Peanut-Braised Chicken Breasts cook in an Asian-inspired gingery, slightly spicy peanut sauce served with a limey cabbage carrot salad.
Peanut-Braised Chicken Breasts
I am constantly looking for ways to take boneless, skinless chicken breasts and make them less boring. I personally love dark meat, so adding some flavor is a must! Braising them in this gingery, slightly spicy peanut sauce does the trick. The sauce doesn’t use much peanut butter, just enough for flavor. You can see more tasty chicken breast recipes here. For more peanut sauce recipes, try my Chicken Satay with Spicy Peanut Sauce, Spiralized Summer Roll Bowl with Hoisin Peanut Sauce, and Asian Peanut Noodles with Chicken.
How to Cook Peanut-Braised Chicken
- Season the chicken with salt and pepper and then cook for five minutes in a skillet.
- Flip the chicken over and add the peanut sauce ingredients.
- Turn down the heat and let the chicken and sauce simmer for about 20 minutes until the chicken is cooked through and the sauce is reduced.
What is peanut sauce made of?
This peanut sauce is so simple to make, made of the following ingredients:
- Natural Peanut butter
- Sriracha
- Ginger
- Garlic
How to Serve Peanut Chicken
Slice the chicken and serve it over fluffy white rice, brown or veggie rice, quinoa with thinly sliced raw cabbage and carrots mixed with a little lime juice. Spoon the sauce over everything and top it with cilantro. The rice soaks up the yummy peanut sauce, and the salad with lime is a nice compliment to the spicy peanut sauce.
Variations:
- You can add sliced cucumber to the salad for another crunchy, cooling veggie.
- Buy a bag of coleslaw, which is just pre-shredded cabbage and carrots, to save time.
- Swap the peanut butter for nut-free butter like Wow Butter.
- Serve over cauliflower rice for a low-carb option.
- You can store the chicken with sauce, rice, and salad in separate containers in the refrigerator for up to three days.
More Braised Chicken Recipes You’ll Love:
- Braised Chicken Thighs with Mushrooms and Leeks
- Braised Chicken with Tomatoes and Rosemary
- Braised Chicken Drumsticks in Tomatillo Sauce
- Turmeric Braised Chicken with Golden Beets and Leeks
Peanut-Braised Chicken Breasts
Ingredients
- 1/2 small red cabbage, shredded (about 4 1/2 cups)
- 1 cup shredded carrots
- 2 limes, halved
- 2 tsp olive oil
- 1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 4 small organic boneless skinless chicken breasts, (about 6 oz each)
- Pepper, to taste
- 1 1/2 cups water
- 1/4 cup peanut butter, natural no sugar added
- 1 tbsp Sriracha chili sauce, plus more for serving
- 1 tbsp grated ginger
- 1 large garlic clove, grated
- brown rice or veggie rice, optional for serving
- cilantro, optional for garnish
Instructions
- Mix the cabbage and carrots with the juice of 1 lime, 1 tsp olive oil, and 3/4 tsp salt. Taste and add the juice of up to another half lime if you like. Let marinate while you make the chicken.
- Season the chicken with the remaining 3/4 tsp salt and pepper.
- Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until hot.
- Add the remaining 1 tsp oil and the chicken and cook until the chicken is golden on one side, about 5 minutes.
- Flip the chicken and add the water, peanut butter, Sriracha, ginger, and garlic.
- Bring to a boil and use your spatula to help dissolve the peanut butter.
- Reduce the heat and simmer, flipping the chicken occasionally to baste it and stir the sauce around, until the chicken is cooked through and the sauce has reduced, about 20 minutes, depending on the size of your chicken breasts.
- Let the chicken rest for 5 minutes then slice.
- Juice the last lime half into the peanut sauce and stir so the sauce smooths out again.
- Divide the vegetables among four plates, top each with sliced chicken, spoon the peanut sauce over, and serve with rice on the side.
- Garnish with cilantro.
yum yum yum YUM! I didn’t have the ingredients for the salad, but I had them for the chicken, so I served the chicken with rice for my husband and regular side salads. I was literally licking the pan after I put the leftovers away. Delicious, Gina – thank you for another winner!!
A consistent favorite! I added some cucumber and green onion tonight in a “use it or lose it” dinner and it was great!
Perfect!
This was SO good and satisfying! I made the salad with broccoli slaw that I had on hand, plus added some cilantro. I used powdered peanut butter and chicken broth for the sauce, and it thickened up beautifully. I added a few peanuts to the slaw (since I saved a couple points with the powdered peanut butter). A great meal!
This was so easy, using a bag of pre-shredded cabbage and carrots (Cole slaw!) I used chicken broth as many reviewers suggested, and extra garlic and ginger. I used regular creamy, peanut butter, since that’s what I had. I used 1 teaspoon of Sriracha sauce, and then added some more to each person‘s plate, as desired. All the flavors together, were really delicious, and I appreciate such a quick easy recipe. Thank you Gina! 💕
Oh boy! This was delightful. I made it with PB2 which I mixed up before adding to recipe. Also used green cabbage since I had it on hand. After reading other comments, used 1cup of chicken broth. Sauce thickened perfectly. Your recipes have made me look forward to being in the kitchen.
I love this recipe. Quick to make and so tasty.
We love this recipe! So tasty and easy plus it only dirties one pan.
Delicious and easy. Not too many dishes. I mixed up the chicken ingredients in a measuring cup before adding to chicken, mixed in so easy. The amount of water turned out for a nice thickened sauce with the 20 minute simmer time. I upped the siracha and added a minced jalapeño to the slaw. Fun weekday recipe I will make again
Is it possible to use regular peanut butter?
Sure
This was SO GOOD. My husband asked me to add to our rotation – which is rare for him! I have tried many Skinnytaste recipes but this might be my favorite. Super simple and packed with flavor.
This is a delicious recipe!
I tweaked it a bit to suit my taste to intensify the layers of flavor. I used chicken cutlets instead of chicken breasts for fast and even cooking, I substituted chicken broth in place of water (1 cup instead of 1-1/2 cups because I used cutlets which cook faster) and I added an extra teaspoon of sriracha and a dash of sugar and salt to the sauce to enhance the peanut flavor.
I think the recipe is great- I just altered it according to my taste.
How much PB2 did folks use?
My husband fixed this for dinner tonight. We (and our 21-year old son) loved it! This will definitely be going into the regular meal rotation.
I am a HUGE Skinnytaste fan. I have been using Gina!/ recipes for over a decade, own all the cookbooks, etc. this was the worst recipe I’ve made. I made it exactly as written. Sauce was both flavorless and thin – never got it to thicken up. Chicken cooked way too long as written. I may try this again because I love the idea, and I will try the following to make this more edible – use broth instead of water, and I’d cut it down to 3/4 to 1 cup. Cook the chicken and the sauce separate from each other; add the sauce in the last few minutes. Increase amount of sriracha, garlic, and ginger by 50%.
This was amazing! I served it over rice noodles and it was very filling! Definitely in my recipe rotation now 🙂
Are you still putting Weight Watchers points on the recipes? I can’t seem to find them.
The link for personal points is below the print button. 🙂
Does the Nutritional Information include the rice and salad or just the chicken?
Just the chicken and cabbage/carrots.
So good! After reading comments I also used chicken broth….the jar flavor – perfect!. I reduced the amount of sriracha and mixed sauce in bowl before adding.
Definitely will make again. Gina!!! You have the best ideas!
Is there something you can substitute sirachi sauce with? I’m not a fan of spicy foods. Would soy sauce work?
I would leave it out. Soy is salt, and I don’t feel this recipe needs more salt. I’d just wing it and adjust after you taste it
This was amazing! I also used Gina’s chicken breast brining method and it turned out so incredibly juicy! Like another reviewer, I also used a low-sodium chicken broth instead of the water. I would recommend mixing the peanut butter, water (or broth), salt, ginger and garlic with a whisk in a separate bowl before adding it into the pot. This will ensure all the flavors are distributed evenly throughout. The sauce slowly thickens and becomes very velvety and lovely. Definitely a recipe to keep!
Enjoyed. This was very different and quite filling w. the rice and the slaw. Lots of flavour and texture
Loved the idea of this recipe. I tasted the peanut sauce half way through and it definitely was too bland… it just was lacking something.
I ended up adding a ~tablespoon of brown sugar, fish sauce, and soy sauce which helped TONS. It was almost perfect so I’m going to try it again with some slight modifications. Overall, great idea but could use a little something something.
I’m on the blue plan and just calculated this out based on the nutritional info you provided. Came out to 8 points… might want to check your calculations.
Wish I had tracked and checked before making and eating,
The only accurate way to determine any recipe’s SmartPoints® value is to plug the ingredients into the recipe builder on the Weight Watchers website (Click on “My Foods,” select “Recipe,” and click “Create a recipe.”) which does not count fruits and vegetables in recipes in the calculations as they are now 0 points.
The SmartPoints® calculator isn’t meant for recipes and will often give you the wrong points (usually higher) because it’s counting the fruits and vegetables. So if you see a recipe with a SmartPoints® value that’s different from what the calculator tells you, now you know why.
Do you think this could be done with boneless chicken thighs?
Sure!
Do you think pb2 would work in this recipe?
I use pb2 nearly exclusively in these types of recipes. Basically if there’s liquid, it’ll be the moisture and add water by .5 tsp to texture preference.
Made this tonight and it was so good. Tons of flavour. It was a little bit spicy for my husband but he ate it and said it was good. Next time I will cut back a bit on the sriracha and just put extra on mine at the end. House smelled like a restaurant.
A-mazing. I LOVE all of the flavors, textures & color. This is quite different from most things I’m accustomed to eating and I’ve made it twice in a short period of time. I didn’t have fresh ginger the first time, but make sure you get it. It makes a big impact and adds more of a kick.
I normally love Skinnytaste recipes, but this one fell flat. Even with the addition of some monkfruit sweetener and some lime juice to the sauce, something was still missing. Couldn’t put my finger on it….
Thought it had really great flavor, and definitely a change of pace for our normal recipes! The issue we had was the chicken breasts were apparently a little thick (even though they were all around 6 oz). It took FOREVER for them to cook. We’ll try slicing the breasts to be a bit thinner next time.
I usually pound chicken breasts to an even thickness, which helps with overall cooking time and an even temp.
THIS!!!! SO AMAZING!! LOVE THE PEANUT SAUCE WITH THE ADDED SPICE!! WOW!!!
This was awesome! Made recipe exactly. DH loved it, too, and he isn’t a fan of chicken. Will be making regularly.
I made this with a small alteration — used chicken broth instead of the water. My sauce was thin so I took the chicken out (after it was cooked through) and boiled the sauce down a bit. Then I added the lime juice which helped perk up the flavor. Otherwise, really enjoyed this dish!
We finally made this recipe tonight, and it was delicious! We definitely will be making it over and over again. The cabbage salad compliments the peanut braised chicken well!
Are the WW points including rice or no?
No, rice is optional.
This was a pretty easy recipe and I enjoyed it – I used sugar free peanut butter and although the heat from the sriracha was good, I prefer my peanut sauce a little sweeter and added honey for the final minutes. Sauce thickened well in 20ish min and the chicken remained juicy. Made it with jasmine rice and think I’ll add broccoli next time. I made the sauce as is and only used 2 chicken breasts – the sauce ratio was great for my preference.
This dish is amazing!! Out of all the Skinnytaste recipes through the years, this one might be my favorite! I love how tender the chicken turned out as well as that peanut slaw combo made it perfect! I hope you’ll do more braised chicken/meat recipes in the future!!
Cole slaw is delicious – the chicken is WAY over cooked at 25 minutes total. Normally I give 5 stars for ST recipes, but this one was really inedible.
It was probably me, because I love all skinnytaste recipes.
I didn’t like anything about this recipe. For me, the chicken was tough, the slaw lacked flavor and the dish was too hot. That could be because I just eyeballed the schirakka though.
I just want to say again I have NEVER given a negative review to skinnytaste. This was the first time ever I disliked a recipe:(
The sauce was delicious!! I used 1 cup chicken stock then added 1/2 cup water near the end of the cooking time to thin it out a bit. The chicken was a bit bland so I will have to season it better next time!!! The coleslaw was delicious as well and I did add the sliced cucumbers.
I want to meal prep this for lunch. Would the cabbage mix hold up for four days? Or should I portion out for each day and add the marinade (portioned out) the day of?
This was SO GOOD. My husband asked me to add to our rotation – which is rare for him! I have tried many Skinnytaste recipes but this might be my favorite. Super simple and packed with flavor.
I made this tonight for dinner with PB2 instead of peanut butter and it was delicious! The slow simmer made even chicken breasts tender and juicy. A delicious meal for 2 Blue Points (when using the PB2) is a definite winner!
How much p 2 did you use?
I added extra fresh ginger and garlic to the sauce. So flavorful and delicious served on the slaw. What a great combination!
Excellent recipe, my husband was impressed (not always easy to do). I did make a couple of changes. I reduced the siracha to 1/2 t. Heat doesn’t agree with my digestion. The only other thing we did was cook our chicken (breast tenders) with our Sous Vide, made the sauce then added the cooked (moist and incredibly tender) chicken to the sauce for a short time. All other ingredients and measurements like the recipe. Will definitely make it again!
Super bland. I made it as written. It needs something. Maybe coconut milk instead of the water? It’s just blah. No payoff for the relatively modest amount of work.
Actually unsweetened coconut milk would be a great idea! I’m making this first time tonight. Gonna try this.
We made this for dinner tonight. It was delicious.
This was delicious! It’s still good on the second day as well. I will definitely be making it again!
I made the other night and it was amazing. I used half regular peanut butter and half Better than Peanut Butter to cut the calories a little bit. It was even better the second day. The whole family loved it.
We loved this recipe! Added more sriracha for more spice. Will definitely make this again!!
I never did get the sauce to thicken up much, even though it did reduce–I did use low sodium broth and PB2 powdered peanut butter. I added some cilantro to the broth as well. I did 1/2 sirachi as I am sensitive to “heat”, so that was good for me. Lime very good in sauce, really makes it to me. So this thinner sauce does lend itself to use a rice or cauliflower rice with it. I like this sauce as no soy sauce that I find way to salty even with reduced sodium type. Must be me. I had different sides as I didn’t have any cabbage –so looked at spicy peanut chicken recipe in “One and Done” and roasted some veggies in the oven–broccoli and sweet potato peeled and cut into cubes. Liked that with this too. See instant pot tried by some with less liquid and that sounds like a nice idea too. Husband really liked it a lot.
Hi, I was wondering if your calorie count includes the rice? Thank you!
AWESOME
I LOVE this recipe! I actually used crunchy natural PB because I already had it, and I really love sautéed cabbage slaw, so I threw it in the skillet separately. My chicken breasts were thick, so my sauce thickened beautifully! I made extra slaw instead of rice. So healthy and good!
This was delicious!! Huge hit at my house. Can’t believe it’s so low cal, and SO tasty. I did cauliflower rice, and added the cucumber to the slaw-nice and refreshing with the spicy chicken! My chicken took a bit longer to cook, so I added some chicken stock along the way to thin out the peanut sauce-I suppose I’ll add a few cals 🙂 great recipe!
Do the 5 points on blue include the rice?
How would I adjust cooking time/directions if I used chicken tenderloins instead of chicken breast.
We made this tonight. Followed the recipe exactly and the sauce never did thicken up really, it stayed kinda watery. So in some respects it was easy to pour over the chicken. Also our chicken breasts didn’t slice up all nice like the picture. The saving grace was the cabbage salad, it was cool and with the lime on it, was perfect.
I love all of Gina’s recipes but this is by far one of the best I’ve made in awhile. So delicious.
Amazing! Super simple to prepare and the flavors were delicious.
Delicious! Easy to make, and easy clean up.
Delicious and super easy to put together. I tasted the slaw on its own and found it a bit tart but it worked perfectly with the spicy chicken. I served it with cauliflower rice.
OMG!!! So tasty! A good amount of heat, cut perfectly by the limey slaw. Slaw was a hit with my kids. I served this with pearled barley to round out the meal and soak up the delicious sauce.
What is the serving size for the points? Is the sauce included?
I have the same question!
This was good not great. The slaw was the best part do the recipe. Usually Skinny taste recipes are amazing. This one fell a little flat for me.
This was a super easy recipe to make. It was also very tasty as well. My son said it is something I can make again!!
Made this for our snowed in Valentine’s Day and it was yummy! We did the thin breast cutlets and just reduced the cooking time by a few minutes.
Used PB2 instead of regular peanut butter and it cut the purple points from 5 to 2. Made this tonight for our Valentines Dinner. Added Birdseye Asian Medley steamed veggies to the slaw and brown rice. Made a wonderful meal.
Made this tonight for our Valentines Dinner. Used PB2 instead of regular peanut butter and it cut the purple points from 5 to 2. Added Birdseye Asian Medley steamed veggies to the slaw and brown rice. Made a wonderful meal.
Love the PB2 powder. How much did you use?
I loved the coleslaw. It was so simple to make with the preshredded carrot/cabbage mix, and it complemented the rest of the meal nicely. I did not realize lime was so good with cabbage. I thought the peanut sauce was a little thin and just ok. I may cook the garlic and ginger with the chicken first , as one reviewer suggested, if I make it again. That said, my partner thought this was really delicious, and loved the whole meal.
This was DELICIOUS. I did not have the sriracha so I substituted chili garlic sauce. This is a keeper.
I made this dish. I enjoyed it.
Next time I will use less ginger and more Sriracha sauce.
Overall a crowd pleaser.
Absolute winner!!
Love this recipe……..next time, I’ll probably cook of the garlic and ginger with the chicken before adding the sauce, just to take a touch of the bitterness out of it but beyond that, it was fantastic!
This recipe was SOOO GOOD. I tossed the cabbage/carrot salad in the leftover sauce in the pan. I regret not making a double batch.
I made it this morning and it was so delicious and easy to make. I made it in instant pot so I didn’t use as much water. Everything else stayed the same. Husband declared this in one his top 10. Thank you for an awesome recipe!
Yum! Do you mind sharing how you cooked in instant pot? Time etc?
Yum! Do you mind sharing how you cooked this in instant pot? Time etc? Thanks!
Sure .. Just know it will come out with some gravy or sauce that you can spoon over rice or noodles.
First season chicken with S+P, set IP on sauté mode, little EVOO, then slightly browned chicken on one side, flipped to the other side. Added Ginger, Garlic, Sriracha and PB.
I only had extra crunchy PB and I was worried about that but it turned out delicious. I added maybe half cup of water. Combined everything – then set mode on Manual with 7 minutes. I actually cut chicken with shears so it was in smaller chunks before setting the lid.
Easy peasy … manual release pressure and I finished a big bowl of it before anyone else could get to it.
Vanessa, did you mean natural release pressure or quick release for the IP recipe?
Thanks.
Sunny
Are the points for just the chicken? Or the rice too?
Rice is not included 🙂
Could I used PB2? if yes, how much would you suggest?
Thanks.
Sure just turn it into peanut butter per the instructions and use the same amount. It wont be as thick and may need some oil added.
Think this would work with almond butter rather than peanut butter? My daughter has a peanut allergy. It looks great!
sure
This was absolutely delish! I threw some cawli and broccoli last 10 mins. Served with Jasmine rice and mango! Yum! 🤗
Hi! Already love all your recipes and it’s only been a few days. Could you tell me, is the nutritional info for the whole dish (rice, veggies) or just the chicken/sauce?
Everything except the rice.
This was soooo good. I didn’t have red cabbage so I just used carrot and cucumber
Our daughter is vegetarian and I wondering if this recipe could be altered with tofu vs. chicken? She loves asian flavors!
I do this substitution a lot – Tofu does really well with peanut sauces. I’d definitely try this, and would probably use a soy/ginger baked tofu.