Slow Cooker Thai Peanut Chicken

6 servings
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 4 hours
Total Time 4 hours 10 minutes

Slow Cooker Thai Peanut Chicken is an easy weeknight meal made with coconut milk, lime juice, peanut butter, ginger and garlic. Skip the delivery!

Slow Cooker Thai Peanut Chicken is an easy weeknight meal made with coconut milk, lime juice, peanut butter, ginger and garlic. Skip the delivery!Slow Cooker Thai Peanut Chicken is one of our favorite meals because the kids love it so much. I find that any time I can add peanut butter to dinner that doesn’t include a sandwich we tend to be happier as a whole family unit because a huge pet peeve of mine is making multiple meals. It happens more than I would care to admit, but on nights when I make something everyone will happily eat I feel a lot more at peace.

This recipe is the slow cooker equivalent of the Sheet Pan Peanut Chicken and Vegetables I posted last week. In the less than ten days since it was posted I got more than a dozen emails asking for a slow cooker version of the recipe. I love this about you guys, you know exactly where I am headed with recipes! I replied saying it was already scheduled for today and you guys were so excited. This brings me to one of my favorite things about how engaged you all are.

If you ever want to see a recipe on the site or have a favorite you’re looking for, please email me! I am totally open to hearing what you guys want to see more of (and yes I know the following: Bacon, Oreo everything and slow cooker). You can email me at contact @ dinnerthendessert.com. By the way, I just want to say how much I love you all and your love for all things bacon, 6 of the top ten recipes on the site have bacon in them!

Slow Cooker Thai Peanut Chicken is an easy weeknight meal made with coconut milk, lime juice, peanut butter, ginger and garlic. Skip the delivery!

This Slow Cooker Thai Peanut Chicken intentionally calls for only a half a can of coconut milk because every time we make this we use the leftovers in our rice. What we do is cook our rice as you would any regular rice, but replace some of the water with the rest of the coconut milk and usually whatever lime juice is left in the lime we are using in the recipe. Served with some roasted Garlic and Ginger Carrots this is a meal your family will enjoy for a long time to come.

The best part of this is also that it is almost completely hands off. You start the chicken in the slow cooker and when you are about a half an hour away from dinner you put your carrots in the oven and make the rice in your favorite rice cooker. Anytime meal prep can be this passive is a win, there won’t be anything cooking on your stovetop for you to watch.

Some tips and tricks for this This Slow Cooker Thai Peanut Chicken:

  • You can cut up the chicken and add the ingredients into a large ziploc bag/bowl the night before if you’d like then you can just put it in the slow cooker in the morning.
  • If you are making this fresh in the morning you can brown the chicken before cutting it up and it will add a deeper flavor.
  • Using chicken thighs can keep the chicken moister and allow for you to cook it longer (7-8 hours on low) if you will be away all day. I recommend boneless skinless thighs for this since the skin would add a lot of rendered fat to the sauce.
  • There are some pre-made garlic and ginger pastes on the market that you can keep on hand if you find that you don’t want to have to keep fresh ginger and garlic in your kitchen.
  • You can easily make this dish on your stovetop or in your oven as well. Add the ingredients to a dutch oven and cook in the oven at 375 degrees for 30 minutes or on your stovetop (covered) on medium heat for 20-25 minutes.

Looking for more slow cooker Chicken Recipes?

Slow Cooker Thai Peanut Chicken is an easy weeknight meal made with coconut milk, lime juice, peanut butter, ginger and garlic. Skip the delivery!

Tools Used in the making of this Slow Cooker Thai Peanut Chicken:
Low Sodium Soy Sauce – I find regular soy sauce much too salty, remember you can always add salt but you can’t subtract it. Starting with low sodium allows you to alter to your tastes if necessary.
Coconut Milk: I stick to the full fat for the thickness and creaminess in the dish, if you want to stick to a lower fat alternative you may want to cook this on the stovetop as it may break the sauce in the slow cooker.
Slow Cooker: Love this slow cooker and how programmable it is, it has been a workhorse for me… until…
My New Slow Cooker: This recipe was made in this slow cooker. For larger roasts I also brown the meat in the insert and not lose a bunch of the flavor by transferring the meat and leaving the browned bits behind. If you’re thinking of a new slow cooker, consider it if your budget is open.

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Slow Cooker Thai Peanut Chicken

Slow Cooker Thai Peanut Chicken is an easy weeknight meal made with coconut milk, lime juice, peanut butter, ginger and garlic. Skip the delivery!
Yield 6 servings
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 4 hours
Total Time 4 hours 10 minutes
Course Main
Cuisine Thai
Author Sabrina Snyder

Ingredients
 

  • 1 cup coconut milk about a half a can
  • 1/3 cup creamy peanut butter
  • 2 tablespoons soy sauce low-sodium
  • 2 tablespoons honey
  • 1 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon ginger peeled and minced
  • 3 garlic cloves minced
  • 3 chicken breasts boneless and skinless
  • 2 tablespoons cornstarch mixed with 2 tablespoons water
  • 1 tablespoon lime juice
  • Optional garnishes: chopped peanuts cilantro or green onions

Instructions

  • To a 6 qt slow cooker, add the coconut milk, peanut butter, soy sauce, honey, rice wine vinegar, ginger, garlic, and stir until combined.
  • Cut the chicken breasts into one inch chunks and add to the slow cooker.
  • Cook on low for 4-5 hours.
  • Add the lime juice and cornstarch/water mixture to the slow cooker and stir carefully.
  • Cook for an additional 20 minutes until sauce is thickened.
  • Garnish with desired toppings like chopped peanuts, cilantro or green onions (or all three!).

Nutrition

Calories: 326kcal | Carbohydrates: 13g | Protein: 29g | Fat: 18g | Saturated Fat: 9g | Cholesterol: 72mg | Sodium: 537mg | Potassium: 612mg | Sugar: 7g | Vitamin A: 35IU | Vitamin C: 3mg | Calcium: 21mg | Iron: 2.1mg
Keyword: Slow Cooker Thai Peanut Chicken

Slow Cooker Thai Peanut Chicken is an easy weeknight meal made with coconut milk, lime juice, peanut butter, ginger and garlic. Skip the delivery!

Slow Cooker Thai Peanut Chicken is an easy weeknight meal made with coconut milk, lime juice, peanut butter, ginger and garlic. Skip the delivery!
Slow Cooker Thai Peanut Chicken is an easy weeknight meal made with coconut milk, lime juice, peanut butter, ginger and garlic. Skip the delivery!
Slow Cooker Thai Peanut Chicken is an easy weeknight meal made with coconut milk, lime juice, peanut butter, ginger and garlic. Skip the delivery!

About the Author: Sabrina Snyder

Sabrina is a professionally trained Private Chef of over 10 years with ServSafe Manager certification in food safety. She creates all the recipes here on Dinner, then Dessert, fueled in no small part by her love for bacon.

Sabrina Snyder is a professionally trained personal and private chef of over 10 years who is the creator and developer of all the recipes on Dinner, then Dessert.

She is also the author of the cookbook Dinner, then Dessert – Satisfying Meals Using Only 3, 5 or 7 Ingredients, published by Harper Collins.

She started Dinner, then Dessert as a business in her office as a lunch service for her coworkers who admired her lunches before going to culinary school and becoming a full time personal chef and private chef.

As a personal chef Sabrina would cook for families one day a week and cook their entire week of dinners. All grocery shopping, cooking and cleaning was done along with instructions on reheating. As a private chef she cooked for private parties and cooked in family homes in the evenings for families on a nightly basis after working as a personal chef during the day.

Sabrina has been certified as a ServSafe Manager since 2007 and was a longstanding member of the USPCA Personal Chef Association including being on the board of the Washington DC Chapter of Chefs in the US Personal Chef Association when they won Chapter of the year.

As a member of the community of food website creators Sabrina Snyder has spoken at many conferences regarding her experiences as a food writer including the Indulge Food Conference, Everything Food Conference, Haven Food Conference and IACP Annual Food Professionals Conference.

Sabrina lives with her family in sunny California.

Dinner, then Dessert, Inc. owns the copyright on all images and text and does not allow for its original recipes and pictures to be reproduced anywhere other than at this site unless authorization is given. If you enjoyed the recipe and would like to publish it on your own site, please re-write it in your own words, and link back to my site and recipe page. Read my disclosure and copyright policy. This post may contain affiliate links.

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Comments

  1. This is a super easy recipe to make and perfect for busy weeknight dinners. My dish did not look as rich in colour (quite beigy bland) and was bland in flavour until we added the cilantro…then all we tasted was cilantro…great but we would like more peanut flavour. Please suggest any tips/tricks to deepen the colour and spice up the flavour.

  2. I made this last night exactly as per your recipe and the whole family lived it! Looking forward to trying more of your recipes here in Sydney, Australia.

  3. Delicious, doubled everything but otherwise followed the recipe exactly. Served with coconut rice, I’d say coconut was the strongest flavor, followed by the peanut butter/lime/ginger. Topped it with some toasted sesame seeds for a little texture and nutty flavor, perfectly balanced for my taste.

    Only issue when cooking was that the chicken was done well before 4-5 hours, I checked the internal temperature of the biggest chunk after 2.5 hours before adding in cornstarch and lime and it registered 174°F, so it was probably done after between 1.5-2 hours of cooking and was slightly overdone. My 6 qt slow cooker doesn’t run particularly hot, around 185°F on low, 4-5 hours to cook 1 inch chunks of chicken just seems like crazy overkill.

  4. This recipe took me about 30 minutes to prep FYI. Granted, I’m pretty slow at cleaning/mincing garlic and ginger.

    I followed this recipe almost exactly and it did not disappoint! It came out super rich, tasty, and filling. The amazing savory smell tortured me for hours. My only adjustment was using 1 tbsp soy sauce instead of 2 because I didn’t have low-sodium soy sauce. I used a large chicken breast that weighed 16oz and cut into cubes as advised. The chicken came out SO TENDER!

    To compliment this recipe I also made a a side of white basmati rice which I cooked using 1 cup water, 1/2 cup coconut milk, and 1/2 lime juiced. It came out FANTASTIC! The chicken in peanut sauce was great served on top of rice.

    Notes: Next time I will use about 20oz of chicken instead of 16oz, because once I was done plating I had roughly 1/2 cup of peanut sauce left in the pot but I didn’t want to drown the rice. Also, I will double the recipe next time so that I can have leftovers for dinner a few times, AND leftovers for the freezer!

    Thanks for this recipe! I’m so excited to see what else my crock pot can do. I never really make Asian food at home anymore because whenever I tried it is never as good as the restaurants so I gave up, but this inspired me to attempt sweet and sour pork or chicken next!

  5. I have not made this yet, But is it possible to make this recipe on a stove and not in a crockpot? I totally forgot to put everything in a crockpot this morning 🙁
    Thanks

  6. Overall it was a good recipe but I too think it is missing depth of flavor. It tasted kind of bland. Still good but next time I may try and find something to add that additional layer of flavor it needs. Thanks for the recipe!

  7. Awesome recipe as it is and really tasty, i don’t know what the people who thought it was bland usually eat (loads of chili’s?) ? I used the exact same recipe to do satay beef except i added onions and capsicum (red pepper). I browned the beef and sauted the onions and threw them in cooker then cooked as per the recipe except for putting capsicum in on the last hour .Kids loved it and was a hit with the wife , thankyou for another awesome recipe….trying your sweet and sour pork tomorrow and can’t wait

  8. I would love to try this but my husband is allergic to coconut. What could I substitute the coconut milk with?

  9. This looks and sounds amazing! I really want to make this soon, but wondering how strong the coconut flavor is where my son hates it, but the rest of us love it. At least we all agree on peanut butter ? BTW, I rarely ever comment on recipes and usually just use them as a base or inspiration, but lately been visiting your site more and more and haven’t been let down! Your tips are perfect and very helpful when typically they’re too amateur and overly repetitive or someone blogs way too much about their recipe. You do a fantastic job with everything and I’ve been letting people know about my new go-to! Thank you ?

    1. I’m so glad you’re loving the site! So sorry your comment got stuck in my spam filter. The coconut flavor isn’t very strong at all. I hope you decide to give it a try.

  10. This looks delicious and I’d love to try it! I wanted to ask, could I use this with pork instead of chicken? My roommate and I both bought pork chops at the same time. =o

    1. I haven’t tested it but I don’t see why not though it may only need to cook on low for 2-3 hours. Keep an eye on it as you don’t want the pork chops to dry out if overcooked. Good luck!

  11. I made this for dinner tonight. Delicious!!!!
    Chicken very tender and we loved the sauce.
    I will pass this recipe to my family and friends.
    Thank you for sharing it.

  12. Delicious. I made it just a written. Cooked in a slow cooker 1 hour high, two hours low. Added a tablspoon of fish sauce and three or four shakes hot sauce and topped with fresh ground pepoer. Served over blanched baby spinach over white rice. Better than my local very good Thai place.

  13. We all Loved it! I added some chili flakes to the sauce before cooking, and used all three options at the end (scallions, peanuts and cilantro). I also turned it up to high for one of the hours to speed things up, so the meal was done after about 3 hours plus the sauce thickening time. Since my peanut butter was already sweetened, I only used about a tablespoon of honey. Delicious! Will definitely make again! Thanks for posting!

  14. Made this today, taking some tips from the comments: added about a tablespoon of mild red curry paste (taste of Thai brand), added a handful of chopped cilantro stems early in the cooking, a few dashes of fish sauce, and some black pepper. It was AMAZING. I was cooking for a family that can’t have spicy food, but it was still super flavorful. When I make this for myself and my husband, I’ll probably use something that gives it some heat, but I didn’t find it bland at all.

    I also doubled the recipe and cooked it for about 2.5 hours on high, until the thickest chicken chunks had an internal temp of 165. Used about 2lbs of chicken. There was still plenty of thick sauce left to smother the broccoli I made on the side.

      1. Carrots in larger chunks, sweet potatoes would work well. Add green veggies, like peas snow peas or broccoli in the last hour.

  15. Looks amazing! Approximately how much weight is the chicken in the recipe? Just wanted to make sure I use a close amount when I substitute chicken thighs.

  16. I enjoy your recipes.Thanks for sharing them.If I double the chicken and the rest of ingredients,do I have to double the cooking time too?Thanks again.

    1. No need to double the time. You may need an additional 30min-hour. Just keep a eye on it. Also, make sure your slow cooker is large enough to fit all the ingredients without it being overcrowded as that will affect the cook time. Good luck!

  17. This is a good dish, but I wouldn’t call it an easy weeknight recipe. There’s a lot of chopping and mixing, and a couple ingredients not in every pantry. And the prep is longer than stated.

  18. Hi Sabrina, could the cooking time for this be adapted to 2-3 hours on high in the crockpot? I’d love to do the longer cook time, but can’t work it into my schedule tomorrow. Also, you mention that thighs could be used instead. How many thighs/pounds do you recommend? Thanks!

    1. Yes, you can cook it on high for 2-3 hours if that works better with your schedule. Depending on the size of the thigh, you could probably use around 4-5 of them instead of breasts. I used about 15 ounces of chicken. Enjoy!

  19. So, I’m an odd person who likes peanuts, to a degree, but I cannot stand peanut butter unless it’s in a cookie or slathered in chocolate. I don’t know if it is the texture, the scent (I ate WAY WAY too much PB & raisins in Kindergarten, and nearly 40 years later, still haven’t recovered. If I get a PB cup, and the chocolate is missing or melted to the wrapper, I almost can’t eat it! I HATE the new “more peanutty” Butterfinger. PB cookies I can tolerate, more because it’s most cookie and sugar than PB…), or what, really…

    I know that seems exaggerated, but I promise you, it’s not. That being said, I love tossing fresh peanuts in a pork with egg noodles dish with garlic, tamari soy sauce, olive oil, sprouts, and such…but the thought in peanut butter in a sauce is almost a non starter for me. Does this sauce actually TASTE like PB??? Or does it disappear and just add savory flavor? I REALLY want to try and LIKE this, but I get ill in the stomach even thinking about making this… I appreciate any advice!

    1. Taste is so subjective but I really don’t think it’s peanut buttery although if you already have an aversion to it, I’m not sure if it would be too much for you or not. You might just have to try it and see. I hope you enjoy it!

      1. It can be too peanut buttery for some but others absolutely love it. Hope you are able to find other recipes that are more to you and your family’s taste.

  20. Bearing in mind the updates of all who left comments, I doubled the sauce recipe, added a tiny hit of red pepper flakes, added sweet chili sauce. In addition to rice vinegar,I added cooking sherry. I forgot to add the garlic. But I didn’t miss it.
    This turned out delicious. My dish looks just like the pics on here.

    Judi

  21. Unfortunately this recipe didn’t have the wow factor I was expecting. As others have pointed out, it was surprisingly bland, considering how wonderfully flavourful all the ingredients are. The addition of extra cilantro and lime on top helps to bring out more flavour.

  22. Great recipe. I make this a lot. Also spice it up a bit myself, most recently with a bit of Carolina Reaper paste.

    Would you happen the have the fiber grams per serving vs the 13 g of carbs?

  23. It’s my second time making this yummy dish. The first attempt was ok but something is missing for my taste so this time I put the whole can of coconut milk added half cup of chicken broth, pinch of red chili flakes, 1 tablespoon of thai red curry, a splash of fish sauce and half cup of sour cream at the cooking to make it creamy. I skip the cornstarch mixture. Its soooooo good.

    1. Thanks for the suggestions. So glad you decided to try it again and customize it to your liking. 🙂

  24. Hi Sabrina, I’d like to try this recipe, however, I don’t like peanut butter. What would be suitable to replace it? I don’t want to buy a glass peanut butter and throw away the left over.

    1. It’s a pretty important ingredient in this recipe, sorry. I’ve never used a substitute for it so I don’t have a recommendation.

      1. Would almond butter or cashew butter make sense in this recipe? I know that the nuts are often used in similar cooking…

  25. I made this for tomorrow’s dinner. After reading some of the previous comments about the dish being bland, I added a half cube of chicken bouillon and a pinch of red pepper flakes to kick up the flavor. I also swapped the soy sauce for liquid amino. The flavor is just to my liking. I’m sure it’ll be even better tomorrow after the seasoning settles and I add the green onions.
    Great recipe!

  26. This looks delicious; I am going to try it! Hey Sabrina, when you refer to a boneless, skinless chicken breast, what is the approximate weight? The size of a chicken breast can vary greatly. Thank you for posting all these yummy recipes!

    1. So glad you’re enjoying the site. I would say the average size of chicken breast is around 4-5 ounces.

  27. First taste is wow! I added a teaspoon of Thai chili paste and a half a cup of chicken broth as I made it in the poultry setting on the instant pot. Plenty of flavor. Delicious!

    1. Did you follow the recipe, but simply poured everything into the Instant Pot? Did you brown and/or cube the chicken first? Sorry for the questions – I just got an Instant Pot and don’t want to blow my first meal prep! Thanks!

  28. I made this recipe for dinner today. Found it a little bland for my taste like something was missing. Is there a spice I could add to make it more flavourful for my liking.

  29. Some of the comments mentioned this was missing something, and I believe it is roasted red chili paste…gives it another layer of flavor and a hint of sweetness. I don’t put it in the crockpot, but instead add around a tsp to my bowl at the table (be sure to give it a good mix). Some comments also mentioned it being bland, and I also had this problem. I believe it’s because I used too much chicken, and store bought. Pastured chickens give off far less water or “juices” when cooked than the cage raised chicken meat you buy at the store. I tasted the mixture before adding the chicken to the crockpot and it was delicious….but when it was done it looked like I had poured 2 cups of water in it and tasted diluted. My fault, I’ll use the amount of chicken called for in recipe next time

  30. DELICIOUS!! When we can’t get across town to our favorite restaurant, Phan Shin, we can have peanut chicken right here at home. Double the sauce – you’ll thank me!
    I chose the oven option and it worked just fine!

      1. I think this is very nice recipe that you can easy spice up if you want.

        One thing I’d like to point out to people ,is that Slow cooker temperatures can vary,so knowing your slow cooker is important .I’m lucky enough to own a 30 year old slow cooker that cooks at a lower temp than today’s pots ( a ruling on temps was changed years ago) so can easily cook chicken all day with no problem.
        I have heard that some of the new one pots are more variable with the slow cooker temps. Also chicken breasts dry out quicker than thighs. Hope that helps.

  31. I made this last night in a Mealthy pot. I added 1 1/2 cups chicken stock, increased peanut butter to 1/2 cup and added 1/2 can of coconut cream instead of coconut milk. Cooked on poultry setting for 15 minutes with natural release. I added 1 can of sliced water chestnuts and chopped green onions after cooking. Everything else was as directed in the recipe and it turned out great! Served with rice cauliflower with peas and carrots, sauteed in remaining coconut creme with lime juice and cilantro for a quick healthy supper. Family loved it!

  32. Wow. Another keeper. I added a generous amount of ground black pepper before the final 20 minutes. I used Pics smooth peanut butter which is made in Nelson, New Zealand.

  33. I followed the recipe to the letter. My family was disappointed in the meal. Very bland. If there is a next time, I’ll use chicken thighs and brown the meat before adding it to the slow cooker. Almost no peanut taste; added cilantro, chopped peanuts and green onions and it was still very nondescript. As some of the others have written, there was just something missing. My results did’t even look the same. It looked like chicken in a light b brown gravy.

  34. HippyTea convinced me to try this. The comments were useful and he/she actually cooked this and constructive information was relayed. Yes, the recipe lives on. “Looks great” does not help in any way…do not intend to be off putting…but, seriously-do you want to be helpful or just have your name/nick name posted….a verbal selfie

  35. I made this last night. It is yummy, but needs a kick of somekind…a bit bland. I am going to try it next time with veggies instead of chicken and a kick of pepper. VERY easy to put together!

  36. Delicious & EASY dish. I used thighs but forgot to pick up fresh ginger.. I added ground ginger & prob wasn’t quite the same. It was wonderful, nonetheless! Thanks for a great recipe.

  37. Are you still happy with the, then new, slow cooker you used when you made this? I read a lot of bad reviews on amazon about the non-stick coating coming off.

  38. I was somewhat hesitant to try this recipes since I have tried numerous other thai chicken recipes and have been disappointed with the results. However l, I decided to try it since I’ve enjoyed several of your other recipes a lot. I loved it and have made it many times

  39. No idea what I did wrong, but the oils seemed to seperate from everything else when I let it sit on the stovetop. Browned the chicken, used thighs instead of Breast and followed the instructions. Help!

  40. I made this for lunch today and everyone (3 men, 2 women) enjoyed it. Next time I make it, I will double the lime juice and add a little bit of either red pepper flakes or jalapeno pepper for a little bit of kick. I found it to be slightly bland. Others in my family suggested adding peanuts for a bit more flavor and crunch. I will make it again.

    1. I have made this 3 times now. Once in a slow cooker and twice on the stove top. The first time I was having a friend over so I halved the recipe(slow cooker). The other two times it was just me so I cut it down to a third(stove top). It is the perfect size for me to have one portion at dinner and one portion for the next day. I don’t like endless leftovers. I serve it over Thai rice noodles. I add some crushed red pepper flakes while cooking and top with sriracha to turn up the heat. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe!!