My favorite chicken satay recipe with chicken marinated for maximum flavor, grilled on skewers, then slathered with a creamy, spicy Thai-style peanut sauce. So good!
If you're looking for a fun and spicy recipe for the game day table this year, or maybe an interesting appetizer for the holidays, consider making chicken satay. It's a spicy food lover's dream recipe.
It's pretty easy to make and you can really play with the spice levels to adjust it to your own preference. I make these frequently for parties and gatherings, and they always disappear pretty quickly. Everyone loves food on a stick!
Chicken satay can also be the STAR of your meal. Either serve up a few of them to fill up your plate, or use extra long skewers like I did and serve individually. I love them for a quick and easy dinner.
There are two key components to this recipe - the Marinade and the Thai Peanut Sauce.
The marinade uses a lot of ingredients, though there is very little work. Just a bit of whisking and chopping. And waiting! It really is a wonderful flavor builder, though, so don't skip this important step.
The Thai peanut sauce is a very easy version that uses peanut butter as its base, so you can whip it together pretty quickly and easily. It's also HUGE on flavor, so you may want to make an extra large batch for people. Or for yourself! Check out my Easy Thai Peanut Sauce Recipe here, though it is listed below as well.
Let's talk about how to make chicken satay, shall we?
Chicken Satay Ingredients
- FOR THE CHICKEN + MARINADE
- Chicken. Use chicken breasts or chicken thighs, skinless and boneless.
- Thai Peppers. Or use spicy red peppers available to you. Optional, for some nice heat and flavor.
- Shallot.
- Lemongrass.
- Garlic.
- Ginger.
- Fish Sauce.
- Brown Sugar.
- Soy Sauce.
- Sriracha. Try my home homemade sriracha.
- Turmeric.
- Cumin.
- Cilantro.
- Spicy Chili Flakes.
- Bamboo skewers soaked in water for at least 20 minutes
- FOR THE EASY THAI PEANUT SAUCE
- Peanut Butter.
- Soy Sauce
- Rice Wine Vinegar.
- Chili-Garlic Sauce.
- Sesame Oil.
- Honey.
- Lime Juice.
- Seasonings. Use cayenne (or paprika for a milder heat), garlic powder (or fresh grated garlic), ginger powder (or fresh grated ginger). Curry powder is a nice addition for extra flavor.
How to Make Chicken Satay - the Recipe Method
FOR THE CHICKEN: Add all of the ingredients to a large bowl or a baggie. Mix until the chicken is evenly coated with the flavors. Cover and refrigerate at least 1 hour.
Thread the chicken pieces onto wooden skewers when you’re ready to cook.
Next, heat a grill to medium heat and lightly oil the grates. Cook the chicken skewers 4-5 minutes on each side, until the chicken is cooked through. It should measure 165 degrees F. internally.
I like to use my Thermapen meat thermometer from ThermoWorks (I’m an affiliate) to get the perfect temperature every time. Works great!
Garnish with fresh cilantro and spicy chili flakes. Serve with the spicy Thai peanut sauce.
FOR THE THAI PEANUT SAUCE: Whisk all of the ingredients together, except for the water, in a small bowl until well combined and the sauce is nice and smooth.
Add water a teaspoon at a time until you achieve your desired consistency.
Serve!
BOOM! That's it, my friends! There are a lot of ingredients here, but it is still quite an easy recipe. Most of the work is getting the marinated chicken pieces onto the little skewers, but even that isn't a big deal.
I hope you enjoy it!
Recipe Tips & Notes
- About the Peanut Sauce. This Thai peanut sauce is an easy version and will last a week in the refrigerator or longer. It is not ideal for freezing, and best use right away. Use it as a dipping sauce, drizzling sauce, or you can heat it in a pan with cooked vegetables and/or chicken for a meal.
- Chicken Marinating Time. You’ll get more flavor with a longer marinade. 12 hours or overnight is best. I like to start the marinade in the morning so the chicken is ready by dinnertime.
- Additional Flavors. There are a number of different ingredients you can use to make this recipe your own, particularly for the spicy peanut sauce. Try a tablespoon of red curry paste or a bit of sriracha, or even chili-garlic sauce. Try it with gochujang as well. Coconut milk is a nice addition for the marinade.
- Heat Factor. This recipe is a touch spicy, but you can dial that back by going easy on the sriracha and skipping the addition of spicy chili flakes or powders. However, if you're looking the really up that heat, you have several options - add in more sriracha, add in another hot sauce, sprinkle in spicy chili flakes or use your favorite hot and spicy chili powder. You can also chop or grind up some spicy fresh peppers for the marinade. Ghost pepper chicken satay, anyone? That'll really spice things up!
Serving Suggestions
Here are a few different ways you can serve up this Thai chicken satay recipe:
- Game day food table - set them up alongside extra spicy Thai peanut sauce.
- Holiday appetizers - just make smaller skewers so they can be served as hand held apps.
- Summer grilling dinner - make them the star of the meal.
Alternative Cooking Methods
This recipe calls for grilling the chicken satay skewers on the grill, but you can also cook them in a pan or hot skillet, or in the oven. Here are instructions for cook them:
- SKILLET. Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large skillet or pan over medium high heat. Add the chicken and cook for 4-5 minutes per side, or until the chicken is cooked through. The internal temperature should read 165 degrees F. You may need to work in batches.
- OVEN. Heat your oven to 350 degrees F. Bake the skewers for 15 minutes to 20 minutes on lightly oiled baking sheets, or until the chicken is cooked through. The internal temperature should read 165 degrees F.
Try Some of My Other Popular Spicy Chicken Recipes
- Honey-Sriracha Chicken
- Mango-Habanero BBQ Chicken
- Chicken Teriyaki
- Chicken Korma
- Dragon Chicken
- Korean Fried Chicken
- Butter Chicken
- Coconut Chicken Curry
- Sweet and Spicy Cashew Chicken
- Jamaican Jerk Chicken
- See My Spicy Chicken Recipes
Got any questions? Ask away! I’m happy to help. If you enjoy this recipe, I hope you’ll leave a comment with some STARS. Also, please share it on social media. Don’t forget to tag us at #ChiliPepperMadness. I’ll be sure to share! Thanks! — Mike H.
Chicken Satay Recipe with Peanut Sauce
Ingredients
FOR THE CHICKEN
- 1-1/2 pounds chicken cut into bite-sized pieces
- 3-4 Thai peppers chopped (or use spicy red peppers available to you)
- 1 shallot chopped
- 2 stalks lemongrass trimmed and chopped (or use 1 teaspoon lemongrass paste)
- 3 cloves garlic chopped
- 1 teaspoon fresh ginger chopped
- 2 tablespoons fish sauce
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- 3 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons sriracha
- 1 teaspoon turmeric
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro + more for garnish
- Spicy chili flakes as desired
- Bamboo skewers soaked in water for at least 20 minutes
FOR THE EASY THAI PEANUT SAUCE
- ¼ cup creamy peanut butter use ½ cup for more peanut flavor
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
- 2 tablespoons chili-garlic sauce
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 teaspoon lime juice
- 1 teaspoon cayenne powder or use paprika for a milder heat
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder or use 1 clove garlic, finely minced or grated
- 1 teaspoon ginger powder or use 1 teaspoon fresh grated ginger
- 1 tablespoon water or more as needed for thinning
Instructions
FOR THE CHICKEN
- Add all of the ingredients to a large bowl or a baggie. Mix until the chicken is evenly coated with the flavors. Cover and refrigerate at least 1 hour.
- Pierce the chicken pieces onto skewers when you’re ready to cook.
- Next, heat a grill to medium heat and lightly oil the grates. Grill the chicken skewers 4-5 minutes per side, until the chicken is cooked through. It should measure 165 degrees F. internally.
- Garnish with fresh cilantro and spicy chili flakes. Serve with the spicy Thai peanut sauce.
FOR THE THAI PEANUT SAUCE
- Whisk all of the ingredients together, except for the water, in a small bowl until well combined and the sauce is nice and smooth.
- Add water a teaspoon at a time until you achieve your desired consistency.
- Serve!
Notes
- SKILLET. Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large skillet or pan over medium high heat. Cook for 4-5 minutes per side, or until the chicken is cooked through. The internal temperature should read 165 degrees F. You may need to work in batches.
- OVEN. Heat your oven to 350 degrees F. Bake the skewers for 15-20 minutes on lightly oiled baking sheets, or until the chicken is cooked through. The internal temperature should read 165 degrees F.
Nutrition Information
NOTE: This post was updated on 3/22/22 to include new information. It was originally published on 12/6/19.
Sunny says
Looks like a fabulous recipe I’d love to attempt making for my family, especially after reading all the glowing reviews. Thank you for sharing it and for the amazing step by step instructions & photos! The only lemongrass I can find is Lemongrass Turmeric Paste and I was wondering if this could substitute for the lemongrass stalks or would using lemon zest be better?
Mike Hultquist says
Thanks, Sunny. Yes, I think that will work nicely with this, though lemon zest as well. I would use the paste! Enjoy!
Allison Keyte says
Made this and my husband said it was the best chicken he has ever had. And I never made the dipping sauce. I can’t even imagine how much better it can get.
Mike Hultquist says
Outstanding!!!
Ashok says
Thanks for sharing this amazing recipe.my family loved it.will be sharing this recipe with my friends.they will like it.
Jules says
The best chicken satay recipe I have ever had! Super easy and it was so delicious I ate it all by myself! I made chicken lettuce wraps with it and absolutely perfect!!! Thank you!!
Mike Hultquist says
Awesome! Thanks, Jules!
Christine says
I haven't tried this yet, but hope to make it next weekend.
Michael I just discovered your website and I'm OBSESSED I want to make EVERYTHING, it all looks so delicious
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Awesome, Christine! I hope you find lots of recipes you love! I appreciate the comments! =)
Christine Price says
Ok, so update:
Made this yesterday and it was AMAZING. My boyfriend loves chicken satay so will definitely be making this in the future. Didn't use skewers because I accidentally bought a sushi rolling tool instead (it looked like skewers in the packaging!) but that's fine since I was using a stove top grill
Omitted the sugar since we don't eat added sugar, subbed coconut aminos and tamari soy sauce for the regular soy sauce, all fine and good.
Didn't just make this; had a whole feast. I also made your chicken saag (prepared it as lamb & potato saag), with a combo of mostly spinach, plus some baby kale, and baby chard. Only wish I'd listened to the recipe's advice to chop. Figured since they cook down it doesn't matter... but it does, for consistency! Still delicious. And it saved me time 🙂
Also cooked the masoor daal with extra potatoes (doubled all the recipes, wanted our guests, parents of a baby and a toddler, to have LOTS of left overs to bring home) was DELICIOUS and even my meat loving bf who doesn't typically like coconut milk in savory dishes had seconds. Was expecting it to be cheap but tasty filler for rounding out the meal, but no! It was another star of the show!
Also did a non-spicy raita with cucumber, fenugreek leaves, tiny bit of cucumber, paprika to help cool the dishes down. I ended up halving the hot peppers of each of the other recipes, since one of the guests can't handle spice as well, but wasn't sure this would be enough so wanted a cooling yogurt as well
Also had a butter chicken I'm fond of, based off a recipe of another website, that I was already familiar with and a fan of, since I didn't want to have the stress of EVERY dish being a new one 🙂
All delicious. All hits. My mom-friend LOVES Indian food and hasn't had it in years because of some particular food sensitive (soy oil, a couple others) so I was SO glad I could make a delicious meal for our two families that was wholesome and only slightly modified to fit with all of our various dietary restrictions.
I look forward to making more of your recipes!! Next I think I want those Philly cheese steak filled jalepineos...
Thanks again! Shall have to get a copy of your book for my parents for Christmas
Mike Hultquist says
Outstanding! A feast for sure! Very happy it was all enjoyed. Thanks for sharing, Christine! Thanks!!
Lina says
Hi there, this looks awesome, I can't wait to make it.
Could I ask when you refer to creamy peanut butter, do you mean smooth peanut butter? Or can crunchy peanut be used too?
Also, when cooking the chicken, could you baste it a little with the peanut sauce or is it best to just cook the marinaded chicken as it is?
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Lina, I used a smooth peanut butter, but you can use either one. Chunky peanut butter will give you more texture, which is a bit more like authentic Thai peanut sauce. You don't need to baste the chicken when cooking, but you can if you'd like.
Connie says
Great flavor. Substituted lime juice for lemongrass as I didn’t want to go to the store.
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Nice! Glad you enjoyed it, Connie!
Jenna says
This recipe sounds very flavorful so I would love to try it! The only thing is that I don’t like spice. I would like to add a touch of spice just for a boost of flavor (very minimal spice though!). What would you recommend changing? Thanks!!
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Jenna, I would cut the seasonings in half (or more) and use very little or no sriracha with this. You can sub in a bit of tomato sauce for the sriracha. Let me know how it turns out for you.
Shannon says
This was SO good! I was looking for a really good satay recipe with plenty of layers of flavour, and this was spot on. Wouldn't change a thing. Tonight I'm making it again, grilling the chicken and adding it into a coconut thai chicken soup. Can't wait.
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Nice! Glad you enjoyed it, Shannon! I appreciate it.
Michael Miller says
Another great one Mike!
The sauce is magical- layers of flavor and so many things you can with it in addition to the satay.
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Thanks, Michael! It's so good! Patty has been bugging me to make this again. Haha. I better get to it! Glad you enjoyed it.
Desiree DeVolk says
Great recipe. I like to meal prep. Do you think it would be all right to double the recipe and freeze the marinade and or freeze the chicken in the marinade?
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Thanks, Desiree. You can double this easily, though I've never frozen it with the peanut sauce before. You should be able to freeze the marinated chicken without issue, without any of the sauce. Let me know how it goes for you.
maggie says
I just made this for dinner and I wanted to come and comment. Truly one of the best and tastiest marinades I have ever made. I let the chicken marinade overnight and it was so flavorful. Thank you for sharing!
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Thanks, Maggie! I'm glad you enjoyed it! I appreciate your comments.
Kari says
Glad I found your site! Gorgeous pictures! I'm excited to try some of our recipes! Thanks!
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Thanks, Kari! I appreciate it!
Veronica says
Amazing recipe! Great combination of flavors, exactly what I was looking for! I loved it!
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Great, Veronica! I love it!!!
Nikki Ross-Salon says
Btw I also make a low carb version so if anyone’s on a diet contact me and I’ll show you how to swap out ingredients.
Nikki Ross-Salon says
Best recipe ever! I make it every week and can almost make it blindfolded by now. I make 2 versions-1 very spicy and 1 with no spice for kids.
Thanks!
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Excellent, Nikki! Glad you enjoy it. Nice that you can make 2 versions!!
Jeremie says
Mike, again this is a great recipe!! The marinade gives an incredible savor to the chicken: love it! And the Easy Thai Sauce is delightful!! Maybe, for myself, I'll lower a bit the honey, but the honey I used is a very strong one!
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Thanks so much, Jeremie. Yes, I'm very happy with this recipe. I'm glad you enjoyed it. Big flavor for sure!