Peanut chicken
- Preparation 40 min
- Cooking 20 min
- Servings 4
- Freezing Absolutely
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🥜 A weeknight dinner with a crazy-good sauce
This peanut chicken is my weeknight dinner when I want something creamy and comforting. Chicken marinated in hoisin and lime simmers in coconut milk with red peppers and snow peas, and it all goes over rice.
The peanut sauce? It’s so good I lose my mind. It’s written right into the recipe, ingredients and steps, so everything is in one place. You can also find it on its own page.
🍗 Breasts, thighs, whatever you have
Both work. So does coconut milk, light or regular. What ruins a dinner like this is overcooked chicken or a sauce that’s reduced too far, and both are easy to fix. I explain how in the tips below.
🍱 It freezes, and it makes a great meal prep
One dish for the rice, the chicken and the vegetables, straight to the freezer, and you reheat when the week gets crazy. The setup is in the tips.
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🥜 The sauce makes the dish
It gives the chicken its character. Blend it without turning it into a full puree, you want a little texture. You need one cup (250 ml) here, and the rest keeps in the fridge for 3 to 5 days, for another dinner. It has its own page too: my Asian peanut sauce.
🍗 Breasts or thighs, and the overcooked chicken trap
Both work, so use what you have. Either way, what goes wrong is overcooked chicken. It cooks fast in the sauce, so keep an eye on it.
🥣 Sauce too thick? Add broth
The other thing that can go wrong is a sauce that’s reduced too far. If it’s too thick, thin it with a little chicken broth and stir. That’s it.
🥄 The little extras
There’s already peanut sauce in there, but the spoonful of peanut butter on top of it adds even more flavor. I keep it.
The sriracha depends on who’s at the table. No kids? Add it. Otherwise, keep it for your own plate.
🥥 Light or regular coconut milk, parsley or cilantro
Both coconut milks work. And cilantro in place of the parsley works too.
🍱 Meal prep: the setup that freezes
In one dish, put rice on the left, the peanut chicken in the middle and blanched green beans, still nice and crisp, on the right. Freeze it. To reheat, bake it in an aluminum tray at 350°F (175°C) for 20 to 25 minutes, and you’re done.
✅ What to serve with peanut chicken
Rice, like in the recipe. If you love the sauce as much as I do, my chicken satay with Asian peanut sauce, my spring rolls with peanut sauce and my Asian soba noodle salad go in the same direction.
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Peanut sauce
- 3 tablespoons (45 ml) tamari soy sauce
- 3 tablespoons (45 ml) rice vinegar
- 2 tablespoons (30 ml) sugar
- 2 tablespoons (30 ml) peanut oil
- 1 tablespoon (15 ml) toasted sesame oil
- 2 teaspoons (10 ml) grated ginger
- 2 teaspoons (10 ml) chopped garlic
- ½ teaspoon (2.5 ml) salt
- 1 teaspoon (5 ml) sriracha
- ¼ cup (60 ml) cold water
- 1 cup (250 ml) unsalted, skinless roasted peanuts
Chicken and vegetables
- 750 g (1⅔ lb) boneless, skinless chicken breasts or thighs, cut in medium cubes
- 3 tablespoons (45 ml) hoisin sauce
- 1 teaspoon (5 ml) grated lime zest
- 4 drops toasted sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon (15 ml) fish sauce
- 1 tablespoon (15 ml) brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon (15 ml) rice vinegar
- 1 tablespoon (15 ml) white wine
- 1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped
- ½ cup (125 ml) coconut milk, light or regular
- 1 cup (250 ml) chicken broth
- 1 cup (250 ml) peanut sauce (made above)
- 1 tablespoon (15 ml) peanut butter
- ½ teaspoon (2.5 ml) sriracha
- 2 red peppers, sliced
- 200 g (7 oz) snow peas, trimmed
- A handful of fresh parsley or cilantro, chopped
- A handful of unsalted, skinless peanuts, coarsely chopped
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Preparation
- Peanut sauce: put all the sauce ingredients in a food processor and blend for about 10 seconds. Don’t over-blend, you want to keep some texture! Set 1 cup (250 ml) of sauce aside for the recipe and put the rest in the fridge. (This is my Asian peanut sauce, which also has its own page.)
- Chicken: place the chicken in a big bowl and add the hoisin sauce, lime zest, sesame oil, fish sauce, brown sugar, rice vinegar and white wine. Stir well and let marinate on the counter for 20-25 minutes.
- In a big wok or pot, add the onion, coconut milk and chicken broth and bring to a boil. Lower the heat slightly, then add the cup of peanut sauce, the peanut butter and the sriracha. Season with salt and pepper and stir until smooth.
- Add the chicken and cook, stirring often, for about 5-6 minutes.
- Add the vegetables and cook for another 8-10 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through! Serve over your favorite rice and garnish with parsley or cilantro and peanuts!
Yes. Boneless breasts or thighs both work in this recipe. Cut them in medium cubes, let them marinate on the counter and watch the cooking: overcooked chicken is what ruins the dish.
It cooks fast in the sauce. Stir it often for the first few minutes, add the vegetables, then take the pot off the heat as soon as the chicken is cooked, not ten minutes later.
Thin it with a little chicken broth, stirring as you go. A sauce that’s reduced too far is the trap in this dish, and the broth brings it right back.
The heat comes from the sriracha. If kids are eating, leave it out of the pot and keep it for your own plate.
Yes, it freezes well. In the fridge it keeps for 3 to 5 days. For a meal prep, put rice, the peanut chicken and blanched green beans in one dish, freeze it, then reheat in an aluminum tray at 350°F (175°C) for 20 to 25 minutes.
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