Cooking with Kelly: Light Crock Pot Peanut Thai Chicken Recipe

Crock pots are electrically powered magical devices. So little work, so much reward. This Light Peanut Thai Chicken Recipe was a recent experiment that went so well I plan to repeat it again and again. Because the crock pot does all the work, I find it faster than carry out. When I came home, the house smelled delicious and with the help of instant brown rice, I was ready to eat in five minutes. It's my kind of meal.

Another bonus feature of this meal is its versatility. The first night, I had the shredded chicken over rice with cilantro and crushed peanuts. The next day, I wrapped the chicken in a flatout wrap with lettuce and hot sauce for a fast lunch, and then followed that up with lettuce wraps for a side dish with dinner the next night.

A word on the peanut sauce: I love, love natural peanut butter, but regular peanut butter works just the same in this context because it's cooked. I tried to use up the last of some peanut butter I had hanging around and it worked out just fine. I only wish I made a touch more to use as dipping sauce for the lettuce wraps.

Light Crock Pot Peanut Thai Chicken Recipe

4 chicken breasts (frozen is fine)
1 red pepper chopped into bite-sized pieces
1 yellow onion, roughly chopped
1/2 cup peanut butter
Juice of 1 lime
1/2 cup broth (vegetable or chicken, it's all the same here)
1/4 cup light soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1 Tablespoon sriracha
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
Lime wedges
Chopped cilantro
chopped peanuts

Place the chicken in a single layer on the bottom of your crock pot, then cover with the chopped peppers and onions. Mix together the peanut butter, lime juice, broth, soy sauce, cumin, sriracha cilantro, then pour over the remaining ingredients. Cook on low for eight hours, then shred the chicken and serve over rice with chopped peanuts, cilantro and a spritz of fresh lime juice.