Slow Cooker Thai Peanut Chicken (Easy + Flavorful)
Thai Peanut Chicken made in the slow cooker features tender chicken stewed in a flavorful coconut milk and peanut sauce, garnished with peanuts and cilantro and served over rice, rice noodles, or in lettuce wraps!
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For more easy, Asian-inspired dinners, you'll also enjoy Instant Pot Teriyaki Chicken, Easy Fried Rice, Instant Pot Egg Roll in a Bowl, Ground Beef Stir Fry, or One-Pan Asian Ground Beef and Rice!
Need an effortless, delicious dinner idea? This slow cooker spin on Thai Peanut Chicken turns out soooo yummy. As a bonus, it's ridiculously easy to make.
What is Thai Peanut Chicken?
Chicken breasts are seasoned and slow cooked until fall-apart tender.
The cooked chicken is then shredded and returned to the slow cooker along with a flavorful sauce of coconut milk, peanut butter, and other goodness. That's when the Thai Peanut Chicken heats through and soaks up the fabulous sauce.
Then it's simply a matter of garnishing with crunchy peanuts and fresh cilantro and serving over rice noodles (seen here) or white or brown rice.
If you're feeling especially virtuous, you can even use this recipe as a filling for lettuce wraps!
The flavors in this dish actually remind me a lot of a crockpot Pad Thai, except there are no eggs or tofu involved. 😉
Tweaking the Recipe
I originally posted this Thai Peanut Chicken recipe ten years ago, with directions to cook the raw chicken in the sauce. Back then, I used my original, older-model slow cooker, which cooked much slower (AKA, cooler) than most modern day slow cookers.
But in the years since first sharing this recipe, some people have had issues with the peanut sauce burning. And since that time, I have had to replace my own old slow cooker with a shiny new model. I've discovered myself that this sauce is indeed prone to over-thickening and even burning if the particular crock pot used runs hot.
Thus presented the dilemma that this recipe worked great for some people and didn't turn out for others, depending on their particular model of slow cooker and how hot it ran. So I decided to trouble-shoot a new process of cooking to ensure that this Thai Peanut Chicken will turn out perfect in any slow cooker!
And that's the updated, new-and-improved recipe I'm sharing today. 🙂
Ingredients
I bet you've already got most of these ingredients in your fridge and pantry, especially if you enjoy cooking with Asian flavors.
- Boneless skinless chicken breasts. Or you could use boneless skinless chicken thighs. Or a combination of the two. For moister chicken, you could even opt for bone-in chicken breasts or thighs (with or without the skin), then remove and discard any skin/bones before shredding. Just remember that bone-in chicken requires a longer cooking time than boneless chicken, and thighs require a longer cooking time than breasts. At the end of the day, use what you like. Slow cooker chicken recipes are pretty forgiving.
- Chicken broth, salt, + freshly ground black pepper. For slow cooking the chicken.
- Coconut milk. Meaning the real stuff from a can. I use full-fat coconut milk (and I try to buy coconut milk with no added guar gum), but light coconut milk should work as well. Be sure to shake the can well before opening it. I actually like to flip the can over and use a can opener to open it from the bottom. Since the thick coconut cream settles to the bottom of the can, this makes it easier to scrape it straight off the "lid" that the can opener removed.
- Unsweetened peanut butter. I prefer chunky, although creamy would be fine. I also like to use all-natural peanut butter.
- Garlic. Glorious garlic...don't skimp!
- Honey. For natural sweetness.
- Soy sauce. Use low-sodium to give you more control over the ultimate saltiness of your dish.
- Fish sauce. Optional but recommended, for extra umami.
- Lime juice. A bit of acidity helps balance the fat and creaminess from the coconut milk and peanut butter.
- Rice wine vinegar. For more acidity, plus extra Asian flavor. If you don't have rice wine vinegar (also called rice vinegar), you may use apple cider vinegar instead.
- Crushed red pepper flakes. For a nice touch of heat. Alternatively, sriracha would work as well.
- Chopped peanuts + fresh cilantro. Optional yet highly recommended garnishes.
- Rice, rice noodles, or lettuce leaves. For serving.
How to Make Thai Peanut Chicken
As with most good crockpot recipes, this Thai Peanut Chicken is quick and simple to toss in the slow cooker ahead of dinner time. Then when it's time to eat, you're just a couple quick steps away from getting it on the table.
- Arrange chicken pieces in the bottom of your slow cooker, season with salt and pepper, and pour chicken broth into the bottom.
- Cover and cook on LOW until the chicken is cooked through and fall-apart tender. As a general rule, cooking time for boneless, skinless chicken breasts in a slow cooker is totally dependent on your model of slow cooker and how hot it runs. Older model, cooler running slow cookers take longer to cook and can go for 6 to 8 hours without drying out the chicken. Newer model, hotter running slow cookers can cook chicken breasts as quickly as 3 or 4 hours. You need to be familiar with your slow cooker in order to determine the appropriate cooking time for this recipe. (Hint: If your chicken isn't falling apart, it needs to cook a bit longer!)
- Remove the chicken to a cutting board and pull it into chunks. Drain the liquid from the slow cooker, wipe out any fat, and return the shredded chicken to it.
- Stir together the sauce by whisking all of the ingredients in a bowl until smooth.
- Pour the sauce over the shredded chicken in the slow cooker. Stir to combine.
- Cover and cook on LOW for up to an additional hour, stirring halfway through, or until the sauce is thickened and everything is heated through.
- Serve your Thai Peanut Chicken over rice or rice noodles, garnishing with plenty of chopped peanuts and fresh cilantro. (Truly, don't leave off the peanuts and cilantro...they take this recipe to the next level!)
Ta-daaaa!
Who needs take-out?
Add an optional side salad drizzled with flavor-packed Asian Salad Dressing and dinner is DONE.
Adjusting the Heat
I like my Thai Peanut Chicken rather spicy. So while I kept this recipe fairly mild for the kiddos, I particularly enjoy it generously sprinkled with extra crushed red pepper flakes.
If you like a little spice, there are other ways you could jazz it up as well. Sriracha, anyone?
So feel free to experiment...but only if you think you can handle the heat!
If you like Asian flavors, I hope you love this Slow Cooker Thai Peanut Chicken!
It's simple.
Satisfying.
Delicious.
An easy weeknight dinner you'll definitely want to put on repeat. 😉
More Slow Cooker Dinners
- Slow Cooker Honey Balsamic Shredded Beef Sandwiches
- Slow Cooker Mexican Street Corn Chowder
- Slow Cooker BBQ Chicken
- Slow Cooker Beef Barbacoa
- Slow Cooker Honey Lime Pulled Pork Tacos
- The BEST Easy Slow Cooker Recipes Collection
Slow Cooker Thai Peanut Chicken (Easy + Flavorful)
Video
Ingredients
- 1 ½ pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts
- ½ cup chicken broth
- Salt + freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 1 cup unsweetened canned coconut milk
- ½ cup unsweetened natural peanut butter, crunchy or creamy
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 tablespoons honey
- 3 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons lime juice
- 2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
- 1 tablespoon fish sauce
- ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, more or less to taste
- Chopped peanuts, for garnish
- Chopped fresh cilantro, for garnish
- Rice, rice noodles, or lettuce leaves, for serving
Instructions
- Arrange chicken breasts in a large slow cooker. Season generously with salt and pepper and pour the chicken broth into the bottom. Cover and cook on LOW for 4 to 6 hours, or until chicken is fall-apart tender.
- Remove chicken from slow cooker to cutting board, cut into chunks, and shred. Drain the liquid from the slow cooker and wipe it out. Return the shredded chicken to the empty slow cooker.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together coconut milk, peanut butter, garlic, honey, soy sauce, lime juice, rice wine vinegar, fish sauce, and red pepper flakes until smooth. Pour over chicken in slow cooker and stir to coat.
- Cover and cook on LOW for 45 minute to 1 hour longer, stirring halfway through, or until the sauce is thickened and everything is heated through.
- Serve chicken and sauce over cooked white or brown rice, cooked rice noodles, or stuffed inside large lettuce leaves, as wraps. Garnish with chopped peanuts, fresh cilantro, and additional red pepper flakes, if desired.
Equipment Needed
Notes
- Your chicken should be fall-apart tender...if it's not, you need to cook it a bit longer! As a general rule, cooking time for boneless, skinless chicken breasts in a slow cooker is totally dependent on your model of slow cooker and how hot it runs. Older model, cooler running slow cookers take longer to cook and can go for 6 to 8 hours without drying out the chicken. Newer model, hotter running slow cookers can cook chicken breasts as quickly as 3 or 4 hours. You need to be familiar with your slow cooker in order to determine the appropriate cooking time for this recipe.
- Leftovers may be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3 to 4 days. Leftovers may be frozen in a freezer-safe container for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge before gently reheating.
- This recipe was modified in 2025 to accommodate modern day slow cookers, which run hotter than older models. If you had success with and are looking for the old/original recipe -- where the raw chicken was cooked directly in the sauce -- you can find it HERE. Please note that the video for this post was created for the original version of the recipe.
Nutrition
Recipe originally published on May 14, 2015, and updated on October 13, 2019, August 1, 2020, September 24, 2021, and April 1, 2025. The original recipe was modified in 2025 to accommodate modern-day slow cookers, which run hotter than older models.
This just wasn’t good at all. No flavor. We tossed it and ordered pizza 🙁
This is super delicious. I start with frozen chicken so just know it works without thawing them first. I make the sauce in a blender which is super easy. Pour it over and then just forget about it. I serve it with white rice and a vegetable on the side. The whole family loves it. Thank you for the great recipe.
I really wanted to love this recipe. It has all my favorite flavors, but the actual texture of the chicken in the sauce was so mushy. I took the tip of only cooking it for 3 hours because the chicken was cooked and the sauce was starting to burn. It definitely needs more spice. I had it in a lettuce cup and my husband had it over rice & put all the garnishes on, but we couldn't get over the texture.
Hi Sylvia! So sorry to hear that your chicken got overdone. It should be tender but definitely not mushy. As I explained in the post, some slow cookers run hotter and cook faster than others, so it sounds like your chicken was done sooner than 3 hours. And as also mentioned in the post, you can definitely tweak the spice level of this recipe to your liking (using crushed red pepper flakes, sriracha, etc.). Hope that helps! 🙂
Hi Samantha, I just made this recipe and can't wait for it to finish. I used half boneless chicken thighs and half boneless breasts. Any thoughts on using the thighs?
I think thighs would be great in this...hope they were! 🙂
Loved this recipe! I've been looking for a good Thai coconut chicken crockpot recipe for a while! Just a note that when I made the sauce I wanted it to have a bit more spice, so I kept adding red pepper flakes and sauce. However, once it cooked down, the spice really kicked up! I wasn't expecting that. It was perfect for me, but my first attempt ended up a bit spicy for my family. 🙂
Thanks for the good recipe, I'll definitely be making this on the regular!
Hi Samantha is there a way to make this recipe using the Instant Pot instead of slower cooker?
Hi Ingrid! I have adapted this recipe to the Instant Pot myself, but unfortunately, I just winged it and didn't write anything down so I'm not able to share specific instructions. I'll plan on doing so in the future, however! That being said, I basically made the sauce as directed and then just followed the cooking time from a similar chicken Instant Pot recipe and it turned out great. Hope that helps! 🙂
Hi Ingrid,
I made this recipe for the first time today, in an instant pot, and it turned out great! To start, I cut the chicken breast into large chunks, diced a whole onion, crushed garlic, and added fresh ginger, salt and pepper, then with a bit of olive oil I sautéed the ingredients for a few minutes. (Yes, I added a few ingredients not listed in the recipe)
Then I added the sauce ingredients to the instant pot, pressure cook setting on 15 mins, sealed valve and a natural release at the end.
My whole family loved this! I didn’t get groceries in time to use slow cooker so I just cut my chicken into chunks, sautéed them until lightly browned, then poured the sauce over it and simmered for 30 mins or so. Delicious!
This recipe is absolutely delicious! I added 1 tablespoon of sriracha, 2 teaspoons of sesame oil, and I thinly sliced some red bell pepper and threw it in the sauce before pouring it on top of the chicken. I've already made it twice this month. It's definitely become a staple for me!
This was SO GOOD!! That sauce is lick-your-plate good!
I did tweak it to my family's tastes: added 1 tbs Sriracha, 1 tbs toasted sesame oil, changed the 3 tbs honey to 3 tbs brown sugar, and reduced the lime juice to 1 tbs. Next time I will add 1 tbs fish sauce because it's a staple of Thai cookery.
I also used an entire can of coconut milk, because the ratio of milk to p.b. seemed off. I had enough sauce to cover at least another 1/2 lb of chicken. I oven-roasted cauliflower, onions, and red pepper and had pasta and rice for the chicken/sauce to be served over. Again, this recipe is a winner! Thank you so much for sharing it!
Very good.
We made as is. Then as we tasted we added. A spoonful more PB and some fish sauce. Though something still seems missing, it’s Very fast and a great CP meal.
I want to try the sauce atop fried chicken strips like you would have as “peanut chicken” in the NE.
Out of chicken... would this work with a pork roast??
Hmmm...I have never tried it and have a hard time imagining these particular flavors with pork. But it might be delicious, so if you decide to give it a go, please let us know how it turns out! 🙂
Delicious! I chopped and steamed some veggies (bell pepper, carrots, broccoli, onion) and added them when I returned the pulled chicken to the slow cooker near the end. Then, I tossed in some baby spinach right before I served it. Yum — thank you!
The recipe is perfect if you add about a tablespoon of sriracha sauce. It was lacking spiciness. Other than that great recipe!
We are peanut allergy house, anyone tried with cashew or almond butter instead of peanut butter???
I haven't tried it, but please let us know how it turns out if you decide to give it a go. 🙂
Hi! This looks delish. I do not have coconut milk on hand today....could the recipe still work with chicken broth/water/another replacement?
Hi Jodie! The flavor will be slightly different without that coconut undertone that’s common to Thai cuisine, but I bet you could substitute chicken broth in this recipe and it would still turn out yummy. 🙂
Yum! We made this recipe exactly as stated and we loved it. Topped with sriracha and on top of rice noodles. Thank you!
Would I be able to sub almond milk for the coconut milk?
The coconut milk definitely contributes an undertone to the sauce, but I don't see why you couldn't substitute almond milk if you don't mind the slightly different flavor. 🙂
Have you ever made this with frozen chicken?
Hi Jenna! For food safety reasons, the USDA recommends not cooking frozen meat in a slow cooker, since the strength/temperature of slow cookers can vary and it’s possible that the meat won’t get up to a safe temperature quickly enough. This article gives a pretty good overview of the topic: https://www.today.com/food/food-myths-safe-cook-frozen-chicken-crock-pot-t123084.
Making it this weekend in my InstaPot. I just need to get cilantro. I think I’ll add green onions and bean sprouts! Can’t wait!!! Thanks.