🍗🥜 This Chicken Satay With Peanut Sauce is a FAST and EASY recipe for authentic-tasting Thai chicken satay. The chicken is so tender and juicy, and there’s plenty of homemade PEANUT SAUCE to dip it into!
Easy Chicken Satay with Peanut Sauce
I love Thai food of all kinds, such as my chicken pad Thai, Thai chicken coconut curry, and Thai chicken lettuce wraps. However, this peanut sauce satay chicken remains one of the most popular recipes on the site and is a favorite for so many reasons!
- Fast and easy, the chicken is ready in under an hour, and so tender, juicy, and full of layers of flavor.
- It’s so easy to make peanut sauce at home, takes two minutes to whisk together, is far more cost-effective than small store-bought jars, and you control the ingredients. It makes everything taste better!
- The skewers work well as an appetizer or main course, and the recipe can easily be scaled for a crowd.
I just made this for dinner tonight and I really really liked it!!!
Cynthia
Ingredients You’ll Need
This recipe packs in big flavor two ways: with a marinade and a peanut dipping sauce.
To make the chicken satay marinade, you’ll need:
- Canned coconut milk: Use full-fat coconut milk for the best taste. You’re looking for coconut milk in a can, not in a carton. I use Trader Joe’s Lite Coconut Milk.
- Garlic
- Lime juice
- Soy sauce and fish sauce: This adds lots of depth and a bold, salty, umami taste. Feel free to substitute coconut aminos or tamari for the soy sauce, if preferred. Fish sauce is typically sold in the Asian section of grocery stores.
- Brown sugar
- Spices (ground cumin, turmeric, coriander, and ginger)
- Chicken breast tenders: I prefer breasts, because the lean meat takes on the flavor of the marinade nicely. However, you can use thin chicken thighs if preferred.
To make the peanut sauce for the chicken satay, you’ll need:
- Creamy peanut butter: Make sure you’re using creamy peanut butter and not crunchy. I prefer natural peanut butter. The creamy peanut sauce really makes this dish, so you need to have the right ingredients on hand.
- Honey: Maple syrup will also work.
- Sesame oil
- Apple cider vinegar
- Spices (ground ginger, salt, pepper, optional cayenne)
- Garlic
- Coconut milk: If you like your peanut satay sauce on the thicker side, omit the coconut milk, noting it will alter the flavor somewhat.
Tip
If you don’t have all the ingredients on hand, you can probably get away with omitting something, but know that your chicken satay won’t taste quite as authentic. However, definitely do NOT skip the coconut milk or the fish sauce.
Note: Scroll down to the recipe card section of the post for the ingredients with amounts included and for more complete directions.
How to Make Chicken Satay with Peanut Sauce
Making satay chicken skewers is a quick and easy process. Just make sure to allow time for marinating the chicken. The marinade infuses the chicken with flavor and also ensures it remains juicy and tender after being grilled.
Let’s review how chicken satay is prepared:
- Marinate the chicken: Combine all the marinade ingredients in a bowl and whisk to combine. Then, add the chicken pieces and let them marinate in the fridge. I like to marinate the chicken overnight for maximum flavor and tenderizing effects, but if you only have 1 hour, that’s okay. But the longer you can let your chicken marinate, the better it’s going to taste.
- Assemble the skewers: Thread the chicken onto one metal grilling skewer. If you’re grilling the chicken satay on wooden skewers, you’ll want to soak the skewers in water for an hour or so before adding the chicken. This prevents the wood from splintering in the chicken and also keeps it from burning on the grill.
- Grill the chicken satay: Because you’re using chicken breast tenders rather than thick breasts, they cook very quickly. When grilling the chicken skewers, make sure to rotate them often so they cook evenly throughout. You’ll know they’re done when the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165F.
- Make the peanut sauce: While grilling the tenders, whip up a batch of homemade peanut sauce, whisking all the ingredients in a bowl.
- Serve: Place the chicken satay skewers on a plate, garnish with peanuts and fresh cilantro, and enjoy warm!
No Grill? No Problem!
You can either grill the satay chicken skewers on the stovetop using a grill pan, or you can ditch the skewers altogether and simply cook the chicken in a skillet until done.
The skewers are more fun to eat and are how Thai restaurants serve this dish, but simply cooking the marinated chicken in a skillet would taste just as good!
What to Serve with Peanut Chicken Satay Skewers
Easy Chicken Satay With Peanut Sauce
Equipment
- 2 Medium Bowls
- Grilling Skewers
- 1 Grill
Ingredients
Marinade
- ½ cup canned coconut milk, I used Trader Joe’s Lite
- 3 cloves garlic, finely mince or pressed
- 2 tablespoons lime juice
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons fish sauce
- 1 tablespoon light or dark brown sugar, packed
- 1 to 2 teaspoons turmeric
- 1 to 2 teaspoons cumin
- 1 to 2 teaspoons coriander
- 1 to 2 teaspoons ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 to 1.25 pounds boneless skinless chicken breast tenders
Peanut Sauce
- heaping 1/3 cup creamy peanut butter
- ¼ cup honey
- ¼ cup sesame oil
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 1 to 2 teaspoons ground ginger, or to taste
- 1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
- 1 teaspoon pepper, or to taste
- 1 clove garlic, finely minced or pressed, optional
- pinch cayenne pepper, optional and to taste
- ¼ cup coconut milk, or as desired for consistency
Garnishes
- salted peanuts, to taste
- fresh cilantro, to taste
Instructions
Marinate the Chicken
- To a medium bowl, add all marinade ingredients (except the chicken) and whisk to combine until smooth and incorporated.
- Add the chicken and stir to combine and coat. Cover and refrigerate in the fridge for at least 1 hour, or overnight.
- Thread one piece of chicken onto one metal grilling skewer and repeat with all remaining pieces. If using wooden skewers, soak in water for at least 30 minutes. Discard excess marinade.
Grill the Chicken
- Preheat grill to medium-high heat and cook chicken for about 5 to 7 minutes, or until done and cooked through. Rotate often to ensure even cooking. While chicken cooks make the peanut sauce.
Make the Peanut Sauce
- To a medium bowl, add all peanut sauce ingredients and whisk to combine until smooth and incorporated. Taste, check for seasoning and flavor balance, and make any necessary adjustments (i.e. more honey, more peanut butter, more salt, more sesame oil, etc.). If you like your sauce on the thicker side you may want to omit the coconut milk; set aside to serve with chicken. Extra peanut sauce will keep airtight for up to 10 days in the fridge.
Serve
- Place skewers on a plate and evenly garnish with peanuts and cilantro, to taste, and serve immediately.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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great
great
I love your recipes! I live in NYC and sadly don’t have a grill, or a grill pan. Can I make this in my skillet on my stove? If so, should I still soak my wooden skewers?
Well at that point I would just add the chicken to a skillet loose in pieces and ditch the skewers idea. Or go on Amazon and buy an cheapie grill pan to use for 20 bucks probably if you want more of the real authenticity of it. Something like this but there are tons https://amzn.to/2ZkBeRF
taste this before adding the salt, I wish that I had….
I just made this for dinner tonight and I really really liked it!!! I pan fried it in a little toasted seasame oil since it’s raining and I couldn’t use the grill and it turned out great! Next time I think I won’t add as much apple cider vinegar to the peanut sauce but it still tasted amazing. I served the chicken over white rice with the peanut sauce drizzled over and it was delish!!! Thank you for the recipe!
Thanks for the five star review and I’m glad this turned out great in a pan for you! With regard to the peanut sauce, it’s a very personal thing so of course feel free to experiment how you like yours to be.
Do you think this would still be good on the stove top if its not grilling season in my area?
The flavor will be different but yes you can. I recommend using a grill pan for your stove top.
OMG! So delicious! I made it tonight for dinner. Thank You!
Thanks for trying the recipe and glad you loved it! It’s a personal fave of mine too!
I love the recipes, but need to print them out, how can I do that. I cannot memorize the ingredients, nor can I find an ingredient list. Help!!
bluemistglows@snet.net
There’s a giant print button on the center section/top section of the recipe card of every recipe. Use it. Enjoy.
What kind of sesame oil do I use for the sauce? I’ve never used sesame oil before. There are three kinds at my store. Refined, unrefined and toasted. I think toasted? since we are not cooking with it and we are just using for flavor in the sauce? But I’m not sure… let me know ASAP if you can, I’d like to make this sometime this week!
I only really buy the sesame oil from Trader Joe’s because it’s inexpensive and has a great flavor. It’s toasted.
hey girl- this looks so yummy!
Thanks! Enjoy your weekend!
I wish your opening page print was a little bigger. More important if you can’t change the font size completely would you please enlarge the words “read more”. For me it is very hard to see. When I first found your website I could not get the recipes because I didn’t see those two little words read more.
I have tried to change Read More many times with the developers of the email system I use but unfortunately they have not been able to do it. I send over 500,000 emails a week to my subscribers and am doing the best I can to provide FREE recipes to millions of people.
Your slow cooker peanut sauce chicken recipe is one of my kid’s absolute favorites. I now keep canned coconut milk on hand all the time thanks to you! I think I would like the additional spices in this sauce. Another great recipe!
Awesome looking chicken! I think the first recipe I tried for peanut sauce came from one of your posts many years ago–I was hooked immediately!