Peanut Chicken was one of my favorite meals that my mother would make us when I was growing up. There were two problems with her recipe, though. First, it was unhealthy since it had a lot of heavy cream. And secondly, the sauce had a tendency to separate, a problem caused by the oil in the peanut butter. I have solved both of these problems and created a recipe for Lightened Up Peanut Chicken. I replaced the cream with whole milk and added flour to hold the sauce together, and it tastes just like the original even though it has much less fat.
The peanut sauce has a nice spice to it, and it compliments the soy garlic flavor of the chicken. I will definitely admit to eating some of the sauce by the spoonful, it is just that good. You can use either smooth or chunky peanut butter, and I prefer chunky since it gives a nice texture to the sauce. My Mom adds spice to the sauce with a few drops of hot sauce and some red pepper flakes. I prefer to add 2 teaspoons of sriracha.
Peanut Chicken is inspired by a recipe from a restaurant in my hometown, and it is an Americanized version of Chicken Satay. Instead of serving small skewers of marinated chicken with a peanut dipping sauce, chicken breasts are served over linguine topped with peanut sauce.
This is one of those meals that is easy to make in large batches. It's perfect to serve at dinner parties or nights when they whole family is home. My mother served it often as a family dinner. It was one of those meals that everyone loved and looked forward to.
The total preparation time for this recipe is just about an hour, and the active preparation time is just about 20 minutes.
Ingredients
- 1 lemon
- ½ cup plus ¼ cup soy sauce
- 3 cloves of chopped garlic
- 2 pounds of chicken breasts
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- ½ cup peanut butter chunky or smooth
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 tablespoons flour
- 1 ½ cups whole milk
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1-2 teaspoons Sriracha
- Serve with Linguine or Buckwheat Noodles
Instructions
- First, marinate the chicken. Squeeze the juice from the lemon, and combine with ½ cup soy sauce and the chopped garlic. Pour over the chicken breasts and let marinate for 20-30 minutes. Do not marinate for longer than 30 minutes because the chicken will get too salty.
- Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Pour a tablespoon of olive oil into a frying pan. Over high heat add the chicken breasts to the pan quickly searing each one. It will take 1-2 minutes a side. Once the chicken is browned, put it on a baking sheet and into the oven. Cook for 40 minutes or until done.
- Over low heat melt 2 tablespoons butter in a saucepan. Then add 2 tablespoons flour and mix together. Add the peanut butter. Make sure that the burner is set to low, and be careful not to heat the peanut butter too much or it will separate. Once the peanut butter is melted, add the whole milk, ¼ cup soy sauce, and the sugar. Stir together.
- Increase the heat of the burner to medium and bring the sauce to a slow boil. Stir constantly as the sauce thickens. After about a minute of boiling the sauce will become nice and thick. Then add sriracha or hot sauce to taste. Reduce the heat of the burner to low and keep the sauce warm while the chicken cooks.
- Prepare the pasta and serve the chicken with pasta topping both with the hot sauce.
