Stir up the yummiest peanut sauce, and use the easiest sheet pan prep for a quick Thai peanut chicken dinner made for a busy weeknight!
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In the thick of it
The teenager season, that is. I remember someone telling me when my girls were babies that I was “in the trenches.” Helpful, right?! There is so much hard, so much awesome…and so much exhaustion during those years. Well, I feel like I have hit a new season of parenthood with a household full of teens. And while there are days where the exhaustion is there in a completely different way, for the most part they are just really incredible to be around, and I am really enjoying this part! Teenager exhaustion is a different level than baby season exhaustion. It is more mental. The schedules to keep track of. The deep conversations. The friends. The drop off’s and pick up’s. I find myself really putting my dinner menu on auto-pilot a lot to save the brain power for it, and I’d thought I would share a favorite of mine – and my teenagers’!
Dinner auto-piolet!
Sheet pan dinners are the best auto-pilot meal to put on your rotation. Everything for a whole dinner on 1 or 2 sheet pans that all cook together at the same time? YES please!
But it must taste good too!
Because if you have a houseful of any age kids, it is so important that they want to actually come to the table for dinner. In fact, it is even more of a win when they fight over who gets the leftovers for lunchboxes the next day! Take-out style Thai peanut flavors are such a big hit with kids. I think your teenagers specifically will just devour this dinner like mine do. There is something about those savory flavors and comforting rice or noodle bowls that teenagers just crave.
The Thai Peanut Sauce
No fuss, no cook is the name of my game when it comes to sauces and condiments like this peanut sauce. Everything goes into a jar or bowl to stir up. That’s it! You can double or triple up on the sauce to keep in your fridge to pull from for weeks too. That, my friends, is real food in a sustainable approach! Something you actually will do over and over because it isn’t hard. And let me tell you, your teenagers specifically are going to fall in love with this sauce!
The method :: Marinating the chicken
To get a juicy, flavorful bite of chicken, let the chicken sit in some of the peanut sauce to marinate. You can set this up in the morning so that it can marinate all day. I would suggest perhaps mixing up the peanut sauce the night before so that it is ready to go. You could even cube up the chicken the night before so that all you have to do is mix the 2 together. If you marinate the chicken longer than 12 or so hours, the chicken texture could change, so it is best to mix the chicken and sauce together that morning. Alternatively, you can marinate the chicken for at least 15 minutes before cooking if you want to make it right away.
The Method :: The veggies for the sheet pan
Mix this up however you’d like, and use what you have on hand, or what your kids enjoy roasted. I kept it pretty simple here, but change it up all the time. One of our favorites is adding in sliced cabbage, which gets super sweet with flavor when it roasts. Roasted veggies are the best way to bulk up fiber and veggie mineral punch because it really piles in to a rice or noodle bowl so easily.
The method :: Roasting the Sheet Pan Thai Peanut Chicken Dinner
The chicken and the veggie sheet pans get to roast at the same time. I just love that! It is all done in under 30 minutes, which makes it perfect for a weeknight. Toss the veggies with olive oil, salt and pepper on one sheet pan. And then line a second sheet pan with unbleached parchment paper and add the peanut sauce marinaded chicken. Once both sheet pans roast, you can combine the 2.
How to serve your Thai Peanut Chicken Dinner
We used brown rice ramen noodles for dinner on the night I photographed here, but you can also serve it in a rice bowl. If you cannot have rice or grains, add a third sheet pan to the oven with cubed, seasoned potatoes, and serve your chicken dinner over a crispy potato bowl. I also happen to think Thai peanut sauce goes well with sweet potatoes or butternut squash.
That perfect peanut sauce drizzle!
Grab a spoon to drizzle, or use a squeeze bottle like I love to use, and let the kids dress up their bowls with as much sauce as they like. You can get a squeeze bottle like this and keep the sauce in the fridge to use all the time!
Quick & Easy Sheet Pan Thai Peanut Chicken Dinner
Ingredients
For the Thai Peanut Sauce & Marinade:
- 1/2 cup peanut butter
- 1/2 cup yogurt, coconut yogurt, whole milk, or coconut milk
- 1/3 cup coconut aminos
- 1/4 cup honey
- Juice of 1 lime
- 2 tsp ground ginger
- 2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/4 – 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes optional for heat to your taste
- Sea salt and pepper to your taste
For the Sheet Pan Dinner:
- 3 tbsp olive oil divided
- 3-4 chicken breasts, cubed
- 1 large purple onion sliced into strips
- 1 large carrot peeled and julienned
- 1 red, orange, or yellow sweet bell pepper
- 5 cups broccoli florets
- Sea salt and pepper to taste
- Optional cooked rice or rice ramen to serve over
- Garnishes per preference – lime juice, chopped cilantro, extra peanut sauce drizzle
Instructions
For the Thai Peanut Sauce/Marinade:
- Put all of the ingredients in a jar and whisk to combine until smooth. You can thin the sauce out to your prefrence with either more milk or water.
To Marinate the Chicken:
- You can marinate the chicken anywhere from 15 minutes to 8 hours. It is nice to get it set up in the morning so it is ready to go right before dinner!
- Put a little more than half of the peanut sauce in a container or gallon freezer bag. Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil and all of the cubed chicken. Put the lid on the container or zip up the bag and let the chicken marinate in the fridge for at least 15 minutes or up to 8 hours.
For the Sheet Pan Dinner:
- Pre-heat the oven to 425 degrees. You could also use a convection or air fry mode on your oven at 400-425 degrees with a shorter cook time.
- Toss the veggies on a sheet pan with 2 tablespoons of olive oil, and sea salt and pepper to taste.
- Line a second sheet pan with unbleached parchment paper and place the marinated chicken on this sheet pan.
- Roast both sheet pans at 425 degrees for 25 minutes. If you are using the air fry or convection mode on your oven, you will find that the sheet pans will be done in about 15-20 minutes.
- Remove the sheet pans from the oven and mix the cooked chicken cubes with the roasted veggies. Serve over rice or rice ramen and garnishes as you like.
More real food recipes you might like:
- Sheet Pan Chicken Fajita Dinner
- Sheet Pan Cashew Chicken Dinner
- Sheet Pan Teriyaki Meatball Dinner
- Sheet Pan Honey Garlic Chicken Bowls
- Sheet Pan Pesto Chicken & Gnocchi Bowls
- Sheet Pan Ranch Chicken Dinner
- Sheet Pan Tostadas
- Sheet Pan Lemon Garlic Chicken Dinner
- Sheet Pan Hawaiian Chicken Dinner
- Sheet Pan Nachos
- Sheet Pan BBQ Chicken Thighs Dinner
- Sheet Pan Fish ‘N Chips
This was so simple and tasty using easy ingredients. My kids added veggie toppings at the table and it was a nice new meal to add to rotation.
I love that serving idea so the kids are in charge of their plate! Awesome! So glad everyone loved it! Thank you for coming back to share!
Wow, what a hit! It’s hard to find new recipes that please the whole family, but this one did it. I used crunchy peanut butter, which added a nice texture. Thanks, Renee!
Ooo I love the crunchy PB idea, Katie! So glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for coming back and sharing your feedback!