Thai Chicken Peanut Noodles is what you make when you’ve got less than 15 minutes to get dinner on the table and you need a Thai fix! Using chicken mince means no meat prep – and you can switch out with literally any ground meat (beef, turkey, pork).
Thai Chicken Peanut Noodles
Firstly, let me be very upfront that this is by no means an authentic Thai dish. Which is why I don’t even classify it as part of the Thai recipes collection. 😂
It’s just a really tasty one-skillet, minimal-prep dinner that’s full of Thai-inspired flavours.
Specifically, Thai Peanut Sauce flavours. All you Thai Chicken Satay fans out there will LOVE it!
What you need for Thai Chicken Peanut Noodles
Note the use of chicken mince and baby spinach here – no chopping involved! 🙌🏻
Noodle cake (instant noodles) – Use any instant or ramen noodles you can get your hands on. We’re discarding the seasoning packet and making our own sauce. Using instant noodle cakes is ideal because the crinkly nature of the noodles captures the chicken mince bits. Also, it’s indestructible 😂;
Thai red curry paste – Our flavour shortcut. There is a time and place for homemade red curry paste. But tonight is not it! (PS. Regular readers who know I’m a bit snobby about my favourite red curry paste brand: Maesri. For this dish, I’m a little more relaxed because … well, you know. Quick ‘n easy midweek meal and all. Anything will do. 🙂
Chicken mince (ground chicken) – Pork and turkey make perfect substitutes, though actually beef works really well too. I’m not convinced about lamb, but then again, Lamb Satay is darned delicious!
Curry powder – While you might think this looks out of place, curry powder is an ingredient in Thai Chicken Satay. So adding a touch here adds more authentic flavour into this totally non-authentic dish 😉. Plus, it’s a good way to get flavour into chicken mince;
Peanut butter – It’s not peanut sauce without peanut butter! Commercial spread is fine here, though you do get more intense peanut flavour using natural peanut butter (ie. no salt, sugar or oil added);
Soy sauce – For a touch of extra salt in the dish. I like to use dark soy sauce because it stains the white chicken mince, giving it a nice colour. But light, all-purpose soy sauce, tamari or even mushroom soy will work just fine. Just no sweet soy;
Vinegar – For an essential touch of sour for balance (yes, it’s used in real Thai Peanut Sauce too). I use cider vinegar here although normal white vinegar will work fine too;
Coconut milk and chicken broth/stock – Together, these make the sauce for these noodles. Full fat for coconut milk please. If you opt for low fat, do not complain if you are disappointed with the sauce flavour! 😂
Baby spinach – Takes mere seconds to wilt, and an easy way to up the veg quot. No chopping required, just throw into this dish.
Here’s a photo of what I think is the best Red Curry Paste, by a long shot. It also happens to be the cheapest, at around $1.50 or so a can compared to $3+ for other brands. I use it for all my authentic Thai recipes as the alternative to homemade Red Curry Paste.
Having said that, as I mentioned above, because this is a quick and easy midweek dinner, do not be too concerned about hunting down Maesri – any brand will do the job nicely.
How to make Thai Chicken Peanut Noodles – in 12 minutes!
One might look at the ingredients above (or how delicious the dish looks!) and think, “this can’t take 12 minutes!!“. The trick here is that the only thing you need to chop is the garlic (and toppings) and there’s a nice work flow so you can measure out the ingredients while you’re cooking.
Oh – and yes, the noodles are cooked in the same skillet the chicken is cooked in. No pre-cooking required!
Garlic first, then cook the chicken, breaking it up as you go;
Red curry paste and soy sauce next, sautéed with the chicken to give it good flavour and colour;
Chicken stock/broth next, simmered for a bit to take the raw flavour out of it;
Then squish the noodle cakes in, submerging them as best you can;
Cook noodle cake 45 seconds on one side, flip, cook another 30 seconds, then break them up;
Add the remaining sauce ingredients: coconut milk, peanut butter and vinegar. Then give it all a good toss;
Finally add the baby spinach right at the end. It won’t take much longer than 30 seconds or so to wilt; and
Serve it up! NB. You can either garnish with peanuts and fresh coriander/cilantro before or after serving. I’ve been known to do both. 🙂 Also, a good squirt of Sriracha chilli sauce won’t go astray!
This is a dish that’s intended to be a quick meal so you don’t need to worry about adding a side dish or similar to get your greens in. You can be very generous with the baby spinach because it wilts down into nothing.
Also, this is saucier than other quick noodle cake / ramen-based quick meals I’ve shared previous (like this Asian Beef Mince one, Chicken and Vegetable one and Mushroom one). Because, well, you know. Thai Peanut Sauce? We can never have enough!! 😂 – Nagi x
Watch how to make it
Note: Error in video! Soy sauce is shown added in with the coconut milk. Soy sauce is should only be added with the chicken!
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12 Minute Thai Chicken Peanut Noodles
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp oil
- 1 garlic clove , minced
- 200g/7oz chicken mince (ground chicken) (Note 1)
- 1 tsp curry powder (Note 2)
- 1 1/2 tbsp red curry paste , separated (Note 3)
- 1 tsp dark soy sauce (Note 4)
- 1 1/2 cups chicken stock/broth , low sodium
- 3/4 cup coconut milk (~1/2 a can), full fat for best flavour
- 2 tbsp cider vinegar
- 3 tbsp peanut butter
- 2 instant ramen or noodle cakes ~70-100g/2.5-3.5oz per cake; any brand (discard seasoning pack, Note 5)
- 2 (big!) handfuls baby spinach
To serve:
- 2 tbsp peanuts , finely chopped
- Roughly chopped fresh coriander/cilantro leaves
- Sriracha or other chilli paste , optional
Instructions
- Heat oil in a skillet over high heat. Add garlic and cook for 20 seconds until it turns golden.
- Add chicken mince and cook for 2 minutes, breaking it up as you go, until it mostly changes from pink to white.
- Add 1 tbsp red curry paste, curry powder and soy sauce. Cook for 1 minute.
- Clear a space in the middle of the pan, add remaining 1/2 tbsp curry paste, stir the curry paste for 30 seconds.
- Add chicken stock, bring to a simmer then reduce to medium-high. Simmer for 1 minute.
- Squish the noodle cakes in, pushing chicken aside so the noodles are as submerged as possible.
- Leave to cook for 45 seconds, then flip noodles. Leave for another 30 seconds, then separate the noodles with 2 wooden spoons.
- Push noodles aside, add coconut milk, peanut butter and vinegar, then give it a quick mix to mostly dissolve the peanut butter.
- Add spinach, toss with the noodles for 30 seconds until wilted. Make sure it's still pretty saucy – everybody loves sauce!
- Transfer to serving bowls, sprinkle with coriander, peanuts and Sriracha or chilli paste if desired.
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
Life of Dozer
Dozer on the job.
Would you be able to use chicken thighs instead of chicken mince?
Hi Catherine, you’d need to chop it up finely like mince for it to cook the in the same time 🙂 N x
This dish is a bit of a different make for me but so glad I gave it a go, it was amazing! It took me longer than 12 minutes, I always take longer than recipes say plus I remembered my can opener had carked it halfway through opening a can last week and ended up being tossed (still attached to the can RIP) so had to stab my red curry tin open with a cheese knife.
Anyway, for the fellow vegos, I didn’t have veggie mince so I cooked with a bag of Quorn Pieces – delicious!
Thanks Nagi 🙂
Hi, I finally found this recipe that I saved. I have to say this is superb. I made a double batch and found that I could’ve used more red curry paste (I’ll know next time). I also used rice noodles instead of 2min noodles.
This is a really easy and tasty dish. I keep meaning to give it to my daughter that is away at school and will be starting grad school next year and will be doing all of her own cooking because she lives alone. I’m making sure that my other daughter also gets this recipe because she moves out of the dorms next year and will not be on a meal plan. That daughter is vegan but tempeh, tofu, edamame, or any other protein could easily be substituted. It’s always good for college kids to have something easy to make.
What I like about this recipe is that it is easily modifiable and serves well as a base recipe. It is great as is but I’ve changed it up a few times. As you said, the protein is easily changed. I’ve also added Thai basil at the end and sometimes have used fish sauce instead of soy sauce. Perhaps a bit of lime juice afterward to brighten it up a bit if I have fresh limes on hand. I’ve also used rice vinegar instead of cider vinegar but that does not make a huge difference. The ramen noodles that I used in this are bought in a pack of 9 and are round cakes. They don’t come with the seasoning packet. I have a great Asian market near where I live and they always have them on hand. They’re also a bit healthier to eat than the supermarket ramen noodles in the rectangular packet. I also use a healthy amount of raw peanuts and stir fry them in advance so that they’re ready at the end.
I have a question about the nutritional information that you posted. You said that there are 48 grams of fat and 22 grams of saturated fat. Is this for the entire amount or per serving? When I make it I don’t think it is near those numbers. I usually use boneless and skinless chicken breast that I grind myself. I know that there is not much fat there. The noodles that I use probably only have 1 gram of fat per cake. Perhaps the “supermarket” noodles have more? I do use full-fat coconut milk and I know that has a pretty good amount of fat so perhaps that is where most of the grams of fat are from. I agree that the full fat has the best flavor but if someone does not want that many fat calories the light coconut milk would also work. I suppose that the remainder of the fat calories is from peanut butter and peanuts. Even so, that still doesn’t seem like it should add up to the number you have. Anyway, thank you for posting this. It might not be authentic but it is very good.
I think that I submitted my review without a rating. 5 stars, definitely…
Hi, Ive made this a couple times now and my husband and I absolutely love it. Only problem is, I cant handle the spicy and hubby wants it at least once a week. Do I cut back on the curry paste or the curry powder to mild it down a bit? Thanks
Hi Belinda, the spice level of different brand curry powders does differ between brands, I would just cut this down to half and reduce the curry paste to 1 tbls to reduce the spice level. N x
So-so good! We’re fans of your chicken satay recipe and these noodles don’t fail to please! Thanks for sharing!
This was delicious. So filling and super easy to make. I didn’t have spinach. I added red peppers, carrots and celery sautéed separately and added after I cooked the chicken.
I made this tonight.! But it was a big soupy (but delicious) mess. Cannot work out what happened haha. It was waaaaay too spicy for my kids too. But I know if I reduce the red Curry paste it’s going to affect the flavour 😔.
Hi Nagi! You’re a life-saver!
I was wondering if the red curry paste can be substituted with green curry paste?
It will have a different flavour, but yes you definitely could Cheryl. N x
Can you use thickened cream instead of coconut milk? I don’t have any coconut milk or coconut cream. Thanks 😊
You can Bobbi, it just won’t have the same flavour that coconut milk would. N x
100% thumbs up in our house tonight! I had the siracha ready but even our spice loving family didn’t need the extra. We’re currently arguing about who gets the leftovers tomorrow!
So easy & tasty. Would definitely add some ginger next time but otherwise absolutely perfect
Hello Nagi! I tried this recipe but it tasted kind of heavy- it may be because of peanut butter I use- which one do you use? Thanks!
Hi Gulnur, how do you mean heavy? I generally use natural peanut butter (but commercial stuff is fine here too) N x
Excellent recipe. It has a nice bite, as followed, even without the siriracha. I will definitely make again. Thank you.
Hi Nagi, I bought the Lodge 26 frypan and it Gorgeous and not as heavy as I thought it would be.
I decided to use it try making this recipe, BUT it gets soo hot it cooked too quickly and of course over cooked and was sludgy !
Will have to try again but in a lower heat !
They do retain a lot of heat – sounds like you may of had the heat a little too high! N x
Hi Nagi
Thanks for the reply, yes I guessed that. !
I decided to make a pizza and cook it in the cast iron pan, yup it gets hotter than I thought.
My problem is it burnt on the bottom with the burnt dough sticking to it ! what can I use to get the burnt bits off ? I tried soaking, no good !
So yum and quick! Used “fake” rehydrated chicken and didnt have peanuts so sprinkled with fried onions for texture. Definitely make again.
I forgot to get the spinach out the freezer! Still this was really nice for a quick weeknight meal. Reminded me of (good) student food.