Thai Chicken Satay skewers with Thai Peanut Sauce – the gold standard of authentic Thai food! Marinated chicken with a peanut sauce that’s so good, everyone will be begging for the recipe – and will be astonished how EASY it is!
Serve this with steamed jasmine or Coconut Rice. Or go all out with a Thai restaurant banquet complete with Thai Fried Rice , Pad See Ew or Thai Chilli Basil Stir Fry!
Thai Chicken Satay skewers
At the risk of sounding totally obnoxious – this is a recipe for Chicken Satay skewers with Thai Peanut Sauce that truly stacks up to your favourite Thai restaurant.
When it hits the stove, the smell is SO GOOD you will just know they are going to taste amazing.
Then you have a taste of the peanut dipping sauce…… and you’ll just shake your head, wondering how the heck can something so simple taste so good??!!
Or you might be thinking – OMG, I finally cracked it, this tastes EXACTLY like the authentic Chicken Satay I had in Thailand!!! Oh wait, maybe that’s just in my head. 😂
What goes in Chicken Satay and Thai Peanut Sauce
It might surprise you how few ingredients go in Chicken Satay and the peanut sauce! Here’s what you need:
The BEST Thai Red Curry Paste
Thai Red Curry paste is a “secret ingredient” in both the marinade and the sauce. You just need about 2.5 tbsp which doesn’t sound like much, but we don’t want this to taste of red curry. We’re just using it as a flavour enhancer.
While I’m an advocate of homemade curry paste for Thai Red Curry and Green Curry, for recipes like this that use a smaller quantity, I use store bought.
I use Maesri Thai Red Curry Paste which I think is the best by a long shot. I also use this same brand for Green Curry and Red Curry for quick midweek curries.
It also happens to be the cheapest, at around $1.30 per can at major supermarkets like Coles, Woolies and Harris Farms.
How to make Thai Peanut Sauce
Thai Peanut Sauce is almost unbelievably simple to make. It’s literally just a 5 minute plonk-and-simmer job:
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coconut milk
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red curry paste
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cider or white vinegar (not lime juice!)
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pure peanut butter (see below for more info)
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soy sauce
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sugar and salt
“For the BEST Thai Peanut Sauce, use natural peanut butter”
While commercial peanut butter spread is ok, if you want a really great authentic Thai Peanut Sauce that truly stacks up to your favourite Thai restaurant, use pure peanut butter. You’ll find it in the health food section of most supermarket nowadays.
Pure peanut butter is made with JUST peanuts – no sugar, oil or other additives – so the peanut flavour is stronger.
Also, natural peanut butter is thinner than commercial peanut butter spreads (see below) which means you need less water to thin the sauce = better peanut flavour in Thai Peanut Sauce!
Ahead of publishing this recipe, I tried the Thai Peanut Sauce with natural pure peanut butter vs commercial peanut butter (Kraft, now Bega) side by side to confirm this!
I’m a firm believer that Chicken Satay skewers should be tasty enough to eat on their own and the peanut sauce just takes it over the top. So I like to marinade the chicken to make it extra tasty.
Chicken Satay Marinade
Here’s what you need for the Thai Chicken Satay Marinade:
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Chicken pieces – chicken thighs yield the juiciest chicken skewers but breast or tenderloin are fine
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Red curry paste – see above for my recommended brand Maesri
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Curry powder – any is fine here
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Coconut milk
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Salt and sugar
It’s best to marinade for at least 3 hours but even 20 minutes is long enough.
Cooking the Chicken Skewers
Chicken satay is a summertime favourite to cook on the BBQ. But I usually cook it on the stove for convenience.
For a really authentic Thai experience, cook the Chicken Satay over charcoal like it’s done in Thailand!
Thai Chicken Satay is a popular starter on Thai restaurants menus along with Thai Fish Cakes. But it’s also ideal served as a main. Serve it with steamed jasmine rice – or with fluffy Asian Coconut Rice (it’s amazing!). Or go all out with Thai Fried Rice or Pineapple Fried Rice!
For a fresh side salad, try this Asian Slaw, or use this Asian Sesame Dressing for a fresh salad or steamed vegetables.
If you want to go all out with a homemade Thai Banquet, serve this Chicken Satay as the starter with Thai Chilli Basil Stir Fry, a curry (Massaman Curry, Green Curry or Red Curry) with Coconut Rice as the mains. Or Pad See Ew! ~ Nagi x
Recipe source: An original creation but the roots of this recipe are from various Thai cookbooks and renowned Thai food experts like David Thompson and Sujet Saenkham (owner of the famous Spice I Am restaurants). Except I’ve made this recipe so it’s accessible to everyday cooks – without compromising! 🙂
Thai Chicken Satay
Watch how to make it
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Thai Chicken Satay with Peanut Sauce
Ingredients
- 400 g/14oz coconut milk (1 can), full fat
- 13-16 bamboo skewers , 16cm / 6.5" long (Note 1)
Marinade:
- 600 g / 1.2lb chicken thighs , boneless skinless, cut into 2cm/4/5" pieces (Note 2)
- 1 tbsp curry powder (Note 3)
- 1 tsp white sugar
- 2 tsp red curry paste (Note 4)
- 1 tsp salt
Thai Peanut Sauce:
- 2 tbsp red curry paste (Note 4)
- 3/4 cup (180g) natural peanut butter, smooth (Note 5)
- 1/4 cup (50g) white sugar
- 2 tsp dark soy sauce (Note 6)
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 tbsp cider vinegar (Note 7)
- 3/4 cup (185ml) water
Serving:
- 2 tbsp peanuts finely chopped
- Lime wedges (optional)
- Coriander / cilantro leaves and sliced red chilli (optional)
Instructions
- If cooking on a BBQ or over charcoal, soak skewers for 2 hours in water.
Thai Chicken Satay Skewers:
- Mix together the chicken and Marinade with 1/4 cup of coconut milk, then set aside for at least 20 minutes, or overnight.
- Thread onto skewers - I do 4 to 5 pieces each.
- Heat 1.5 tbsp oil in a large non stick pan over medium high heat.
- Cook skewers in batches for 3 minutes on each side until golden.
Thai Peanut Sauce:
- Place remaining coconut milk and Peanut Sauce ingredients in a saucepan over medium low heat.
- Stir to combine then simmer, stirring every now and then, for 5 minutes.
- Adjust consistency with water - it should be a pourable but thickish sauce.
- Cover with lid and keep warm while cooking skewers.
Serving:
- Pour some sauce into a bowl. Sprinkle with some peanuts - stir some through if you want.
- Pile satay skewers onto a platter, sprinkle with remaining peanuts, coriander and chilli.
- Serve with sauce on the side for dipping. Add a side of Jasmine Rice or Thai Fried Rice to complete the meal!
Recipe Notes:
- Sauce for for rice, noodles, veggies (raw or steamed)
- Make a simple Gado Gado with steam veg, hard boiled eggs and rice
- Dip for prawn crackers and vegetables
- As the dressing for this Chinese Chicken Salad, Satay Noodle Salad, Peanut Noodle Salad or Sesame Noodles
Nutrition Information:
Life of Dozer
He thought I said PELICAN satay……
Oops! Forgot to say in my previous comment that I didn’t add water to the sauce. I liked the consistency and thought that adding water might make it a ‘peanut soup’. 😉
I made this 2 days ago. Very happy that I could make a satay sauce (I used Bega smooth peanut butter in a glass container). Turned out well. We had leftover sauce to eat with pan fried tofu.
I couldn’t pan fried my chicken skewers as I could only fit 3 skewers in my pan and they got stuck to the pan even with oil. I ended up having to bake them. They were still good.
Thank you.
Made this tonight, yum, yum, yum and yum. I used tenderloins, absolutely perfect, Thanks Nagi, another winner!
Great recipe, a family favourite. Have made it many times and it always turns out great. I freeze the excess peanut sauce which works out really well.
I was only looking for the sauce recipe as I had already bought satay chicken skewers from Coles. I only made half the portion, and I used Valcom red curry paste. The sauce turned out so good! Everyone enjoyed it. It was just slightly spicier than what we usually get from takeaways, I wonder if I could use massaman curry paste to dial down the heat. But overall it was so successful, I might use the rest for noodles tomorrow. Thank you, Nagi!
Cooked this for the first time today and it was delicious! I used a flat, wide frying pan to fry all the skewers in one go and noticed that the excess marinade started to burn on the surface. Should I have wiped off the excess marinade when threading the pieces of chicken onto sticks? I didn’t, because I liked the look of the spicy crust on the chicken pieces in the pictures. Your advice would be much appreciated as I will definitely be returning to this recipe!
Noooo… Don’t wipe the marinade off the chicken, that’s just wasting all that flavour! Instead, just use a slightly lower heat.
I use a heavy cast iron pan with peanut oil. The heavy pan keeps the heat even while cooking and helps give that crust you mentioned.
So, you just take the chicken thighs and hack at them to try to get chunks of meat off of them big enough to marinade?
I make this all the time and it is a family favourite. Thank you for all your recipes, they always work out great.
Nagi, this is now a firm favorite!
On high rotation in our house. I cook many of your recipes and they always turn out fabulously. Thank You
This was honestly incredible!! Can’t wait to try out more recipes. Only thing is that in the instructions on the printed version, it doesn’t say when to put the chicken back into the curry.
I have lost count of the number of times I’ve cooked this. It never disappoints and always hits the peanut satay craving! The leftover sauce is always such a win for making the weekly meal prep for lunches. We love serving it with coconut rice and stir fry veggies too.
Hi Nagi. I love your recipes! They are always full of flavour.
I’m a vegetarian so I usually sub chicken for tofu.
I’m wondering if you could make tofu skewers? And if so, any recommendations? I made the peanut sauce which was delicious by the way! However my tofu was a bit of a disaster!
Finally a satay recipe which replicates that Darwin market flavour!!
Great recipe! I keep doing it every few weeks.
I was wondering, how long can I keep the sauce stay at the refrigerator and it will be safe for eating?
The problem with this recipe is trying your best not to eat all of the sauce before the meal! SOOOOOO GOOD.
This is a great peanut sauce! I have been making a different recipe for a beef peanut satay for 20 years. I wanted to try a recipe using chicken. This did not disappoint. This sauce was so good we kepty sneaking tastes. The marinade is wonderful. Fantastically tasty dish!
To die for! 🤤made these today. Amazing and easy recipe, the whole family(even the picky eaters) devoured the platter in no time 😄 Already started sharing this recipe.
Just made this for dinner and it was soooo good. I have cooked many of your receipes and every single one I’ve tried have turned out absolutely delicious. Never disappointed! Big thanks
Thank you for your great recipes. Made this tonight for the second time and everyone was sooooo happy.
Woo hoo that’s amazing Troy!! Enjoy! N x
Delicious 🤤 child loved it , I set a little sauce aside for her without the chilli and adults chilli. We all loved it !
That’s great Jade – I am glad the whole family liked it! N x