Thai Peanut Pomegranate Chicken

Pomegranate chicken features juicy chicken thighs baked in a creamy Thai-flavored peanut sauce and served with coconut jasmine rice. It’s a saucy and satisfying complete meal that’s ready in just over an hour!

If you like peanut sauce, you’re going to love this pomegranate chicken! It’s a delicious and incredibly satisfying Thai-inspired recipe featuring saucy baked chicken and sweet coconut rice studded with pomegranate seeds.

With minimal prep, it’s an easy recipe that’s perfect for weeknights. To make it, all you have to do is whisk together a quick peanut sauce and pour it over the chicken to marinate. While the chicken is baking, simmer the rice with coconut milk, then stir in some pomegranate seeds. Serve the chicken alongside the coconut rice and dig in!

It’s one of those mid-winter meals that’s hearty and feels sort of festive. The whole family will love it, and the leftovers taste great the next day!

A few things to know about the ingredients:

This delicious pomegranate molasses chicken is made mainly with ingredients you’ll likely have on hand. Here’s everything you need to make it:

• Peanut butter: Make sure to use natural peanut butter, as the kind with added sugar will add too much sweetness to this dish.
• Pomegranate molasses: Pomegranate molasses has an intense sweet-tart flavor that adds a lot of dimension. If you’ve never tried it before, you’re in for a treat. You can find it in the ethic section of many grocery stores or buy it online.
• Red Thai curry paste: When choosing a curry paste, I recommend opting for authentic Thai brands, as they’re the most flavorful. Most mainstream North American curry pastes tend to be hot without much flavor.
• Boneless, skinless chicken thighs: I prefer them because they stay nice and juicy, but you can use chicken breasts if you’d rather.

What to serve with pomegranate chicken

Serve this pomegranate chicken with any grain or grain substitute to soak up the delicious sauce. In the recipe, we use coconut jasmine rice, but you can use a different type of rice, quinoa, or cauliflower rice.

For a veggie side, I love making my garlic butter snap peas. It’s a 5-minute recipe that pairs well with this chicken.

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Thai Peanut Pomegranate Chicken Recipe

Prep: 10 minutes mins

Marinate Time: 30 minutes mins

Cook: 40 minutes mins

Total: 1 hour hr 20 minutes mins

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Pomegranate chicken features juicy chicken thighs baked in a creamy Thai-flavored peanut sauce and served with coconut jasmine rice. It's a saucy and satisfying complete meal that's ready in just over an hour!

4

Ingredients

• ▢ ½ cup natural peanut butter
• ▢ ¼ cup pomegranate molasses
• ▢ 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• ▢ 1 tablespoon EACH: Thai red curry paste and honey
• ▢ 2 cloves garlic (minced)
• ▢ 1 inch piece of ginger (peeled and minced)
• ▢ 2 lb boneless skinless chicken thighs
• ▢ 1 cup jasmine rice (rinsed)
• ▢ 1 cup coconut milk
• ▢ ¾ cup water
• ▢ 1 cup pomegranate seeds
• ▢ Optional toppings: pomegranate seeds, chopped peanuts, cilantro

Instructions 

• In a medium-sized bowl, whisk the peanut butter, pomegranate molasses, soy sauce, Thai red curry paste, honey, ginger, and garlic.
  ½ cup natural peanut butter, ¼ cup pomegranate molasses, 2 tablespoons soy sauce, 1 tablespoon EACH: Thai red curry paste and honey, 2 cloves garlic, 1 inch piece of ginger
  
• Put the chicken thighs into a baking dish and pour half of the peanut butter sauce over the top. Mix it around so that it's coated well then set it aside on your counter to marinate for 30 minutes – or up to 8 hours in your fridge.
  2 lb boneless skinless chicken thighs
  
• Preheat your oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. Put the chicken into the oven and let it bake for 20 minutes. Spread the rest of the sauce over the top of the chicken and bake it for another 20 minutes, until it is bubbling and the sauce is dark brown.
  
• While the chicken is baking, prepare the coconut rice. Place the jasmine rice, coconut milk, and water into a small pot and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to the lowest setting, cover, and cook for 12 minutes. Remove the pot from the heat and set it aside for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, stir the pomegranate seeds into the rice
  1 cup jasmine rice, 1 cup coconut milk, ¾ cup water, 1 cup pomegranate seeds
  
• Serve the chicken with the coconut rice and any or all of the optional toppings.
  Optional toppings: pomegranate seeds, chopped peanuts, cilantro
  

Nutrition

Serving: 1 serving = ¼ of the recipe, Calories: 832kcal (42%), Carbohydrates: 65g (22%), Protein: 58g (116%), Fat: 39g (60%), Saturated Fat: 17g (106%), Polyunsaturated Fat: 7g, Monounsaturated Fat: 12g, Trans Fat: 1g, Cholesterol: 215mg (72%), Sodium: 866mg (38%), Potassium: 1074mg (31%), Fiber: 4g (17%), Sugar: 19g (21%), Vitamin A: 645IU (13%), Vitamin C: 6mg (7%), Calcium: 73mg (7%), Iron: 5mg (28%)

© Author Kristen Stevens

We have thoroughly tested this recipe for accuracy. However, individual results may vary. See our full recipe disclosure here.