Thai Peanut Chicken Instant Pot

Thai Peanut Chicken Instant Pot recipe get's done under 30 mins & tastes amazing when served with steamed Jasmine rice. This Instant Pot Thai Peanut chicken curry is made with homemade spice mix, smooth peanut butter and is loaded with rich Thai flavors.

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Instant Pot Thai Peanut Chicken

If you love Thai cuisine do check out this better than takeout Instant Pot Drunken Noodles (Pad Kee Mao) , Instant Pot Thai Green curry shrimp & Instant Pot Pad Thai.

Today's Instant pot Thai Peanut chicken curry recipe is loaded with a gently spiced, aromatic, rich & silky smooth peanut butter sauce. The secret ingredient for this spicy thai peanut chicken curry is our homemade spice mix & a handful of toasted peanuts.

Ingredients

Find the Ingredients with actual measurements at the bottom of the post. The list below is just a reference.

• Chicken: Skinless, boneless chicken breasts or thighs. We used chicken breasts.
• Onion: Yellow onion is a must. Do not use red onion.
• Ginger: Finely grated ginger works wonderfully well in the recipe.
• Garlic: Use minced garlic.
• Veggies: Zucchini and red bell pepper. The veggies are optional you can skip them if you want to.
• Peanut Butter:
• Homemade spice mix: Ground cumin, ground coriander, turmeric, paprika, cayenne, ground black pepper & salt.
• Brown sugar: You can use palm sugar or coconut sugar as well. The quantity would remain the same.
• Tomato ketchup: Add a subtle tang and great depth of flavor to the recipe.
• Liquid: Better than bouillon chicken base mixed with warm water or store bought chicken stock or normal water.
• Dry roasted peanuts: Skins removed. We dry roasted the peanuts on the stove top using a skillet. You can also dry roast the peanuts in the instant pot before beginning the recipe. Use the SAUTE function and keep it on HIGH heat setting. The peanuts are used as garnish and adds a lot of crunch to the dish.
• Cooking fat: Use any neutral oil, like - canola, light or extra light olive oil, sunflower oil, avocado oil, vegetable oil.

Tips & Tricks

1. Best flavor secret: The homemade spice mix takes this Thai peanut chicken instant pot recipe to the tops. Reserve half of the spice mix to coat & sear the chicken, this will lock the juices & preserve the moisture in the chicken. Use the other half to make the peanut butter sauce. Best flavors guaranteed!
2. No BURN ever: Deglaze the pot very well with the help of a spatula to loosen any stuck food particles. This will help prevent the burn error. Also, after adding the smooth peanut butter & the liquid mix it very well until the peanut butter fully dissolves into the liquid. There should not be any lumps.
3. Spicy Thai peanut chicken curry: Increase the amount of cayenne & add a few diced Thai red chili peppers for a spicy curry. Today's recipe is mildly spicy!
4. Sweet Thai peanut butter chicken: Increase the amount of brown sugar, skip the cayenne. You can also sub the brown sugar with 2 tbsp honey.
5. Best Chicken: We used boneless skinless diced chicken breasts. You can use boneless skinless diced chicken thighs as well.

How to make Thai Peanut Chicken?

Find the detailed step by step recipe along with measurements + Video at the bottom of the post.

Step #1 Sear Chicken & saute aromatics

• Marinate chicken: Use half of the homemade spice mix and coat the diced chicken pieces very well. Marinate the chicken for 30 mins for best flavors. If in a hurry skip marinating, just coat and sear the chicken.
• Sear Chicken: Add oil in the instant pot and sear the chicken pieces until lightly golden around the edges. Use the SAUTE function & HIGH heat setting. Set aside the seared chicken.
• Saute aromatics: Add the onion, saute for 1 min, than add the ginger & garlic and saute until the onion begins to turn limp.

Step #2 Saute spice mix & deglaze pot

• Saute homemade spice mix: Reduce the heat to LOW settings and add the homemade spice mix. Saute for 1 min.
• Deglaze pot: Add the chicken stock and deglaze the pot very well scraping the sides & the bottom of the pot with the help of your spatula. This will help loosen any stuck food particles and prevent the burn error. This step is very important!

Step #3 Prep the peanut butter sauce

• Prep the peanut butter sauce: Add the smooth peanut butter, ketchup, brown sugar and stir very well to form a smooth, lump free peanut butter sauce. You need to mix the peanut butter really well until it completely dissolves! This will prevent the burn.

Step #4 Add chicken & veggies

• Add chicken & veggies: Cancel the SAUTE function. Add the seared chicken, diced zucchini & red bell pepper and give everything a good mix. If you do not prefer the veggies than you may omit them. Check out details in the NOTES below at the bottom of the post.

Step #5 Pressure cook and serve

• Pressure cook: Secure the lid of the instant pot and PRESSURE COOK on HIGH for just 2 mins followed by quick pressure release. Give everything a quick stir.
• Add roasted peanuts: Add the roasted peanuts, mix well. Save some peanuts and use them to garnish the Instant Pot Thai Peanut chicken curry.
• Serve: Serve the spicy Thai peanut butter chicken with steamed white Jasmine rice and enjoy!

What goes with Thai peanut chicken?

Thai Peanut Chicken goes very well with:

• Instant Pot Jasmine Rice.
• Cauliflower rice: If you are on a low carb diet. This is not how they serve back in Thailand.

Storing Tips

Fridge: You can store the Thai Peanut butter chicken for upto 5 days in the fridge. Use air tight containers. Check out the reheating directions shared below.

Freezer: The Instant Pot Thai peanut chicken will last for upto 3 months in the refrigerator when stored in heavy duty portion control freezer safe bags or containers.

How to reheat?

Fridge: You can reheat the Thai peanut butter chicken curry in the microwave oven until warm or hot. The curry sauce thickens when kept in the fridge, stir in 2 tbsp water per serving and than reheat.

Freezer: Thaw the spicy Thai peanut chicken overnight in the fridge and than follow the reheating directions mentioned above.

Thai Peanut Chicken Instant Pot

5 from 6 votes

Print Recipe Pin Rate

Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes minutes

Total Time: 25 minutes minutes

Servings: 6 people

Calories: 419kcal

Author: Meghna

Watch Recipe Video

Thai Peanut Chicken Instant Pot recipe is easy, delicious, consists of an addictive peanut sauce and packed with incredible Thai flavors. This Instant Pot Thai peanut chicken curry recipe is so rich, so smooth & so good!

Ingredients

• ▢ 1.5 pounds Chicken Breast (**boneless skinless chicken breasts or thighs diced into ½ or 1 inch cubes.)
• ▢ 1 cup onion (**yellow onion diced into large squares & petals separated.)
• ▢ 1 tbsp garlic (**minced.)
• ▢ 1 tbsp ginger (**finely grated or minced.)
• ▢ 1.5 cups zucchini (**diced into thin half moons.)
• ▢ 1 cup red bell pepper (**roughly chopped.)
• ▢ ¼ cup Tomato Ketchup
• ▢ ½ cup peanut butter (**smooth peanut butter. )
• ▢ 1 tbsp brown sugar
• ▢ ½ cup peanuts (**skinless peanuts dry roasted.)
• ▢ 2 tbsp Olive Oil (**use light or extra light olive oil.)

Homemade Spice Mix

• ▢ 1 tsp ground coriander
• ▢ 1 tsp ground cumin
• ▢ 1 tsp Turmeric Powder
• ▢ 1 tsp Paprika (**not smoked paprika.)
• ▢ 1 tsp Cayenne Pepper (**skip if heat intolerant or use less.)
• ▢ ¼ tsp Ground Black Pepper
• ▢ 1 tsp Salt

Liquid

• ▢ 4 cups Water (**warm)
• ▢ 1 tbsp Better Than Bouillon (**chicken base. Stir this with the water to make an instant chicken stock. )

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Equipment Used

Instant Pot DUO 6 quart

Instructions

• Marinate Chicken: Mix all the ingredients mentioned above in the "Homemade Spice Mix" section in a small bowl. Dice the skinless, boneless chicken breasts or thighs into ½ or 1 inch cubes and add half of the homemade spice mix. Coat the chicken pieces well and marinate for 30 mins. If you are in a hurry skip marinating.
  
• Sear Chicken: Set the instant pot on SAUTE setting & keep it on HIGH heat. Add the oil and when the oil becomes really hot gently release the marinated chicken and sear well until the chicken pieces turn golden around the edges. Set them aside.
  
• Saute aromatics: In the same pot add the diced onion & saute for 1 min. Now, add the ginger & garlic and saute until the onion begins to turn soft.
  
• Saute homemade spice mix: Reduce the heat to LOW setting otherwise the spice mix might burn. Now, add the rest of the homemade spice mix and saute for 2 mins. The spices will release essential oils and become so aromatic.
  
• Deglaze pot: Now, pour the chicken stock (better than bouillon chicken base diluted in warm water) and deglaze the pot very well with the help of a spatula scraping the sides & the bottom of the pot. This will help loosen any stuck food particles & prevent the BURN error. This step is super important, DO NOT rush!
  
• Prep peanut butter sauce: Now, add the smooth peanut butter, ketchup & brown sugar and stir very well to completely dissolve the peanut butter to form a smooth curry sauce. There should not be any lumps at all. This will also help prevent the BURN!
  
• Pressure Cook: Cancel the SAUTE function. Transfer back the seared chicken & the diced veggies into the instant pot. Stir to mix well. Secure the lid of the instant pot, seal the valve & PRESSURE COOK on high for just 2 mins. Once the cooking cycle is over the instant pot will begin to beep, perform a quick pressure release immediately by manually moving the valve from the sealing to the venting position. Open the lid carefully when the metal pin on the lid drops. Give everything a good stir!
  
• Serve: Now, add the dry roasted peanuts & save a few for garnish. Mix well. Serve the Thai Peanut chicken curry with steamed white Jasmine rice for best flavor. Enjoy!
  

Notes

1. Is this Thai peanut chicken curry spicy? Today's recipe is mildly spicy. If you want to increase the spice level do add diced Thai chili peppers along with the aromatics and saute well. This will release a lot of heat and make the curry sauce super spicy. You can also increase the amount of cayenne pepper.
2. Non-spicy Thai peanut chicken: Skip adding the cayenne pepper from todays recipe.
3. Sweet Thai Peanut Butter chicken: Add 2 tbsp brown sugar instead of just 1 tbsp.
4. Prevent BURN error: Deglaze the pot very well, there should not be even slightest of food particles stuck at the bottom of the pot. And you must mix well the peanut butter with the liquid before pressure cooking. The curry sauce should be absolutely lump free. 
5. Roasting the peanuts: There are two different ways you can dry roast the peanuts. You can use a skillet and do it on the stove top just like us or you may even roast them in the instant pot before beginning the recipe. Use the SAUTE function and HIGH heat settings.

 

Calorific details are provided by a third party application & are to be used as indicative figures only.

 

Nutrition Facts

Thai Peanut Chicken Instant Pot

Amount Per Serving

Calories 419 Calories from Fat 225

% Daily Value*

Fat 25g38%

Saturated Fat 5g31%

Trans Fat 1g

Cholesterol 73mg24%

Sodium 727mg32%

Potassium 910mg26%

Carbohydrates 18g6%

Fiber 4g17%

Sugar 9g10%

Protein 34g68%

Vitamin A 1250IU25%

Vitamin C 42mg51%

Calcium 64mg6%

Iron 3mg17%

* Read our privacy policy - Calorie information is provided as a courtesy only and should be leveraged as an estimate rather than a guarantee.Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Nutrition

Calories: 419kcal | Carbohydrates: 18g | Protein: 34g | Fat: 25g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 73mg | Sodium: 727mg | Potassium: 910mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 9g | Vitamin A: 1250IU | Vitamin C: 42mg | Calcium: 64mg | Iron: 3mg

Course :Main Course

Cuisine :Thai

Keyword :Instant Pot Thai Peanut Chicken, Spicy Peanut Chicken Curry, Thai Peanut Chicken Instant Pot

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