Spicy Peanut Butter Chicken

I generally try to just give you recipes that you can make without needing to buy a specific product--this, however, is an exception. Because I had no choice. Sorry!

You see, I've had a jar of Peanut Butter & Co.'s "The Heat is On" (AKA their spicy peanut butter) sitting in my cabinet for awhile. And I could not figure out what to do with it. So I finally decided to get creative and try to make something for the Michael. He was pretty unsure about the idea of spicy peanut butter in a savory dish but I asked him to just give it a try,

Annnnd-THANKFULLY-it worked! I made this super simple chicken dish and he loved it. He was surprised that he loved it, but he did!

And it's crazy easy. You just whip up a marinade, using the peanut butter as well as soy sauce, seasonings, etc. You coat the chicken in it. Then you fry the chicken until cooked through.

Now-you can marinate the chicken for awhile, if you want (I just coated it and then immediately fried it)--if you marinate it for a period of time, however, it will be extra spicy. So just be prepared. You can also prepare the marinade ahead of time and-before adding the chicken-just cover and store it in the refrigerator. I did this. Be forewarned that it will thicken up a bit. I'm not sure that it adversely affected the results but just wanted to give you a heads up.

The chicken ends up juicy and spicy with a bit of an Asian cuisine flavor profile. And you just might like it--I know my Michael did!

Spicy Peanut Butter Chicken

Recipe is slightly adapted from Texanerin Baking on the PB & Co. website

Serves 2-4

Note-This recipe is halved from the original recipe. So-by that logic-you can easily double this recipe!

Ingredients:

• 1/8 cup + 1 tbsp.  The Heat is On peanut butter
• 1/8 cup soy sauce
• 1 tbsp. canola oil
• 1 tbsp. rice wine vinegar
• 1/2 tbsp. water
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1/2 tbsp. grated ginger
• 2 chicken breasts, cut into smaller pieces (approx. 1 inch strips)

Preparation:

• Whisk together the peanut butter, soy sauce, oil, vinegar, water, garlic, and ginger. Coat chicken in the marinade (if you choose to let the chicken sit in this mixture it will end up very spicy).
• Heat a large pan over medium-high heat. (If using a nonstick pan you won't need any oil, if you're not then just add enough oil or cooking spray to coat the pan).
• Add coated chicken pieces to prepared pan, leaving enough room in between (I needed to do 2 batches). Fry for 3-5 minutes and then flip and cook until cooked through (about 2-4 minutes. For safety you may want to cut into 1 piece and make sure that it is white all the way through with no pink).
• Remove chicken from pan and serve!

Disclaimer-This post contains Affiliate links. I was provided with a complimentary jar of "The Heat is On" peanut butter by Peanut Butter and Co. but I was under no obligation to write a positive review. All opinions are my own.