This simple chicken and rice dinner combines one of my favorite flavor combinations: peanut, curry powder, sriracha, and basil. The sweet, salty, nutty, herb combo is hard to beat! Ground chicken (or turkey or pork or crumbled tofu) gets cooked with veggies and coated in a savory curry peanut sauce and served over warm jasmine rice. It all gets topped with tangy, crunchy cucumbers, fresh herbs, and crunchy peanuts. Sriracha is optional, but very much recommended. Make sure you check out the substitution section for ideas!
Ingredient Highlight
Peanut butter! This magical, delicious peanut spread is a good source of protein, magnesium, zinc, and vitamin B6.
When buying peanut butter, always look at the ingredient list. It should say “peanuts” or “peanuts and salt”, nothing more!
Servings 4 People
Prep Time 15 minutes 
Cook Time 12 minutes Ingredients
- 1-2 cups jasmine rice*
- 2 tbsp olive oil divided
- 4 cups finely chopped veggies**
- 1 tsp kosher salt, divided
- 1 lb ground chicken or turkey
- ¼ cup natural peanut butter
- 2 tbsp rice vinegar
- 2 tbsp water
- 1 tbsp soy sauce or tamari
- 1 tsp maple syrup
- 2 tbsp curry powder
- 1 cup loosely packed basil and/or mint
- ¼-½ cup chopped toasted peanuts
- Sriracha (optional)
- Lime wedges
Cucumber topper (optional):
- 1 cucumber peeled and roughly chopped (about 2 cups)
- 2 tbsp rice vinegar
- ¼ tsp kosher salt
- *Depending on how much rice you like and if you want leftover rice. I always cook 2 cups. Instructions below are for 1 cup, so double it if you’d like and use a medium-large pot.
- **Save on time by using your blender to finely chop your veggies. Do each veggie separately.
Instructions
- Cook your rice (instructions below).
- In a large skillet over medium-high heat, add 1 tablespoon oil, veggies, and ½ tsp kosher salt. Cook until the veggies are tender, about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Transfer to a bowl and set aside.
- While the veggies cook, in a small bowl mix together the peanut butter, vinegar, water, soy sauce, and syrup until combined (we’re adding curry powder separately). If too thick, stir in a splash of water. You want it to be easily pourable.
- If making the cucumber topper, mix everything together in a bowl and let sit for 10 minutes.
- Add the remaining 1 tablespoon oil to the skillet over medium-high heat along with the chicken and remaining ½ teaspoon salt. Cook, breaking it up into smaller chunks as it cooks, until cooked through, about 3-5 minutes.
- Reduce the heat to medium-low. Add the veggies back into the pan along with the curry powder and cook for 30 seconds, stirring constantly, to toast the spices. Pour peanut curry sauce in and stir continuously to coat. Remove from heat.
- Serve rice topped with chicken/veg, cucumbers (if using), peanuts, sriracha (if using), lime, and lots of basil and/or mint. If not using cucumber, be sure to squeeze with plenty of lime and add extra peanuts for crunch.
How-to cook jasmine white rice:
- Add the rice to a fine mesh strainer and rinse, using your hands to agitate the grains, until the water runs clear. This gets rid of the extra starch so your rice isn’t mushy.
- Add 1 cup jasmine rice to a medium pot along with 1 ½ cups water over high heat. Once the water starts to simmer rapidly, reduce the heat to low and simmer gently, covered, for about 12-15 minutes, or until the water has evaporated and rice is cooked. Do NOT remove the lid until the timer goes off!
Items you can prep ahead (optional)
- Finely chop 4 cups veggies (using your blender here is very helpful!)
- Mix together peanut curry sauce
- Make cucumber topper (if using)
Substitutions:
- To make vegan/vegetarian, use crumbled tofu in place of the meat. Press the water out of the tofu before crumbling, then brown in the pan to get it a bit crispy and golden. Follow the recipe as is.
- Nut allergy? Try it with sunflower butter or tahini. The thickness of your nut or seed butter will determine how much water you need to add. If you end up adding a lot more water, you will probably want to add more of everything else.
- Skip the rice and serve it in lettuce wraps or cabbage cups!
Storage:
-
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge or freezer:
- Curry chicken: up to 4 days in the fridge or freeze for up to 2 months
- Rice: up to 6 days in the fridge or freeze for up to 2 months
- Cucumber: up to 7 days in the fridge
Leftovers + Repurposing:
- Warm up leftover chicken and rice and top with all the toppings.
- Turn it into a lettuce wrap or use cabbage cups.
- Chop up some napa cabbage or thinly slice regular cabbage and top with the warm chicken mixture and all the toppings for a crunchy salad-like version.
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