Chicken Satay with Peanut Sauce
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Perfectly grilled chicken satay skewers in the most flavorful marinade. Served with THE BEST creamy peanut sauce ever!!!
I’m going to be completely honest with you guys.
These chicken satay skewers could taste like shoe leather. And if they did, that would be okay. Because this peanut-lime sauce will make anything and everything taste so much better.
But don’t worry. It absolutely does not taste like shoe leather. Promise.
Instead, it’s the most perfectly grilled, golden-brown chicken bites with just the right amount of charred, smoky goodness. The marinade takes the chicken to the next level of flavor town with the help of a simple coconut milk marinade and some pantry spices.
And I know I say this all the time, but really, this creamy, zesty peanut-lime sauce is the best peanut sauce of your lives. SO SO SO good.
Tools For This Recipe
Metal skewers or wooden skewers
Cast iron grill pan or large cast iron skillet
Chicken Satay with Peanut Sauce: Frequently Asked Questions
Absolutely! But because ground ginger is often more potent/concentrated than freshly grated ginger, you need less when using dry. The correct ratio is 1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger to 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger.
Yes, chicken breasts can absolutely be used here but chicken thighs have more dark meat and a higher fat content which will yield juicier, more flavorful chicken when thrown on the grill.
Metal skewers are sturdy and reusable but note that they will retain heat so please be careful when serving. Wooden skewers can also be used but can burn over a hot grill. I recommend soaking them overnight in water (or at least 30 minutes) prior to using.
No grill, no problem. A cast iron grill pan or a large cast iron skillet will work beautifully here, especially during those winter month when it’s too cold to grill out!
Chicken Satay with Peanut Sauce
Ingredients
- ¼ cup coconut milk
- 2 tablespoons reduced sodium soy sauce
- 2 ½ teaspoons yellow curry powder
- 1 ½ teaspoons turmeric
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon fish sauce
- 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1-inch chunks
- 1 tablespoon canola oil
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
For the peanut sauce
- 3 tablespoons creamy peanut butter
- 1 tablespoon reduced sodium soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lime juice
- 2 teaspoons brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons chili garlic sauce, or more, to taste
- 1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, combine coconut milk, soy sauce, curry powder, turmeric, garlic, ginger, brown sugar and fish sauce.
- In a gallon size Ziploc bag or large bowl, combine chicken and coconut milk mixture; marinate for at least 2 hours to overnight, turning the bag occasionally.
- Drain the chicken from the marinade, discarding the marinade.
- Preheat grill to medium high heat. Thread chicken onto skewers. Brush with canola oil; season with salt and pepper, to taste.
- Add skewers to grill, and cook, turning occasionally, until the chicken is completely cooked through, reaching an internal temperature of 165 degrees F, about 12-15 minutes.
- Serve immediately with peanut sauce.
For the peanut sauce
- Whisk together peanut butter, soy sauce, lime juice, brown sugar, chili garlic sauce and ginger in a small bowl. Whisk in 2-3 tablespoons water until desired consistency is reached.
Video
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Okay, WOW! This recipe blew my boyfriend and I away. We’ve made it twice now in a span of 2 weeks!
I really want my vegetarian friend to experience this LOL, is there a way I could do this with tofu on the BBQ still?
I subbed seitan for the chicken and it was delicious. I feel like seitan has a more meaty texture than tofu and I use it in place of chicken in recipes all the time. I pan fried it but I don’t see any reason you couldn’t grill it.
Never made Thai food before, was so impressed with the detail to the recipe, as well as the end result!!!
Thank you
Yummyyyyyyyyyy… I’m cone from native of the dish . And I can tell this recepie is almost near to the real satay. The only different is I cook the peanut butter sauce bcoz I dong like raw garlic .
Only came for the sauce, and it was delicious! Fast, simple, easily buildable, and it doesn’t need to be cooked! This is my new reference-satay sauce!
Can i subsitute fish oil with something
It’s fish SAUCE not fish OIL, and it adds a wonderful ‘umami’ character without being “fishy” (though the aroma of the sauce might make you think otherwise). You could use oyster sauce instead, but it should be thinned first with a little water or soy sauce.
These flavors are SPOT ON, incredible. I don’t have a grill, so I tossed the marinated chicken with some oil, spread on a cookie sheet, and baked at 475 for ~25 minutes (toss halfway through). It browned perfectly. Served the chicken over rice noodles with the sauce, broccoli, and some cilantro and chopped peanuts. This will be a favorite 🙂 Thanks for the recipe!
Really delicious! I subbed in shrimp for half of the chicken, and both turned out great.
Incredible
Excellent dish. Served it with jasmine rice and stir fried veggies though my presentation was not as good.
I changed the sauce recipe to 1/3 required and still have plenty leftover – perhaps we were being stingy but the sauce is quite rich so you don’t need much.
My partner was very impressed (though I didn’t tell him it was recipe hehe)
This recipe was amazing, both my kids 18 and 10 year old boys said it was banging, 10 out of 10 , it’s been added to my special recipe book forever thankyou
Best peanut sauce I have ever tasted! So simple and so tasty.
My husband and I are not great cooks but now are forced to cook at home. We made these skewers and they are AMAZING! We’ve had to divide up the skewers so we each get our share for leftovers tomorrow!
If I can’t grill outside, what’s the best cooking method
I made this as a dish to take to a going away party. Everyone loved it!
This recipe is delicious! Instead of thinning my peanut sauce with water I used some of the extra coconut milk. It was amazing!
Made this exactly as the recipe called for and it is amazing. We will definitely be adding this to our monthly menu.
Love this! Very tasty and tender chicken. Do you have nutrition info for the recipe?
Super yummy! Eaay instructions, very tender chicken and the whole family loved it. I kinda changed up a bit by just adding a few tbps of coconut milk to the peanut sauce, and because hubby didn’t feel like grilling, I baked it on a deep cookie sheet at 375 for like, idk 20 minutes or so? It smelled amazing and the peanut sauce with fresh cilantro and slices cucumbers with jasmine rice was a superb meal! Thanks!
Good recipe, but a bit conflicting. The flavour of the marinated chicken is quite powerful on its own. Good, but powerful. The main flavour of satay chicken with peanut sauce should be the peanut sauce. The strong flavours of the marinade and the sauce kind of clash together and doesn’t give the peanut sauce enough spotlight.
Chicken satay is not peanut sauce chicken. It is supposed to have a curry flavour from the marinade. Peanut sauce is just a dip. I don’t think you understand what satay is. Mind you, I can eat spoonfuls of just the peanut sauce on its own.
I searched for ‘the best chicken satay recipe’ and this was one of many that came up on Google. The picture was the thing that caused me to try this recipe because I thought ‘if this tastes half as good as it looks then it’s going to be a big success’. I wasn’t disappointed at all, in fact this really is the best chicken satay I have ever had, and believe me, I have tried a lot after living in Singapore and travelling Asia for six years!! Thank you so much for posting this recipe, I am really looking forward to trying out your other recipes. Wising you a fantastic 2020!