The first time I made this Thai Peanut Chicken at home, I was skeptical that it could match my favorite restaurant version. After all, I’d been ordering Thai takeout for years, convinced that those complex, layered flavors required unique ingredients and techniques I couldn’t access. Was I ever wrong! Not only did this homemade version come together in less time than it would take for delivery to arrive, but the flavor was better – fresher, more vibrant, and perfectly balanced between sweet, savory, and spicy.
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Table of Contents
What Makes Thai Peanut Chicken Ideal For a Weeknight Meal?
- Faster Than Takeout: Ready in just 25 minutes from start to finish
- Pantry-Friendly: Uses ingredients you likely already have on hand
- Healthier Option: Control the ingredients, especially when using peanut butter powder
- Perfectly Balanced Flavor: The ideal combination of sweet, savory, spicy, and nutty
- Versatile Base: Easy to customize with your favorite vegetables or protein
- Meal-Prep Friendly: Reheats beautifully for lunches throughout the week
- Restaurant-Quality Results: Impressive enough for guests but simple enough for weeknights
What Makes this Recipe for Peanut Butter Chicken Recipe
The peanut sauce that you make for this chicken is fantastic. It has the perfect balance of sweet and savory and just a little heat.
The combination of peanut butter powder and sriracha sauce creates an excellent flavor profile that you cannot match.Â
Thai Peanut Chicken Ingredients
Look at everything you need to make this delectable Thai peanut chicken dinner.
- Boneless skinless chicken breast – you could use boneless skinless thighs if you prefer – Provides lean protein and takes on flavors well while staying tender when properly cooked.
- Cooking oil – (like vegetable oil or olive oil) – Enables high-heat cooking and prevents sticking while adding richness.
- Minced garlic – Creates an aromatic base that infuses throughout the dish
- White onion – Adds sweetness and depth while providing texture
- Peanut butter powder/regular – The key to the signature sauce, providing rich nutty flavor with less fat when using powder
- Water – Helps achieve proper sauce consistency
- Brown sugar – Balances the savory elements and helps create caramelization
- Soy sauce – Adds umami depth and necessary salt content. You can use low-sodium soy sauce if you prefer
- Garlic chili sauce or sriracha sauce – Provides heat and complexity to the sauce
- Green onion slices for garnish – Adds fresh flavor and color as garnish
If you want to cut back on the fat content of this dish, using powdered peanut butter is a great way to do that without compromising on flavor!
How To Make Thai Peanut Chicken
Here are the simple recipe steps:
- Begin by heating up a large skillet over high heat. Once the skillet is hot, add the oil and heat it up.
- Add the minced garlic to the skillet and let it cook until it becomes fragrant. Then, carefully remove the garlic from the skillet and set it aside for later.
- Add the sliced onions and cut-up chicken breast to the skillet and let it cook, turning the chicken over every 2 to 3 minutes to cook the chicken all the way through.
- While the chicken is cooking, make the peanut butter sauce by combining the peanut butter powder, water, brown sugar, soy sauce, cooked minced garlic, and garlic chili sauce until it all comes together into a smooth sauce. A whisk is very helpful in making a creamy sauce.
- After the chicken is done cooking, pour in the peanut sauce and let it cook with the chicken for about 1 minute.
- Now serve the Thai peanut chicken over noodles or rice and top it off with some fresh cilantro and chopped peanuts. Enjoy!
Recipe Variations
Enjoy this recipe as is, or add some shredded carrots, celery, red bell pepper, broccoli, or bok choy.
Adding vegetables to the stir fry is a great way to get in your daily veggies and have a delicious meal!
How to Serve Thai Peanut Chicken
Serve Thai peanut chicken stir fry over top of some wonderfully delicious ramen noodles, rice noodles, or rice to have a well-rounded meal.
What Goes With Thai Peanut Chicken?
While this Thai peanut chicken recipe makes for a wonderful full meal, you can also serve it with these tremendous Asian appetizers and sides:
How to Store Leftover Thai Peanut Chicken
When you are done eating your Thai stir fry, pour your leftovers into an airtight container and store them in the fridge for 4 to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 4 months.
However, if you are going to freeze this recipe, I would suggest freezing the chicken and making up rice or rice noodles to go with it when you are ready to eat it.
How to Reheat Thai Leftover Chicken
To reheat this leftover chicken recipe, get out your skillet and heat it over medium-high heat. Then, pour the chicken into the skillet and continue heating the chicken for 5 to 7 minutes or until it is heated all the way through.
Or, to speed things up, you can pop the chicken in the microwave for 45 to 60 seconds and then enjoy!
Favorite Asian Recipes
- Air Fryer Bang Bang Shrimp
- Beef Chow Fun
- Egg Drop Soup
- Chicken Katsu
- Chow Mein Recipe
- Egg Foo Young
- Hibachi Steak
- PF Chang’s Lettuce Wraps
- Pork Katsu
- Sweet and Sour Sauce
Popular Chicken Recipes for Dinner
Check out more of my easy chicken dinner recipes and the best Asian recipes here on CopyKat!
Quick & Easy Thai Chicken with Peanut Sauce
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons cooking oil
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 medium white onion sliced
- 1 pound chicken breast cut into bite-sized pieces
- 3 tablespoons peanut butter powder or 2 tablespoons peanut butter
- 1 tablespoon water
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon garlic chili sauce or sriracha sauce
Instructions
- Heat a large skillet over high heat. When the pan is hot, add oil to the skillet.
- Add the garlic to the skillet and cook until it becomes fragrant. Remove the garlic and set aside. It will burn if it cooks the entire time.
- Add the onions and chicken to the skillet, turning the chicken every 2 to 3 minutes.
- While the chicken is cooking, combine the peanut butter powder, water, brown sugar, soy sauce, and garlic chili sauce or sriracha sauce. Stir until well blended.
- When chicken is done, drizzle the sauce over chicken and cook for about 1 minute.
- Remove from heat and serve with noodles or rice.
Notes
Expert Tips for Perfect Thai Peanut Chicken
- High heat matters: Keep your skillet very hot for authentic stir-fry results and to prevent chicken from steaming
- Prep everything first: Once cooking starts, this dish moves quickly, so have all ingredients measured and ready
- Don’t crowd the pan: Cook in batches if needed to maintain high heat and proper browning
- The garlic technique: Infusing the oil with garlic flavor then removing it prevents burning while maintaining flavor
- Sauce consistency: The sauce will thicken as it cools, so remove from heat when it seems slightly thinner than desired
- Slice against the grain: For the most tender chicken, cut perpendicular to the muscle fibers
- Taste and adjust: Everyone’s preference for sweet-savory-spicy balance is different, so taste and adjust before serving
Delicious sauce!
thank you for the recipe
I really enjoyed your recipe! I will deifinely try this at home by following your recipe. I book marked this page and will visit again to know more about new recipe. Thanks!
Easy to make and delicious. I doubled the recipe when I had to serve 10 for lunch.
Love this recipe and it turned out so good!
I really liked this recipe. I got tired of peanut butter powder shakes, and this was a great way to use peanut butter powder.
Thank you so much for wonderful recipes! What I love about your website most of all is that you post not only great recipes and descriptions but also stunning photos of food! Have a nice day!
I tried this recipe, I liked it.
I too stir frys, so filling healthy and what the whole family needs on a cold winters day. Great post I will defiantly be trying some!
Nice receipe, thanks for sharing, i like peanut butter very much.
Wow, you have such stunning photos! And these stuffed bell pepers – YUM! These have been on my bucket list for so long – thanks for pushing me to finally give it a try!
“Lovely recipe. Sadly my Thai green curry paste wasn’t as hot as I wanted it, but it was tasty. Will definitely make again 🙂
Oh! I never would have thought of using it that way! Wonderful post- pinned it for later!
Thanks for joining us!
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What is your favorite type of stir fry?