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This chicken satay recipe is a delicious way to bring a restaurant favorite home! Serve the grilled skewers with homemade peanut sauce as a party appetizer, or turn them into an easy dinner with rice and a simple vegetable side.
You know those chicken satay skewers that always seem to disappear first at cocktail parties? Well, here’s your chance to make them at home and enjoy as many as you like, without having to chase down a server for another skewer! The chicken is marinated until flavorful and tender, then grilled until lightly charred and caramelized around the edges. And of course, there’s the peanut sauce: creamy, a little spicy, and brightened with fresh lime. Best of all, it’s surprisingly easy to make, and you can prepare the sauce a few days ahead.
I like to serve this chicken satay with jasmine rice and steamed broccoli on the side. It’s also perfect for entertaining. Make 6 to 8 long skewers for a main course, or use smaller skewers if you’re serving it as an appetizer.
“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
How to Make Chicken Satay
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.
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.
Preheat the grill and thread the skewers: While the grill warms up, thread the chicken onto skewers, leaving a bit of space between the chicken pieces so they cook evenly and char all around.
Grill the chicken: Place the chicken on oiled grates and grill until charred around the edges and just cooked through. Keep in mind that chicken breasts will cook faster than thighs.
Make the peanut sauce: In a small saucepan, 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 simmer the sauce until slightly thickened. Remove from heat and let cool slightly before serving.
Serve: Transfer the skewers to a platter and serve with the peanut sauce. Enjoy!
Make-Ahead and Freezing Instructions
Make ahead: The peanut sauce can be made up to 3 days in advance and stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Reheat gently before serving, stirring in a splash of water if needed to loosen it. You can also marinate the chicken ahead of time and refrigerate it until ready to cook, following the marinating time specified in the recipe.
Freezing: For the best texture, I recommend freezing the uncooked chicken rather than the cooked skewers. Place the chicken and marinade in a freezer-safe bag, press out the excess air, and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before threading onto skewers and cooking as directed.
Video Tutorial
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
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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Delicious! Can I freeze leftovers?
Hi Mary, so glad you liked it! I’ve never frozen it, but I don’t see any reason why you couldn’t.
Made it today. Flavors were amazing. I spiced it up a little, other than that I wouldn’t change a thing. My deer wife, who passed away would have loved it. I made it for her 😢
I’d like to freeze so that I have a yummy appetizer for later. Should I freeze chicken in marinade uncooked?
Hi Jackie, that should be fine.
I am allergic to peanuts. Could I substitute almond or cashew butter?
Hi Carol, I haven’t tried it with either of those, but I think it should work. Please LMK how it comes out if you try it!
Wonderful! Delicious and easy to make. Family of 4 and we all love it. Always make enough to have leftovers. Thank you!!
These are excellent. I’ve made them twice – first with thighs and then with breasts. Thighs are always more forgiving, so I just made sure to be careful not to overcook them when I used breasts (4-5 minutes on each of two sides made the breast meat skewers come out perfectly, which is right in the range that the recipe specified). My kids were very excited when they saw what we were having because they had liked it so much the first time.
Adding this to our family favorites. I served it with green beans & jasmine rice. There’s nothing I would change about this recipe. I grilled this in our Ninja Foodi Grill & used wooden skewers.
Is it possible to substitute another type milk for the unsweetened coconut milk in the Peanut Sause?
Hi Diane, unfortunately, there’s not a perfect substitute – sorry!
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!