Thai peanut chicken & zucchini noodle bowls are quick and easy to make, healthy, and incredibly tasty.
I’m kicking myself for waiting so long to get my hands on a spiralizer. Ignorance was not bliss, ignorance was a whole lot of years missing the joy of spiralized e.ver.y.thing. and it’s almost like I new deep down that I needed one because so many times I’d put one in my online shopping cart and just never execute the purchase. Why? No clue you guys, no clue. Except that I think I had this weird thought running through the back in my mind that maybe spiralizing was a fad and I didn’t want to conform.
News Flash: not a fad. Just plain, utter genius.
This dish is a variation on one I’ve made many times – a simple grilled chicken and noodle bowl topped with creamy Thai peanut sauce. Sometimes I throw in veggies, sometimes I skip em, sort of depends on what’s in my fridge. But today we are ditching the traditional noodles and doing the zucchini noodle thang and I’m all about it.
And this is the part where I sell you on this recipe by telling you about how much my husband loved it – a person who typically would shy away from anything resembling a noodle but is not made with flour and water. I know I’ve used this tactic before but there is power in knowing that someone who wouldn’t normally be expected to like a dish ends up loving it, right? For example, I personally hate spaghetti with red sauce. Hate it. So if I ever share a spaghetti and red sauce recipe on this blog you’ll know it’s DANG good.
I feel like a spaghetti that good is many years off so for today let’s fall in love with zucchini noodles and peppers topped with chicken and the most addictive, creamy peanut sauce you could ever dream of. Mmkay?
Don’t have a spiralizer?? This is the one I use! —>
Thai Peanut Chicken & Zucchini Noodle Bowls
Ingredients
- 3-4 boneless skinless chicken breasts - pounded to even thickness
- 1 tablespoon oil
- salt and pepper to taste
- 2-3 medium zucchini - spiralized
- 1 large red bell pepper - thinly sliced
- ¼ cup cilantro - roughly chopped
- ¼ cup peanuts - roughly chopped
- sesame seeds - (optional)
- lime wedges - for serving
Sauce
- ⅓ cup creamy peanut butter
- 4 tablespoons water
- 4 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce
- ½ teaspoon sesame oil
- 2 teaspoons brown sugar
- ¼ -½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
Instructions
- Drizzle a large skillet with oil and bring to medium heat on stove. Season chicken on both sides with salt and pepper to taste. Add chicken to pan and cook 4-6 minutes on each side until browned on the outside and cooked through. Transfer to a cutting board or platter and allow to rest.
- Whisk together all sauce ingredients.
- Steam or boil zucchini noodles and pepper til just tender (you can also put them in a large bowl and microwave them for about 2-3 minutes for a shortcut!)
- Assemble bowls with zucchini noodles and peppers on the bottom. Dice chicken and assemble on top of zucchini and peppers. Drizzle sauce over the top and sprinkle with cilantro, peanuts, and sesame seeds. Serve immediately. Serve with lime wedges for squeezing on top if desired.
Notes
Nutrition
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This was excellent! So easy and so delicious!
This recipe is one of my favorite things to eat. It’s addicting. Only thing I change is using low sodium or unsalted peanutbutter in addition to the low sodium soy sauce.
Hi Tiffany, I love your site and have made some delicious meals thanks to your recipes. I just made the Thai Peanut Chicken & Zucchini Noodle Bowls last night. No one loves peanut sauce more than I do, so I was super excited to make it. The sauce seemed to have to strong of a soy sauce component to it and wasn’t as sweet as I was hoping it would be. Do you have any suggestions?
Thank you
Thank you! If you want to simply get rid of the soy sauce flavor, you can try and add more peanut butter. You can also try a squeeze of fresh lime juice