This is an easy recipe for Chicken Satay Skewers that is restaurant-quality! Get the marinade ready in the morning or even the night before and enjoy a fast, delicious meal.
When we moved to the farm and Grand Rapids, we left some of our favorite restaurants behind. And while we’ve been able to find new favorites here some types of food I’m just finding to be irreplaceable.
Thai food is one of those cuisines that I have yet to find a replacement for in Grand Rapids. Truth be told, I haven’t really found any Asian food here that I love enough to call my new “go-to” restaurant for Thai food (or Chinese). Instead, I’ve learned that I prefer to make my own dishes from those cuisines at home where I can adjust ingredients and get them tasting exactly as I like.
This recipe for Chicken Satay Skewers is the perfect example of such a recipe. It’s delicious, uses authentic flavors and is a fantastic meal that can be served year-round whenever you get a craving for restaurant-quality Thai food.
Creating a flavorful recipe for Chicken Satay
Thai cuisine focuses on layering flavors that include salty, sour, sweet, spicy and creamy. Generally, there’s one flavor component that’s more dominant and the others are in the middle or on the backend of the flavor profile. You would taste them as a secondary flavor after the main flavor hits your taste buds.
This recipe for Chicken Satay Skewers is no different. First, I start with a marinade this includes curry powder, curry paste and ground ginger. This helps bring out a little heat flavor, but not too much. In fact, I would say this is a mild recipe for Chicken Satay Skewers. If you want to increase the heat in the marinade, increase the curry powder and curry paste in the recipe below.
Then I add in a creamy component with coconut milk. The coconut milk brings the creaminess into play and is front and center in this recipe with its layers of flavor.
Lastly, I add in those sweet, salty and sour flavors with sugar, salt and the addition of some lime. All of this together makes for an incredible flavor combination that’s perfect for the base of this recipe for Chicken Satay Skewers.
Cooking Chicken Satay Skewers
I make this recipe for Chicken Satay Skewers in the oven, but they can also be make in a frying pan with oil on the stove and grilled.
For me personally, the oven is easiest because I don’t have to stand there and watch them. They simply require one flip during the middle of cooking.
However, if you want to cook this recipe for Chicken Satay Skewers in a pan with oil you can heat abut 2 tablespoons of oil in a pan on the stove and cook each side of the Chicken Satay Skewers for 3 minutes or until golden brown. Check with a meat thermometer to make sure they are at the appropriate temperature.
If you want to make these on the grill, heat the grill to medium and then cook each side of the Chicken Satay Skewers for about 5 minutes.
Peanut Sauce for Chicken Satay Skewers
Aside from the amazing marinade, the recipe for Chicken Satay Skewers also include a delicious peanut sauce just like you would find with restaurant Chicken Satay. This sauce again layers the flavors from Thai cooking to create a sauce that’s authentic and tastes incredible when added to the chicken.
The base for the sauce is peanut butter but it also includes more curry paste, coconut milk and a few other of my favorite ingredients like soy, sugar and vinegar to help balance out all the nuttiness in the peanut butter.
Tips for this recipe for Chicken Satay Skewers
- You will want the chicken to sit in the marinade for at least 20 minutes. However, it can marinade overnight in the refrigerator in an airtight container. I usually like to have it marinade for a few hours. I tend to combine it all in the morning in a bag and then let it sit in the marinade in the fridge until I’m ready to use it.
- You will need oven safe or grill skewers for this recipe. I usually use wooden ones, but you can use metal ones on the grill if you prefer.
- Add about 5 pieces of chicken to each skewer.
- If you’re thinking about side dishes for this recipe for Chicken Satay, rice is always a good go-to. I actually have been trying to low carb things so I combined cauliflower rice with cilantro and used that as a side. Additionally, I soaked cucumber and red onions in some rice wine vinegar for about 10 minutes and ate those too.
Thank you so much for joining me today, friends! I hope that you love this recipe for Chicken Satay Skewers and feel like you’re eating your favorite Thai dish. You can find the full recipe and instructions below.
Also, check out these Mediterranean Chicken Skewers {HERE} for another one of my favorite dishes that can be made in the oven or on the grill. For more chicken recipe, click {HERE}.
Recipe for Chicken Satay Skewers
Equipment
- 5-6 skewers
- Baking sheet
Ingredients
Ingredients for the chicken
- 1.5 lbs skinless and deboned chicken thighs, chopped into pieces
- Cilantro for garnish
Ingredients for the marinade
- 1/3 cup coconut milk
- 1 Tbsp. curry powder
- 1 tsp. red curry paste
- Juice of 1 lime
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1 tsp. sugar
- 1/4 tsp. ground ginger
Ingredients for the peanut sauce
- 1 cup peanut butter
- 3/4 cup of water
- 1/2 cup coconut milk
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 Tbsp. soy sauce
- 1 Tbsp. rice wine vinegar
- 1 1/2 tsp. red curry paste
Instructions
- Combine all the ingredients for the marinade together in a large baggie that closes or air tight container. Mix to combine.
- Add the chicken and shake everything to combine well. Then let it sit in the refrigerator until you're ready for it. At least 30 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Add about 5 pieces of the marinaded chicken to each skewer and then place chicken on a parchment paper lined baking sheet. If wanting to grill, see notes above.
- Bake for 15 minutes then flip the skewers over and bake for another 15 minutes.
- While the chicken bakes, combine all the ingredients for the peanut sauce in a bowl. Whisk well to combine.
- ***If you want to make the cucumbers and red onions I made with this, chop those items and add them to a small dish with 2 Tbsp. of rice wine vinegar. Let them sit 10 minutes and serve.****
- Once the chicken is done, serve with the peanut sauce and over rice, noodles or cauliflower rice.
Leave a Reply