Chicken Satay is marinated chicken grilled to perfection and dipped in a perfectly-seasoned Peanut Sauce, inspired by the cuisine of Brunei, that will rival anything you find at a Thai restaurant. Perfect for a quick dinner served with rice or noodles!
Hello Reader! I try my hardest to research recipes as best as I can before posting to ensure I am representing each culture correctly. If this recipe is from your country and I have made a mistake or you have suggestions for how to make it more authentic, I would love to hear! Please leave a comment below letting me know what should be different, and I will rework the recipe. It is always my intention to pay homage and respect to each cultural dish that I cook. Thanks for reading!
Chicken satay may be one of the best quick weeknight meals out there. You can marinate your meat ahead of time, place it on skewers and then simply grill! The best part is the incredible peanut sauce that makes it all taste like a high-end takeout.
If you’ve tried other Asian Recipes like Chicken with Cashew Nuts or Beef Rendang, you’ll love the profile of this simple, yet flavorful chicken!
Serve it with a simple Jasmine rice or Cucumber Salad and you’ve got dinner on the table in less than 30 minutes!
Recipe Origins
Satay is a popular dish in Southeast Asia made of grilled meat on a skewer, most of the time served with a sauce. It can be made of mutton, beef, pork, fish, and in our case, today, chicken!
Satay originally came from the Indonesian island of Java and was invented to be an adaptation of Indian kebabs. The name comes from Malay, but in a Xiamen dialect it means “three times stacked” because usually satay is made of three pieces of meat stacked together on a Kebab skewer.
I had originally made this recipe to represent Brunei on the blog a few years ago, but the photos badly needed a glow up! At the same time, I adjusted the peanut sauce recipe to more accurately represent the flavors that I had tried when my husband and I went on our honeymoon to Indonesia.
It’s still an Americanized version of Chicken Satay, with creamy peanut butter instead of roasted peanuts, but I still think your guests will love its bold and balanced flavors!
While this version of the recipe is what most American home cooks are looking for, I will be making a more authentic Thai version soon, so stay tuned!
Why Make This Recipe
- Restaurant Quality: If you’ve ever had chicken satay at a restaurant you’ll be shocked at how easy it is to create the dish at home! So tasty and also budget friendly!
- Quick Prep: It takes just minutes to mix up your marinade and you can leave your chicken to soak up that marinade for hours. Grilling the meat only takes 20 minutes so you can plan ahead and have dinner ready quickly!
- Taste of Thailand: This may not be the most authentic Thai recipe but it has all the flavor of Thai dishes you love, and will have you falling more in love with each bite!
Key Ingredients to Make Chicken Satay with Peanut Sauce
Here is a visual overview of the ingredients in the recipe. Scroll down to the recipe at the bottom for quantities.
- Chicken thighs: Be sure and trim the fat off. Thighs will give you perfectly tender bites but you could use chicken breasts if you prefer.
- Coconut milk: I always opt for canned, full fat coconut milk for a stronger flavor. The coconut milk also helps to tenderize the meat.
- Curry powder: Curry powder is the secret ingredient to this marinade that gives it the most flavor!
- Spices: Turmeric, ground ginger and chopped garlic.
- Brown sugar: Brings balance to all the saltiness of the marinade. I use light brown sugar, but you can use dark brown sugar for a stronger molasses flavor.
- Fish sauce: You need fish sauce for both the marinade and the sauce. You could skip it if you really want to avoid buying another new ingredient (and substitute more soy sauce) or you can go for it and use the leftovers to make Thai-inspired Meatball Soup and Lao Papaya Salad.
- Lime juice: Provides just the right amount of freshness to the marinade. I prefer to buy fresh limes for this, but you can also use the bottled stuff if necessary.
- Peanut butter: Authentic Thai peanut sauce doesn’t use peanut butter, but rather calls for ground peanuts. For a recipe that tastes like your well-known Americanized peanut sauce, a processed peanut butter is best!
- Fresh Ginger: You could substitute ground ginger if you need to, but use caution. Ground ginger is more potent than fresh ginger so you will need about a fourth of what the recipe calls for. Fresh ginger is worth the effort! You can also use it in this Homemade Ginger Juice.
- Rice vinegar: You can substitute with apple cider vinegar if needed.
How to Make Chicken Satay with Peanut Sauce
Step One: Combine the marinade ingredients in a small bowl.
Step Two: Cover the chicken pieces with the marinade.
Step Three: Place the chicken on a skewer.
Step Four: Grill for ten minutes on each side until the internal temperature reaches 160 degrees.
Step Five: In a small bowl, whisk the peanut sauce ingredients together, then serve your Chicken Satay with a side of Peanut Sauce!
Expert Tips
- Don’t be intimidated if you don’t have a grill. You can use a tabletop grill like a George Foreman (like I did!). If you do cook the chicken satay on a tabletop electric grill and find that the sides aren’t cooking well, I found that closing the panini press helps a lot!
- Make sure to soak your wooden skewers in water overnight so that they don’t catch on fire on the grill!
- If you forgot to soak your skewers, lay a piece of aluminum foil down on the grill and rest the wooden skewer ends on the aluminum foil to keep them from burning
- To keep your chicken moist while cooking, it is a traditional Thai technique to brush them with a little bit more coconut milk while on the grill.
- Be sure and give your meat time to rest once you take it off the grill. Letting it sit for a few minutes allows the juices to redistribute and enhances the flavor and texture.
Recipe FAQs
If you are not a fan of chicken thighs or just want a leaner meat you can definitely use chicken breasts. I recommend chicken thighs because bites of chicken thighs will turn out juicier and more flavorful due to the higher fat content.
If you don’t have any wooden skewers, metal skewers will work just as well. Be careful when removing from the grill as they will retain heat more than wooden skewers.
The best thing about chicken satay is you don’t just have to save it for barbeque season. You can easily make it indoors with an electric griddle or cast iron skillet.
If you have leftovers, save them in an airtight container in the refrigerator. To reheat leftovers, cover them in aluminum foil and place them in a warm oven until heated through.
This recipe serves 3–4 people as a main course, or 6–8 as an appetizer.
Did you enjoy this recipe for Chicken Satay with Peanut Sauce? If so, check out these other recipes I’ve selected just for you:
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Chicken Satay with Peanut Sauce
Equipment
- Kebab Skewers
- Whisk
- Pastry Brush
- Food Thermometer
- Barbecue Grill
- Mixing Bowl(s)
- Citrus Juicer
Ingredients
Chicken Ingredients
- 2.5 lb chicken thigh, fat trimmed off and cut into 1” cubes
- ½ cup coconut milk
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tsp curry powder
- ¼ tsp turmeric
- ¼ tsp ground ginger
- 1 tsp chopped garlic
- 1 tbsp brown sugar
- 1 tbsp fish sauce
- 1 tbsp lime juice
Peanut Sauce Ingredients
- ⅓ cup peanut butter
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 Tbsp brown sugar
- ½ Tbsp freshly chopped ginger
- ½ tbsp fish sauce, if you don’t want to buy another ingredient, you can substitute this with more soy sauce
- 1 tsp rice vinegar
- ½ tsp chili paste to taste
- ¼ cup water
Instructions
- Combine the marinade ingredients in a small bowl.
- In a gallon ziplock bag, add the cubed chicken pieces and pour the marinade. Put the ziplock bag in the fridge and let it rest for about 2 hours or overnight.
- Once the chicken has marinated, place three cubed pieces side by side on the wooden skewer. Make sure to skewer the chicken the long way.
- Use a pastry brush to brush vegetable oil on your barbecue grill to keep the chicken from sticking.
- Heat the grill on a low heat, and slowly grill the satay for about ten minutes on each side. Check the chicken frequently to ensure it isn’t burning. Chicken is completely cooked when it reaches an internal temperature of 160 degrees Fahrenheit.
- While the chicken is cooking, whisk together the peanut sauce ingredients, adding more water according to desired thickness.
- Serve your chicken skewers with a side of peanut sauce. Enjoy!
Notes
- Chicken thighs: You could use chicken breasts if you prefer.
- Brown sugar: You can use dark brown sugar for a stronger molasses flavor.
- Fish sauce: You could skip it if you really want to avoid buying another new ingredient (and substitute more soy sauce).
- Lime juice: I prefer to buy fresh limes for this, but you can also use the bottled stuff if necessary.
- Peanut butter: For a recipe that tastes like your well-known Americanized peanut sauce, a processed peanut butter is best!
- Fresh Ginger: You could substitute ground ginger if you need to, but use caution.
- Rice vinegar: You can substitute with apple cider vinegar if needed.
- Don’t be intimidated if you don’t have a grill. You can use a tabletop grill like a George Foreman (like I did!). If you do cook the chicken satay on a tabletop electric grill and find that the sides aren’t cooking well, I found that closing the panini press helps a lot!
- Make sure to soak your wooden skewers in water overnight so that they don’t catch on fire on the grill!
- If you forgot to soak your skewers, lay a piece of aluminum foil down on the grill and rest the wooden skewer ends on the aluminum foil to keep them from burning
- To keep your chicken moist while cooking, it is a traditional Thai technique to brush them with a little bit more coconut milk while on the grill.
- Be sure and give your meat time to rest once you take it off the grill. Letting it sit for a few minutes allows the juices to redistribute and enhances the flavor and texture.
mardiana.mindef says
oh wow you did Brunei Chicken Satay! very nice very interesting indeed. please keep up your Foreign Fork ♡ ♡ ♡
The Foreign Fork says
Thank you very much Mardiana!
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Alexandria Drzazgowski says
Thank you, I’m so glad that you’re enjoying my blog!!
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Alexandria Drzazgowski says
I do! I send out a newsletter every Saturday called Spice Saturday, where I make a recipe with a different spice. There is a link to sign up at the bottom of every recipe as well as every country page! Just add your name and email and you will receive the newsletter from there 🙂
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Alexandria Drzazgowski says
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