Chicken Satay is one of my favorite skewered meats to eat! The flavors are outrageously good and pair so well with the creamy and tangy peanut sauce! We use chicken thighs in our recipe to ensure every bite is tender and juicy. Chicken thighs are also a little more forgiving when it comes to cooking them up.
Don’t be intimidated by the list of ingredients. Most of the ingredients are easy to find or you probably have them in your pantry. Once you have the ingredients gathered and measured, the recipe is SO easy!
What is Chicken Satay?
Chicken Satay originated in Indonesia but has become a popular dish throughout Southeast Asia like Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, and Philippines. Although there are tons of varieties of satay that exist today – to be considered true satay there must be a grilled meat and dipping sauce component.
What Does Chicken Satay Taste Like?
As we mentioned, there are many varieties of satay that exist today. Our marinade uses flavors that include peanuts, garlic, ginger, lemongrass, soy sauce, limes, and brown sugar. The results are a sweet, bright and savory peanut and char-grilled flavor. We pair our skewers with a similar, but more peanut forward dipping sauce with a kick (from Thai chiles).
How to Make our Chicken Satay Recipe
Ingredients
Chicken Satay Process
- Place all marinade ingredients into a blender, except 1 1/2 tablespoons oil, and blend until smooth. Reserve ⅓ cup of marinade for peanut sauce.
- Pour remaining marinade over chicken. Toss together until all chicken pieces are completely covered. Allow mixture to marinate for at least 4 hours (ideally overnight).
- Soak wood skewers.
- Skewer 5 to 6 cubes of chicken onto each bamboo skewer, until all chicken has been used.
- Place a grill pan over medium-high heat (or use an outdoor grill on medium heat setting). Pour oil into pan and grill skewers for 4 minutes, on each side. Repeat until all skewers have been grilled.
- Top chicken satay skewers with crushed peanuts and cilantro leaves.
Spicy Peanut Sauce Process
- Place all ingredients for peanut sauce into a blender and blend until smooth. (If sauce is too thick, blend some water into the sauce, ½ tablespoon at a time, until desired consistency has been achieved).
- Pour mixture into a small bowl or ramekin, top with crushed peanuts (optional) and serve as dipping sauce for satay.
What to Serve with Chicken Satay
When served as an appetizer, its best to serve the skewers on their own with the dipping sauce to keep things simple. When served as the main course we love pairing them with steamed jasmine or basmati rice and a simple cucumber salad (especially sunomono, a Japanese cucumber salad).
They’re also delicious with Yum Woon Sen, a bright and refreshing glass noodle salad dish!
Cooking Tips for Chicken Satay
We love using a grill or grill pan to cook our satay because it gives it a great char-grilled flavor! If you don’t have a grill or grill pan you can still cook them in a pan. If you have a cast iron skillet, it’s the next best thing as you’ll still get charred bits of chicken.
You can also broil the skewers for a few minutes on each side. You will just need to keep a close eye on them to make sure they don’t burn. The oven is also an option for cooking these skewers. If baking the chicken satay in the oven we recommend baking them at 400˚F for 15 to 20 minutes.
More Asian Inspired Recipes You Will Love
Chicken Satay
EQUIPMENT
- 15 (10 inch) bamboo skewers, soaked in water for 30 minutes
INGREDIENTS
- 1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1-inch pieces (about 6)
satay marinade
- 1/2 cup dry roasted peanuts
- ⅓ cup light brown sugar
- 6 tablespoons soy sauce
- ¼ stalk lemongrass, chopped (about 3 inch piece)
- 3 garlic cloves, chopped
- 2 makrut lime leaves, chopped OR 1 lime, zested and juiced
- 1 tablespoon minced ginger
- 1 tablespoon turmeric
- ¼ teaspoon curry powder
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 3 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
spicy peanut sauce
- ⅓ cup reserved marinade
- ¼ cup dry roasted peanuts
- 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 ½ tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 lime, zested and juiced
- 1 to 3 Thai chiles, seeded depending on desired heat
- 1 garlic clove, chopped
- 1 green onion, thinly sliced
garnish
- 2 tablespoons crushed peanuts
- cilantro leaves
INSTRUCTIONS
chicken satay
- Place all marinade ingredients into a blender, except 1 1/2 tablespoons oil, and blend until smooth.
- Reserve ⅓ cup of marinade for peanut sauce. Pour remaining marinade over chicken.
- Toss together until all chicken pieces are completely covered. Allow mixture to marinate for at least 4 hours (ideally overnight).
- Skewer 5 to 6 cubes of chicken onto each bamboo skewer, until all chicken has been used.
- Place a grill pan over medium-high heat (or use an outdoor grill on medium heat setting). Pour oil into pan and grill skewers for 4 minutes, on each side. Repeat until all skewers have been grilled.
- Top chicken satay skewers with crushed peanuts and cilantro leaves.
spicy peanut sauce
- Place all ingredients for peanut sauce into a blender and blend until smooth. (If sauce is too thick, blend some water into the sauce, ½ tablespoon at a time, until desired consistency has been achieved).
- Pour mixture into a small bowl or ramekin, top with crushed peanuts (optional) and serve as dipping sauce for satay.
Did you make this recipe? We want to see!
tag @SpoonForkBacon and #SpoonForkBacon on Instagram
Very nice dish and I love that almost all of the work can be done ahead of time. Served with basmati rice and a Japanese-ish cucumber salad for a great almost summer meal. Thanks for a great recipe!
So glad you en joyed and I love all your accompaniments – sounds delicious!