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One-pan spicy Thai peanut chicken

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Satay lovers stop right here! I love chicken satay, but it takes a while to thread the meat on the skewers, cook up the peanut sauce, marinate, etcetera etcetera. This spicy Thai peanut chicken is cooked in one baking dish … and you can have it on the table in under an hour! 

One-pot spicy Thai peanut chicken

I often have a Saturday morning cooking show on in the background while I’m pottering around, and one regular little feature they do is have a celebrity face their ‘food heaven’ and ‘food hell’.I enjoy this, although strangely I mostly find myself mouthing ‘mmm’ at their food hells and ‘yuck’ at their food heavens!

Maybe you can guess roughly what I’m going to say next … pretty much any meal with peanuts in it is my food heaven. I’m also a huuuge fan of quick one-pan chicken meals, for quite a few reasons (hardly any time, hardly any washing up, shove in oven and forget etc. etc.).

Now I know you’re sitting there wondering what my food hell is! Well, the one that immediately jumps to mind is the big fat sausage of black pudding type stuff (called boudin) that I was once virtually force-fed in France. It’s a whole story, but even now I can remember the awful taste and it makes me feel a bit queasy, so I think I’d better get back onto this delicious spicy Thai peanut chicken instead!

making peanut sauce

Oh, spicy Thai peanut chicken, you are adorable! And if you like chicken satay, I think you will DEFINITELY find it adorable, too. As I was eating it, the phrase ‘spicy Thai peanut chicken, where have you been all my life?’ kept running through my mind. I didn’t want the meal to end. Honestly, it was DE-licious times about 50.

So, so easy to make…

The best thing is it took hardly ANY effort to make at all. It’s one of those meals that pretty much makes itself. You just whisk together a sauce of:

  • peanut butter
  • coconut milk
  • chicken stock
  • rice wine vinegar
  • soy sauce
  • fresh red chili
  • garlic
  • honey & ginger

then pour the whole lot over chicken thighs and bake for just over half an hour.

And that’s it. Done. Just spoon the chicken and sauce into a nice serving dish, sprinkle over colourful chopped green spring onions, red chilis and extra crushed peanuts chopped up in a mini food chopper/processor (and lime if you aren’t as dim as me and actually remember!). Then serve with rice and maybe a simple green salad and a bit of something like naan or popadoms to mop up all that lovely sauce. And let me tell you there is a LOT of sauce, because that’s how we like it around here!

One-pot spicy Thai peanut chicken

I actually think this would be a great dish to serve to guests – so long as no one regards peanuts as their food hell. OK, so maybe check that … 😉

One more word of warning. I stupidly forgot to wear gloves when chopping up my chilis. Total rookie mistake. So … ooouch! Aieee! Ooooh! Moments after finishing eating, my hands were on fire. I had to sit there on the couch with my hands in a glass of cold water to try to cool them down. They hurt ferociously for HOURS. So please do try making this yummy meal, but DON’T DO THAT.

One-pot spicy Thai peanut chicken

So… food heaven? Food hell? What are they for you?

One-pot spicy Thai peanut chicken

If you like this recipe, I have a feeling you’ll also love this chicken and butternut squash satay curry. It’s aMAZing, and on the table in only 40 minutes.

one-pan spicy peanut chicken
4.5 from 8 votes
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One-pan spicy Thai peanut chicken

Chicken thighs cooked in a spicy Thai-style peanut sauce. If you like satay, you'll LOVE this. It takes moments to whisk up the sauce and just over half an hour to bake. The finished dish is drowned with sauce and tastes absolutely delicious. Sprinkle with spring onions, fresh red chilli and more nuts and devour. Mmmm!
Course main dish
Cuisine Thai-style
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 35 minutes
Total Time 45 minutes
Servings 3 to 4
Calories 796 kcal
Author Helen

Ingredients

Chicken

  • 0.25 cups peanut butter
  • 0.25 cups soy sauce
  • 0.25 cups coconut milk
  • 0.25 cups chicken stock blended into 2 tablespoons cornflour
  • 3 cloves garlic crushed
  • ginger (thumb-width piece, at least)
  • 2 tablespoons honey
  • 2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar (I used Japanese mirin, but Chinese is fine, too)
  • 2 chilis small red
  • 1.5 pounds chicken thighs skinless boneless (I used 10 smallish ones)

Toppings & accompaniments

  • 3 scallions (spring onions), chopped finely
  • 1 handful peanuts salted is fine, crushed in a food processor or bashed with a rolling pin in a plastic bag
  • 1 more red chili chopped finely
  • lime wedges
  • rice or rice noodles to serve
US Customary - Metric

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 180C/355F.
  2. Slowly blend the soy sauce into the peanut butter in a jug or medium bowl, then blend in the coconut milk & stock/corn flour. Stir in the garlic, ginger, honey, rice vinegar & chilis.
  3. Arrange the chicken thighs in a large baking dish, then pour the sauce all over them. Cover with aluminium foil and bake for about 35 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through and the sauce bubbling and thickened a little (10 minutes before the end of cooking time, remove the foil, spoon the sauce all over the chicken again and then return to the oven uncovered - you might need to cook for a tiny while longer depending on the size of your chicken thighs. Also see notes below for another tip!)
  4. Spoon the chicken and sauce into individual bowls over rice or rice noodles (or into one nice larger serving dish with a separate bowl of rice/noodles) and sprinkle the spring onions, peanuts and remaining chili over. Eat immediately with lime squeezed over.

Recipe Notes

Just a note on the thickness of the sauce. For some reason every time I've made this the sauce has turned out a tiny bit different. As in, sometimes it's a bit thicker, sometimes a bit thinner. I think it all depends on how much chicken you use as obviously the juices run out during cooking and mingle with the sauce. Taste-wise, it's exactly the same (yummy!) but if you think your sauce is a bit too thin for your liking when it comes out of the oven, just add another tablespoon or so of corn flour blended with a bit of water or stock, drizzle and stir it roughly into the sauce, then return to the oven for 5 more minutes. 🙂

Use gluten free soy sauce & chicken stock to make this dish gluten free!

Nutrition Facts
One-pan spicy Thai peanut chicken
Amount Per Serving
Calories 796 Calories from Fat 513
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 57g 88%
Saturated Fat 16g 80%
Cholesterol 222mg 74%
Sodium 1392mg 58%
Potassium 919mg 26%
Total Carbohydrates 24g 8%
Dietary Fiber 3g 12%
Sugars 16g
Protein 48g 96%
Vitamin A 11.6%
Vitamin C 56.1%
Calcium 6.3%
Iron 21.4%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

 

one-pot spicy Thai peanut chicken - if you like anything satay, you'll love this!

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Comments

  2. Je bien rigolé en lissant ton post ! Boudin, moi non plus je ne l’aime pas ! Dont il sera pour moi “hell”. Heaven pour moi is des œufs avec de pomme de terre à la poêle ! Simple et gourmand !
    Ton poulet il sera aussi “heaven” pour moi ! So good !

    Reply

    • Merci beaucoup, Eva! Ahhh, j’ai oublie que tu comprendrais ce que c’est le boudin!! Yuck!! Comme je le detestais! 🙂

      Reply

  4. I love chicken satay, but you’re right – it definitely takes some effort to make. I love how you’ve taken this dish an made it more user friendly, all while keeping all of those wonderful flavors! This is perfect for a weeknight dinner!

    Reply

    • Thank you so much, Kathleen! ‘User friendly’ is the name of my game … lol! This is definitely going to become a week-day staple around here!

      Reply

    • Hi, Chrissy! Glad you like the look of this. It’s REALLY good! Will look forward to your Asian offerings soon then!

      Reply

    • Hello, Michelle! Thanks so much for passing by! I must say I really enjoyed the fresh chili on this. I really hope you do get around to trying it! I’m making it again tomorrow!

      Reply

  9. Peanut butter chicken sounds like my food heaven as well! The only time I remember really disliking a food was poi in Hawaii … I won’t be going back for that again 😉 I love that you skipped the time consuming threading part but kept the delicious flavors!

    Reply

    • Teehee … love your enthusiasm, girl. I can always rely on it to brighten up my day!! 🙂
      Happy you like it and hope you DO make it asap! 🙂

      Reply

  13. This is a such a gorgeous dish. Simple and easy and I happen to have everything in my pantry to make this dish tonight! Thanks so much! Just pinned!

    Reply

    • Hello! Thanks so much for passing by, and I really hope you enjoyed this if you did end up making it! I just added a couple of notes to the recipe after making it again, so I hope it worked out OK for you without them! 🙂

      Reply

  15. I am a total Satay with peanut sauce lover! These chicken thighs look too good to be true! I LOVE that it’s a one pan dish. This is seriously genius ♡ Pinning and adding this to my list of “must make soon!” Thank you for sharing and Cheers! 🙂

    Reply

    • Hi, Cheyanne! Really happy you like the look of this and that it makes you want to try it soon. I really hope you do – I’m sure you’ll love it if you like satay!

      Reply

    • Glad you like it, Renee, and really hope you do make it some time. I made it last night again for my family and they loved it! It’s so tasty!

      Reply

    • ooh, exciting! Let me know what you think, Bintu! I’m still very excited about this one. I could eat it every day! (just ate some leftovers with rice noodles and stir fried veggies. Was really good!)

      Reply

    • Thanks, Gayle! We just ate the leftovers from this meal with some rice noodles and stir fried veggies … was beautiful!

      Reply

    • Thanks, Lorraine! I love all the Asian food in Australia, but here it’s not so easy to get, so the only solution is to make it at home!

      Reply

  25. Oh, MAN. This chicken is insane and that’s exactly the way I’ll take it. 🙂 Totally a win that it’s one-pan and I LOVE the fact that I don’t have to go out for Thai food anymore! This needs to be my dinner tonight. Gorgeous photos too, Helen!

    Reply

  26. I love anything with peanuts / peanut butter too! So good! This dish looks fantastic – I love that you used coconut milk! Happy Monday!!

    Reply

  28. I am right there with you, Helen, anti-bamaboo-skewer-threading. Who has time for that?! I would much rather prefer to dump all this deliciousness in a pan and bake it. Food heaven? Too hard to know for sure. I love burgers, sandwiches, pastas, salads, and appetizers. Oh, and desserts. 🙂 Food hell? Staring at your delicious photos whilst not eating it!!!!!

    Reply

    • Hi Meggan! Who has time for that indeed! So basically, most foods are your food heaven … lol! Really happy you like this!

      Reply

    • Hello Jessica! Thank you so much! You’re right about the one-pan thing. I would make them every day if I could!

      Reply

  30. The first time I was introduced to satay was a number of years ago at a friends….let’s just say, it’s one of my most popular dishes that I now make for the kids. This looks divine! I love how you’ve taken it over the top with all those luscious chopped ingredients on top! Pinned!

    Reply

    • Thanks, Annie! The toppings do make it look rather snazzy, don’t they? I have a feeling this is going to become a regular meal in our house, too!

      Reply

  32. My husband is absolutely going to go weak in the knees over this! Thai food is his favorite, I’m just not that good at preparing it and send him out to him favorite restaurant. Guess I’m running out of excuses with this awesome recipe Helen. You put a good amount of peanut butter in there! I gotta feeling every bit of sauce will be used up!

    Reply

    • Believe me, Laura, I would only make this if it was super easy. I promise you it is! The only slight ‘hassle’ if you like is chopping up the chilis and onions. The sauce is super easy – just a matter of whisking together all the pastes and sauces. Do try it – you’ll never look back 😉

      Reply

  33. Oh my goodness, my food hell was blood sausage and something that was clearly intestines…served during an Argentinian Christmas feast…just NO! This chicken definitely looks like my food heaven! Love the Thai and peanut flavors, looks totally delicious!

    Reply

    • Oooh, blood sausage!! That is very similar to the ‘boudin’ mentioned in the post. Isn’t it just disgusting!! Oooh, yuck! Glad you like the peanut chicken though, Denise. I feel a bit better about making you remember the blood sausage and intestines now!

      Reply

  34. I do love morning cooking shows too – before, they used to have Nigella Lawson on in the mornings and I used to love getting breakfast ready while listening to her potter on and on!
    Speaking of things I love – Helen – wow – this one pan satay looks incredible! Gah – sorry to hear about your chili-cutting mishap – but, wow – fantastic job with this one!

    Reply

    • Oh yes, Nigella is so ‘soothing’, isn’t she? Thanks for the sweet comment, Shashi. I’m in love with this satay dish – happy you like it, too!

      Reply

    • Hello Tammy! I haven’t tried making it like this, but why not? You could give it a try as the recipe also has garlic in it, and then see if it’s spicy enough for you that way. I must admit the chilis add a great flavour and ‘oomph’ but you could always try it with some fresh chilis next time! Good luck and let me know how you go! 🙂

      Reply

  36. love, love, love this…. I’m glad I have subscribed, this is my type of food….Thanks Helen

    Reply

    • Hello, Peter. You’ve just made my day! I’m so happy you like this and really hope you give it a go. It’s definitely one of my favourite meals – just so, so full of flavour. I’ve got another Asian dish coming up soon – and I’m thinking about doing a satay stir-fry, too. Enjoy!

      Reply

  37. I am obsessed with any peanut/satay based dishes and this is exactly what I love. Going to try this with gluten free soy sauce and no onions sometime soon 🙂

    Reply

    • Hello Becky! Thanks so much for passing by and taking the time to comment. Peanut based dishes are my favourite too. Really happy you can easily make this gluten free, too! 🙂

      Reply

  38. Just tried this and it came out great! Will definitely be making this again! Thanks for the recipe!

    Reply

    • Hello Hannah. You’re so welcome! And thank you so much for taking the time to pop by and leave some feedback. I so appreciate that. You might enjoy my recipes for Singapore noodles and ‘mee goreng’ too if you enjoyed this!
      Happy New Year!

      Reply

  39. Do you make this with skinless chicken thighs? If not, doesn’t the skin come out soggy unless you pan fry it first or broil it at the end?

    Reply

    • Hello, Sheila. Great question, and you’re absolutely right, this is made with skinless, boneless chicken thighs. Thanks for pointing this out to me actually – I’ll change it in the recipe. Hope you do get around to making this – I’ve had great feedback so far!

      Reply

  40. Thanks for this wonderful recipe. I cooked it a couple of weeks ago and my partner is desperate for me to cook it again so doing so again tonight.

    Reply

    • Hi Donna. Thanks so much for taking the time to leave this great feedback. It always makes my day to hear that someone’s enjoyed a recipe on the blog! Hope you both enjoyed it as much the second time! 🙂

      Reply

      • Yes we most certainly did and my partner has scored this dish 10 out of 10. Thanks so much for all the effort you’ve gone to with your blog. I’ll have to try some more of your recipes. I’m new to Pinterest so haven’t worked out how to mark it as tried and liked.

        Reply

        • Well, thanks again for the positive feedback, Donna. Really appreciate it, and now you’ve got me craving this meal again!

          Hope you follow along with the blog this year – I’ve got some great changes coming up in March!

          Reply


          • As an update, Helen this dish along with your Pumpkin, Chorizo and Feta salad have made their way onto out table too many times to count. They are two of our favourite meals. If ever I ask my partner what I should cook he always asks for this! 😊

          • Hi, Donna! Merry Christmas! Thank you so much for popping by and letting me know. The spicy Thai peanut chicken is one of my all time favourites and I’m actually thinking of making the salad again for Christmas day as we’re in Australia this year (=super hot, most likely!). That’s an old post but still a popular one. Thanks for the 5 star rating!!!
            P.S. Oh, I’ve just seen you’re in Australia too!

  41. Thank you so much for this wonderful recipie it was a major hit in my peanut loving household! I loved this so much that I wrote up a little blog post of my attempt with a link to this post to spread the peanut love 👉http://www.thekingandpie.com/chicken-peanut-curry/

    Reply

    • Hi Marisa! Thanks so much for rating the recipe. I like to order dishes like this in restaurants too. I must admit I’m quite proud of myself for coming up with this one!

      Reply


  43. Wow, we loved this! Only change was using Sriracha and green bell pepper instead of chiles (sorry, it hurt my soul too, but that’s what I had) and I threw in some fish sauce. Had plain white vinegar but I used a little dry sherry too.

    Made it with Alton Brown’s Baked Brown Rice, using broth and a little coconut milk in the rice for kicks and giggles. I liked my all-oven meal! Thanks 🙂

    Reply

    • Hello and happy new year! Thank you so much for leaving such a positive review of this. You’ve reminded me to make this again soon. It’s one of my older recipes but still a firm favourite. Absolutely nothing wrong with making a few substitutions with things you have in the cupboard! Have you tried the mee goreng too? Another favourite of ours!

      Reply

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