Zucchini Noodles with Chicken and Tangy Peanut Sauce in a white bowl

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Recipes » Main Dishes » Meat/Poultry » Zucchini Noodles with Chicken and Tangy Peanut Sauce

Zucchini Noodles with Chicken and Tangy Peanut Sauce

Name: Zucchini Noodles with Chicken and Tangy Peanut Sauce
Prep time: 25 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 40 min
Yield: 4 people
Ingredients: 2 cooked chicken breasts (either boiled or pan-fried); 4-6 medium-sized zucchini and summer squash; 2 large carrots; 1/4 cup chopped cilantro; 1 tbsp sesame seeds; 1/2 cup peanut butter; 1 tbsp soy sauce; 3 tbsp rice vinegar; 2 tsp sesame oil; 1/2 tsp minced garlic (or more); 1/2-1 tsp granulated sugar (depending on taste); 1/4 cup water (add 1-2 more tablespoons depending on texture)

by Liren Baker on June 22, 2011 updated August 8, 2019 | 40 Comments

Zucchini Noodles with Chicken and Tangy Peanut Sauce is a healthy weeknight meal the entire family will love! Simple enough to make for one person with a crowd-pleasing taste. A simple peanut sauce elevates zucchini noodles and chicken to a dinnertime favorite.

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Time Away | A Guest Post from The Cilantropist

I’m taking a little time off to spend some much needed R&R with my family and an early celebration of my upcoming 10th wedding anniversary. By the time you read this, I will hopefully be relaxing on the beach, Piña Colada in hand, a straw hat on my head, and a book on my lap. The kitchen has been cleaned spotless and I am looking forward to not cooking for a full week! But I have a few things planned in my absence, the first of which is a beautiful guest post from Amanda Opaluch, who writes The Cilantropist. If you haven’t yet encountered Amanda’s gorgeous blog, you will find someone who shares my passion for the freshest foods, mouthwatering recipes, and tantalizing photographs. The zucchini noodles recipe she graciously shares here is just my kind of dish – I can’t wait to make it when I return! Amanda, thank you, the stage is yours.

I want to thank Liren so much for giving me the opportunity to share a post with her lovely readers! I really enjoy the recipes Liren shares here on Kitchen Confidante because I find they match with many of my food philosophies – specifically that I like to use a lot of fresh, seasonal ingredients – but also because a lot of her recipes strike a chord with memories I have of food and family. When she asked me to create a post for her blog, I let a few ideas run around in my head (I have been obsessed with cherries lately, seems Liren has too) but I ultimately wanted to do a recipe that would be a healthy weeknight meal for family, but could also be a quick meal for one.

summer squash and zucchini noodles with a vegetable peeler to make Zucchini Noodles with Chicken and Tangy Peanut Sauce

I have been wanting to try and make zucchini ribbons or ‘noodles’ for ages now, because they are a healthy and fun alternative to pasta, and plus they just look really neat. But here’s the thing, despite the fact that I have a million kitchen gadgets, I can’t say I own a mandoline for julienning these types of vegetables. And while I do work hard in my kitchen, you can bet I am not about to slice these up by hand (I am far too accident prone for that). So what is a girl to do?

Well turns out, all she had to do is stand in line at Williams and Sonoma, where they had a neat little demo of their Swissmar Julienne Peeler

. When I went there, they had vegetables on display, and that peeler cut them into strips like a hot knife through butter. I was sold. I bought a cute little set

, and I could barely wait to get home to try them out on the summer squash I had picked up from the farmer’s market the day before.

Shredded chicken and zucchini noodles in a white bowl for Zucchini Noodles with Chicken and Tangy Peanut Sauce

I was completely amazed at how easily and quickly the peeler could slice up vegetables – even tougher ones like carrots – and my inner perfectionist squealed with glee at how neat and uniform the vegetable slices turned out. And all with just a peeler! I can imagine using this to slice up other fruits and vegetables (think matchstick potatoes), so I know it will get a workout in my kitchen.

To turn these vegetable slices into noodles for a healthy dish, I merely blanched them, topped them with cooked, shredded chicken, and then poured on an awesome peanut sauce recipe I got from a friend.

Pouring peanut sauce on Zucchini Noodles with Chicken and Tangy Peanut Sauce in a white bowl

My friend told me he learned to make this type of sauce from his family growing up, and they used to put it on all sorts of dishes with chicken, tofu, or just noodles. The tangy peanut sauce is slightly sweet, slightly sour, but the nutty taste and texture are not overpowering. I will probably be using this same peanut sauce with other dishes, because it is really easy to whip up (no cooking required) and tastes good either hot or cold.

Close up of Zucchini Noodles with Chicken and Tangy Peanut Sauce in a white bowl

But here is the thing I liked most about this dish: It doesn’t just taste good, it is really good clean food. And by that I mean that the vegetables are kept pure – no oil or frying to bog down the flavor, or leech out good nutrients – the chicken is healthy, and the peanut sauce is made-from-stractch, family-style. Go ahead and use a natural peanut butter and you can feel really good about yourself. This is the kind of food I can imagine wanting to feed my family, and the kind of food I want to eat to keep myself fit and happy.

And of course, it doesn’t hurt that I get to use a fun kitchen tool to make the zucchini noodles.

If you enjoyed these Zucchini Noodles with Chicken and Tangy Peanut Sauce, be sure to check out:

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Spicy Shrimp with Zucchini Noodles
Soba Noodles and Chicken with Spicy Peanut Sauce
Homemade Spaghetti with Baby Zucchini, Bacon, and Mozzarella
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