Chicken Satay
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Juicy marinated chicken skewers, grilled to perfection and served with a creamy, flavorful peanut sauce—this satay is an easy crowd-pleaser. Serve it as an appetizer, or make it a meal with rice and a simple veggie side.
Ready for a dinner that tastes like it came straight from a restaurant—but is easy enough for a weeknight? This chicken satay recipe checks all the boxes: flavorful, crowd-pleasing, and easy to make. The chicken is marinated for several hours (or overnight, if you’re planning ahead), then threaded onto skewers and grilled until slightly charred and caramelized around the edges. But the real star is the peanut sauce—it’s creamy, a little spicy, and brightened with fresh lime. You can even make it a few days in advance, so it’s ready when you are.
I like to serve this chicken satay with jasmine rice and a simple cucumber salad or steamed broccoli on the side. If you’re serving it as a main course, plan on 6 to 8 long skewers; for appetizers, smaller skewers work well too.
“Better than anything we have ever had at any Thai restaurant across the globe…Thank you Chef for bringing interest, delight and excitement to our dinner table yet again!”
What You’ll Need To Make Chicken Satay
- Soy Sauce: Adds savory and umami flavors to both the chicken marinade and peanut sauce.
- Vegetable Oil: Helps coat the chicken evenly and keeps it from sticking to the grill.
- Dark Brown Sugar: Adds deep, molasses-y sweetness that balances the saltiness and spice in both the chicken and the sauce.
- Ketchup: Gives the marinade a bit of sweetness and tang, and helps the chicken caramelize as it cooks.
- Garlic: Adds bold, aromatic flavor to both the marinade and the peanut sauce.
- Ground Turmeric And Coriander: Warm, earthy spices that bring flavor and a golden color to the marinade.
- Boneless, Skinless Chicken: Chicken thighs, breasts, or tenderloins all work—use whatever you like best. Just note the cooking time will just be slightly longer for the thighs.
- Unsweetened Coconut Milk & Peanut Butter: These form the base of the peanut sauce, giving it a nutty flavor, slight sweetness, and creamy texture.
- Thai Red Curry Paste: Packs bold, fragrant spice into the sauce—just a tablespoon adds a ton of flavor. I use the Thai Kitchen brand, which is easy to find in most large supermarkets.
- Sriracha & Fresh Lime Juice: These flavorings add a little heat and brightness to the peanut sauce.
- Jump to the printable recipe for precise measurements
Step-By-Step Instructions
Step 1: Make the marinade. In a large bowl, whisk together the soy sauce, oil, brown sugar, ketchup, garlic, turmeric, and coriander. Add the chicken and toss to coat.
Step 2: Marinate the chicken. Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight. Marinating the chicken for 4 hours is totally sufficient and will render very flavorful chicken, but if you have time to marinate it overnight, it’s best for maximum depth of flavor.
Step 3: Preheat the grill and thread the skewers. When ready to cook, preheat the grill to medium-high and clean and oil the grates. Thread the chicken onto skewers (if using wooden skewers, make sure to soak them in water for at least 30 minutes before grilling to prevent burning). Try to leave a tiny bit of space between the chicken pieces; spacing the pieces slightly apart on the skewers ensures they cook evenly and get maximum grill exposure. If packed too tightly, they will steam rather than char.
Step 4: Grill the chicken. Grill, covered, until charred around the edges and just cooked through—3 to 5 minutes per side for chicken breasts or tenderloins, 5 to 6 minutes per side for thighs.
Step 5: Make the peanut sauce. In a small saucepan over medium-high heat, whisk together the coconut milk, peanut butter, brown sugar, curry paste, sriracha, soy sauce (or fish sauce), and lime juice. Bring to a gentle boil, then reduce the heat and simmer until slightly thickened. Remove from heat and let cool slightly—it will continue to thicken as it cools. If the sauce thickens too much upon cooling, simply whisk in a splash of warm water to adjust the consistency before serving.
Step 6: Serve. Transfer the skewers to a platter and serve with the peanut sauce. Enjoy!
Video Tutorial
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Chicken Satay
Ingredients
For the Chicken Skewers
- ¼ cup soy sauce
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
- ¼ cup (packed) dark brown sugar
- 3 tablespoons ketchup
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
- ½ teaspoon ground coriander
- 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs, breasts, or tenderloins, trimmed and cut into bite-sized pieces
- Skewers, for grilling (see note)
For the Peanut Sauce
- ¾ cup unsweetened coconut milk
- ¼ cup creamy peanut butter
- 3 tablespoons (packed) dark brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon Thai red curry paste
- 1 tablespoon sriracha
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce or fish sauce
- 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice (from 1 lime)
Instructions
For the Chicken
- In a large bowl, whisk together the soy sauce, oil, brown sugar, ketchup, garlic, turmeric, and coriander. Add the chicken and toss until evenly coated. Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight.
- When ready to cook, preheat the grill to medium-high heat and clean and oil the grates. Thread the chicken onto skewers (be sure not to cram the skewers) and arrange them on the grill. Cook, covered, until the chicken is charred around the edges and just cooked through—3 to 5 minutes per side for chicken breasts or tenderloins, and 5 to 6 minutes per side for chicken thighs. Transfer to a platter and serve with the peanut sauce.
For the Peanut Sauce
- In a small saucepan over medium-high heat, whisk together the coconut milk, peanut butter, brown sugar, curry paste, sriracha, soy sauce (or fish sauce), and lime juice. Bring to a gentle boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for a few minutes until slightly thickened. Remove from heat and let cool slightly—the sauce will continue to thicken as it cools.
Notes
- You can use wooden or metal skewers. If using wooden skewers, soak them in water for at least 30 minutes to prevent them from burning on the grill.
Pair with
Nutrition Information
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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Jen can the tenderloins be cooked whole not on skewers?
Yep!
Hi Jen,
Excited to try out this recipe today with chicken breast.
Can I cook them in the oven broiler instead of the grill.
Thank you!
Yes, Thilini, that’s fine. Just rotate them once during cooking, so each side gets some color. Please LMK how they turn out!
This chicken satay recipe was so flavorful – much more so (I thought) than many restaurant versions I’ve had in the past. My husband and picky son also enjoyed this so I’ll definitely be making this again!