Description
This Slow Cooker Thai Peanut Chicken is an easy, flavorful, and creamy dish featuring tender boneless skinless chicken breasts cooked to perfection in a rich peanut sauce with coconut milk, garlic, lime, and aromatic spices. Perfect for busy days, this comforting meal is served over rice, noodles, or fresh lettuce wraps and garnished with crunchy peanuts and fresh cilantro for added texture and freshness.
Ingredients
Scale
Main Ingredients
- 1 ½ pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts
- ½ cup chicken broth
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Peanut Sauce
- 1 cup unsweetened canned coconut milk
- ½ cup unsweetened natural peanut butter, crunchy or creamy
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 tablespoons honey
- 3 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons lime juice
- 2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
- 1 tablespoon fish sauce
- ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, more or less to taste
Garnishes and Serving
- Chopped peanuts, for garnish
- Chopped fresh cilantro, for garnish
- Rice, rice noodles, or lettuce leaves, for serving
Instructions
- Prepare Chicken: Arrange chicken breasts in a large slow cooker. Season generously with salt and freshly ground black pepper, then pour the chicken broth into the bottom of the cooker. Cover and cook on LOW for 4 to 6 hours, or until the chicken is fall-apart tender.
- Shred Chicken: Remove the cooked chicken breasts from the slow cooker and place them on a cutting board. Cut into chunks and shred the meat using two forks. Drain the cooking liquid from the slow cooker and wipe it out to prepare for the sauce.
- Make Peanut Sauce: In a medium bowl, whisk together unsweetened coconut milk, natural peanut butter, minced garlic, honey, low-sodium soy sauce, lime juice, rice wine vinegar, fish sauce, and crushed red pepper flakes until the mixture is completely smooth.
- Combine and Cook Sauce: Return the shredded chicken to the empty slow cooker. Pour the prepared peanut sauce over the chicken and stir gently to coat all the pieces evenly. Cover and cook on LOW for an additional 45 minutes to 1 hour, stirring halfway through, until the sauce thickens and everything is heated through.
- Serve: Serve the Thai Peanut Chicken over cooked white or brown rice, rice noodles, or stuffed inside large fresh lettuce leaves as wraps. Garnish with chopped peanuts, fresh cilantro, and additional crushed red pepper flakes if desired for extra heat and texture.
Notes
- Ensure your chicken is fall-apart tender before shredding; if not, cook longer as slow cooker times vary by model.
- Cooking times range between 4 to 6 hours depending on your slow cooker’s heat output—older models may require up to 8 hours.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3 to 4 days or freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge before reheating gently.
- This recipe was updated in 2025 to suit modern slow cookers which run hotter; original version cooked chicken directly in the sauce.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 serving (approx. 1/6 of recipe)
- Calories: 400 kcal
- Sugar: 8 g
- Sodium: 550 mg
- Fat: 22 g
- Saturated Fat: 6 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 14 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 20 g
- Fiber: 3 g
- Protein: 35 g
- Cholesterol: 80 mg
