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Weeknight style Thai Black Pepper Chicken and Garlic Noodles. The super fast Thai chicken noodle bowl that looks like takeout, but tastes so much better…and it’s healthier too! Quick-cooking chicken tossed in a sweet, tangy, and spicy Thai style black pepper sauce with plenty of broccoli, cashews, and basil. Serve this chicken over saucy garlic butter rice noodles and top with extra lime juice. Every bite is saucy, sweet, spicy, and hinted with basil. It’s delicious and healthy. Major bonus? This comes together in no time at all (under 30 minutes). Perfect for busy weeknights when you’re looking for something a little more special, but still quick, healthy-ish, and DELICIOUS.
Making Monday night Thai inspired food a thing and so happy about it. I’ve been saying this for weeks, but all I’m craving right now is colorful food, anything fun, and anything different. Any kind of recipe that I haven’t made before. With life in quarantine being much the same every day, I’m thankful to have food as an outlet for spontaneity. Just something different to break up the days, you know?
So yeah, long story short, I’m switching up recipes these days. I’ve made things like a whipped coffee white Russian, Mexican taquitos, and Italian style ravioli. I even ventured towards Cuban with my skillet cheesy Cuban chicken and rice bake and creamy coconut lime mojitos.
Cooking has been the only thing keeping me sane. What’s helping you guys?
Anyway, today we’re stepping into some quick-cooking Thai cuisine, and it’s truly my favorite kind of food.
The inspiration.
I’ve had this dish in mind for a while now. My oldest brother Creighton is here and this week he pushed me to finally create the recipe. He’s been asking for some new quick-cooking Thai inspired chicken dishes, so I obviously had to deliver up something good.
Enter this under 30-minute Thai black pepper chicken. It’s not super traditional, but it was inspired by black pepper chicken. Which customarily, is a mix of chili peppers, garlic, ginger, rice vinegar, fish sauce, and plenty of black pepper. My take has all these flavors too…but also some additional ones as well.
It’s saucy, spicy, sweet, a touch salty, and just about as delicious as a quick-cooking Thai chicken dinner can get. I really can’t say enough good things about this recipe. It’s one of those dishes that will become a monthly staple.
Why? Well, it’s simple, it’s quick, it’s pretty healthy, and it’s a dinner that most everyone can really enjoy.
The process.
First up, toss the chicken with a little cornstarch, turmeric, and ginger. Tossing the chicken with cornstarch allows it to get extra crispy and caramelize while cooking.
Now make the sauce. It’s simply, honey, soy sauce, rice vinegar, and plenty of chili flakes, plus black pepper.
Pan-fry the chicken in a little oil until it is crisp. Add plenty of broccoli, a handful of cashews. Then pour over the sauce and let it simmer down and thicken over the chicken and broccoli.
As the chicken is cooking, boil some rice noodles and toss them in a hot pan full of butter and garlic. Yes, noodles, butter, and garlic…but then add a touch of coconut milk for a little more sauce and additional creaminess. SO GOOD.
By the time the noodles have cooked, the chicken should be done as well. Now, put it all together…
Spoon the noodles plus the sauce into bowls, then add the chicken and broccoli. Finish each bowl off with a squeeze of fresh lime juice and fresh basil or cilantro.
Enjoy. Immediately.
Yes, this is that simple and that quick-cooking. Honestly, this will take you no more than thirty minutes to make and uses a good amount of pantry staples too!
Notes and substitutions…
For the broccoli, while I love it with this dish, you can really use whatever vegetable you have on hand. Bell peppers would be my top pick, then asparagus, but you could also use mushrooms, bok choy, carrots. Really, use whatever you’ve got.
Now, let’s talk about the noodles. I like to use vermicelli rice noodles, but you could use any variety of rice noodles or even angel hair pasta. The noodles are meant to be saucy, so once you toss them with the garlic butter sauce, make sure to serve right away.
And you guys…that’s it. Takes less than 30 minutes to make and it’s not only delicious but fun too. We might not be able to travel around the world right now, but at least we can create fun ethnic-inspired recipes at home any night of the week.
I’m all about that. So, Monday night Thai food?
Watch the How To Video:
Lastly, if you make this Thai black pepper chicken and garlic noodles, be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
Thai Black Pepper Chicken and Garlic Noodles
Servings: 4
Calories Per Serving: 823 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
- 1 pound boneless skinless chicken thighs or breasts, thinly sliced
- 2 tablespoons corn starch or flour
- 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1-2 teaspoons black pepper, using more or less to your taste
- 3 tablespoons sesame oil or extra virgin olive oil
- 1/4 cup honey
- 1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
- 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 8 ounces rice noodles
- 2 medium shallots, sliced or chopped
- 2 small heads broccoli, chopped
- 1/2 cup raw cashews
- zest and juice of 1 lime
- 1/2 cup fresh basil or cilantro, roughly chopped
- 3 tablespoons salted butter
- 3-4 cloves garlic finely chopped or grated
- 1/3 cup canned coconut milk
Instructions
- 1. In a medium bowl, toss together the chicken, cornstarch, turmeric, ginger, black pepper, and 1 tablespoon oil.2. In a glass jar, combine the honey, soy sauce, rice vinegar, red pepper flakes, and 1/4 cup water. 3. Cook rice noodles according to packaged directions. 4. Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons oil in a large skillet over medium heat. When the oil shimmers, add the chicken and brown all over, until it becomes crispy, about 5 minutes. Add the shallots, broccoli, and cashews, cook another 2-3 minutes, until the broccoli is charring. Pour in the honey/soy sauce mix. Bring the sauce to a boil over medium-high heat and cook until the sauce coats the chicken, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the lime zest, lime juice, and the basil.5. Meanwhile, heat a medium skillet over medium heat. Add the butter, garlic, and a pinch of red pepper flakes, if desired. Cook until the garlic begins to caramelize and turn light golden brown, 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in the coconut milk, cooking 3-5 minutes, until warmed through. Remove from the heat and toss the noodles with the sauce. 6. To serve, divide the noodles among bowls and top with chicken. Serve with additional basil and limes. Enjoy!
Recipe was great, loved the flavour, only note is that it took me 25 min to prep everything and then there was cooking time on top of that.
Hey Lisa, thanks so much for the feedback, I really appreciate it! xTieghan
Made this last night and everyone loved it! Will be making it at least once a month!!
Thanks so much for giving this recipe a try, so happy to hear you enjoyed it! xTieghan
Can the coconut milk be replaced with something else? Thanks!
I’ve made this recipe a few times, and brought it out again last night because it’s a staple for me 🙂 The chicken flavor cannot be beat! I also like that not everything has to be ready at once, so you can stagger cooking the chicken while prepping the noodles, etc. Makes it a great weeknight meal!
This is a delicious recipe! We are huge Asian cooking fans so this is added to our rotation for sure! We used Miracle Noodles in lieu of Asian noodles and will leave out cashews next time. We didn’t think it made a big difference having the cashews. It’s definitely a keeper!
Hey Shannon,
Happy Monday! I love to hear that this recipe was a winner, thanks a lot for giving it a try! xTieghan
This is one of my all-time favourite recipes, thank you Tieghan! I’ve made it many times – you can even make ahead and jar the sauce and chicken spice mix to speed up the cooking process or to cook it in smaller batches over the week. My boyfriend loves Thai food and can’t get enough of this too 🙂
Hey Vivienne,
Awesome! Love to hear that this recipe was enjoyed and truly appreciate you giving it a try! xTieghan
Great recipe! Would be helpful to have the 1/4 C water in the ingredient list though for the sauce so that when prepping/measuring out ingredients by looking at the ingredient list it is not missed.
Hey Bridget,
Wonderful! I am so glad that this recipe was enjoyed, thank you so much for giving the recipe a try!! Water is not technically considered an ingredient. xTieghan
Can I skip the cashews? Not a fan of nuts in my food
Hey! I’ve made this recipe before, in my opinion it tastes just as amazing without the cashews 🙂
Hey Rose,
Yes, totally fine to skip the cashews. I hope you love this recipe, please let me know if you give it a try! xTieghan
This was freaking fantastic!
Hey Chelsey,
Happy Friday! Thanks a bunch for making this recipe, I am delighted that it was enjoyed! Have a great weekend:) xTieghan
This recipe was delicious. However, I think it is very bold of you to advertise a 25 minute total time for prep and cook. Even a master chef in the kitchen would struggle keeping up with that. It’s closer to 1 hour
Hey Joe,
Happy Wednesday! Love to hear that this recipe was enjoyed, thanks for giving it a try! Sorry this took you longer than expected. xTieghan
Maybe my fourth or fifth time making this…forever a favorite!
Hey Annie,
Fantastic! Thanks so much for making this recipe, I am delighted that it was enjoyed:) xTieghan
So tasty! Will definitely be making this again!
Hey Melinda,
Thanks so much for making this recipe, I love to hear that it was enjoyed! Have a great week:) xTieghan
Do you use a pepper mill or pre ground pepper?
Hey Kathy,
I used pre-ground pepper. I hope you love this recipe, please let me know if you give it a try! xTieghan
Wowza! Just like any other HBH recipe, this did not disappoint at all!
Made it exactly as stated and my family inhaled it in minutes!! I think I’ll be coming back to it ever so often.
Hey there,
Happy Friday!! I am thrilled that this recipe was enjoyed, thanks so much for making it!! xTieghan
This recipe is excellent. I love the flavor combinations! Thank you for all of your great cooking ideas.
Hey Julie,
Thanks so much for giving this recipe a try, I am so glad it was enjoyed! Have a wonderful weekend:) xTieghan
I make this often for me and my family and it’s such a hit! I do less like for the kids and slightly lower on pepper. I have had this with peanuts or cashews, broccoli, carrots or no added veggies and it’s always just so good!! Thank you for a brilliant quick meal for us foodie moms!
Thanks again Chloe!