Looking for something new to make with chicken breast? You’re in the right place! This dish combines seasoned chicken breast with bell peppers, fresh mango and Thai basil, and a homemade sweet and spicy Thai chili sauce.
Every serving has 32 grams of protein with only 22 grams of carbs, 12 grams of fat, and 325 calories. That leaves plenty of calories to make awesome rice bowls or serve this chicken and peppers over fun pairings like peanut butter noodles.
But we’ll get to that later. First, I’ll run you through everything you’ll need to make this recipe and cover ingredient swaps along the way. If you’re in a hurry, there’s a button above to jump straight to the recipe card you can save or print.
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You can split all the ingredients into three groups—the chicken, produce, and Thai chili sauce.
1. Chicken Breast + All Purpose Flour, Ground Turmeric and Ginger, Black Pepper
l recently stumbled across a recipe for Thai black pepper chicken and thought the seasoning blend looked really interesting. And after using it here, I can confirm it’s a great combo!
The tiny bit of flour, in particular, works really well for browning the chicken without being anything like fried or lightly breaded chicken. And better browning means better sauce adhesion, which isn’t always easy with one pan chicken recipes like this.
If you want to skip the flour, you can try using corn starch or a gluten free flour substitute instead.
2. Red and Green Peppers, Mango, Thai Basil
The recipe calls for bell peppers, but you can use any type of peppers. As is, the dish isn’t overly spicy. So choosing hotter peppers might be a good call for any spice lords out there.
Can’t find Thai basil? The flavor profile is quite different from traditional basil, but it’s not a make or break ingredient in this recipe. I think cilantro also works really well with the other flavors.
The mango, on the other hand, is a make or break ingredient. It adds so much to this dish and balances the flavors. If you’re not a fan of peeling mango, buy it pre-cut or even frozen. It’s
3. Thai Chili Paste, Lime Juice, Soy Sauce, Honey, Garlic and Ginger
Want to take the shortcut and use a pre-made Thai sweet chili sauce? That should work fine.
Want to use ground ginger and granulated garlic instead of fresh? That should work okay. I’m a big fan of frozen minced garlic and ginger cubes for applications like this. (I buy Dorot at Trader Joe’s.)
You can swap the lime juice for rice vinegar and the honey for another sticky sweetener like maple syrup or even brown sugar. (The zero-calorie Swerve brown sugar from my firecracker chicken might be a great option for reducing the carbs and calories.)
Look for a Thai chili paste made with shrimp or fish. If you have trouble finding one, you can add oyster sauce or fish sauce to another chili paste.
Cooking the Chicken and Peppers
As long as you have a large skillet, you should be able to cook the full pound and a half of chicken breast at the same time. But for optimal browning, you may want to split it into two batches. (I cooked mine all at the same time in a 12″ skillet, for what it’s worth!)
The key to browning is contact with the hot pan and leaving the chicken untouched until it’s golden brown. You’d really have to forget about the chicken or have a ripping hot pan to burn it, so don’t worry too much about that.
While some recipes call for pulling the chicken early to prevent overcooked chicken once it goes back in the sauce, my recipe calls for fully cooking the chicken. Since the homemade Thai chili sauce is pretty thick and doesn’t need to be reduced for more than a minute or two, the chicken can go straight in with the cooked peppers, reduced sauce, mango, and basil before coming off the heat.
The chicken will be at the perfect serving temperature, not dry or tough from overcooking.
Just make sure you don’t overcook the chicken on the first go. It’s always a great idea to use a food thermometer or meat probe when cooking proteins. You’re looking for a 160ºF internal temperature in multiple pieces of the chicken before pulling off the heat. The carryover cooking as the chicken rests will take it to the safe temperature of 165ºF.
Tips for Serving, Storing, and Reheating
Rice bowls are a no brainer. If you notice the difference in rice bowls in my photos, that’s because one is served with plain jasmine rice, while the other is served with cilantro lime jasmine rice.
If you’re on a lower calorie diet and want to maintain the eight ounce serving of Thai chili chicken, you can make my half calorie rice by mixing jasmine or basmati rice with riced cauliflower. With the right ratios, the cauliflower is completely unnoticeable!
You can also make something like tahini lime zoodles or peanut butter noodles with a high protein ramen or noodle of your choice.
As for storing and reheating, I’ve not tested freezing but it’s very similar to other recipes from my blog that freeze well. To reheat, just transfer from an airtight container in the refrigerator to a microwave safe dish, cover, and microwave for 2-3 minutes until heated through. The mango reheats surprisingly well, by the way!
And that should be everything you need to know. I hope you enjoy this rendition of Thai chicken and peppers. If you do, I’m always grateful for recipe reviews!
Thai Chili Chicken Breast and Peppers
Chicken breast and peppers with fresh mango and Thai basil in a homemade Thai sweet chili sauce.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 pounds Chicken Breast, cut into 2" to 3" strips
- 2 Tablespoons All Purpose Flour
- 1 teaspoon Ground Ginger
- 1 teaspoon Black Pepper
- 1 teaspoon Ground Turmeric
- 2 Tablespoons (32g) Olive Oil, divided
- 1 large Red Bell Pepper, cut into thin slices
- 1 large Green Bell Pepper, cut into thin slices
- 1 large Mango, peeled and cut into slices
- 4-6 leaves Thai Basil, thinly sliced (or a handful of cilantro)
For the Sauce
- 3 Tablespoons (45g) Thai Chili Paste*
- 2 Tablespoons (30g) Soy Sauce
- 2 Tablespoons (30g) Lime Juice (or rice vinegar)
- 1 Tablespoon (21g) Honey
- 3 cloves Garlic. crushed or minced
- 1 teaspoon Minced Garlic
Instructions
- Mix the sauce ingredients together and set aside.
- Toss the chicken breast strips with the flour, ginger, black pepper, and turmeric until evenly coated. Set aside.
- Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat with 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Once hot, add the chicken and cook for about 2 minutes until golden brown on one side before tossing to finish cooking for another 2-3 minutes. Transfer the cooked chicken to a bowl or plate and set aside. (If you're using a smaller pan, you may want to brown the chicken in 2 batches.)
- To the same skillet, add the remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil and the sliced peppers. Sauté for about 2 minutes until the peppers begin to brown on one side.
- Add the sauce and cook for 1-2 minutes until the sauce begins to thicken before adding the cooked chicken, mango slices, and basil to the pan. Toss everything together until evenly coated in the sauce and remove from the heat.
- Serve over rice and garnish with additional fresh basil or cilantro, a squeeze of fresh lime juice, and Thai chili crunch or chili oil, if desired. Chopped cashews and peanuts are also great additions.
Notes
*I used Mae Pranom Thai chili paste, which includes dried shrimp. If you can't find Thai chili paste and use another chili paste like gochujang, you might want to add a teaspoon of fish sauce, oyster sauce, or both.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 5 Serving Size: about 8 oz (no rice)Amount Per Serving: Calories: 325Total Fat: 12gCarbohydrates: 22gFiber: 3gProtein: 32g
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