Spicy Peanut Chicken with Soba Noodles
Spicy peanut chicken with soba noodles is a surprisingly healthy, nutritious and tasty dish. Try it once and you’ll be hooked; it’s great hot, warm or cold, too!
Originally published March 17, 2012
The first time I had this spicy peanut chicken with soba noodles dish, it was made by my lovely friend, Jackie, who lives in La Jolla, California.
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After the first bite, I knew I had to have the recipe! The flavors of the savory sauce combining ginger, peanut, garlic and other ingredients were so incredible together! What I didn’t realize was how healthy and nutritious it was, too.
Most ingredients in this dish are raw; the sauce is uncooked-but don’t let that put you off. It is actually one of my (picky) daughter’s favorite meals, and one she cooks herself quite often (she even eats it cold for school lunches).
She was upset that I was putting it here on my site, not realizing it’s already all over the internet! It is originally a Cooking Light recipe, but I am posting my version with a just a couple of changes (mainly cooking the chicken more than 4 minutes).
Why This Recipe Works
This recipe works because the flavors all work perfectly together, and there’s truly more assembling than cooking! Most of the ingredients are raw, so it’s a great summertime meal (and eating leftovers cold, is excellent, too!)
Have you tried Filipino lumpia or Thai glass noodle stir fry? If not, you’re missing out!
Which Ingredients Should I Use?
- chicken breast – organic, air chilled (if possible)
- chicken broth – homemade is best, but any organic works
- peanut butter – please use a product that only uses peanuts (salt is fine)
- soba noodles – I’m not an expert on soba noodles, but the least ingredients is best and my favorite are actually buckwheat noodles
My Singapore chicken satay skewers with peanut sauce is another dish with similar ingredients!
The spicy peanut sauce the best part of this dish, it’s so easy to make, and full of peanutty-umami flavor. I bet you’ll love this if you make it, and will want to have it on rotation! It’s as perfect for a hot summer night, served chilled, as it is for a cosy dinner in on a winter’s day, but served hot. Let’s get to the recipe, which is basically a lot of assembling.
Spicy Peanut Chicken with Soba Noodles
Slightly adapted from Cooking Light Magazine serves 6
FULL PRINTABLE RECIPE BELOW
Ingredients (amounts aren’t critical)
- boneless chicken breast
- chicken broth (use chicken bouillon with 2 cups water if you do not have broth)
- peanut butter
- fresh ginger
- soy sauce
- honey
- crushed red pepper (cayenne)
- garlic cloves
- fresh snow peas
- carrot
- uncooked buckwheat soba noodles
- green onions/scallions
- unsalted, dry-roasted peanuts
Directions for Spicy Peanut Chicken with Soba Noodles
Place chicken in a large saucepan; add 13 oz broth. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 15 minutes or until chicken is done.
Remove from heat; let stand while preparing other ingredients.
Shave (or grate) carrot lengthwise into thin strips using a vegetable peeler.
Combine 2.5 oz broth, peanut butter, ginger, soy sauce, honey, red pepper (can be omitted if your preference is non-spicy) and garlic.
Stir with a whisk until smooth.
Slice snow peas in half at an angle, then blanche in about 1 cup boiling water for one minute. Drain from water and set aside.
Cook soba noodles according to the direction on package (will be ready in about 5 or 6 minutes.)
While noodles are cooking, remove chicken from broth and cut into bite sized pieces.
Combine carrot, peanut sauce, chicken, snow peas and drained noodles in a large, heated bowl or pot; toss to coat.
Sprinkle with the green onions and peanuts, and that’s it! Add a little sprinkle of hot pepper flakes if desired, and serve. It doesn’t look very appealing, but it tastes great!
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Spicy Peanut Chicken with Soba Noodles
Ingredients
- 13 oz chicken broth see notes for substitutions
- 12 oz skinless, boneless chicken breast (you can also use leftover boiled or roast chicken instead-just skip the cooking part)
- 10 oz buckwheat soba noodles (uncooked)
For the Sauce:
- ⅓ cup chicken broth
- ⅓ cup peanut butter (smooth or crunchy)
- 1 Tbsp fresh ginger (peeled, chopped)
- 1 Tbsp soy sauce
- 2 Tbsp honey
- 1 tsp crushed red pepper (or ½ tsp of cayenne pepper, or to taste)
- 1 clove garlic (or 2, minced)
Add in Ingredients:
- 1 cup fresh snow peas (ends removed)
- 1 medium carrot (peeled)
- 4 green onions (sliced)
- ½ cup dry-roasted peanuts (chopped, unsalted)
Instructions
- Place chicken in a large saucepan; add the 13 oz/ 385 ml broth. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 15 minutes or until chicken is done. Remove from heat; let stand while preparing other ingredients. SKIP THIS STEP IF USING LEFTOVER CHICKEN.
- Combine ⅓ cup/ 75 ml broth, peanut butter, ginger, soy sauce, honey, red pepper (can be omitted if your preference is non-spicy,) and garlic; stir with a whisk until smooth.
- Cut snow peas in half, then blanche in about 1 cup boiling water for one minute. Remove from water and set aside.
- Shave (or grate) carrot lengthwise into thin strips using a vegetable peeler.
- Cook soba noodles according to the direction on package (will be ready in about 5 minutes.)
- While noodles are cooking remove chicken from broth and cut into bite sized pieces.
- Combine carrot, peanut sauce, chicken, snow peas and drained noodles in a large, heated bowl or pot; toss to coat.
- Sprinkle with onions and peanuts. Add a little sprinkle of hot pepper flakes if desired, and serve hot or cold.
Notes
- Use 2 tsp. reduced sodium Chicken Better than Bouillon with water if you do not have broth. You can also use vegetable broth instead.
- Using cooked chicken is a great option for this dish to make it even quicker and easier to make.
Nutrition
And just for fun, this is the original photo and presentation I had when I first published this recipe! So embarrassing! 😳
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I love spicy sesame noodles and I know I would love this, too. Lovely combination — I have never seen this in a Chinese restaurant!
I don’t know that it’s anything authentically Chinese, but it’s so tasty I had to share!
Excellent.
Started (and stopped) with about 1/3 tsp of cayenne. Nobody screamed for a quart of milk or a fire extinguisher. Very nice heat tingle.
Perfect, just how I like it, too! So glad you like the recipe, Joe!
Ingredients purchased; will be tonight’s dinner.
Question about the sauce ingredients. As written: “1 tsp crushed red pepper (or 2 tsp, or cayenne pepper)”.
Should the parenthetical read “or 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper”?
Thanks.
Oops, will have to go fix that, it’s ½ tsp cayenne pepper, but use as much or as little as you like. Let me know how you like it, Joe!
I love a dish that’s healthy AND delicious. Enjoy your trip!
Thank you, Frank!!
Amazing post, I love your content!
Thanks, Tom!