Tahini Peanut Butter Sauce with Sweet Potato Ribbons and Chicken
I've been on a mission to incorporate more Tahini in my diet. Sesame seeds are a natural source of many vitamins and minerals, including B vitamins and antioxidants. Because food sources of nutrients are more bioavailable to us than pill supplementation, its important to eat a varied diet and incorporate as many nutritious foods as possible. Enter: tahini peanut butter sauce.
I mixed this sauce up while harboring a serious craving for peanut filled Pad Thai. I didn't have the ingredients to make a proper Pad Thai but I did have a jar of Tahini staring at me from the pantry shelf. So I whisked a few of my favorite Whole 30 ingredients in with tahini and peanut butter and OMG. You won't be able to resist licking the bowl clean on this sauce. Money back guarantee.
This recipe is fantastic for cooking single portions or cooking for two- see note below on portioning. For a vegetarian meal omit the chicken and add extra veggies!
Ingredients
A list of everything you'll need to make this tahini peanut butter sauce: garlic cloves, avocado oil, apple cider vinegar, tahini (I used Trader Joe's organic!), natural peanut butter (skip the Jiff and go for the pure stuff), Frank's Red Hot sauce, raw honey, and water.
Getting Saucy
Mince garlic cloves into a large frying pan and add a dash of avocado oil. When garlic starts to brown (2-3 minutes) start to add remaining ingredients one at a time: apple cider vinegar, tahini, peanut butter. Whisk sauce as you add ingredients.
Add water by the 1/4 cup; you may need to add more to adjust the consistency of the sauce as it cooks. Finally, add Franks Red Hot sauce and the honey. Turn heat to low and let simmer while you prepare the rest of your meal.
Make It A Meal
I used sweet potato and chicken to make this sauce in to a complete meal. Option to add broccoli or stir fried veggies on the side to give yourself some greens (but no shame if you don't).
After preparing the sauce, cut the raw chicken into bite sized pieces, add salt and pepper, then cook the chicken in a frying pan on medium heat with avocado oil.
As the chicken cooks, peel the skin of one large sweet potato. Still using the vegetable peeler, peel long strips of sweet potato into a bowl, making your very own easy sweet potato ribbons i.e. noodles.
When the chicken is cooked through, remove it from the pan, top up the avocado oil, and cook the sweet potato ribbons on medium heat for about 5 minutes, until ribbons soften and some edges start to brown.
Putting It Together
When noodles are cooked, return chicken to the pan. Turn off the heat and add tahini peanut butter sauce. Gently stir to combine. Plate your noodles and chicken and serve with roasted and chopped peanuts and cilantro.
Portions and Leftovers
This sauce will make 4 servings. Keep leftover sauce in an airtight container (hello, empty tomato sauce jar!) and add water as needed when reheating.
To portion the sweet potato and chicken, you'll need one chicken breast and 2 cups of uncooked sweet potato ribbons per portion. Depending on the size of your sweet potato that will be 1 small or 1/2 a large sweet potato per portion.
Tahini Peanut Butter Sauce with Sweet Potato Ribbons and Chicken
This nutrient packed tahini and peanut butter sauce pairs perfectly with sauteed sweet potato and chicken.
Tahini Peanut Butter Sauce
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp avocado oil
1/4 cup tahini
2/3 cup peanut butter
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
3 tbsp Franks Red Hot sauce
1 tsp raw honey
1 cup filtered water
Sweet Potato Ribbons and Chicken
2 large Sweet Potatoes (2 cups of prepared ribbons per person, adjust as needed)
1-2 tbsp avocado oil
4 chicken breasts (1 chicken breast per person)
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp cracked black pepper
Toppings
1/4 cup roasted peanuts, chopped
1 handful fresh cilantro, washed and chopped
Sauce
Add minced garlic to a frying pan with 1 tbsp avocado oil on medium heat. Cook for 2-3 minutes until garlic is fragrant and starts to brown.
Add apple cider vinegar, tahini, peanut butter, and 1/4 cup water.
Whisk until ingredients combine.
Stir in Franks Red Hot sauce and honey.
Reduce heat to low and add more water as needed.
Let sauce simmer for 10 minutes or while you prep the rest of your meal.
Sweet Potato Ribbons and Chicken
Heat frying pan on medium low heat and add 1 tbsp avocado oil.
With a chef's knife and cutting board, cut the chicken into small bite sized pieces.
Salt and pepper your chicken, then add chicken to the frying pan, stirring occasionally.
When chicken is fully cooked (about 10 minutes), remove chicken from the pan.
While the chicken is cooking, use a vegetable peeler to remove the skin of your sweet potatoes.
Carefully, continue to peel the sweet potato into long ribbons with the vegetable peeler.
Stop when sweet potato is too small to be peeled without risk of cutting hands.
(Set aside remaining pieces of sweet potato and use them in a future meal)
After removing chicken from the frying pan, add sweet potato ribbons to the frying pan and drizzle more avocado oil.
Cook sweet potato on medium heat for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Sweet potato is finished when ribbons have softened and edges start to brown.
Assembling The Meal
Turn the burner off and add chicken back in frying pan with sweet potato.
Gently stir in tahini peanut butter sauce and plate.
Serve with extra tahini peanut butter sauce, crushed peanuts, and cilantro.
Optional: pair with broccoli or stir fried veggies.
