Slow Cooker Thai Chicken

In my dreams, I’m a cool, flirty free spirit—the kind of woman who keeps men guessing, is adept at salsa dancing, and can pull off a hat. In reality, I’m much more Slow Cooker Thai Chicken.

Slow Cooker Thai Chicken is wholesome. It’s filled with bright, good-for-you veggies like butternut squash, green peas and bell peppers. As a former Girl Scout and current wearer of plaid flannel, I’m almost as wholesome as they come.

Slow Cooker Thai Chicken is predictable. You set it to be ready 8 hours from now, and when the timer beeps, your fragrant, all-in-one meal is ready and waiting. I order the same truffle grilled cheese sandwich every Monday night at Ben and my favorite neighborhood bar, to the extent that I feel the server only asks me what I’d like for dinner for the sake of conversation.

Slow Cooker Thai Chicken, however, is not to be underestimated. It is bursting with layers of flavor, lightly creamy, and healthy too. Despite my sub-5’4’’ height and pre-teen looks, whiskey is my liquor of choice, I’ll rock a leather jacket, and I flip a killer burger. Give Slow Cooker Thai Chicken and The Law Student’s Wife a chance: we’ll surprise you.

I’m a sucker for Thai food, because I love its freshness and complex layers of spice. At least once a month, I try a new twist on a slow cooker Thai dish, and every one up until now has disappointed me. Either there was too much sauce, or the chicken dried out, or worst of all, the dish totally lacked in flavor. As a woman whose husband married her for her Chicken Stir Fry with Thai Peanut Sauce, a lackluster Thai chicken slow cooker meal was unacceptable. Today’s recipe for Slow Cooker Thai Chicken is my slow cooker Thai redemption.

Light coconut milk, red curry paste, and a dollop of peanut butter form the base of our healthy, flavorful sauce. To this holy trinity, we add fish sauce, which (this is important) does NOT make our dish taste like fish. Rather, it gives the Slow Cooker Thai Chicken savoriness, depth, and for lack of a more eloquent explanation, makes it taste more Thai. Brown sugar, a heap of ginger, crushed red pepper, and a dash of lime arrive on scene, and we have a 3-minute sauce that bathes our chicken and veggies in thriller Thai flavor. (Looking for other Asian-inspired dishes? Check out Crock Pot Cashew Chicken!)
Whether you are looking for fresh, healthy meals to better your diet in 2014, make-ahead dinner ideas, or just want to shovel your fork into a big plate of tasty goodness, Slow Cooker Thai Chicken is the dish for you. Fire up the crock pot friends!

Love Thai peanut flavor? Try my Chicken Stir Fry with Thai Peanut Sauce and Asian Noodle Salad. Both are reader favorites, and the stir fry is so tasty, Ben married me for it.

Looking for more healthy recipe ideas? Don’t miss these 10 Healthy Recipes for 2014.

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Slow Cooker Thai Chicken

Yield: 6 servings

Prep Time:

35 mins

Cook Time:

4 hrs

Total Time:

4 hrs 30 mins

Ingredients

• 2 cans light coconut milk — (14 ounce cans)
• 1/4 cup peanut butter — creamy or crunchy
• 3 tablespoons  red curry paste
• 2 tablespoons  fish sauce
• 2 tablespoons coconut sugar or brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breast — cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces
• 1 small butternut squash — peeled, seeded, and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• 2 large red bell peppers — cored and thinly sliced
• 1 medium yellow onion — thinly sliced (about 3 cups)
• 2 cups frozen peas — thawed
• 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice — (about 1 lime)
• Prepared brown rice — for serving
• Chopped fresh cilantro — for serving

Instructions

1. In a 6-quart or larger slow cooker, whisk together the coconut milk, peanut butter, curry paste, fish sauce, coconut sugar, ginger, garlic, and red pepper flakes until smooth. Add the chicken pieces, squash, red bell pepper, and onion in the slow cooker and stir gently to coat with sauce. The mixture will be very thick. Cover and cook on high for 4 hours or on low for 8 hours.
2. Thirty minutes before you are ready to serve, add the peas. Immediately before serving, stir in lime juice. Serve over rice with a generous sprinkle of fresh with cilantro.

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Thai

Keyword: Healthy Thai Food, Slow Cooker Thai Chicken

All text and images © Erin Clarke / Well Plated.

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