I know what you’re thinking…
Peanut Butter in Rice?
Peanut butter isn’t just for a PB&J sandwich. You can use it in delicious savory dishes too! You can find savory dishes containing nut butter in cuisines ranging from African to Thai. Two of my favorite savory dishes include Thai Inspired Green Salad with Chicken and Vietnamese Spring Rolls with peanut sauce.
Peanut Butter Rice
If you are looking for an easy side dish or way to use leftover rice, this recipe for Peanut Butter Rice is perfect. Adding a bit of peanut sauce adds a mild peanut taste, a touch of spice from the cayenne, and sweetness from the brown sugar. My children devour it! The peanut sauce recipe I have here has a flavor similar to a Thai Peanut Sauce with full fat coconut milk. If you don’t have that on hand, you can use water, whole milk, or a nut milk alternative. I hope you’ll love it as much as we do.
Peanut sauce is extremely easy to make at home. In a medium-sized pot, combine:
1/3 cup peanut butter
3/4 cup coconut milk
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon granulated garlic
3 tablespoons brown sugar
dash of cayenne together
Bring to a simmer over medium low heat and cook for 4-5 minutes. Sauce will thicken as it cooks. Once it’s at the desired consistency, remove from heat and serve.
Serving ideas:
I think this peanut butter rice is best with grilled or baked chicken seasoned with a little salt, pepper, and Chinese Five Spice. Nothing fancy, but still delicious. I will often make extra peanut sauce to dip the chicken in. You can add the peanut sauce to fried rice, roasted pork, spring rolls, as a dipping sauce for fresh vegetables, and with shrimp.
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Disney Inspired Recipe
This rice recipe using peanut butter is inspired by Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge Boma restaurant in Florida. Boma is an African restaurant serving classic African dishes like Bobotie, Duran Chicken, Pap (cornmeal mash), Chicken Sadza, and their famous Zebra Domes. The African Peanut Butter Rice they serve is a basmati rice with peanut sauce. Whenever my family and I visit Disney World, we try to eat at this restaurant at least once very trip. When we are home we can create this recipe and reminisce about past trips.
Here are some more Disney Parks inspired recipes.
Cooking with Brown Rice
Brown rice is a pantry staple I cook a lot with. I prefer brown rice over white rice for its nutty flavor, firmer texture, and added fiber. It is considered healthier than plain white rice. The only down side is brown rice takes a longer time to cook.
For more than 10 years, I have been cooking every type of rice in a rice cooker. It takes the guesswork out of getting perfect rice every time. So the instructions below will call for cooked rice, as your cook time will depend on how you choose to make your rice or if you are using leftover rice.
Peanut Butter Rice
Ingredients
- 3 cups Brown Rice, cooked
- 1/3 cup Peanut Butter
- 3/4 cup Coconut Milk (water, whole milk, or milk alternative can be substituted)
- 3 Tablespoons Soy Sauce
- 1/4 teaspoon Ground Ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon Granulated Garlic
- 3 Tablespoons Brown Sugar
- Pinch of Cayenne pepper ( I usually put 2-3 dashes)
Instructions
- Cook the rice according to directions on the stove stop or in rice cooker.
- While rice is cooking, combine all remaining ingredients in a medium-sized pot.
- Over medium low heat, bring to a simmer and cook 4-5 minutes. Stir occasionally until sauce thickens. Remove from heat.
- Once rice is fully cooked, mix hot rice and peanut sauce together. Transfer to a large pot/bowl if needed. Serve immediately.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
6Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 275Total Fat: 14gSaturated Fat: 7gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 5gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 512mgCarbohydrates: 33gFiber: 3gSugar: 6gProtein: 7g
This looks wonderful. Pinning it. I am going to have to try it and check if hubby had this growing up.
Marlys, let me know how your husband likes it. Thanks for following us.
This looks like a really yummy thing to do with rice. i have to say i have used peanut butter alot in recipes and never thought to stir it through the rice. have printed it off for my must try list. thanks for sharing
We usually spoon the peanut sauce over the rice when we make chicken satay. But I like it stirred in much better. I hope you enjoy it.
Anything that contains peanut butter is right up my alley! This looks delicious! Thanks for joining the Monday Mingle at Tough Cookie Mommy We hope to see you back next Monday!
Thanks for hosting the mingle Maria. I enjoyed joining in this week. I’ll be sure to return with another yummy recipe.
What meat would you suggest to go with this dish?
I really like roasted chicken or pork with this. Make a little extra peanut sauce and add it over either.