This Peanut Chicken and Vegetable Skillet Is So Good
Dear Dinner Therapist: My biggest dinner struggle is finding a dinner that my husband who loves carbs and meat, my child who only eats fruit, and I (who loves vegetables) will all enjoy. I’m looking for a recipe that’s quick and packed with protein and veggies — and not a casserole. – Rebecca
Dear Rebecca: Feeding a family with varying food preferences is tricky. As a fellow mom with a young kiddo whose tastes and preferences can shift at the drop of a dime, I’ve learned that you can feed everyone without making multiple meals. It’s tricky, but I’ve become adept at working vegetables into mealtime in some very creative ways.
One strategy I’ve grown to love is finding a kid-friendly sauce with familiar flavors (and one that you also like) and using that as a gateway to get more veggies on the table or even introduce new foods. This peanut-y chicken and vegetable skillet starts with a super-simple, savory peanut sauce that gets stirred into a family-friendly stir-fry.
If you’ve ever made an egg roll skillet, this is pretty similar. It starts with ground meat and relies on store-bought slaw mix for the veggies. It’s packed with protein and veggies, and it is great on its own; for anyone who loves carbs, I recommend spooning it over noodles or cooked rice. Best of all: There’s no chopping involved, and dinner is ready in just 15 minutes.
Why You’ll Love It
The peanut sauce is amazing! Not only is this version super-simple (you need only four ingredients) but it’s also really delicious. When a good kid-friendly sauce (or dressing or dip) is involved with dinner, it can really open the door to more foods, especially vegetables. The sauce can also be made in advance.
A low-effort, high-reward MVP. You can keep your chef’s knife tucked away where it is because there’s no chopping involved in dinner prep. Prep takes all of three minutes max, and you need only a single skillet (I love a cast iron skillet here) and seven ingredients. You’ll have dinner on the table in 15 minutes from start to finish.
Flexible and easy to scale up. This recipe also happens to be incredibly flexible. If you want your meal to include extra ground meat, extra veggies, or more of everything, go for it! Just add it to the skillet. Keep in mind that you may need to use a bigger pan and make extra peanut sauce.
Key Ingredients in Peanut-y Chicken and Vegetable Skillet
Peanut butter. I’ve tested this with both natural and blended peanut butter. Both work great, so use what you have. Smooth peanut butter is ideal, but chunky peanut butter will also get the job done.
Ground chicken. Go for the dark meat if you can find it — it’ll have more flavor than lean ground chicken.
Slaw mix. Broccoli slaw and coleslaw are the most widely available, but any bagged slaw mix is fair game here. You could even try one of those bagged veggie stir-fry kits from the produce aisle.
Helpful Swaps
All types of ground meat are fair game in this skillet.
The same goes for vegetables! I use bagged slaw mix because it offers a variety of vegetables, eliminates prep work, and ensures no leftovers, but if you’re game for a little bit of prep, by all means grab the vegetables your eaters love (or use what you have on hand). I just recommend cutting the vegetables into small, evenly sized pieces so they cook quickly and at the same rate.
If you love Brussels sprouts, try using a bag of shredded sprouts in place of slaw. Or use a combination of slaw and shredded Brussels sprouts.
Any type of nut or seed butter will work in place of peanut butter. Just make sure it’s unsweetened.
If the eaters at your table enjoy spicy flavors, add some Sriracha to the peanut sauce.
Dinner Therapist is my column dedicated to solving your dilemmas around the most important — but let’s be honest, sometimes most dreaded — meal of the day. Prepping dinner night after night can be so hard. Here, I deliver practical and hopefully fun advice to make cooking less complicated and more enjoyable. Follow along for all the recipes. Got your own dinner struggles? We want to hear from you! Fill out this super-quick form for your chance to be featured in an upcoming column.
Peanut Chicken and Vegetable Skillet Recipe
You only need 10 minutes to cook this saucy skillet.
Prep time 5 minutes
Cook time 8 minutes
Serves 2 to 4
Ingredients
1/3 cup smooth peanut butter
3 tablespoons soy sauce or tamari, preferably low-sodium
3 tablespoons rice vinegar or apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil, divided
1 pound ground chicken, preferably dark meat
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more as needed
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 (12- to 14-ounce) bag bag coleslaw, broccoli slaw mix, or a combination (about 5 cups)
Optional garnishes: thinly sliced scallions, chopped fresh cilantro leaves, lime wedges, hot sauce
Cooked rice or noodles, for serving (optional)
Instructions
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Stir 1/3 cup smooth peanut butter, 3 tablespoons soy sauce, 3 tablespoons rice vinegar, and 2 teaspoons of the toasted sesame oil in a medium bowl until well-combined (it will look curdled at first and then smooth out).
Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add 1 pound ground chicken, 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt, and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper. Cook, breaking up the meat into small pieces with a wooden spoon, until the meat is no longer pink, 5 to 7 minutes.
Stir in 4 minced garlic cloves and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in 1 (12- to 14-ounce) bag coleslaw and cook until the slaw is crisp-tender, 1 to 2 minutes.
Stir in the peanut sauce until the mixture is well-coated. The sauce will thin out when mixed with the chicken and vegetables. Taste and season with more kosher salt as needed. Garnish with thinly sliced scallions and chopped fresh cilantro leaves if desired. Serve with cooked rice or noodles if desired.
Recipe Notes
Make ahead: The peanut sauce can be made up to one day ahead and refrigerated in an airtight container. Let sit at room temperature for about 20 minutes, then stir with a spoonful or two of water to loosen if needed.
Storage: Refrigerate leftovers in an airtight container for up to four days.
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