This flavorful peanut chicken zucchini noodles dish is a healthier and wholesome dinner that has lean protein, plenty of vegetables, and a delectable savory peanut sauce. Feel free to switch up the vegetables and meat, or skip the meat and replace with more vegetables or tofu. Readers have raved about this recipe for years and it’s a team favorite, too.
One reader, Sam, says: “This is absolutely amazing!! We’ve made it so many times, it’s a biweekly meal for us! I add more chicken because we just love it for lunches too! Thank you!”
This peanut chicken zucchini noodles dish works on so many levels because it’s:
- Simple and light
- Fresh-tasting and flavorful
- Ready in 40 minutes
- Pretty healthy
- Super versatile—you can change up the vegetables and protein!
Just like we do when we make bruschetta chicken, we’re replacing regular noodles with zucchini noodles. But TRUST ME when I say you won’t even miss regular pasta. The zucchini noodles soak up every bit of the savory peanut sauce.
Tell Me About Peanut Chicken Zucchini Noodles
- Texture: Tender vegetables, shredded chicken, and zucchini noodles are coated in a rich, indulgent sauce. The garnishes—sesame seeds, cilantro, peanuts, chopped green onion—add more flavor, of course, and crunchy textures. One of my very favorite savory zucchini recipes to enjoy throughout the year, but especially during the summer when this veggie is in season.
- Flavor: The peanut sauce is easily the star of the show. As you can imagine from the ingredients used, it has a massive and sophisticated flavor that’s all at once sweet, savory, and lightly spicy.
- Ease: You’ll need to prep your veggies, spiral the zucchini, and make the sauce, but they’re all easy tasks.
Choosing the Right Ingredients
Don’t stray from the ingredients listed because each one serves a purpose to round out the flavors in this dish.
- Zucchini. Some stores sell zucchini noodles in the produce section, but you could also do this yourself at home with a spiralizer. If you’re not into zucchini noodles, you can use regular pasta (cook it first) or cut the zucchini into thin strips. See the recipe notes.
- Vegetables. You can use any vegetables, really, but I like using shredded carrots, cabbage, and sliced pepper. Make sure you thinly slice whichever vegetables you use.
- Sesame oil. Sesame oil is essential to this dish because of its unmistakable flavor—it cannot be skipped! You’ll also need a little in the peanut sauce, too. We also use it when making this flavorful honey garlic soy glazed salmon.
- Chicken. I usually boil skinless boneless chicken breasts for 12-15 minutes or until cooked through, and then shred it. But you could also use up leftover chicken or buy a rotisserie chicken and shred the meat—whatever makes it easy for you. You could also use cooked beef, shrimp, salmon, tofu, or whatever your heart or diet desires.
Easy Peanut Sauce
The peanut sauce is made from only a few ingredients: peanut butter, soy sauce, honey, sesame oil, fresh ginger, rice vinegar, and a little Sriracha for a kick. This recipe is a very loose adaptation of Vietnamese peanut dipping sauce and Chinese peanut sauce—the main difference is that my version features honey. Many readers end up making this peanut chicken zucchini noodles meal more than once, so my advice is to keep your pantry stocked with the sauce ingredients!
- Use Rice Vinegar. Sweet and delicate rice vinegar is a KEY signature flavor of this dish. Avoid using white wine or white vinegar, which are much too harsh. If you must, you can use cider vinegar, which is milder, but your sauce will not taste the same. Again, rice vinegar is best.
You’ll just need to whisk all of the ingredients together on the stove for about 5 minutes, or until the peanut butter has melted down and the flavors thoroughly combine. I usually do this as the vegetables cook to save some time.
More Favorite Dinner Recipes
- Pineapple Teriyaki Chicken
- Maple Sesame Salmon
- Honey Garlic Shrimp
- Baked Chicken Meatballs
- Citrus Chicken Quinoa Salad
- Cilantro Lime Chicken
- Lemon Thyme Chicken
Peanut Chicken Zucchini Noodles
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: serves 4
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Cooking
- Cuisine: Thai
Description
Mixing up weeknight dinners with this wildly flavorful peanut chicken and veggies dish. The sauce is inspired by two delicious Asian peanut sauces: Vietnamese peanut dipping sauce and Chinese peanut sauce. Keep in mind that it’s a very loose adaption as neither usually contain honey.
Ingredients
- 2 Tablespoons sesame oil (you’ll need more for the peanut sauce below)
- 2 teaspoons minced or chopped garlic
- 1 cup shredded carrots
- 1 cup thinly sliced cabbage (I use red)
- 1 large bell pepper, thinly sliced (I use red)
- 1.5 lbs (about 680g) zucchini, spiralized into noodles*
- 2 large chicken breasts, cooked & shredded (about 2–3 cups)*
- Optional Toppings: 1 Tablespoon sesame seeds, handful of chopped cilantro, 1/2 cup peanuts, 1 Tablespoon chopped green onion
Peanut Sauce
- 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
- 1/3 cup honey
- 1/3 cup soy sauce (I use reduced sodium)
- 2 Tablespoons sesame oil
- 2 Tablespoons rice vinegar*
- 2 teaspoons fresh ginger, minced
- 1–2 teaspoons Sriracha or any hot chile sauce
Instructions
- Heat 2 Tablespoons of sesame oil and the garlic in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the carrots, cabbage, and pepper slices. Cook for about 5 minutes until the vegetables are a little tender. (I usually begin the peanut sauce, step 2, during this time.) Once tender, add the zucchini noodles and shredded chicken to the skillet. Cook and stir for about 3 minutes until the zucchini is a little softer and chicken is warm. Turn off the stove and remove from heat. Set aside. (*If your skillet isn’t quite big enough, you can do this step in batches.)
- Combine all of the peanut sauce ingredients in a small saucepan over low heat. Whisk constantly until the peanut butter has melted and everything is combined. I usually use 2 teaspoons of Sriracha, but use the amount of heat you like.
- Once the sauce is heated through, pour over chicken/vegetables. Toss everything around until combined. Place on a serving dish (or not!) and top with sesame seeds, cilantro, peanuts, and green onion. Serve immediately.
- Leftovers keep well in the refrigerator for a few days. Reheat to your liking.
Notes
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Large Skillet | Spiralizer | Whisk
- Zucchini: Some stores sell zucchini noodles in the produce section, but you could also do this yourself at home with a spiralizer.
- Chicken: I simply boil chicken until cooked through—about 12-15 minutes, then shred it. If you have leftover shredded, chicken from another recipe, use that. Or buy a rotisserie chicken from the store and shred the meat.
- Rice Vinegar: Rice vinegar is best for this sauce. Do not use white wine or white vinegar—they’re too harsh. Apple cider vinegar works as a substitute.
- Substitutions: See Choosing the Right Ingredients and Easy Peanut Sauce sections above for explanations of possible substitutions.
Made this for my vegetarian family, omitting the chicken. I did use bow tie pasta and added chopped peanuts. It was amazing. This recipe is definitely a keeper!
This is amazing & so healthy. The sauce is crave-creating. The first time I made it I ruined it. It turned into purple mush. I had never made zucchini noodles before & they do not take well to too much cooking. The second time I made it I stir-fried the vegetables w/o the zucchini until tender-crisp, transferred them to a big mixing bowl. Heated the chicken & added to the bowl. Then I quickly stir-fried the zucchini, just to remove the raw factor, but not to cook. Then quickly tossed everything together with the sauce in the bowl. It is definitely not something served hot, but warm. Tender-crisp is the most important quality. The pan is also important – a large fry pan or wok, so you don’t over-cook. This is something I’ll be making over & over. Thanks so much Sally!
This was delicious! My husband loves anything Asian, and he really enjoyed it! I have a lot of food allergies, so I used smooth almond butter and soy-free ponzu sauce. I cut down the honey a little, and added a little more almond butter. I also threw some chopped garlic into the sauce. After I zoodled the squash, I placed it between paper towels in a sieve while I prepped the rest of the ingredients. I had no trouble with excess liquid. I cooked the other ingredients before adding the chicken and squash for a short time, as directed. We love heat, so besides the sriracha, I also added some hot sesame oil. I topped the dish with black and white sesame seeds, slivered almonds, cilantro and scallions. Yummm!
Oh my gosh! This was fantastic. I added rice noodles for bulk but I could have eaten the whole thing myself. Husband and BOTH kids enjoyed it as well. Definitely a keeper.
We loved this recipe! Incredible flavor and very easy to pull together. This will definitely go into our rotation. Thank you!
Delicious and easy to make. This recipe worked out exactly like I wanted. I was craving something Thai style, and then came across this recipe. I was particularly surprised by the ease and deliciousness of the peanut sauce. I will be making this many more times.
This was a good meal, I am not a fan of sesame oil so I used OLive oil also used a lot less zucchini in the mix. It was still good
YUMYUMYUM!
My family loves this recipe so much! In the summer I use zucchini noodle, and in the winter I use thin pasta noodles. Both are wonderful!