Peanut Butter Chicken
This Peanut Butter Chicken has crispy bites of chicken smothered in a savory peanut sauce with stir fried vegetables! Serve this with rice or noodles for a complete meal that your family will love!
Be sure to try my Egg Roll in a Bowl and Teriyaki Chicken recipes next!
Peanut Butter Chicken
Peanut Butter Chicken is my weakness! The chicken is super crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside, and it’s tossed in the most flavorful peanut sauce that has hints of savory and sweet with a hint of spice and umami.
Serve this with any combination of stir-fried vegetables that you have on hand along with rice or noodles! Leftovers even freeze well for future meals! 😁
How to Make It
See recipe card below this post for ingredient quantities and full instructions.
Sauté the vegetables in peanut oil until softened and set aside. Season the chicken and toss it in cornstarch.
Heat oil in the same skillet and fry the chicken in batches for 3-4 minutes per side. Set aside once cooked and wipe excess oil from the skillet.
Add the chicken back and whisk the peanut sauce ingredients together. Add it to the skillet and toss to coat. Set the heat to medium. The cornstarch from the chicken will thicken the sauce. Cook until desired thickness is obtained and remove from heat.
Add the stir-fried veggies to the sauce or serve them on the side along with rice or noodles. Garnish with roughly chopped peanuts and green onions and serve!
Pro Tips
- Optional Additions to this recipe include: Bean Sprouts, Water Chestnuts, Onions, Celery, Kale, Chow Mein Noodles, Sliced Almonds, Sesame Seeds, red pepper flakes.
- The consistency of the sauce will continue to thicken the longer it cooks. If it becomes thicker than you’d like, add a splash of water to thin it back out.
- I use Frank’s Red Hot Buffalo Sauce for this recipe.
- A pinch of Red Pepper Flakes can be added to the sauce as well for an additional kick.
- This recipe is great with a side of rice. The notes section of the recipe card includes instructions for how I make perfectly cooked rice every time.
- 📘 Find this recipe on page 130 of my 2nd cookbook, Let’s Eat!
Storage
- Store in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months.
- To Freeze:
- Store the chicken and the rice separately, these are my preferred storage containers for each.
- To Reheat:
- The chicken can be reheated from a thawed state in the microwave or in a lightly greased, covered casserole dish at 350° for 15 minutes or so, or until heated through.
- The rice can also be microwaved or reheated in a lightly greased foil packet in the oven for 10 minutes or so.
Tools For This Recipe
(Amazon affiliate links)- Check out all of my kitchen essentials here.
- Wok- These conduct heat so well and are perfect for making stir fry, chow mein, etc.
- 8-inch Chef’s Knife– This is the one I have, I love it.
- Cutting Boards- I love having assorted sizes. (One for the meat, one for the veggies, etc.)
- Kitchen Tongs– Perfect for handling the chicken during seasoning and frying.
Try These Next
- Chicken Noodle Stir Fry
- Chinese Chicken Salad
- Beef Stir Fry with Noodles
- Egg Roll in a Bowl
- Teriyaki Chicken
- Shrimp Fried Rice
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Tried This Recipe?
Leave a review, I love hearing your feedback! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Peanut Butter Chicken
Ingredients
Sauce
- ½ cup creamy peanut butter
- 3/4 cup chicken broth
- 3 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce
- 3 tablespoons honey
- 3 cloves garlic
- 2 teaspoons hot sauce
Veggies
- 2 tablespoons peanut oil, can sub olive oil
- 2 ½ cups broccoli florets
- ¾ cup baby carrots, julienned
- 1 red bell pepper, sliced
Chicken
- 1 ½ lbs. boneless chicken breast or thighs
- ¼ teaspoon white pepper
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon paprika
- ½ cup cornstarch
- 1/3 cup peanut oil, can sub olive oil
For Serving
- 3 cups cooked rice
- Green onions, to garnish
- Chopped peanuts, to garnish
Instructions
- Whisk together the sauce ingredients in a medium bowl and set aside.
- Heat 2 tablespoons peanut oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the broccoli and carrots and cook for 3-4 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the bell peppers and cook for 1-2 minutes. Remove and set aside.
- Cut the chicken into 2-inch pieces and place them on a large plate. Pat them completely dry. Sprinkle with seasonings and use kitchen tongs to toss to coat evenly. Sprinkle with cornstarch and use tongs to toss to coat again.
- Heat 1/3 cup peanut oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.
- Fry the chicken in batches, leaving room around each to ensure the edges get crispy. Flip once the bottom of the chicken is light brown and crisp, about 3-4 minutes per side. Make small adjustments to the heat (up or down) throughout cooking as needed.
- Wipe away excess oil, then add the chicken back to the skillet. Whisk the peanut sauce mixture and add it to the skillet. Toss to coat.
- Set heat to medium and allow the sauce to heat through and thicken, the cornstarch from the chicken will thicken the sauce. Cook until desired thickness is obtained. If the sauce becomes too thick, add splashes of water to thin it back out. Remove from heat.
- Add the sauteed vegetables to the sauce or serve them on the side. Garnish with green onions and roughly chopped peanuts. Serve with rice or noodles. (See notes for instructions on making perfectly cooked rice.)
Notes
- Optional Additions to this recipe include: Bean Sprouts, Water Chestnuts, Celery, Kale, Chow Mein Noodles, Sliced Almonds, Sesame Seeds, red pepper flakes.
- The consistency of the sauce will continue to thicken the longer it cooks. If it becomes thicker than you'd like, add a splash of water to thin it back out.
- I use Frank's Red Hot Buffalo Sauce for this recipe.
- A pinch of Red Pepper Flakes can be added to the sauce as well for an additional kick.
- 📘 Find this recipe on page 130 of my 2nd cookbook, Let’s Eat!
My process for perfectly cooked rice:
- Bring 2 cups of water to a boil. (I add 2 chicken bouillon cubes to the water for enhanced flavor.)
- Add 1 cup of rinsed white long grain rice and let the liquid come back up to a boil.
- Cover tightly and reduce heat to a gentle simmer for 20 minutes. (I set my heat to low.)
- Remove from heat and let it stand in the pot for 10 minutes with the lid on, any rice stuck to the bottom will release.
- This yields 3 cups of flavorful, perfectly cooked rice. I use a Dutch oven for this which conducts heat well.
- Note that other varieties of rice may require different liquid measurements and/or cooking times.
Nutritional facts are per serving, the number of servings are at the top of the recipe card in the middle. This recipe has 4 servings and doesn't include rice or noodles for serving.
Nutrition
Oh my goodness this was DELICIOUS !!
I didn’t use the corn starch on the chicken and the sauce still thickened up beautifully (just in case anyone else was wondering about this).
Thank you for this amazing recipe. This will definitely be made on repeat !
You’re very welcome Steph, I’m so happy this was such a hit! I appreciate the great comments and review, thanks so much!❤️
Third time I’ve made this and rave reviews again! I add sugar snap pea pods to the veggies as you suggested and everything turns out great. I discovered your site in January this year, and since then have added so many delicious and easy-enough-for-me recipes to our table. Thanks Stephanie!
I’m so happy this one has been a hit for you Mandy, extra happy to hear you’ve been enjoying the blog! Thanks so much for the great comments and review!💗
Another SCRUMPTIOUS RECIPE!!
Thank you, Stephanie!
Definitely going into the rotation stack 🙂
So great to hear, thanks so much for the great review!
This turned out really wonderful, I will definitely make it again. I have made something similar with pork tenderloin and brown sugar instead of honey.
I’m so happy you enjoyed this one and will be making it again Claudia! Thanks so much for the great comments and review!❤️
I honestly think this is my favorite recipe. I wasn’t sure on how it would be but let me tell you, it was a BIG hit!! I made it last week and making it again tomorrow, that’s how yummy it was! Hands down 5 stars, would give it higher if could. Try it, your gonna love it, and it was really easy to make. I added slivered almonds and water chestnuts, this time I’m adding peanuts!!
Thanks so much for the great comments and for taking the time to leave a review Marcey! I’m so happy you liked it so much. My husband was skeptical at first too since he doesn’t really like peanut sauce (according to him 😄) but he loves this one. Great call on adding some almonds and water chestnuts🙌
I made this using my 4.5qt Dutch oven. It worked just fine! My power went out due to a windstorm just as I was frying the chicken so I had to move out to the bbq to keep going- it turned out fantastic and I think this might be my favourite recipe yet and I’ve made a ton of yours now. Thanks again!
Great job improvising when the power went out Jodi! I’m so happy you pulled this off🙌 Thanks so much for the great review!
I happened to have all the ingredients so my husband and I made this tonight. It was very good. We plan on making it many times in the future. Thank you for sharing!
I’m so happy you and your husband enjoyed this and will be making it again Bri! I love when I have all the ingredients for a dish I want to make! Thanks so much for the great comments!😍
Made this last night and it was really really good, thank you so much for sharing! Will definitely be making it again!
You’re very welcome Garth! I’m so happy you enjoyed this one, thanks so much for taking the time to leave a review!😃
I can’t wait to try this recipe but most of all I can’t wait for your cookbook to come out. When can we expect it?
I cant wait for you to try this too! Thanks so much I can’t wait for the book to come out either! It’s being printed right now and should be shipped to the US late June. It’ll be available shortly after that unless things get worse shipping wise. I’ll be making a formal announcement when I have a set date!❤️
The sauce is amazing on this recipe! I used almond flour instead of cornstarch and green beans and snow peas instead- came out perfect, way better than take out!
That makes me so happy Carla, nice work! Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a review!😍