This post may contain affiliate links, please see our privacy policy for details.

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.

overhead photo of 25 Minute Thai Black Pepper Chicken and Garlic Noodles with chopsticks in noodles

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.

overhead photo of 25 Minute Thai Black Pepper Chicken in skillet

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.

overhead photo of Garlic Noodles in skillet

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…

overhead close up photo of 25 Minute Thai Black Pepper Chicken and Garlic Noodles

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!

overhead photo of 25 Minute Thai Black Pepper Chicken and Garlic Noodles with chopsticks

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?

overhead photo of 25 Minute Thai Black Pepper Chicken and Garlic Noodles

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

Author: Tieghan Gerard
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
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.

SavePrintEmail

Watch the How-To Reel

Ingredients

US Customary – Metric

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!
View Recipe Comments
overhead horizontal photo of 25 Minute Thai Black Pepper Chicken and Garlic Noodles

This post was originally published on April 20, 2020
4.31 from 1246 votes (949 ratings without comment)

Add a Comment

Recipe Rating




This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Comments

  2. 5 stars
    Made this recipe for dinner this past week. I’m not going to lie, it took me longer than 25 minutes, but it was worth every one. It was mouthwateringly delicious! Huge hit! I’ve already passed this recipe on to numerous friends. THE BEST!

    Reply

  3. I made this tonight for my husband and son. We loved it!!!! The only adaptations I made for my son were to use coconut amino acids instead of soy sauce and left the cashews off his plate. He has a lot of food sensitivities. It was easy to make and they loved the spice level. This is the third recipe I have made from your blog and all have been good and I have the super simple cookbook of yours. I am new to your blog and loving it so far. Thank you for the interesting flavors but recipes that are adaptable and accessible.

    Reply

  4. 5 stars
    DELICIOUS!!! Just made this dish for dinner tonight and it was so flavorful and easy to make. My husband doesn’t like dishes that are too sweet, so instead of coconut milk I just cooked the chicken in coconut oil. Can’t wait to make another one of your recipes.

    Reply

  5. 5 stars
    Made this with tofu- great quick dinner. Couldn’t get the sauce to thicken but it was still really good.
    The rice noodles with coconut milk/garlic/chilli! Awesome – thanks for another go-to recipe.

    Reply

  6. I can’t wait to try this for week night lunch prep! I’m working from home while my boyfriend goes into work during the week and sending him with a delicious lunch makes the both of us happy. 🙂

    I’m doing my best to not venture out to the store and the only thing I’m missing for this is the cashews. Do that make a huge difference? I have walnuts, almonds, or honey roasted peanuts (a go to snack but not sure if it would go in this dish). ANy recommendations?

    Reply

    1. Hi Maria! I am so glad you like this one! You could either leave the cashews out or use another nut, walnuts or pecans would be great. Let me know how this turns out for you! xTieghan

      Reply

  7. 5 stars
    I made this chicken today. And i must say my husband and I ate it all ? I didn’t have noodles so I served it with just white rice. I cannot wait to get some noodles and make the whole dish again.

    Reply

    1. Hi Niloo! I am so glad you both loved this recipe so much! I hope you enjoy it even more with noodles! xTieghan

      Reply

  8. 4 stars
    Such a delicious dish, but some family members argued that there were too many flavors going on. We added the small amount of red pepper flakes to the soy sauce mixture and it was too spicy for kids. I might also add that 25 minute time is slightly misleading (maybe we’re just slow haha) but all those small prep steps really add up. We had 3 adults zesting limes, grating garlic, chopping veggies stirring the chicken mixture, watching the noodles and the separate sauce, etc etc and it took us over an hour. Overall I found it to be worth it! Super fun and interesting take that wasn’t lacking flavor in the least.

    Reply

    1. Hi Brinley! I am sorry this did not turn out as expected for you. Please let me know if there are any questions I can help you with! xTieghan

      Reply

  9. 5 stars
    I just made this and it was amazing!!it was so easy but packed with flavor. I will definitely make again! thanks for the recipe:))

    Reply

  10. Your nutritional information is incredibly inaccurate for this recipe – please, don’t bother posting if you’re not going to check if it’s right.

    Reply

  14. 5 stars
    Just made this and it was SO fast and easy and DELICIOUS—that salty sweet balance is just perfect as is the freshness of the lime juice and basil to finish it. The garlic coconut milk sauce for the noodles added such depth. I passed the recipe along to my daughter and my friend and everyone loves It—thank you so much Tieghan for brightening our world during this time and always!

    Reply

    1. Thank you Linda! I am so glad this recipe turned out so well for you!! I hope you are staying safe and healthy! xTieghan

      Reply

  15. 5 stars
    Love this! We will make it again! Next time we will prep all the ingredients more thoroughly to avoid scrambling but still worked out great!!

    Reply