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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
Delicious flavor combo with the chicken spices and garlic noodles and lime! Another winner with the hubs too!
Thank you Paige! That is so great to hear! xTieghan
This recipe tasted OK- I really wish you would segment your recipes more so each step has its own bullet. It’s very easy to misread and not complete everything.
Also, I don’t think the last step of melting the butter and garlic is necessary- it didn’t add much to the flavor and created another dish to wash.
Hi Allison! I am sorry about that. Are there any questions I can help with? xTieghan
I made this last night for dinner and it was a huge hit! Sadly, there was nothing left for my teenage boys to have as their midnight snack. I do not eat chicken and ended up cooking a separate pan of shrimp (using the same coating) and it was fabulous! Nice and crunchy…my husband actually liked it better than the chicken:)
I am so glad this turned out amazing!! Thank you so much for trying it Maribeth! xTieghan
This was absolutely delicious. I made it exactly as written, and the only thing I would change works be to double the amount of noodles and garlic butter-coconut milk sauce. My husband commented that he’d like to try it with shrimp instead of chicken, so I’ll probably do that sometime too. Can’t wait to make this again!
I am so happy to hear that! I hope you both continue to love this one, Bethany! And with shrimp!! xTieghan
I’ve made this now twice in past month – and I rarely repeat recipes in such close proximity. Such an easy and super flavorful dish! Thanks for sharing! So so yummy! Now – do I get a second helping or save leftovers for lunch? 🙂
I am so glad you loved this Lizzie!! Thank you for trying it! xTieghan
Loved this recipe! It was a unique take on Thai flavors – it wasn’t really a curry but once the chicken/veggie mixture was added to the coconut milk noodles the sauce formed a flavorful curry… so good! I especially loved the use of lime zest. It added so much extra citrus that the lime juice alone wouldn’t do!
Thank you so much Sarah! That is really great to hear! xTieghan
Thai black pepper chicken & noodles has been my husband’s favorite during my Pandemic HBH Cooking Frenzy. Who knew coconut milk was a game changer in our kitchen? We love the recipe with Udon noodles when rice noodles aren’t on the grocer’s shelves. Thanks Tieghan!
Love that!! Thank you for trying this one, Tal! I hope you continue to love my recipes! xTieghan
So delicious! Been craving this since first making it a few weeks ago; it’s definitely going in our heavy rotation. The flavors are so bright and keep you coming back for more — and I like that it’s pretty healthy, too!
That is so great to hear! I am really glad this turned out so well for you, Kaitlin! Thank you! xTieghan
This was amazing. So quick and easy. Had mushrooms and red peppers with capellini and we inhaled it Another winner from HBH.
Sounds amazing! Thank you for trying this one, Jane! xTieghan
I substituted shrimp for the chicken and white rice. All flavors were awesome!!!
That is so great to hear! Thank you Amber! xTieghan
Hi! Loved this recipe!
Just out of curiosity, are the noodles meant to have a strong coconut taste? I used full cream coconut milk and was wondering if normal coconut milk would have been better?
Thank you!
Hi Sarah,
Thanks so much for trying the recipe! I do recommend and the recipe calls for coconut milk, so you probably got a stronger flavor from using the coconut cream. I hope this helps! xTieghan
This is one of my favorite recipes, and i make it frequently. The noodles compliment the chicken perfectly! Please post more, Thai,Asian, Chinese recipes!! Love reading your blog!
Thank you so much Johanna!! I am so glad you enjoyed this one! Definitely more in the future! xTieghan
I made this recipe this week and we all loved it! The chicken is DELICIOUS! I doubled the recipes but left the honey at the original amount. Will definitely be making again and will try it with basil instead of cilantro. Thank you for another GREAT recipe!!!
Thank you Sarah!! I am so glad this turned out so well for you!! xTieghan
Thank you for this recipe it was delicious. I changed a few small things. I used Casava flour instead of corn flour. I added an onion, chilli and garlic to the vegetables and I used white basmati rice instead of noodles. It was a winner, I will definitely be making it again.
Thank you so much Miche! I am really glad this recipe turned out so well for you!! xTieghan
Will be making again for sure!! As you say SO GOOD! Made with my best friend while I’m in Barbados and she is in Canada over Zoom. Perfect way to spend a Thursday evening while we can’t drink wine together 🙂
Aw that is so sweet! I am so glad you both enjoyed this recipe, Maggie! Also, how is it there?? Should it be my next trip?? xTieghan