Slow-cooked Chicken Thighs, in a delicious Thai inspired peanut sauce, is a simple dinner inspiration that adapts easily to a hectic schedule. Serve it with Coconut Rice and a Quick Cucumber Vinaigrette for a complete and satisfying family meal.
Dinner on a Tight Schedule
For years now fall at my house has meant crazy schedules and dinner grabbed on the run. Sports and scout meetings, classes and school activities, keep us on a pretty tight schedule most evenings. Coordinating support and transportation takes away from time I might spend in the kitchen preparing a nutritious meal.
Even if the whole family is in the same place at the same time for dinner, there is no extra time to cook the way I might in more relaxed seasons. What is my answer to that challenge? Break out the Crockpot.
I have this charming gem of a Crockpot that was a wedding gift twenty-some-odd years ago. These days, it passes for not just old but retro. Thankfully it still works. It also still does the cooking on a regular basis during autumn. As the leaves turn orange and gold and begin to gather on the ground beneath the trees, my family begins to crave hot hearty entrees anyway and my Crockpot works great for that type of recipe.
Thai Chicken with Simple Sides
I have always made Pork Roast and Pulled Pork in my Crockpot. I also relied on it to warm an occasional batch of Mulled Cider. Then, a few years ago, when my schedule became increasingly hectic, I bought Betty Crocker’s Slow Cooker Cookbook. Looking through its pages I found a lot of slow cooking inspiration and expanded my repertoire.
One of the first recipes I tried was for a simple version of Thai Chicken. It calls for slow cooking inexpensive chicken thighs in a delicious sauce made from salsa, peanut butter, lime, soy sauce and fresh ginger. The recipe page also includes tips and ideas that I continue to follow. One of those ideas is to serve Thai Chicken Thighs over Coconut Rice. Another is to add a complimentary side of Cucumber Vinaigrette. My simple instructions for both of these are included in the notes following the recipe below.
Enjoy!
Thai Chicken Thighs
Course: Main DishCuisine: Thai/AmericanDifficulty: Easy6
servings10
minutes8
hours49
minutesSlow-cooked Chicken Thighs, in a delicious Thai inspired peanut sauce, adapts easily to your hectic schedule. Serve it with Coconut Rice and a Quick Cucumber Vinaigrette.
Ingredients
8 – 12 chicken thighs, skin removed
¾ cup salsa (hot recommended)
¼ cup peanut butter
2 Tablespoons lime juice
1 Tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon grated fresh gingerroot
¼ cup chopped peanuts
2 Tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
Directions
- Place the chicken thighs in a 3 ½ – 6 quart slow cooker (mine holds 4 quarts). Mix the remaining ingredients, except the peanuts and cilantro, and pour over the chicken thighs.
- Cover and cook on low heat for approximately 8 hours or until chicken thighs are cooked through and tender.
- Remove chicken from the slow cooker with a slotted spoon and place on a serving platter.
- Remove fat from the sauce remaining in the slow cooker. Pour the sauce over the chicken. Sprinkle peanuts and cilantro over top and serve with Coconut Rice and Cucumber Vinaigrette.
Notes
- Recipe Source: From Betty Crocker’s Slow Cooker Cookbook.
- If I am going to be at home, I often place the chicken thighs in the slow cooker then cover and cook them for several hours. Then I drain the juice from the slow cooker, add the sauce ingredients to cover the chicken, and continue cooking. This makes a thicker sauce and reduces the need to defat before serving.
- To make Coconut Rice: I use one can of coconut milk as part of the liquid called for to cook 2 cups of rice. Reduced fat coconut milk can be used, if desired. I have also used Coconut Water as the cooking liquid for my rice when that was what I found in the pantry. The brand I used contained no fats and no preservatives and still gave a sweet coconut flavor to the rice.
- To make Cucumber Vinaigrette: For a quick side dish I simply splash thinly sliced cucumbers with rice wine vinegar and a little salt and pepper.
this sounds great!
wanted to add for those of us who want the healthy kind of fat, that full fat or regular coconut milk makes for great tasting rice and supplies a lot of wonderful things that are primarily in the coconut fat! good stuff.
Whoa this thigh recipe sounds wonderful. It is time to bring out the crock pot! Coconut rice sounds great too!
This sounds really, really good. Always looking for interesting and healthy C-P recipes. Thanks much for sharing!
Oh, you and I are in the same camp with the Fall schedule demands! I was just thinking that I need to breakout the ol’ crockpot, and now you’ve given me a sure fire recipe to try. This sounds so yummy with the peanut butter and soy. The salsa was a surprise ingredient!
thai thighs, eh? that has a nice ring to it, and i think it’s safe to say that it’s pretty easy on the eyes, too. 🙂
I am going to try the chicken thigh recipe when my Mom is here. It looks delicious and not too hard!
Oh, goodness, does this sound good. Guess I better get the crock pot from the back of the cupboard and fire it up. What a perfect meal for a cold, rainy day.
This whole meal sounds delicious and easy! I don’t use my crockpot much but this sounds great.