Slow Cooker Thai Chicken and Noodles — The AP-Exam-Week Slow Cook

Cody is on day four hundred and seventy-three. AP exams are in two weeks. AP English Literature on May ninth, AP US History on May eleventh. Mr. Briggs has been running before-school study sessions in his classroom on Tuesdays and Thursdays at six forty-five in the morning for the AP English students who want them, and I have been there since the first of April. Six forty-five in the morning is hard. Six forty-five in the morning twice a week with a Sonic shift the same evening is harder. I have been running on the kind of half-tired that I learned to live in last fall and that I am pretty sure is just going to be the texture of the next two weeks.

The Sonic shift-lead-permanent role has been busy. Carlos has been on a vacation rotation since April fifteenth — he and his wife went to Padre Island for the first time in eight years — and I have been the lead-in-charge on the eight-to-midnight Saturday closing shifts for three weeks running. The kitchen runs. The closing checklist runs. The cash drawer reconciles to the penny three Saturdays in a row, which Carlos called me from his hotel about on Tuesday because he had been getting the daily reports from the assistant district manager and wanted me to know. Carlos said, kid, you are going to be running this place by yourself a year from now, and then he said, and the next pay review is two weeks after I get back. I am not making this up.

And the recipe Sunday was slow cooker Thai chicken and noodles, the kind of fall-back-on-the-slow-cooker dinner the AP-prep week needed. The recipe is from Cafe Delites. Chicken thighs slow-cooked in coconut milk with peanut butter, soy sauce, lime juice, fresh ginger, garlic, and a touch of brown sugar. Shredded into the sauce after six hours on low. Served over rice noodles with cilantro and a fresh-lime squeeze.

The math: chicken thighs from the markdown rack $2.79, a can of coconut milk $1.79, peanut butter from the jar (about $0.50 worth), soy sauce, fresh ginger $0.40, garlic, lime $0.49, brown sugar from the bag, rice noodles $1.49, fresh cilantro $0.99. Total: about $7.95 for three dinners that fed Mama and me Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday. The cost-per-serving with the leftovers is about $1.35.

The technique is the slow cooker doing the work while I studied. You combine the sauce ingredients in the slow cooker insert — coconut milk, three tablespoons of peanut butter, three tablespoons of soy sauce, the juice of a lime, a tablespoon of grated fresh ginger, three cloves of minced garlic, two tablespoons of brown sugar, a pinch of red pepper flakes — and you whisk to combine. You add the chicken thighs (still bone-in skin-on, the markdown-rack default) and you turn them in the sauce to coat. You set the slow cooker on low for six hours and you walk away.

The walking-away is the trick. The slow cooker is the appliance the AP-prep week needs because the slow cooker does not need attention. I sat at the kitchen table from ten in the morning to four in the afternoon Sunday with my AP English study packet and a coffee and the slow cooker on the counter behind me, and the kitchen filled with the smell of peanut and lime and ginger and chicken slowly tenderizing in coconut milk, and I read three poems and outlined two response essays and made it through about a third of The Awakening. The smell of the cooking was almost more useful for the studying than the studying itself. The kitchen has continued to be the room that runs the household, and on AP-prep weekends, the kitchen is also the room that runs the studying.

You shred the chicken in the slow cooker insert with two forks at the six-hour mark, leaving the meat in the sauce to finish absorbing the flavor. While the chicken finishes, you cook the rice noodles in salted boiling water for four minutes, drain, rinse with cold water briefly to stop the cook. You toss the noodles directly into the slow cooker with the chicken and the sauce. You serve in shallow bowls with chopped cilantro and a fresh lime wedge.

Mama said, eating Sunday night, baby, this tastes like takeout in the best way. Cody at the Saturday visit, when I told him about the recipe, said, save me a Sunday for that one when I get out, Kay. The savings envelope is at $585 with this pay period. Two weeks to AP exams. Six weeks to the Tulsa Library writing program.

The recipe is below, the way Cafe Delites wrote it. The trick I want you to keep is the peanut butter going into the slow cooker at the start — the cook time melts it into the sauce so the result is silky, not lumpy. Use natural peanut butter for the cleanest flavor; the sweetened versions can throw the balance off. Slow-cook on low for six hours; high pressure will overcook the chicken. Make this on a Sunday when the slow cooker is the appliance you need most.

Slow Cooker Butter Chicken

Prep Time: 15 minutes | Cook Time: 8 hours (low) or 4 hours (high) | Total Time: 8 hours 15 minutes | Servings: 6

Ingredients

• 2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken thighs
• 1 (14 oz) can crushed tomatoes
• 1 medium yellow onion, diced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon fresh ginger, grated
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 tablespoon garam masala
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper (adjust to taste)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 2 tablespoons honey
• Cooked basmati rice, for serving
• Fresh cilantro, for garnish (optional)

Instructions

1. Season the chicken. In a bowl, toss the chicken thighs with garam masala, cumin, turmeric, paprika, cayenne, salt, and pepper until evenly coated.
2. Layer the slow cooker. Place the diced onion in the bottom of the slow cooker. Lay the seasoned chicken on top. Add the minced garlic, grated ginger, and crushed tomatoes. Drop in the butter.
3. Cook low and slow. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4 hours, until the chicken is fall-apart tender.
4. Shred and finish the sauce. Remove the chicken and shred it with two forks. Stir the heavy cream and honey into the sauce in the slow cooker. Return the shredded chicken to the pot and stir to combine. Let it sit on warm for 5–10 minutes so the flavors meld.
5. Serve. Spoon the butter chicken over cooked basmati rice. Garnish with fresh cilantro if you have it.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 320 | Protein: 32g | Fat: 15g | Carbs: 14g | Fiber: 2g | Sodium: 580mg