Like many of you, I grew up on peanut butter and jelly. There is nothing like a good PB & J, especially when it’s toasted. Warm, ooey, gooey peanut butter dripping off your fingers? There’s not much more comforting.
But sometimes you do feel a need to grow up. And by growing up, I mean figuring out new ways to eat warm peanut butter.
This way is one of them.
Thai Peanut Chicken with Zoodles is warm, peanutty chicken and vegetables with flavor layers of sweet and heat. It’s got the the texture of smooth, creamy peanut butter, along with the health benefits of perfectly-cooked vegetables. It is Asian-inspired peanut “noodles” at their low carb best.
Making Zoodles
For this recipe, you’re going to need some zoodles. “Zoodles” is the fancy term for spiralized zucchini. I have seen some sold in the produce section, but it’s easy to spiralize zucchini.
I use a Paderno 4-Blade Spiralizer because I like the fact that it leaves very little leftover veggie. You can use almost the entire zucchini and the remaining core is so small that I can cook it up right with the zoodles. (Some spiralizers will leave a core as wide as your pinky.)
It’s a pretty simple machine to use and it stores in a nice, compact shape, but I will warn you that I needed watch a YouTube video (watched repeatedly in extra-slow motion) to figure out how to get it back into that nice, compact shape.
You can also use one of the handheld spiralizers like this that you typically find at your local store. They are easy to use, but do leave a lot of your veggie leftover.
Once you’ve got your zoodles made, the rest is really just pan-frying the chicken and using a good blender to make the sauce. Pretty simple stuff.
Here’s a close-up of what you’ll get when it’s done:
Kind of makes my mouth water just looking at it! Enjoy!
Thai Peanut Chicken with Zoodles
Equipment
- Spiralizer
- blender
Ingredients
For the Chicken:
- 8 boneless, skinless chicken thighs cut into bite-sized pieces
- 1-2 T bacon grease or other cooking oil
For the Zoodles:
- 6 zucchini spiralized
- 3/4 c matchstick carrots
- 3/4 c red bell pepper cut into matchstick-size pieces
- 1-2 T bacon grease or other cooking oil
For the Sauce:
- 1 1/2 c dry roasted peanuts or 1 1/2 c peanut butter
- 1/2 c coconut aminos
- 1/2 c water
- 1/4 c heavy whipping cream or coconut milk if dairy-free
- 1 lime juiced
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 2 t Pyure or 4 t sugar
- 1 t ginger
- 1/2 t red pepper flakes
- salt and pepper to taste
Garnish
- 1/3 c dry roasted peanuts crushed
- 1/3 c green onion stalks chopped
Instructions
- Saute the chicken in the bacon grease in a large frying pan.
- While the chicken is cooking, put all of the sauce ingredients in a blender or food processor and mix thoroughly until you get a smooth sauce. Add more water, if needed.
- Remove the chicken from the pan and keep warm.
- Saute the vegetables for the zoodles with the remaining bacon grease until al dente.
- Add the chicken back into the pan. Turn the heat down to low.
- Pour the sauce over the chicken. Warm the sauce gently, tossing to coat. Do not overheat.
- Once warm, garnish with chopped green onion and/or chopped peanuts, if desired.
- Serve immediately.
On a side note, the sauce for this Thai Peanut Chicken with Zoodles also works great as a dip. Pair it with sugar snap peas for a quick snack!
Like what you see? Check out some of my other recipes here. I specialize in low carb, gluten free, real food that is quick, easy and tastes great!