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.
Reader Comments and Reviews
This is amazingly delicious. Thanks for the great recipe! I finally got to use the vegetti that I bought a year ago and forgot about. haha. I will definitely be using it again.. and soon! 😉
This was amazing!
I don’t have a spiralizer, so I used a mandolin on the julienne setting and it was perfect! I put the zucchini noodles on paper towels for 15 minutes or so and that helped it not get too mushy in the cooking. Definitely adding this into our dinner rotation!
We made this for dinner last night and my husband and I both loved it! There’s one serving left for lunch leftovers today.
I made this recipe last night and it was a BIG hit. My husband and I both loved it. I was surprised by how the zucchini noodles soaked up the flavors. I would offer one piece of advice based on my experience. My version of the inspiralizer made very long noodles (this was my first time using it). I thought it was fun while I was making them. The long noodles were hard to manage in the wok and also when eating. Next time (and there will be a next time!), I will not make them so long.
This meal was seriously amazing! This was my first time making zucchini noodles and I am absolutely hooked! Especially since this sauce was so flavorful and totally camouflaged the fact that it wasn’t your normal rice noodles used like in other thai peanut dishes. My personal recommendation is to use less soy sauce. Both my husband and I found it a bit too salty and were downing multiple glasses of water after dinner. I even used 1/4 cup light reduced sodium soy sauce instead of the 1/3 cup called for. Next time I’ll just simply reduce the soy sauce even more. Overall though absolutely wonderful dish!
We made this tonight, it was awesome!
Made this for dinner last night. Another super delicious recipe Sally, thank you! It was also easy and quick to make and very pretty to look at! LOVE IT!!
I made this for supper tonight. It was delicious! Hubby says he wants to pour the peanut sauce in a cup and drink it!
Can I use toasted sesame oil for this? Or should I just use regular sesame seed oil?
Either work!
Made it for the first time tonight. So easy and yet soooooo delicious!
I made this for dinner last night! It was such a hit, your recipe was so spot on. It is making its way into my recipe box. Thank you so much for sharing
My 1st comment to a recipe ever but felt obligated since this was so amazing. My husband absolutely loved it too & we both were so happy to have the leftovers for lunch the next day. I used 1 large zucchini & finally used my grater thingy (not a real spiralizer haha) to make into spaghetti like pieces which can out great. I also used 1 small spaghetti-squash.
Thanks for the recipe.. It was absolutely delicious & I have shared with a lot of friends /family! Will be making again & again 🙂
I’ve been a long time reader and lover of your recipes, and oh my goodness, this was fantastic! I absolutely LOVED this recipe! Couldn’t get enough! I’m on a healthier eating program right now, and I love that this fell in line with everything! It felt soo indulgent! Can’t speak highly enough of how great this recipe is!
Wow this was amazing. The satay sauce was beyond delicious, I am never buying this jar stuff again. I love trying new recipes and it is very rare that I might cook the same thing twice but I can’t wait to make this again 🙂
I don’t comment on blogs very often but I just had to say thank you for an amazing recipe! I followed the recipe exactly and am glad I did. Loved that it’s healthy enough to feel good about making as often as I know I will 🙂
Could you use almond butter in place of the peanut butter. My husband is allergic
Yep, any nut butter works.
I found this recipe about 6 weeks ago. I have already made it 3 times! Delicious!!
The absolute BEST zoodle meal I have made thus far. It really feels like you are eating real noodles. I think it’s because the peanut sauce is PERFECT! I made it last week and I’m already craving it again.
I made this for dinner tonight and it was AMAZING! Even though I didn’t realize until I was ready to start cooking that I was out of sesame oil, I had to use my go-to EVOO, it was still delish. We especially loved that it was packed with colorful veggies that were still crisp yet tender. Definitely on my “make again” list.
Hi Sally! I just had to tell you that I made this dish today and it is literally one of the best things I have ever made and I cook a lot! I absolutely LOVED it! I can’t wait for lunch at work tomorrow so I can eat some more! Thank you!!
This was really really good, our 9 & 7yo girls loved it. So great that it can be served hot or cold! Great recipe Sally! ❤️
Omg… This is so good Sally!!! I doubled the veggies thinking we would have leftovers for tomorrow… We ate it all! And that sauce! Holy yum! Thanks for an awesome recipe to change Monday dinner night up a little, and get lots of veggies in!
This was so good! Made it last week and my hubby and I both loved it. A keeper!!
Made this tonight and it was wonderful. The sauce was excellent and I have tried many different recipes for peanut sauce. I didn’t have cabbage so I subbed what I had (baby kale and spinach) DELISH! My son loves Thai food and he loved it! Thanks for another winning recipe!
Could this be served cold or room temp? Thinking of making this for Bunco and can’t make right before hand.
I LOVE it cold. So yes, cold, warm, or room temp!
Don’t have a spiralizer but did sub with rice noodles. This may be even better than the pad thai we normally get at our favorite Thai restaurant. So good! Even our 4 year old said he liked all the ingredients in it.
I made this last night & its not only lovely to look at it’s yummy. I’ll make it again but will reduce the amount of honey. I look forward to eating the leftovers today!
I was craving pad thai and made this instead of ordering takeout- it was delicious! Sweet, spicy, and savory. I love how versatile this recipe is. You can make it as spicy as you want and change up the vegetables to suit your taste!
Wow Sally!!! This recipe is amazing!!! I made it yesterday night and got everyone at home to eat vegetables!!
Made this for dinner tonight, and it was SO delicious! The sauce is just scrumptious. With the zucchini, I didn’t even miss the pasts or rice. Such a flavorful healthy dish!