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Just made this exactly as stated and it was amazing. I loved the simple ingredients but big flavor. Thank you!! 🙂
This recipe is a fan-favorite! It was originally published in 2022 as part of our Fall 2022 SOS Series! View the full series.
This juicy, quick-marinated, ginger-spiked chicken on a bed of THE MOST LUSH coconut jasmine rice, with speckles of crunchy peanuts, bright fresh cilantro, and lime squeezers is coming to save your day.
In This Post: Everything You Need For This Peanut Chicken
- VIDEO for How to Make This Peanut Chicken
- Why This Recipe is Weeknight-Fancy SOS
- How to Make Coconut Rice
- What to Serve with This Ginger Peanut Chicken
- FAQ about this recipe
Why This Recipe Is Weeknight-Fancy SOS
We are definitely ride-or-die for weeknight-easy meals but it’s definitely a bonus when it can still feel a little fancy-adjacent, you know? A little elevated. We also love a frozen pizza or an “ok, it’s popcorn for dinner!” kind of night, too…but it’s nice when that level of ease can also be lovely and delicious and look harder than it was. So, that’s the sweet spot these SOS recipes are always kinda going for.
To bring this lil’ gem together:
- Marinate the chicken. Do you haaaave to? Nah. But it’s a great extra boost you can give the chicken while you’re prepping the rest of your ingredients anyway! The flavor will be there even if your heart says 😩 to marinating.
- Make your rice. Everything goes into the Instant Pot, voila! Perfect coconut rice.
- Caramelize dat chicken. Get all that deliciousness in your pan and let’s go. You actually want to leave it undisturbed in the hot pan for a bit anyway to get all that caramelly sear, so yay! Less to do!
That’s really just about it, a simple 1-2-3! You’ll toss your peanuts and greens in there once the chicken thighs are cooked through. We love a cilantro/green onion blend but we’ve also done it with spinach for an A+ situation. Whatever you love!
Top with more peanuts, more lime squeezes, everything spilling over that fluffy, luscious coconut rice…ok, YES, SOS. We see you.
How To Make Coconut Rice (And Why It’s Heaven)
We really don’t know what to say about this coconut rice other than we…never stop thinking about it? Like, awkwardly so. Have you tried this other SOS fave with coconut rice? Oof.
It’s still an easy Instant Pot button-push away (or rice cooker/stove top if you prefer), so no extra work, but it IS extra luxe. That coconut milk just replaces part of the cooking liquid – yep, it’s that simple – and the result is out of this world. It doesn’t turn out creamy exactly, but it is just sort of…velvety? Is that a thing?
So satisfying and rich that you don’t need any kind of extra sauce on the chicken, except for a lime squeeze or two for brightness. We are so very star-eyes about all of it.
What To Serve With This Ginger Peanut Chicken
Everything absolutely shines as is, but if you’d like to get some extra green on the table alongside, some roasted broccoli or maybe some seared green beans might be nice. There’s always another of our SOS-iest faves: this simple green salad. Simple, lovely, a never-fail.
Do you want to pile the rice/chicken in a lettuce wrap? Hello, yes you’re a genius!
Does extra-good puppy chow count as a side-dish? It does now.
Do you want to just open a bag of baby carrots because hey, you already accomplished a lot with this dinner? Have at it! You win. Always.
Welcome to the *almost* end of winter. Let’s really celebrate with some easy dinner wins. 🏆
Ginger Peanut Chicken: Frequently Asked Questions
For sure! You’ll lose some of the crunch, but it will still be delicious. As an alternative to peanuts, cashews would also work well here.
Cooking the rice in a rice cooker or just on the stovetop should work well. To make it on the stove, you can add 2 cups of rice, 1.5 cups of water, and a 14-ounce can of coconut milk to a large pot and bring it to a boil. Once it’s boiling, you can reduce the heat to a simmer, cover the pot, and cook the rice for about 15-20 minutes.
Not really, the flavor will come through either way, but as long as you’re prepping everything else anyway – rice, toppings, etc. – it will just give the chicken more time to absorb that goodness if you start that first.
Watch How To Make This Recipe
Ginger Peanut Chicken with Coconut Rice
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 4 1x
Description
Juicy, quick-marinated, Ginger Peanut Chicken on a bed of THE MOST LUSH coconut jasmine rice, with speckles of crunchy peanuts, bright fresh cilantro, and lime squeezes.
Ingredients
Ginger Peanut Chicken
- 1 1/4 pounds chicken thighs, fat trimmed, cut into small bite-sized pieces
- 1-inch piece of ginger, grated
- 3 green onions, thinly sliced (white parts and green parts separated)
- zest and juice of 1-2 limes
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 1 tablespoon olive oil or avocado oil
- 2–3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 cup chopped roasted peanuts
- 1/2 cup chopped cilantro
- 1 cup spinach, bok choy, etc.
Coconut Rice
- 2 cups white or jasmine rice
- 1 1/2 cups water
- 1 can coconut milk
- a pinch of salt
Instructions
- Marinate Chicken: In a stainless steel bowl, mix the chicken with the ginger, green onions (white parts), lime zest, brown sugar, salt, and oil. Marinate for 20 minutes-2 hours.
- Rice: Add the rice ingredients to an Instant Pot. Cook on high pressure for 3 minutes, followed by a natural pressure release for 10-15 minutes (it won’t be quite done yet after 3 minutes – it needs the rest time to finish cooking). Release the steam, fluff with a fork, and attempt not to eat the whole thing! (Don’t have an Instant Pot? Alternative methods are in the notes section!)
- Cook Chicken: Heat a large skillet (nonstick or cast iron work well) to medium-high heat. Add the marinated chicken to the pan, working in 1-2 batches depending on the size of your pan. Leave the chicken sitting undisturbed for several minutes to get a nice caramelization on the chicken.
- Adding Extras: When all the chicken is cooked, turn the heat down slightly and add the peanuts and garlic to the pan. Sauté for 3-5 minutes to get the peanuts roasty and the garlic nice and fragrant.
- Finish by adding in the cilantro, green onion, and spinach. Squeeze lime juice into the pan and season with more salt and pepper as needed.
- Serve over coconut rice! SO simple but so good.
Notes
To cook the coconut rice on the stove or in a rice cooker: Cooking the rice in a rice cooker or just on the stove top should work well. To make it on the stove, you can add 2 cups of rice, 1.5 cups of water, and a 14-ounce can of coconut milk to a large pot and bring it to a boil. Once it’s boiling, you can reduce the heat to a simmer, cover the pot, and cook the rice for about 15-20 minutes.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Asian-Inspired
Keywords: ginger chicken, peanut chicken, coconut rice, easy chicken recipe
Absolutely amazing. This was the first time cooking that I felt like my food looked and tasted like takeout! One note: We left off the spinach/bok choy. With the incredible caramelization on the chicken, I didn’t want to disrupt the flavor profile with the greens. We made a side asian slaw instead! Overall an incredible recipe!
Would you mind telling me why the sodium count is so high in this recipe? Sounds yummy but I can’t do that much sodium. Thanks
Super flavorful chicken, but my husband said it was too sweet for him. Next time I’ll leave out the brown sugar, serve his up, then add just a little brown sugar to mine. Or only add half the brown sugar, see if that works for him. Served it with plain brown rice, so can’t review the rice part of the recipe. Thanks for another great option for chicken.
Please clarify if the recipe calls for unsweetened coconut milk, or regular?
unsweetened!
Made this tonight. I love this as is but family wants to add some kind of a sauce topping.
Was really tasty! A little too much prep for me a weeknight quick meal, but it was delicious!
So delicious! I didn’t have any lime so I used two Real Lime packets in the marinade and it was perfect.
Could you make this ahead and then feeeze, with or without rice?
Definitely!
This was great! I added a little natural PB to the marinade but otherwise made the recipe as written. My family loved it. I only with there was some extra sauce to serve over the rice.
When do you add the ginger?
Hi! You’ll see it in step 1.
Delicious! Especially the coconut rice! Thank you!
This is quite urgent as i am buying items for the rice in 1 day. But is it unsweetened or sweetened coconut milk for the rice? Thank you
Unsweetened!
I can’t have refined sugar. Could I sub with coconut sugar or honey?
Honey will work well!
We absolutely loved this one!! I made the coconut rice in my rice cooker and it cooked perfectly. The only change I made was to add some sliced water chestnuts, because I had some leftover from a previous recipe. I will definitely double the recipe next time, so we don’t have to fight over the leftovers.
PHENOMENAL! I only marinated the chicken for only 29-30 minutes and it was SO full of flavor. I also had no coconut milk so just plain rice. I deviated from Indian butter chicken meatballs to this do one of my lines was even questionable on how many days it had left. So I got to get rid of ingredients and make an awesome dinner. I made my husband tofu with this marinade and in air fryer. If I had more limes I would have made that lime drench for the lettuce wrap recipe. I’ve forwarded the recipe to friends as I was taking last bite. Can’t wait to make again with proper ingredients!! I’ve been eyeing this one for years but I was plant based until a year ago. Worth the wait! .
Do you rinse the rice?? Doesn’t state it in ingredients or directions.
This turned out really good! I used a pound of ground chicken instead of the thighs and it turned out great. Husband requested it again!
This recipe has been on our rotation for awhile, always so good! I’d love to see an air fryer version of this if possible. The caramelization is a bit hard on my pans and the POY air fryer chicken is amazing!
I made this for the first time tonight for my two picky neurodivergent tweens. I omitted the greens and cilantro, opting for plain frozen broccoli on the side (which they both like). They both loved it! Thanks for providing our family a recipe that everyone actually likes besides pizza and chicken nuggets!
I made this with tempeh! Used one block and didn’t change anything except to half the rice and added some shredded carrots with the greens. It was amazing, I will probably try tofu next.
This was amazing! I didn’t change a thing except to make the rice in the pot. Maybe next time I might add in some red chili flakes and vegetables. Seems like you can do a lot with this recipe.
Lovely recipe used lemon as no lines x
This is so delicious! We make this with chicken tenders cut into small pieces and leave out the spinach/bok choy and serve with steamed or roasted broccoli on the side instead. We make this at least once a month, it’s so good!
Delicious! The only minor adjustment I made was adding salt to the rice before cooking. My family loved the flavorful chicken, fresh herbs and fun textures added in.
I made this tonight for the first time. Swapped ground turkey for the chicken because my kids can be picky about chicken. It was delicious! Happy to have a new recipe we all enjoy!