Thai Peanut Butter Chicken

Luke loves chicken. I mean, he loves it. He also loves peanut butter. We all do really. I keep a stock pile of natural peanut butter on hand at all times because man can we go through a jar of peanut butter like it’s our job around here.

Can you think of a better job? Eating peanut butter? That sounds like my kind of gig. Although I would also like to get paid to eat cereal with cold skim milk, strawberries, fresh pineapple and pizza. In other words I think I could handle a paid eating gig. So all you looking for someone to pay to eat, I’m your gal. I’m also very off track. So back to the meal at hand we go.

Peanut butter spiced and jazzed up with delicious and easy ingredients covered chicken breasts and served over rice? Um, yeah.  It’s true love. Some might even call it a love affair, when you know you make yummy Thai-style peanut butter chicken over and over throughout the years and it receives the same enthusiastic reaction each and every time.

I suggest you serve this lovely Thai Peanut Butter Chicken with some nice brown rice. The nuttiness of brown rice is perfectly suited for this meal. But what if your husband prefers white rice? Well, speaking from experience, white or brown you’ll be happy.

Thai Peanut Butter Chicken Ingredients

1 to 1.5 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts
1/3 cup chunky peanut butter, can also use creamy
1 1/2 cups salsa
1 lime juiced, about 2 tablespoons
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon grated fresh garlic
2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger
Chopped cilantro and peanuts for garnish (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Whisk together salsa, peanut butter, soy sauce, lime juice, garlic and ginger. Pour about 1/3 of the sauce into the bottom of a dutch oven or covered baking dish. Arrange the chicken on the sauce in the dutch oven or baking dish. Pour the remaining peanut sauce over the chicken. Put the lid on the dutch oven and place in the oven.

Bake for 25-30 minutes. The chicken should reach an internal temperature of 160 Fahrenheit. Remove from the oven and let sit for about 5 minutes.

Serve chicken on a bed of rice along with the thickened peanut sauce from the dutch oven. Garnish with a sprinkling of cilantro and chopped peanuts.

Now go make this. You’ll thank me. You so want a bite, don’t you?

Edited to add: This delicious Peanut Butter Chicken can also be made in a slow cooker. The steps are the same, just cook on low for 4-5 hours or until chicken is cooked through and sauce is thickened. I recommend using the Crock-Pot 6-Qt Programmable Slow Cooker because it lets you set the cook time in 30 minutes increments  anywhere from 30 minutes up to 20 hours as well as select if you’d like it to cook on LOW or HIGH. Once the meal has cooked for your set time this Crock-Pot switches to warm until your turn it off.  Being able to set the slow cooker to cook for a amount of time you wish instead of a just “4 or 6 hours on HIGH” and “8-10 hours on LOW” means no more burnt or overdone slow cooker meals! Can I get an amen to that?!