Thai Peanut Chicken

I have never been to a Thai restaurant and until I tried a recipe for Thai peanut chicken, I really had no idea what Thai food would be like. Honestly though, when I read through the ingredients and saw peanut butter as one of them, my first thought was “Gross!”

Now I am a huge fan of peanut butter. I love peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, peanut butter cookies, peanut butter on toast for breakfast, of course peanut butter cups, and have even been guilty of smothering bananas and apples with peanut butter. Putting peanut butter in a sauce over chicken though, didn’t sound the least bit appealing.

So why would I try this? Peer pressure. Yep, for years I’ve watched as people ordered and enjoyed this very popular Asian dish at restaurants and take-out places and wondered what the draw was. Unfortunately, for all these years I’ve been too narrow-minded to veer very far from my normal sweet and sour or almond boneless chicken favorites. When I decided I needed another Asian-type meal for my recipe collection and this recipe just happened to be among a stack of ones I’d saved some time ago, I figured it was time to ignore my predisposed notion that the peanut butter would dominate the flavor and ruin the meal.

Thai Peanut Chicken

1 Cup Chicken Broth

6 Tbsp. Soy Sauce

4 Tbsp. Creamy Peanut Butter

4 tsp. White Wine Vinegar

1/4 tsp. Cayenne Pepper

3 Tbsp. Peanut or Olive Oil

3 Tbsp. Chopped Garlic

2 Tbsp. Chopped Fresh Ginger

8 Green Onions, chopped

8 – 10 Boneless, Skinless Chicken Thighs, cut into thin strips

2 Tbsp. Corn Starch mixed in 1/4 Cup Water

Rice Noodles

Stir together broth, soy sauce, peanut butter, vinegar, and pepper in a bowl until smooth.

Heat oil in wok over medium-high heat until hot. Stir-fry garlic, ginger and onions until fragrant, about 1 minute.

Add chicken and stir-fry until no longer pink, about 5 – 8 minutes.

Meanwhile prepare rice noodles according to package directions.

When chicken is no longer pink, stir in peanut butter mixture and heat through.

Add drained rice noodles and stir-fry until combined.

If the sauce is too thin and not sticking to the noodles you can now stir in the corn starch slurry and cook until thick and bubbly. Serve immediately.

Cooking Notes

I made this dish the same night I made my Oriental Veggie Stir Fry and served the vegetables with the Thai chicken. The combination of the two sauces was wonderful, as was the addition of vegetables to the chicken dish, but both dishes were equally as good on their own. I think next time I make the Thai chicken I will add some mushrooms and perhaps some broccoli. This would be done in the wok once the chicken is cooked through. Remove the chicken from the wok. Combine the sauce with the mushrooms and broccoli and stir-fry for 4 minutes. Add the chicken back in and continue as above.

Also, the original recipe called for actual peanuts to be added to the dish, but my family is not big on nuts so I omitted them. If you want to include, 1/3 cup unsalted, dry-roasted peanuts would be added at the same time as the sauce.

I can’t believe it, but this meal got eaten without any pictures being taken. I guess that just goes to show how much the family enjoyed it, and for this I am — Simply Grateful.