An easy weeknight dinner, these rice bowls feature a Spicy Tomato Peanut Sauce that uses everyday ingredients to create a unique tasting experience. The tomato peanut sauce is vegan, but if you’re not vegan or you’re eating with a mixed group, we’ve got instructions for adding chicken.
Ingredients
Visual Overview: Making Spicy Tomato Peanut Sauce
The sauce comes together in less than 20 minutes, including preparation time.
Heat the oil in a medium-sized saucepan. Once the oil is hot, add the onions and fry them for about 5-7 minutes until they are softened and starting to brown around the edges.
Making Spicy Tomato Peanut Sauce
Turn the heat down to low, and add in the garlic and red pepper flakes. Fry, stirring occasionally for another 2 minutes or so.
Making Spicy Tomato Peanut Sauce
Transfer the onion mixture to a blender, and add 2 cups of the tomatoes, the peanut butter, coconut sugar, and salt.
Making Spicy Tomato Peanut Sauce
Blend until creamy.
Making Spicy Tomato Peanut Sauce
Transfer the sauce back to the saucepan, stir in the remaining 1 cup of tomatoes, the peanuts, and the cilantro. Heat until everything is warmed through.
Making Spicy Tomato Peanut Sauce
Spicy Tomato Peanut Sauce
Cooking for Mixed Groups
The Spicy Tomato Peanut Sauce is made from 100% plants. If you’re a meat-eater or sharing a meal with one, this sauce works really well with chicken. We cube a chicken breast, fry it lightly in oil and then add it to the sauce at the end. Here’s our messy leftovers from the chicken version. (It’s great cold!)
Spicy Tomato Peanut Sauce with chicken
Related Recipes
Recipe Card
Spicy Tomato Peanut Rice Bowls
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup onion, diced
- 1 tablespoon cooking oil
- 2 cloves garlic (Or substitute with one teaspoon dried garlic)
- 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 3 cups fresh tomatoes, diced (Separate into 2 cups and 1 cup)
- 1/3 cup peanut butter (We used all natural, unsalted peanut butter)
- 1 tablespoon coconut sugar (If not vegan, you can swap this with honey. You can sub any sweetener you like here, such as regular white sugar, brown sugar, or maple syrup.)
- 1/3 cup peanuts, roughly chopped (We used unsalted roasted peanuts. Reduce or omit the salt if you use salted peanuts).
- 2 tablespoons cilantro, minced
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
For chicken version
- 1/4 pound chicken breast, cubed
- 1 tablespoon cooking oil
For serving
- cilantro, minced
- peanuts, roughly chopped
- rice, white or brown
Instructions
Make the Rice
- If you're making brown rice, get that started as it takes about 40 to 45 minutes. White rice will be faster, usually about 20 minutes. The sauce itself takes less than 20 minutes, including prep so getting the rice started first is a good idea.
Make the sauce
- Heat the oil in a saucepan, add the onion and cook until soft and just starting to brown, about 5 minutes.
- Turn the heat down and add the garlic and red pepper flakes. Cook for one minute.
- Transfer the onion mixture to a blender and add 2 cups of the tomatoes, the peanut butter, coconut sugar, and salt. Blend until desired consistency.
- Transfer the sauce back to the saucepan and stir in the remaining 1 cup of tomatoes, the chopped peanuts, and the cilantro. Heat through.
Make the chicken
- Heat the oil in a frying pan. Add the cubed chicken and cook until done. If you're not eating with vegans, you can stir this into the cooked sauce.
To serve
- Add rice to bowl, top with sauce, and garnish with additional cilantro and chopped peanuts.
This has become a delicious staple, when I need food to comfort me. Added bonus is that the husband does not approve of peanut butte in savoury dishes, so I get more for myself.
So happy you’re enjoying it! And yay – sometimes it’s nice to have it all to yourself!