100 Unexpected Ways to Enjoy Peanut Butter

February 27, 2017
Photo: Jennifer Causey; Styling: Kira Corbin
The best peanut butter recipes aren't just peanut butter pies and peanut butter cookies (though those recipes are delicious). No, the best peanut butter recipes are the dishes that use peanut butter as a surprise ingredient, one that adds bold, deep flavor to savory dishes and, yes, desserts that you might not expect.
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Georgia Peanut-Fried Chicken

Photo: Oxmoor House 
Georgia Peanut-Fried Chicken Recipe
J.C. and Jo Bell revolutionized peanut butter a few years back when they were charged with creating something amazing from America's massive peanut surplus. PB2, a powdered peanut butter, is a culinary dream ingredient. Cut 5 0/50 with Wondra flour, it makes for an unparalleled dredge for chicken. This dish retains the gentle sweetness of peanut, and has most of the crunch of true-to-form fried chicken.
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Nutty Fried Rice

Photo: Romulo Yanes; Food Styling: Torie Cox; Prop Styling: Claire Spollen 
Nutty Fried Rice Recipe

We incorporate lots of nutty flavor into traditional fried rice using sesame oil, cashews, peanut butter, and sesame seeds.

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Indonesian Shrimp Sate with Creamy Peanut Sauce

Indonesian Shrimp Sate with Creamy Peanut Sauce Recipe
Make a shrimp version of this popular Indonsian grilled dish by marinating shrimp in soy sauce and ginger and serving with a traditional peanut sauce made with peanut butter, coconut milk, lime juice, and cilantro.
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West African Peanut Chicken

Lee Harrelson
West African Peanut Chicken Recipe
A couple of years ago we attended an "Africa" night at a local university, where a variety of wonderful African foods were served for dinner. The thing I liked best was a delicious peanut chicken dish that sent me scampering for a recipe as soon as I got home.  My family loves this adaptation of the original, served over rice. The original recipe calls for homemade peanut butter. If you'd like to use fresh ground peanut butter, you can grind your own at the grocery store,  whirl some roasted peanuts in your food processor, or buy a jar of natural peanut butter.  

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Thai-Style Pork Stew

Photo: Oxmoor House
Thai-Style Pork Stew Recipe
Peanut butter melds with classic Asian flavors to lend this one-dish meal a Thai flair. Lime makes a perfect accent.

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Grilled Chicken with Sweet and Savory Peanut Sauce

Photo: Daniel Agee
Grilled Chicken with Sweet and Savory Peanut Sauce Recipe

This twist on the traditional Asian chicken dish has a very unique flavor, largely due to the use of peanut butter cups as the central flavoring agent. That's right, we created a rich sauce using a blend of soy, rice wine vinegar, seasonings, and chocolate-peanut butter cups.

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Broccoli Chicken Salad

Photo: Annabelle Breakey; Styling: Randy Mon
Broccoli Chicken Salad Recipe
Betsy Dasenko, a reader from Corvallis, Oregon, submitted this recipe, which makes a terrific packed lunch, side dish, or potluck contribution. We used Skippy brand peanut butter for a smooth, slightly sweet sauce. You can use natural peanut butter if you prefer, but you may want to add a pinch of sugar so the flavors are balanced.

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Sweet Potato Medallions with Almond Sauce and Chickpea Salad

Photo: Greg DuPree; Styling: Lindsey Lower
Sweet Potato Medallions with Almond Sauce and Chickpea Salad Recipe
It may seem too good to be true, but it's not: This impressive plate requires only 5 ingredients (water, oil, salt, and pepper are freebies). This recipe calls for almond butter, but you can use any nut butter you like--try peanut, cashew, or sunflower butter. And if canned chickpeas aren't in your pantry, try cannellini or navy beans.

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Chicken Skewers with Peanut Sauce

Photo: Andrew McCaul; Stylist: Gerri Williams for James Reps
Chicken Skewers with Peanut Sauce Recipe
Chicken Skewers with Peanut Sauce are a special dinner treat for kids. They'll not only love the dipping sauce but the skewers make dinnertime fun.
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Sesame Noodles

Photo: Ryan Benyi
Sesame Noodles Recipe

This Asian-inspired pasta salad features penne pasta and veggies coated in a homemade peanut sauce. 

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Chicken and Noodles with Peanut Sauce

Randy Mayor; Melanie J. Clarke
Chicken and Noodles with Peanut Sauce Recipe
A thick peanut sauce makes this dish rich and satisfying. It's great served at room temperature or cold; add a touch of warm water to loosen the noodles if serving cold.

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Peanut and Squash Soup

Becky Luigart-Stayner
Peanut and Squash Soup Recipe
Hailing from Senegal, the mildly spicy, slightly sweet Peanut Squash Soup would be well complemented by a side of stewed collard greens or Swiss chard.
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Skewered Chicken with Spicy Peanut Dip

Oxmoor House
Skewered Chicken with Spicy Peanut Dip Recipe
Leftover peanut dip is tasty on fresh celery and carrot sticks for a quick snack. It can be stored in an airtight container and refrigerated for up to a week.

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Sweet and Sour Chicken

Photo: Iain Bagwell; Styling: Ginny Branch 
Sweet and Sour Chicken Recipe

Powdered peanut butter (which you'll find on the nut butters aisle) adds richness here; if you'd rather not use it, sub more flour. Find plum sauce in the Asian foods section.

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Grilled Asian Flank Steak with Mango Salad

Photo: Johnny Autry; Styling: Cindy Bar, Lindsey Lower
Grilled Asian Flank Steak with Mango Salad Recipe
Grilled Asian Flank Steak with Mango Salad delivers a wonderful combination of flavors, and this one-dish meal is on the table in just 40 minutes. The mango adds a nice sweetness to the overall dish while the peanut butter adds a mild peanutty flavor to the dressing.
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Chicken Satay with Peanut Sauce

Photo: Ryan Benyi
Chicken Satay with Peanut Sauce Recipe

Marinate chicken in a coconut milk-curry powder mixture and serve with this spicy peanut sauce for an easy and economical Indonesian-style grilled main dish. Serve with a side of steamed, fried, or cauliflower rice (if that's more your style), a side of coconut soup, or eat the chicken drizzled in the peanut sauce in some crispy lettuce wraps. These chicken skewers are definitely a go-to make-ahead recipe. Enjoy these for a fun family dinner, or make them the star appetizer recipe of any of your upcoming festivities. 

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French Toast Peanut Butter and Jelly

Photo: John Autry; Styling: Cindy Barr
French Toast Peanut Butter and Jelly Recipe

What kid (or grown-up, for that matter) wouldn't love this ooey-gooey sandwich? Serve the souped-up peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with fresh fruit.

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Indonesian Vegetable Salad with Peanut Dressing

Photo: Kenji Toma; Food Styling: Karen Evans; Prop Styling: Michele Faro
Indonesian Vegetable Salad with Peanut Dressing Recipe
This is a simplified version of the splendid Indonesian salad called gado gado, which along with satay is practically a national dish, often served with crunchy shrimp crackers. It uses shortcut ingredients in the sauce--peanut butter, curry paste--to speed things along. For a spicier dressing, stir in sambal oelek or Sriracha.
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Spicy Chicken and Sunchoke Stir-Fry

Tina Cornett; Melanie J. Clarke
Spicy Chicken and Sunchoke Stir-Fry Recipe
Sunchokes take the place of water chestnuts in this tasty stir-fry. Look for Thai peanut sauce in your supermarket's ethnic foods aisle.

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Malaysian Chicken Pizza

Randy Mayor; Jan Gautro
Malaysian Chicken Pizza Recipe
Malaysian chicken pizza is a pie with a spicy, sweet, peanut butter and soy sauce-based sauce that seemed ahead of its time in 1991 when it first ran. Twenty years later and it’s still a new adventurous pizza for most people. If you like barbecue chicken pizza, you’ll love this.

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Crunchy Chinese Chicken Salad with Wonton Chips

Oxmoor House
Crunchy Chinese Chicken Salad with Wonton Chips Recipe
Picky kids can shun international flavor, but not this dish. With savory Peanut-Lime Dressing and crunchy wonton chips, kids will clean their plates and ask for seconds.
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Cucumber and Noodle Salad

Cucumber and Noodle Salad Recipe
Intensely flavorful Chinese sausage is worth seeking out for this salad. If you can't find it, bacon also pairs well with the sweet cucumbers and peanut dressing.

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Chicken Kebabs with Cucumber Noodles

Photo: Stephen Devries; Styling: Cindy Barr 
Chicken Kebabs with Cucumber Noodles Recipe
Marinated in a little honey, ginger, soy sauce, and peanut oil, Asian-inspired Chicken Kebabs with Cucumber Noodles are paired with cucumber noodles to create an easy weeknight dinner.

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Grilled Chicken with Peanut Sauce

Photo: Annabelle Breakey
Grilled Chicken with Peanut Sauce Recipe

This is such a simple, flavorful chicken recipe. This quick and easy peanut sauce adds lots of flavor to grilled chicken with minimum fuss. Serve it with steamed vegetables and rice for an inspired busy weeknight dinner that the whole family will enjoy.

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Chicken Stir-Fry with Peanut Sauce

Photo: Randy Mayor; Styling: Claire Spollen 
Chicken Stir-Fry with Peanut Sauce Recipe

Save time, money, and calories by making this simple stir-fry in the comfort of your own kitchen. Want more for later? Try doubling the batch of peanut sauce and using it as a dip for grilled chicken kebabs tomorrow night!

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Chicken with Peanut-Butter Barbecue Sauce

Photo: Kate Sears; Styling: Elizabeth Blake
Chicken with Peanut-Butter Barbecue Sauce Recipe

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Pancakes with Peanut Butter Sauce

Photo: Greg Dupree; Styling: Caroline M. Cunningham 
Pancakes with Peanut Butter Sauce Recipe
Carolyn says: "Cook this batter immediately after mixing to keep the pancakes springy and light. The whole wheat adds flavor."
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Peanut Butter Berry

Photo: Kang Kim; Styling: Tiziana Agnello
Peanut Butter Berry Recipe
You'll never make a boring bowl of oatmeal ever again.

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Soba Noodle and Pork Casserole 

Soba Noodle and Pork Casserole  Recipe

This is not your mom's creamy noodle casserole. After this dish, miso cream sauce will be your new go-to sauce for everything. It only has 3 ingredients, it's perfectly seasoned and creamy, and just thick enough to hold up to a good noodle. The creaminess is complemented by the crunchiness of the peanuts and panko in this casserole and the green onion and cilantro brighten it up. Make this dish gluten-free by replacing the panko with extra peanuts and using gluten-free miso. We think Togarishi-- a Japanese 7-spice blend found at Asian markets-- is worth the buy, but if you cannot find it use Chinese 5-spice. 

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Peanut Butter and Chicken Noodles With Carrot and Cucumber Ribbons

Photo: Jonny Valiant; Styling: Sara Quessenberry
Peanut Butter and Chicken Noodles With Carrot and Cucumber Ribbons Recipe
Everything tastes better in a bowl.
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Spicy Thai Chicken Kabobs

Photo: Jennifer Davick; Styling: Lisa Powell Bailey
Spicy Thai Chicken Kabobs Recipe
Stir up a superfast peanut sauce, and marinate the chicken before you head out for the day. The remaining ingredients can be quickly put together when you get home from work.

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Orange-Sesame Noodles with Grilled Shrimp

Jean Allsopp
Orange-Sesame Noodles with Grilled Shrimp Recipe
A generous splash of fresh-squeezed orange juice gives a lift to traditional peanut soba noodle salad. Leave off the shrimp if you want to make this vegetarian. Or top with grilled chicken strips, pork, or steak for another variation.

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Spicy Peanut Chicken over Rice

Photo: Randy Mayor; Styling: Sabrina Bone
Spicy Peanut Chicken over Rice Recipe
This spicy peanut chicken recipe makes enough to freeze leftovers, which keep for up to a month. Spoon single servings into airtight containers; thaw overnight in the refrigerator, and reheat in a saucepan. You can increase the crushed red pepper, if you like; a dollop of yogurt on top balances the spiciness.
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Chicken Noodle Bowl with Peanut-Ginger Sauce

Photo: Greg Dupree; Styling: Caroline M. Cunningham
Chicken Noodle Bowl with Peanut-Ginger Sauce Recipe

Make the dressing and prep the veggies the day before, and dinner will be on the table in minutes.