinade safe to eat is to boil it. Happy cooking!

  8. Anonymous Avatar
    Anonymous

    5 stars
    👏👏

  9. Ali Hoffman Avatar
    Ali Hoffman

    5 stars
    I loved it! The sauce was to die for. Put it on everything! Ty!

    1. You’re welcome Ali!

  10. laura Avatar
    laura

    Does this make enough sauce for more than 2 servings (if I up the chicken to4) or do I need to double everything?

    1. Hi, I would recommend to add 1 cup chicken broth instead of 1/2 cup broth. Please let me know if you have any more questions. Enjoy the recipe!

  11. Darcy Avatar
    Darcy

    5 stars
    YUM! This is a lovely dish to make with pantry friendly ingredients. Quick and easy with an end result that is rich and full. Will make it again for the two of us and will be happy to make it for company. Thanks.

    1. You’re welcome Darcy! SO glad you enjoyed!

  12. Tiffany Avatar
    Tiffany

    5 stars
    I absolutely loved this. I reduced the ingredients for one person and it was perfect. Made coconut rice to go with it

    1. Coconut rice sounds delicious!! So glad you enjoyed Tiffany!

4.75 from 31 votes (23 ratings without comment)

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