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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
I don’t understand why this is called Black Pepper Chicken, when the recipe calls for just “a pinch.”
Hi Jayeff! The pepper flavor comes out in this recipe, that is why it is called that. I hope you try it! xTieghan
So good!! And so easy!!!
Thank you so much Aleks! xTieghan
I made this last night and it was delicious, especially the coconut garlic rice noodles, perfect paring! The lime juice and zest gave it an amazing note of fresh citrus which I think completed the meal. However I can’t see where in the recipe it says to add the 1.5 teaspoons of black pepper? I only see “a pinch of black pepper” in step #1. I added a 1/2 teaspoon at the end (im serving kids who don’t like too spicy) Am I missing something?
Hi Summer! It is just a pinch of black pepper in the beginning! I am so glad this turned out so well for you! xTieghan
Made this exactly as written. It turned out amazing. My husband and kids( ages 9,9,11,12)loved it. This was enough to feed all of us. Our favorite recipes are your Asian ( Indian, Thai etc) I would love to see a Thai green court with shrimp and eggplant recipe!
Thank you so much Lauren! That is so great to hear! xTieghan
I made this last night after seeing it on your Instagram story! We LOVED this recipe. I halved the broccoli and added an orange pepper and a handful of mushrooms. My husband loved this dish and was emphatic that this was a “do again”. The sauce on the chicken and veggies was just the right amount of sweet, savory, and salty, and the lime juice really makes the best finishing touch. Thank you!
I am so glad this recipe turned out so well for both of you! Thank you for trying it! xTieghan
made this last night and loved it! used bell peppers because that it was we had on hand, so very good! My boyfriend said the noodles were addicting… will definitely be making again!
That is so great! Thank you so much Katherine! xTieghan
Excellent! Made this last night for me and my husband. No left overs!!! ? it was that good!!! Wouldn’t change a thing to this. Absolutely delicious!
Thank you so much Connie! xTieghan
This was excellent! I subbed tofu for the chicken and mixed frozen veggies for the broccoli. This is a super adaptable and really delicious recipe! My boyfriend’s words after the first bite “you’ve outdone yourself”.
Thank you so much Michelle! xTieghan
Made this tonight and actually had all of the necessary ingredients already so that was amazing! I used thin spaghetti noodles instead of the rice noodles and it was still unbelievably good!
Wow I am so glad this ended up turning out so well Kristen!! Thank you so much for trying it! xTieghan
This was SO GOOD. Didn’t have noodles so I just used rice instead and it was great. I haven’t seen my two year old eat that much in a long time!!!
Wow I am so glad you all loved this one, Mary!! Thank you! xTieghan
I made this for dinner tonight, and my husband and I both thought it was delicious! I will definitely make it again!
Thank you so much Susan! xTieghan
Love this dish!! So tasty and super easy! Thank you for sharing!
Thank you Eric! I am really glad this one turned out so well for you! xTieghan
This is very flavorful and delicious. I will say it took me 10m to put all of the ingredients on the counter to get ready to cook so if you can prep this whole meal in 10m props to you but it took me closer to an hour to prep and cook.
Hi Katie! I am really glad this turned out so well for you! I am sorry it took longer than expected to prep! xTieghan
I’m INHALING this as I type! SO GOOD. I used bell peppers, snow peas and regular onion in place of broccoli and shallot, and rice instead of noodles, because #quarantine. I think the lime juice took this over the top. Another winner!!
I am so glad this turned out so well for you!! Thank you so much Sammie! xTieghan
Looks amazing! Do you think shrimp could be an alternative to chicken? I have a frozen bag looking at me 🙂
Hi Cait! Yes, I think that should work great! Please let me know how this turns out for you! xTieghan