Authentic Chicken Satay with Peanut Sauce

Satay is a traditional dish in Southeast Asia that usually consists of grilled meat skewers. In this recipe, we’re making chicken satay with a delicious peanut sauce.

This is a perfect dish to make for a busy person because it’s simple to prepare and only requires a few ingredients.

Plus, it’s really tasty and satisfying! So if you’re looking for something quick and easy to make, be sure to try out this chicken satay recipe.

How To Make Chicken Satay with Peanut Sauce:

We’re going to start by making the marinade for the chicken. In a medium-sized bowl, I’m adding a few tablespoons of kecap manis which is an Indonesian sweet style soy sauce.

If you don’t already have this you should be able to find it with the soy sauces or in the international section of your grocery store.

If not you can make a substitute by using regular soy sauce and adding a teaspoon of sugar.

To the marinade, measure out a tablespoon of sesame oil, this has a tone of flavour. Use a garlic crusher to crush in 2 cloves of garlic.

Use a fork to give the marinade a stir to combine the ingredients and set to the side while we prepare the chicken. If you would like the full recipe for this satay chicken with peanut dipping sauce.

For this satay, I’m using skinless boneless chicken thighs.

I prefer these as they are a lot more tender than chicken breasts but it’s really up to you what you use.

Chicken, beef, prawn or even tofu for a vegetarian take. Cut the chicken into strips and place it into the bowl with the marinade.

Give it a quick toss so everything is evenly coated and cover with plastic wrap before putting in the fridge.

For the best results, I recommend marinating the chicken overnight but if you are pushed for time a few hours should do.

After the chicken has marinated remove it from the fridge and start by threading it onto skewers.

At the same time as you make the marinade for the chicken place a few bamboo skewers into some cold water to soak.

This will help stop the skewers from burning when you cook the chicken.

For three chicken thighs, I’m making 6 skewers which will be enough to serve 2-3 people.

This is a great appetizer but you can also serve it with rice to make it into the main meal.

Divide the chicken up evenly between the skewers and place on a plate ready to be cooked. The chicken will only take about 5-7 minutes to cook so next we will going to start by prepping the peanut sauce.

Slice a medium-sized onion in half and remove the peel. Slice into chunks, it’s going to be blended so they don’t need to be even and place into a mini food processor.

Slice red chilli in half and remove the seeds. If you don’t like heat then leave the chilli out but by removing the seeds it takes away most of the spice.

Place into the food processor along with the onion and 2 cloves of crushed garlic. Pulse the food processor a few times or until everything is finely chopped.

I prefer the peanut sauce to be smooth apart from the peanuts but if you don’t mind it thicker you don’t need to use a food processor.

Heat a teaspoon of oil in a saucepan over medium heat and add the onion, chilli and garlic.

Cook for 2-3 minutes until the onion has become translucent, being careful not to burn it. Meanwhile, heat a griddle pan over medium-high heat until hot.

There is no need to oil the pan as the marinade for chicken contains enough oil.

Place the skewers in the griddle pan and leave to cook for about 3-4 minutes until deeply golden brown.

I prefer to use a griddle pan for this as it leaves really lovely grill marks on the chicken and it provides even heat but if you don’t have one a regular fry pan will work too.

we’ll use peanut butter for this peanut sauce just because it’s so much easier. You can, of course, grind down peanuts if you have more time, that’s up to you.

Measure out about half a cup of peanut butter, smooth or chunky works, we will be adding peanuts to the sauce as well. Turn the heat down on the saucepan and add the peanut butter as well as coconut milk.

Stir until the peanut butter has melted and the sauce has come together. The sauce is quite thin in consistency here but it will thicken as it cools.

If you like a really thick sauce just add a touch less coconut milk. Add a couple of tablespoons of kecap manis, stir and remove the sauce from the heat to cool.

Turn the chicken skewers over. They should be deeply golden brown. Cook for a further 2-3 minutes or until completely cooked through.

Cut a fresh lime in half and squeeze the juice into the peanut sauce along with a handful of crushed peanuts.

Use a mortar and pestle or if you don’t have one a knife works too. Stir the sauce and check for seasoning.

This recipe makes quite a large batch of sauce, you will definitely have leftovers.

It should store in the fridge for at least 5 days but you can use it for a tone of different recipes.

Remove the chicken from the griddle pan and serve with the sauce.

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