I love a shortcut dinner hack! These bowls feature caramelized peanut chicken, a tangle of vermicelli noodles, fresh herbs and cucumber salad, and peanut sauce all over top.
Thai Peanut Chicken Bowls
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Watch How To Make These Peanut Chicken Bowls
The Meal I Didn’t Know I Needed.
Well, that was tasty.
What you’re looking at is a a bowl of caramelized peanut chicken, on a tangled bed of vermicelli noodles, with some herbs and cucumber salad, topped with more of that peanut sauce.
After what has felt like a kind of long rut of post-holiday life / overwhelm / meh cooking, my first bite of this just woke me up inside. It revived me in just the right way.
Second of all, and related – have you seen the Trader Joe’s Peanut Satay Sauce? It’s your ticket to making this stupidly easy. It’s delicious, thick, creamy, and mild enough for 4 out of 4 of our little Scandinavian family to love it. You should buy a jar and make this.
If you don’t have a Trader Joe’s nearby, try this peanut sauce instead! I use it in a similar way with tofu and I think it would be absolutely perfect here. The sesame oil in there is chef’s kiss delicious.
And no surprise, I’m still loving and using these PFAS-free nonstick pans, and they work really well in this recipe.
January is not really anyone’s favorite (is it anyone’s favorite)? but you know what? We have noodles. We have caramelized bites of chicken. We have fresh mint, little jars of sauce, and flavor joy.
Let’s have a big bowl of noodles / chicken / peanut sauce / salad and remember that we’re going to be okay.
Thai Peanut Chicken Bowls
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 3–4 servings 1x
Description
I love a shortcut dinner hack! These bowls feature caramelized peanut chicken, a tangle of vermicelli noodles, fresh herbs and cucumber salad, and peanut sauce all over top.
Ingredients
Units
Scale
Chicken
- 1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts or thighs, cut into thin slices
- 8-ounce jar Thai peanut satay sauce (from Trader Joe’s)
- 1 clove grated garlic
Cucumber Salad
- 2 cups thinly sliced cucumber (1 large English cucumber)
- 1/2 cup thinly sliced red onion (about 1/4 an onion)
- 2 tablespoons avocado oil
- 1 tablespoon vinegar
- salt and sugar to taste
Noodles and Toppers
- 4 ounces vermicelli noodles
- a few tablespoons of crushed peanuts
- a few sprigs of herbs – I like mint, cilantro, and basil because I’m an herb hog!
Instructions
- Marinate the Chicken: Marinate the chicken with half the jar of sauce and the garlic for about 30 minutes to an hour.
- Cucumber Salad: Meanwhile, toss the cucumbers, onions, oil, vinegar, salt and sugar together.
- Cook the Chicken: Heat a small amount of oil in a nonstick pan over medium heat; add chicken, let it sit undisturbed for a few minutes to caramelize, then flip and repeat until the chicken is cooked through and golden brown. To caramelize it further, you can add a pinch of sugar towards the end.
- Make a Bowl: Serve the chicken over rice noodles, with some of the cucumber salad, fresh herbs, and peanuts.
- Sauce: Using your remaining sauce, add a bit of water, soy sauce, or chili oil to the jar to thin it out into more of a dressing. Drizzle over the bowls and dive into that.
Notes
If you don’t have access to a Trader Joe’s to buy the peanut satay sauce, try this peanut sauce instead! Use about 1/3 cup to marinate the chicken in step 1, and then 1/3 cup to dilute into the dressing in step 5!
- Prep Time: 30
- Cook Time: 15
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Thai
Keywords: satay sauce, thai peanut sauce, peanut sauce, peanut noodles, chicken
Three More Trader Joe’s Shortcut Meals
Filed Under: All Recipes Dairy-Free Dinner Healthy Meat and Chicken Peanut Butter Quick and Easy Recipes
January 15, 2025
Nice to meet you!
I’m Lindsay and I ♡ FOOD. I used to be a teacher, and now making food and writing about it online is my full-time job. I love talking with people about food, and I'm so glad you're here.
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