My Peanut Butter Chicken is packed full of flavour and ready in 20 minutes! This Thai Peanut Chicken is a great mid-week meal, with no fussy ingredients!
Large pan peanut butter chicken curry with green beans, chillies and coriander (cilantro)

I promise you right now, there is no better use for peanut butter than this recipe!

Something magical happens when you mix the peanut butter, lime and chilli to turn this into a lip smackingly great sauce.  I love anything Thai, but for once you don’t need all the fish sauce, shrimp paste, tamarind, garlic etc. to get that amazing taste.

This recipe was made as part of our  20 minute Tuesday series on YouTube which includes super tasty recipes like my Pan Fried Salmon with Spaghetti, One of Chis’s favourites Crispy Chilli Chicken, awesome Asian Chicken Lettuce Wraps and many more quick and easy meals.
Pan of chicken and onion cooking. Scoop of peanut butter has just been added on top of chicken.

Peanut butter – which is something that I HATE on it’s own bleugh! (sorry peanut butter lovers) is 100% the star of this dish.

Those red chilli add a great hit of heat, but feel free to leave them out if you don’t like it spicy.

Chopped red chillies being added to a pan of peanut butter chicken curry.

It’s all on the table in about 20 minutes, so this is a great mid week meal too.

Bowl of rice topped with peanut butter chicken with green beans, chillies and coriander (cilantro). Extra sauce being spooned on top.

I’ve been making this for years now, it’s one that my mum passed down to me.  I still have the recipe scribbled on a scrap of paper, dotted with oil spots from about 10 years ago!  Mum’s version also has beansprouts in, which I include sometimes, along with broccoli or mange tout or whatever bit of veg I have around.

Close up of a bowl of rice topped with peanut butter chicken with green beans, chillies and coriander (cilantro)

If you’re making this for kids who don’t eat chillies, I’d suggest leaving them out, dishing their portions up, keeping them warm and adding the chopped chillies to the rest of the pan.  Then just stir through for a minute or two.

If you’re anything like me and LOVE these Thai flavours then why not try one of these too:
Seafood Laksa
Thai Peanut Pork
Thai Yellow Fish Curry

If you’ve tried my peanut butter chicken then please rate the recipe and let me know how you got on in the comments below, I love hearing your thoughts and add-ons to my recipes!
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The Peanut Butter Chicken Recipe:

4.58 from 21 votes

20 Minute Peanut Butter Chicken

My Peanut Butter Chicken is packed full of flavour and ready in 20 minutes! A great mid-week meal, with no fussy ingredients!
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 20 minutes
Servings: 4 people
Course: Dinner
Cuisine: Asian, Thai

Ingredients

  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 3 chicken breasts chopped into bite sized chunks
  • 1 large onion peeled and sliced
  • 1 heaped tbsp ground coriander
  • 2 heaped tbsp smooth peanut butter check if you need it to be gluten free, it usually is though
  • 1 red chilli chopped finely (I use fresno chillies) - this is optional - leave out if you don't like heat.
  • juice of 2 limes
  • 300 ml (1 1/4 cups) chicken stock water + 2 stock cubes is fine (use bouillon for gluten free)
  • 200 g (7 oz) green beans ends chopped off and sliced into short lengths

To Serve:

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Instructions 

  • If serving with rice, put the rice onto cook first, then you can cook the rest of the meal whilst the rice is boiling.
  • Heat the oil in a large pan that has a lid, over a medium-high heat. Add in the chicken and cook, turning regularly, until sealed (about 2-3 minutes).
    1 tbsp olive oil, 3 chicken breasts
  • Add the onion and continue to cook for a further 2 minutes, then stir through the ground coriander. 
    1 large onion, 1 heaped tbsp ground coriander
  • Add in the peanut butter, chopped chilli, juice of one of the limes, and the stock. Stir, bring to a gentle bubble, then place the lid on and simmer for 7-8 minutes until slightly thickened. Check on it and stir a couple of times to make sure it doesn't catch.
    2 heaped tbsp smooth peanut butter, 1 red chilli, juice of 2 limes, 300 ml (1 1/4 cups) chicken stock
  • Add in the green beans, taste and add in the remaining lime juice if needed.  Give everything a stir, and leave to cook for another 5 minutes with the lid off.  You can add a splash of water if it's starting to look too dry.
    200 g (7 oz) green beans
  • Serve with boiled rice, sprinkle with chopped chillies (or sweet chilli jam), coriander (cilantro), and toasted peanuts.
    boiled rice, 1 red chilli, 1 small bunch chopped coriander (cilantro), A blob of sweet chilli jam also tastes great!, 2 tbsp toasted peanuts

Video

Notes

Can it be made ahead?
Yes, make it ahead (without the toppings), then cool, cover and refrigerate for up to two days. Heat thoroughly in a pan, adding a splash of water to help loosen it.
.
Can it be frozen?
Yes! Cool, cover and freeze (without the toppings), then defrost thoroughly overnight in the fridge before reheating in a pan until piping hot. You may need to add a splash of water to loosen it up.
.
Can it be made gluten free?
Yes, replace the stock with gluten free stock (water plus bouillon is fine). Make sure your peanut butter brand is gluten free.
.
What if I don't like chillies/spicy food?
Leave out the chillies entirely. This meal has still got plenty of flavour without the chillies.
.
Nutritional information is per serving - WITHOUT the serving suggestions of rice and sweet chilli jam.

Nutrition

Calories: 455kcal | Carbohydrates: 21g | Protein: 47g | Fat: 21g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Cholesterol: 108mg | Sodium: 829mg | Potassium: 1147mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 7g | Vitamin A: 705IU | Vitamin C: 53.5mg | Calcium: 67mg | Iron: 2.7mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Equipment:

In order to make this Peanut Butter Chicken recipe you will need:

This is a remake of a recipe I first published in May 2014. Do you want to see how bad my photograpy was then? Ok here goes (cringe):
Black bowl filled with rice and peanut butter chicken curry with green beans. Chillies and coriander on top.
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Hi, I'm Nicky and I love to cook! I want to share with you my favourite, delicious family friendly recipes. I want to inspire you to create fantastic food for your family every day.

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Comments

  1. Andrew James says:

    5 stars
    Quick, easy and very very tasty.
    Thank you.

    I will definately be trying some ofnyour other recipes…

  2. Paula Mannion says:

    Is it possible to use crunchy peanut butter in this recipe please?

    1. Nicky Corbishley says:

      Yes of course – use in the same way. It will of course have peanut bits in there though 🙂