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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.
Watch the How-To Reel
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!
This post was originally published on April 20, 2020
WHAT IS THE GREEN LACY GARNISH IN THE PHOTO?
Hi Jenny,
I used some micro greens! I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
This was a really nice dish. I followed it exactly with the exception of the broccoli (I charred some string beans). It was delicious but my opinion was that the lime overtook all the flavor. I will definitely make this again and leave out the lime (or reduce by 1/2). Thank you for sharing your recipes! I just ordered your cookbook on amazon yesterday!
Ah that is so amazing to hear! I hope you love the cookbook, Amy! Thank you for trying this dish! xTieghan
Loved it !
Very nice flavours and super crispy chicken. It made me feel like I was in Thailand eating a pad thai.
It took me double the time to cook it but that’s normal when you do a recipe for the first time and I would say that it’s double the calories also.
Hi Aurore! I am glad you enjoyed this recipe! Thank you so much for trying it! xTieghan
i’m a “throw everything in the oven on a sheet pan” kind of girl. so, while this recipe was easy to do, to me, this recipe had a lot of moving parts. the stakes were high and i did not want to put all the effort of mixing bowls and dirtying three pots to make this meal only for it to not be that good. well, the effort was WELL WORTH IT. this is better than a lot of take-out/restaurant meals. very flavorful and lots of dimension. i’m making this a go-to meal. i wanted to lick the bowl and wish i had made double! 🙂
I am so glad this was worth it!! Thank you so much for trying this one Keke! xTieghan
25 minute ?
The peeling, slicing, chopping, and the cooking took me FOUR HOURS.
And left me with a sink overflowing with dirty dishes and utensils.
It was delicious, tho.
Hi! I am really sorry about that. I am glad this still turned out well for you though! xTieghan
made this tonight and it was TO DIE FOR!!!!!! the lime made it taste delightfully fresh. continue creating authentic recipes like this one!
Thank you so much Savannah!! xTieghan
I made this tonight and it was delicious! A unique combination of flavors that worked so well together. I realized I was out of turmeric mid way through the recipe but it was still great! It admittedly took me longer than 25 minutes but I would definitely make again!
I am really glad you gave this one a try and it turned out really well for you, Kristin! Thank you so much! xTieghan
Ok. Hello new favorite recipe! Absolutely loved this recipe! So good and so easy! I swapped out the noodles with a coconut rice and added sesame covered cashews from Trader Joe’s for the crunch and was in heaven! Perfect easy recipe! And soooo good!!
Yes that is so amazing!! Thank you so much! xTieghan
Another hit from HBH! The flavors on this are TO DIE FOR. I used the noodles from a couple random pantry packets of ramen, left out the packets obviously. Delish! Will definitely make again.
Wow love that!! Thank you so much Ashley! xTieghan
Better than takeout!! We loved it, my fiancé said he would give it 500 stars if he could 🙂
Wow that is so amazing!! xTieghan
Can the cashews be replaced with a bit free option?
Hi Deanna,
You can use something else that you enjoy or simply omit the cashews. I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
Hi! Looking to make this tonight. Is it 8oz of dry or cooked rice noodles? Thanks!
Hi J! You cook the noodles separately at the beginning using the package directions! I hope this helps! Please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
My noodles never go to that level of sauciness/creaminess compared to the picture you have of just the noodles. It felt like it barely soaked them and absorbed really quickly when it did. The recipe still turned out well, but I’m wondering if you know why? I used 1/3 coconut milk, the 3 TBSP of butter, and garlic. Then tossed with the 8oz of rice noodles.
Hi Drew,
You can always add more coconut milk and seasonings depending on your desired level of sauciness. Hope this helps! xTieghan
Great recipe, Tieghan. The black pepper gave it enough spice and heat without the red pepper, even for my husband, a/k/a Mr. Fussy. I didn’t have any broccoli so used what I had—slivered snap peas, bell pepper, mushrooms—and it worked well. The flavors are subtle but have depth. I let the chicken sit in the spices for 15+ minutes. I had fried rice to use up so served it with that. Next time I will make the rice noodle.
I am so glad you were able to use what you have!! Thank you so much Marlene! xTieghan
We made this last night and this was our first time trying Thai flavors. We made one recipe with the broccoli and one recipe with yellow peppers as a swap for the broccoli as suggested. The whole family loved it!
Amazing!! Thank you so much Becky! I am glad this turned out so well for you! xTieghan