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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
Awesome recipe! We eat a lot of Thai takeout and it was comparable! Super yummy sauce and it made terrific leftovers.
Thank you so much Amy! I am so glad you enjoyed this one!! xTieghan
Easy and very flavorful. Substituted peanuts for the cashews. The lime juice and zest add nice brightness. Would also be great with rice.
That is so great to hear! Thank you so much for trying this one, Angela! xTieghan
This was delish!
We are a vegan household so we had tofu instead of chicken. Everyone in the fam gave it 5 stars!!!
Love that! Thank you so much for trying this Jen! xTieghan
I just finished making this recipe for the family and everyone was raving about it!! Thank you Tieghan for always providing multiple options – I used chicken breasts, corn starch, sesame oil, cilantro and 2% milk (and the extra red pepper flakes in the garlic noodle sauce). This dish has a great bite and is definitely way better than takeout. I’m sure we will be making it again in a few weeks!
Thank you Nathalie!! I am so glad you enjoyed this one!! xTieghan
This recipe is SO good and SO simple! Definitely tastes like a take out dish without the guilt! Adding this into rotation of our meals!!
Thank you so much Natalie! I am so glad this recipe turned out so well for you! I hope you continue to enjoy! xTieghan
Delicious! Made exactly as described but used green beans instead of broccoli. Making this tonight for the 2nd time in a week – a nice light meal and is a great way to use up fresh herbs
Wow I am so glad you are loving this recipe!! Thank you so much Natalie! xTieghan
So delicious! This was our very first HBH recipe and it did not disappoint. The combination of flavors was lovely. The quality is just like going out to a restaurant. Thank you!
That is so amazing to hear! Thank you Jen! xTieghan
Would ground chicken work with this recipe?
Hi Courtney,
Yes ground chicken would work! I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
New to your website and I love your selection of recipes. It has provided lots of inspiration during this time. Among the new recipes we have tried was this Black Pepper Chicken. I enjoyed it. Unfortunately, my family didn’t. Oh well. But I did want to comment on two things … This isn’t a 25 minute recipe. Not including prep time. It certainly does cook up quickly, but I can’t really see cutting up the chicken, the broccoli, the garlic, etc. and cooking it in 25 minutes.
Hi Marla! I am really glad you enjoyed this one! I hope your family loves others of mine! xTieghan
Delicious! So flavorful, smelled good while cookin and just the right amount of spice/heat. Will make again. Definitely took more than 25 mins, but now I’ve made it once I think it’ll go faster next time. Would love a suggestion of what to do with the other 2/3 cup of coconut milk!
Thank you so much for trying this! I am really glad it turned out so well for you, Dana! xTieghan
I LOVE this recipe! The first time I made it, it took me considerably longer than 25 minutes, but I made it again tonight and including prep, knocked it out in 30 minutes flat. I skipped on measurements, opting to eyeball amounts to save time and dishes, and am pleased to find the recipe is forgiving. I like a little extra cracked pepper with the chicken, and a little extra garlic in the noodles. The flavors complement each other so well, and the leftovers heat up great (though there’s not much left after day 1!) This is definitely a new house favorite!
Thank you so much Erin!! I am really glad this recipe turned out so well for you all!! xTieghan
This was delicious! I actually had to make a few substitutes because I didn’t have everything but based on how it came out I am SO excited to try it with all the ingredients!
I used curry instead of turmeric, almonds instead of cashews and milk instead of coconut mile
Love that!! Thank you so much Samatha! xTieghan
Wow, this may be the best recipe I’ve made of yours and I’ve made a lot. It’s so flavorful and tastes as good as any restaurant. The charred chicken and the honey sauce with the coconutty noodles. You nailed this one, Tieghan.
Aw you’re too nice! Thank you so much Michael! xTieghan
This recipe is OBNOXIOUSLY good! omg the flavors!! and so easy 🙂
Haha that is so great to hear! Thank you Jennifer! xTieghan
Really quite good!! I used Thai Chilli Lime Cashews from Trader Joe’s and it paired together very nicely. I’d be interested to pair the chicken with rice too.
Thank you so much Katharine! xTieghan