Crockpot Thai Peanut Chicken

It’s no secret that I love Thai food.  Like, have-it-every-Saturday-night, they-know-my-takeout-order-by-my-voice kind of love.

But the thing about Thai food is that cooking it is dang hard.  True, authentic Thai food has like 20 or 30 ingredients in it, many of them kind of hard to find or somewhat expensive at your regular grocery store.  I’d made a couple stir fries, but was completely intimidated by the thought of doing real Thai cooking.

And to be honest, this isn’t authentic Thai.  But it has several of the flavor elements, and it seemed like a good starting place.

The crockpot Thai peanut chicken recipe was fairly simple and was pretty good fresh.  The leftovers weren’t as exciting, but overall a good first try.

Peel onion and chop into fine wedges. I don’t read directions well, so I chopped into little pieces.

Cut your red (or orange or yellow) bell peppers into thin strips as well.

Peel and slice up some carrots. Or be lazy and just cut up some baby carrots. There are also tons of other veggies you could use, it’s totally up to you.

Throw all the vegetables in the bottom of a crockpot.

I also added some snow peas, because what’s a thai dish without snow peas?

Cut up the chicken breasts into bite-size pieces, and layer on top of the veggies.

Next you’ll mix up the sauce. Begin by putting the chicken stock in a big bowl, then zesting the limes into the bowl. Squeeze the lime juice in for good measure. I love zest.

Add the garlic, peanut butter, fresh ginger, tapioca, and red curry paste.

Whisk the whole mixture together. Not gonna lie, it looked pretty gross. Ignore that.

Pour the sauce mixture into the crockpot. It won’t cover all the ingredients, but that’s fine—the chicken and veggies will cook down and the liquid will boil up, so everything will get cooked.

Cover and cook on low for 5-6 hours (I actually did it a little longer) or on high for 2-3 hours. If you happen to be home, stir occasionally.

In a rice cooker or on the stove, cook as much rice as you want. I didn’t cook quite enough. I used jasmine rice, but you could also use basmati, white, or brown.

I added the peas about a half hour before it was done (though you can add right at the end).

Chop, grind, or food process your peanut garnish. Somehow this just makes the dish.

When done, add the coconut milk and let sit for 5-10 minutes. And you’re ready to roll!

Serve with the rice and a garnish of peanuts.

This made so much, I had more leftovers than I could possibly use before my Europe trip.  I ended up having to throw a bunch out.

It could have been maybe a *little* more flavorful, with a little kick.  Definitely could have used more salt—I used low-sodium soy sauce, so maybe that explains part of it.  I’d add maybe some red pepper flakes while cooking next time.  And while it was great when it was hot and fresh, I was a little underwhelmed by it as leftovers.  But still, for a first try with thai cooking it was pretty dang good!

Crockpot Thai Peanut Chicken

• 2 
medium onions, cut into thin wedges
• 1 1/2
 cups of sliced carrot (3 medium)
• 1 
red bell pepper, cut into bite-size strips
• 2 
pounds of skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 3/4
 cup of chicken broth
• 3 
tablespoons of creamy peanut butter
• 1/2 
teaspoon of finely shredded lime peel
• 2 
tablespoons of lime juice (I actually used the juice from the whole lime)
• 2 
tablespoons of soy sauce (I used low-sodium)
• 2 
tablespoons of quick-cooking tapioca
• 1 
tablespoon of grated fresh ginger
• 2 – 3 
teaspoons of red curry paste
• 4 
garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2
 cup of unsweetened full-fat coconut milk
• 1 
cup of frozen peas
• 
Hot cooked rice (I used jasmine)
• 
Chopped peanuts (optional; I used)
• 
Snipped fresh cilantro (optional; I didn’t use, not a cilantro fan)

1. In a slow cooker, place the onions, carrot, and sweet pepper.  Top with the chicken.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the broth, peanut butter, lime peel, lime juice, soy sauce, tapioca, ginger, curry paste, and garlic until smooth.  Pour over all in cooker.
3. Cover and cook on low-heat setting for 5 to 6 hours or on high-heat setting for 2-1/2 to 3 hours.  Stir in coconut milk and peas.  Let stand, covered, for 5 minutes.
4. Serve chicken mixture over hot cooked rice. If desired, sprinkle each serving with chopped peanuts and cilantro.

Original recipe here

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