• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Caramel Tinted Life logo
  • Home
  • Recipes
  • Travel
  • About
  • Work With Me
  • Nav Social Menu

    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • YouTube
menu icon
go to homepage
subscribe
search icon
Homepage link
  • Recipes
  • Work With Me
  • About
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • YouTube
  • ×

    Home » Asian Recipes » Easy Chicken Satay with peanut dipping sauce

    Easy Chicken Satay with peanut dipping sauce

    Published: Sep 1, 2020 · Modified: Jun 1, 2021 | This post may contain affiliate links·

    351 shares
    Jump to Recipe Print Recipe

    This easy chicken satay recipe packs a punch with a zesty peanut dipping sauce! Serve as an appetizer or over rice noodles for a complete meal.

    Chicken satay on a wooded board with peanut dipping sauce

    (This post was first published in October 2017 and has been updated with new and updated content)

    Jump to:
    • List of Ingredients
    • Step-by-step recipe instructions
    • How to make the perfect peanut dipping sauce
    • Expert Tips
    • More Asian Recipes to try at home
    • Easy Chicken Satay

    This chicken satay with a zesty peanut dipping sauce is quite an explosion of flavors! I love the bold Thai flavors and the unique, zesty, full-bodied peanut dipping sauce that goes over the grilled chicken satay skewers. I serve these grilled chicken satay skewers and dipping sauce over rice noodles, to make it a complete meal, but they are perfectly yummy on their own as well.

    Here's a tip: Make double the amount of dipping sauce and refrigerate or freeze the the sauce for later. I guarantee you, this is one sauce that you will not tire of!

    Skewered chicken satay with close up of char marks

    List of Ingredients

    All ingredients used to make chicken satay

    Here's what you need to make the perfect grilled chicken satay with peanut dipping sauce:

    Chicken: Boneless, skinless chicken meat - either breast meat or thigh meat will work well.

    Lime juice: Zest and juice of 1 lime. Lime gives it a fresh, zesty flavor and enhances the taste of the dish.

    Fresh Coriander: The addition of fresh coriander gives both the marinade and the dipping sauce an added depth of flavor, and that striking color! Don't skimp on the coriander, it really makes a difference to the flavor. For this recipe, we use both the leaves and the stalks.

    Peanut Butter: Smooth, creamy peanut butter is used both in the marinade and for the dipping sauce.

    Seasonings: This recipe uses turmeric powder, ginger, garlic, soy sauce, fish sauce, and fresh red chili (optional) to add flavor to the dish. As a substitute, you could use red chili powder or paprika as well. Fish sauce is optional, although it does give a nice boost of flavor.

    Step-by-step recipe instructions

    Start by preparing the marinade. Blend all the ingredients for the marinade together in a food processor or blender. Then, cut your chicken breasts into long strips and in a large mixing bowl, mix the chicken with around 1/3 rd of the marinade until each piece is well-coated with marinade. Reserve the rest of the marinade for the dipping sauce.

    Chicken satay marinade is blended in a food processor and added to chicken breasts for marination

    How to prep the chicken for grilling - I picked up this genius tip from Jamie Oliver - Lay out the marinated chicken strips on a chopping board, get your skewers (if using bamboo skewers, soak them in water for 15 minutes to prevent them from browning in the oven or grill), and insert the skewers perpendicular to the chicken, such that each skewer goes into all the breast pieces.

    Chicken beasts are cut into strips, marinated in satay marinade, stacked and metal skewers are driven through them, then the chicken is cut perpendicularly, and the skewered chicken is grilled on the stovetop

    Then, slice between the skewers to give you chicken pieces, cut like kababs. Thread any stray pieces on the ends of the skewers. Jamie also advises scoring the chicken pieces gently with a knife to give the chicken maximum surface area - this ensures that it chars up nicely when it is being grilled.

    collage of images showing marinated and skewered chicken being grilled

    Finally, grill the chicken skewers on a grill (stove top of barbeque) or bake in the oven until the edges start to turn golden brown. Turn the skewers over for even browning.

    How to make the perfect peanut dipping sauce

    Once the chicken skewers are done, prepare the peanut dipping sauce. For this, we use the reserved marinade from earlier. Add a heaped tablespoon of peanut sauce, salt, and sugar to season and blend in a blender until it forms a smooth sauce as you can see in the image below.

    Dipping sauce for the satay is blended to a smooth paste in a blender

    To serve, garnish the grilled chicken skewers with some fresh lime juice, then spoon some of the sauce over the grilled chicken skewers. Serve with more dipping sauce. Optionally, plate the chicken satay over rice noodles to make this a complete meal.

    Close up of chicken satay skewers

    Expert Tips

    How to prep the chicken for grilling

    Layout the marinated chicken strips on a chopping board, get your skewers (if using bamboo skewers, soak them in water for 15 minutes to prevent them from browning in the oven or grill), and insert the skewers perpendicular to the chicken, such that each skewer goes into all the breast pieces.
    Then, slice between the skewers to give you chicken pieces, cut like kababs. Thread any stray pieces on the ends of the skewers. Score the chicken pieces to give it extra surface area - this gives it more char.

    Make extra peanut dipping sauce

    I highly recommend you make some extra peanut dipping sauce, especially if you are serving chicken satay with rice or noodles as part of the main course. Spoon the dipping sauce over rice or noodles while serving.

    More Asian Recipes to try at home

    Thai chicken curry and rice

    Sweet and Sour Cauliflower

    Spicy Honey Garlic Shrimp

    Easy Instant Pot Fried Rice

    Instant Pot Peanut Noodles

    Close up of chicken satay skewers

    Easy Chicken Satay

    Shinta
    This easy grilled chicken satay recipe packs a punch with a dipping sauce that is finger-licking good!
    5 from 6 votes
    Print Recipe Pin Recipe
    Prep Time 20 mins
    Cook Time 20 mins
    Course Appetizer
    Cuisine Thai
    Servings 4
    Calories 225 kcal

    Equipment

    • Skewers
    • Grill (Stovetop/ Barbeque / Oven)

    Ingredients
     
     

    • 500 grams Chicken breast skinless

    For the marinade:

    • ¾ cup chopped coriander leaves and stalks
    • 3-4 garlic cloves
    • 1 inch ginger
    • ½ red chili optional
    • 1 red onion chopped
    • ½ teaspoon turmeric powder
    • Juice and zest of 1 lime
    • 1 teaspoon soy sauce use a reduced-salt version
    • ½ teaspoon fish sauce optional
    • ½ teaspoon sugar
    • 3 teaspoons smooth peanut butter
    • 1 teaspoon olive oil
    • Salt for seasoning
    • 1 teaspoon Sugar for seasoning

    For the peanut dipping sauce:

    • 1 teaspoon peanut butter
    • Marinade left over after marinating the chicken approximately 1/3 of the marinade will be used for the marination

    Instructions
     

    • In a food processor or blender, blend all the ingredients listed under 'marinade'.
    • Cut the chicken peices into long strips.
    • In a large mixing bowl, marinate the chicken strips in around 1/3 of the marinade untillthe chicken pieces are well coated in the marinade. Reserve the rest of the marinade for later.
    • Skewer the chicken strips (see notes)
    • To grill the skewered chicken, pre-heat a grill pan (if using a stovetop grill). Add olive oil and cook the chicken skewers, flipping the skewers ocassionally for even grilling. Using a marinade brush, brush more marinade on the chicken as they cook. Once the chicken skewers are grilled and the start to turn golden brown, keep the skewers aside.
    • If using an oven to grill the chicken, grill them at 200 C (390 F) for 15- 17 minutes, flipping the skewers over once in between.

    For the dipping sauce:

    • Prepare the dipping sauce by adding the leftover marinade to a mixing bowl along with the peanut butter. Blend to a smooth sauce. Adjust seasoning and add salt and sugar as needed.
    • Tip: To make a runny sauce, add more coconut milk and blend.
    • To serve, garnish the skewers with more lime juice, drizzle some of the dipping sauce over the skewers and serve.

    Notes

    • To skewer the chicken easily, lay the marinated chicken pieces parallel to each other, skewer the pieces by inserting the skewers perpendicular to the pieces. Cut the chicken between the skewers to form kababs. (see step-by-step instructions in the blogpost)
    • Make extra dipping sauce for serving over rice or noodles

    Nutrition

    Calories: 225kcalCarbohydrates: 8gProtein: 29gFat: 8gSaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 80mgSodium: 328mgPotassium: 597mgFiber: 1gSugar: 4gVitamin A: 293IUVitamin C: 13mgCalcium: 19mgIron: 1mg
    Keyword Chicken satay, thai chicken
    Have you Tried this Recipe? Tag me Today!Tag me on Instagram! @carameltintedlife or use the hashtag #carameltintedlife
    « Appam - Recipe for fermented rice crepes / hoppers
    Apple Jam - Instant Pot Recipe »
    351 shares

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Shelley says

      September 16, 2020 at 3:26 pm

      5 stars
      Oh my goodness, what wonderful flavors, so simply! I loved the idea to make extra sauce .... need this on EVERYTHING (except, you know, maybe breakfast cereal lol)! And that was a great suggestion to serve these chicken satay skewers over noodles, even though they're so great on their own, too! Thanks!!

    2. Nart at Cooking with Nart says

      September 16, 2020 at 1:09 pm

      5 stars
      This is the BEST chicken satay recipe I've tried so far. Very flavorful and was a crowd-pleaser! Great for gatherings 🙂

    3. Sue says

      September 16, 2020 at 12:58 pm

      5 stars
      Tasty skewers but let's discuss the dipping sauce - so yummy!! Thank you, this is a new regular meal in my house.

    4. Katherine says

      September 16, 2020 at 11:25 am

      5 stars
      Wow - so many incredible flavors in that awesome dipping sauce!

    5. Amy says

      September 16, 2020 at 10:11 am

      5 stars
      I LOVE chicken satay and this recipe looks amazing!

    6. Jesse-Gabriel says

      April 14, 2020 at 2:30 pm

      5 stars
      Oh wie lecker, muss ich nach machen, danke fürs teilen!
      Grüße,
      Jesse-Gabriel aus Berlin

      • Shinta says

        April 14, 2020 at 2:40 pm

        Vielen Dank!

    7. Liz says

      November 19, 2017 at 6:06 pm

      This sounds absolutely delicious, thank you for bringing it to FF.

    8. Jhuls @ The Not So Creative Cook says

      November 19, 2017 at 2:10 pm

      I was just thinking of chicken satay and this showed up! 😀 I was thinking of having it with rice, but rice noodles sound lovely as well. Thanks for sharing and happy Fiesta Friday! This looks so good!

    9. Judith Graber says

      November 18, 2017 at 4:39 pm

      By the way we all appreciate you sharing your chicken satay with Fiesta Friday. I'm sure it will be a favorite...

    10. Judith Graber says

      November 18, 2017 at 4:38 pm

      Lots of ingredients don't deter me at all and even better that I have all of the items in your recipe.

    Primary Sidebar

    Shinta Simon

    is always on the lookout for inspiration for her next meal. She shares recipes for family meals, Instant Pot recipes and more

    Read more...

    Recent Recipes

    chopsticks holding noodles over a bowl
    chickpea salad in a bowl with a fork
    sausages with roated potatoes on a plate
    collage of indian chicken images
    rogan josh curry in a black pan
    caramelized bananas on a plate

    Popular Posts

    Instant Pot Gingerbread pudding served with ice cream

    Instant Pot Gingerbread Pudding Cake

    Instant Pot Potato, Pumpkin and Spinach Curry

    Instant Pot Spinach and Potato Curry

    Chettinad Chicken Curry In a Bowl

    Chettinad Chicken Curry

    Instant-Pot-Summer-Recipe-Round-Up

    20 Instant Pot Summer Recipes

    Pav - How to make soft pav bread at home

    Close up of saag paneer in a bowl

    Saag Paneer | Palak Paneer | How to make Saag Paneer

    Footer

    Affiliate Links

    Caramel Tinted Life is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com and affiliated sites.

    • Privacy Policy
    • Work With Me
    • About

    Footer

    ^ back to top

    About

    • Privacy Policy
    • About Me

    FREE e-book

    • Sign Up! for a FREE e-book on
      Indian Recipes

    Contact

    • Contact

    As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

    Copyright © 2021 Caramel Tinted Life | Technical Partner </> Host My Blog