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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Way too sweet! Needs less sugar and a bit more acidity and spice.
This is my favorite peanut sauce ever!! It’s soooo delicious I want to put it on everything!! All meat, salad, rice, and tofu. I’ve always used water and siracha. I think the coconut milk and curry paste puts it over the top. Yum yum yum!!!!!! Thank you Jen!! This one is also going in my salad dressing file.
Hi Jenn, My husband and I love this recipe. The chicken is sooo good by itself. But even better with the sauce! I used chicken legs because that’s what I had at that time. Thanks so much for sharing your recipes. Next on my list will be the Tandoori chicken. God bless you!
There is nothing I don’t LOVE about this recipe! My only substitution would be using chicken thighs instead of breasts on occasion, just because they have more moisture.
Can thigh meat be substituted?
Hi Kris, Yes, I think that would work fine.
I just tried your recipe for thai curry chicken skewers – It was wonderful .
Last minute I found that I had run out of curry powder so had to substitute some red curry paste which made it more spicy.
However when I do this recipe again (and I will) I will use curry powder .
I am enjoying your blog
I am on gluten free diet and cannot eat soy. What can I use to replace the soy in this recipe, it looks so good. Thanks
Hi Shirley, You could try fish sauce if you’re allowed to have it, or this recipe for a soy sauce substitute: http://www.food.com/recipe/soy-sauce-substitute-gluten-free-111373. Hope that helps!
Shirley, Tamari sauce is gluten free, San-J is a great brand. LaChoy brand soy sauce is also gluten free, but I prefer the taste of the tamari personally.
Braggs Amino Acids is gluten free and very similar to tasting like regular soy sauce.
Wow, this recipe was so delicious! I tested it out on some friends and even their kids loved it! I only had time to marinade the chicken for 2 hours and did not have any cardamom and it still turned out amazing. I made this with the Thai quinoa salad and both were huge hits! Thanks!
This chicken is so so good. We made it according to the directions (minus the cardamom) and it was really fantastic. The sauce is really good too but the chicken is great without it as well. I will definatly be trying more recipes from here!.
Huge crowd pleaser! Everytime I have made this dish for company it was a big hit. I like to add more curry paste to the sauce other then that it is perfect! Great recipe.