Thai Marinated Grilled Chicken Skewers with Peanut Sauce
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Fire up the grill for marinated Thai chicken skewers served with a creamy peanut dipping sauce that’ll keep everyone reaching for more!
I first discovered this wonderful recipe in the Costco magazine, but it comes from Alice Currah, the talented voice behind the blog and book Savory Sweet Life. The marinade—a blend of soy sauce, brown sugar, garlic, and spices—perfectly seasons the grilled chicken. Yet, it’s the rich peanut sauce that truly steals the show. When I first served this dish to my family about ten years ago, the reaction from my then-young son was memorable. After he went for seconds of the steamed broccoli I served alongside, and seeing my surprised look, he simply said, “Mom, this sauce would make anything taste good.” Honestly, I couldn’t agree more—I am always half-tempted to skip the chicken entirely and just slurp up the sauce like soup!
Table of Contents
What You’ll Need To Make Thai Marinated Grilled Chicken Skewers With Peanut Sauce
Step-by-Step Instructions
Begin by pounding the chicken breasts to an even 1/2-inch thickness. This both tenderizes the meat and ensures it cooks evenly.
Cut the chicken into chunks.
Make the marinade by combining the soy sauce, brown sugar, lime zest, vegetable oil, garlic, curry powder, ginger, cardamom and salt in a bowl. Add the chicken to the marinade, then cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight.
Meanwhile, make the sauce by combining the coconut milk, peanut butter, dark brown sugar, soy sauce and red curry paste in a medium saucepan. Bring the sauce to a boil, then turn the heat down and cook a few minutes more. Finish the sauce with freshly squeezed lime juice.
Once the chicken has marinated, thread the chunks onto skewers.
Grill the chicken about 5 minutes per side, or until cooked through. Serve with the peanut sauce and lime wedges. If you have leftovers, try serving the chicken over a salad; the chilled sauce makes an excellent dressing.
Video Tutorial
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Thai Marinated Grilled Chicken Skewers with Peanut Sauce
Fire up the grill for marinated Thai chicken skewers served with a creamy peanut dipping sauce that’ll keep everyone reaching for more!
Ingredients
For the Chicken
- ¼ cup soy sauce
- 3 tablespoons dark brown sugar, packed
- Zest of one lime
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tablespoon curry powder
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ¼ teaspoon ground cardamom
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 3 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts
For the Peanut Sauce
- 1 (13-oz) can coconut milk (do not use low fat)
- ⅓ cup peanut butter
- ¼ cup dark brown sugar, packed
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon red curry paste
- 3 tablespoons fresh lime juice, from 2 limes
For Serving
- 1 lime, cut into wedges (optional)
Instructions
- Prep the Chicken: Pound the chicken breasts to an even ½-inch thickness between two pieces of wax or parchment paper. Cut the breasts into 1½-inch pieces and set aside.
- Marinate the Chicken: Make the marinade by combining the soy sauce, dark brown sugar, lime zest, vegetable oil, garlic, curry powder, ginger, cardamom and salt in a large bowl. Add the chicken pieces to the bowl and mix until chicken is evenly coated. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and marinate in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours or overnight.
- Make the Peanut Sauce: In a medium saucepan, whisk the coconut milk, peanut butter, brown sugar, soy sauce and red curry paste until evenly combined. Bring to a simmer, then cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, for about 3 minutes. Stir in the fresh lime juice and set aside.
- Grill the Chicken: Preheat the grill to high heat. Meanwhile, thread the chicken pieces onto skewers. Grease the grill. Place the skewers on the grill and cook for about 10 minutes, turning once, or until the chicken is cooked through. Serve the chicken skewers with the peanut sauce and lime wedges, if desired.
Pair with
Nutrition Information
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- Calories: 547
- Fat: 29 g
- Saturated fat: 14 g
- Carbohydrates: 21 g
- Sugar: 14 g
- Fiber: 2 g
- Protein: 52 g
- Sodium: 1106 mg
- Cholesterol: 152 mg
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.
Gluten-Free Adaptable Note
To the best of my knowledge, all of the ingredients used in this recipe are gluten-free or widely available in gluten-free versions. There is hidden gluten in many foods; if you're following a gluten-free diet or cooking for someone with gluten allergies, always read the labels of your ingredients to verify that they are gluten-free.
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Comments
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This is a great recipe (whenever I have extras, I’ll add fresh lemongrass and a couple of tbsps of coconut milk to the marinade). I’ve made it a few times using a broil setting for 5 mins each side as suggested.
The sauce I find a little sweet, so I cut the sugar by more than half or I use a hybrid of this and Gordon Ramsey’s peanut sauce recipe. I appreciate how the writer revisits recipes and adjusts them, as I notice my taste buds change from time to time.
So good! I have made this on the grill as well as in the oven – amazing! The first time I made it my foodie husband said I better not forget about this one. Goes great with your Asian slaw recipe. (https://www.onceuponachef.com/recipes/asian-slaw-with-ginger-peanut-dressing.html). Thank you for sharing!
Thanks for the comment of adding the Asian Slaw it was delicious!!
Great recipe. I’ve made it several times! I’m having family in town and wondering if you could use this marinade on thighs and freeze it and make the coconut sauce when cooking it?
Sure, that should be fine. (And glad you like it!)
Could I add Greek yogurt to the marinade as a tenderizer?
Hi Terri, I wouldn’t recommend it here (and the chicken will be plenty tender as is). Hope you enjoy if you make it!
Hi Jennifer
Thank you for your wonderful recipes. I have made many of them. Wonder if green curry paste would work as well as the red in the sauce?
Thanks
Tina
Glad you like the recipes! Yes, green curry paste may have a bit more heat but it will definitely work here. Enjoy!
Hi Jenn
I discovered your website and made this dish tonight. It was even better than the one from my local Thai restaurant. I have a couple of fussy eaters in the family and no one complained. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe.
Made this tonight along with your cucumber salad with mint and jasmine rice. Omg this was incredible. Tasted better than any chicken satay I’ve eaten in a restaurant. Hubby said it was “three thumbs up”. The peanut sauce has the most amazing flavour and the chicken marinade was so flavourful. This is the second recipe (Thai style red chicken curry) I’ve made from your blog and it won’t be the last. Will definitely make this again.
Hi Jen
I am in the middle of making the peanut sauce for Thai curry chicken skewers and I misread the the ingredient for red curry paste. I mistakenly purchased red chili paste. What substitute can I use??
Curry powder??? Please help!
Company in a few hours. Many thanks!
Princess Barb
Hi Barb, Yes curry powder and a little hot sauce (sriracha or sambal oelek would both be great if you have) would work nicely.
Hi Jenn,
I can’t wait to try this. The gluten free people will need to sub either coconut aminos or tamari for the soy sauce.
Hi, I would love to try this but worried about the quantity of soy. Last recipe that called for a quarter cup turned out inedible (other site). Do you use low sodium? (not available here). Thx!
Hi Yvonne, I don’t use low-sodium soy sauce and don’t find the chicken to be too salty but if you’re concerned, free to use low-sodium. Please LMK how they turn out if you make them!