Many South East Asian countries have a version of Satay Chicken. This Indonesian version is the easiest, you can get everything you need from the supermarket and it is SO tasty. This peanut sauce is thick and chunky, not a thin dipping sauce. Because I like to DOLLOP the sauce on!
** For the reader favourite THAI Satay chicken skewers, see here!**
Satay Chicken is probably better known as Malaysian and Thai. But actually, it is originally from Indonesia. And as with all popular dishes from cuisines around the world, there are many versions of chicken satay. I’d like to share all the popular ones with you eventually – Thai, Malaysian and even the Singaporean version. But I thought it would be ideal to start with the original and the easiest – the Indonesian version.
When I was comparing the various satay chicken recipes I’ve used in the past, I realised that though they had some similarities, they are actually made very differently. None are too hard, but most required many ingredients. And when I say many, I’m not exaggerating. Malaysian Satay Chicken requires 25+ ingredients (the one I use requires 32). The Thai version doesn’t require quite as many, but not far off, especially if you make it using homemade red curry paste (worth every ounce of effort).
However, the Indonesian version requires far less. Just as tasty as the other versions – just different. As my sister always says – “same, same…but DIFFERENT!”.
The Peanut Sauce I use in this recipe is not a 100% authentic Indonesian recipe, but with good reason. The traditional Indonesian peanut sauce is made simply with peanuts, kecap manis (sweet soy sauce), chillies, shallots and lime. Not cooked, just ground together into a thick paste.
I am convinced that Indonesian peanuts are different to Australian peanuts. Because every single time I have tried the traditional recipe, the ground peanuts come out kind of “gritty”, like desiccated coconut. The sauce does not have the creaminess that you get at Indonesian restaurants and in Indonesia (I think I ate satay every day when I was in Bali!). I tried it numerous ways – using a mortar and pestle (the traditional way – it’s tiring!), food processor and even a blender stick. None worked.
For the purpose of sharing this recipe with you, I tried the original yet again and it still didn’t work. I have a few peanut sauce recipes I use regularly – a Vietnamese one (I shared this in the Vietnamese Rice Paper Rolls recipe), a Thai one (I’ll share this one day!), a Malaysian one (which takes time to cook and is the most complex one) and this one which I made up myself. It is a mish mash of all these recipes!
This peanut sauce is made using store bought peanut butter. No, that is not authentic. But don’t be a snob! It’s flavoured with “real” Indonesian flavours so it doesn’t taste “westernised”. And it’s FAST and EASY to make.
I bet that Indonesian restaurants use at least some peanut butter in their satay sauce…..he he! 😉
– Nagi
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Satay Chicken with Restaurant Style Peanut Sauce (Indonesian/Bali style)
Ingredients
Chicken
- 1 lb / 500g chicken thigh fillets (skinless and boneless)
- 2 1/2 tbsp kecap manis (thick sweet soy sauce – see Note 1)
- 1 tbsp unsalted butter , melted
- 12 – 14 small bamboo skewers , soaked in water for at least 30 minutes
Peanut Sauce
- 1 tbsp cooking oil (peanut, canola, vegetable)
- 2 garlic cloves , minced
- 1 small or 1/2 large onion , diced (red, brown, yellow or white)
- 3 birds eye chillis , sliced (or sub with hot sauce)
- 1/2 cup peanut butter (smooth or crunchy)
- 1 cup coconut milk (full fat is better, but light is ok)
- 2 1/2 tbsp kecap manis (Note 1)
- 1/2 tbsp soy sauce
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 cup crushed unsalted roasted peanuts (buy crushed or chop your own)
- 1 – 2 tbsp fresh lime juice
Garnish (optional)
- Crushed peanuts
- Lime wedges
- Sliced shallots/scallions
Instructions
Chicken
- Cut the chicken into 1.5cm/0.5″ cubes. Thread onto skewers – 4 to 5 pieces per skewer.
- Combine kecap manis and butter, then brush onto chicken.
- Cook the skewers on a hot BBQ (outdoor grill) or on the stove in a large non stick fry pan (add a splash of oil, and make sure the skewers will fit in the pan). Grill/broiler would also work.
- Serve, garnished with crushed peanuts, shallots and with lime wedges and Peanut Sauce on the side.
Peanut Sauce
- Heat oil in a small saucepan over medium high heat. Add garlic, onion and chillis and cook for 3 minutes until onion is translucent.
- Turn heat down to medium, then add peanut butter, coconut milk, kecap manis, soy sauce and salt. Simmer for 10 minutes, whisking occasionally.
- Use a handheld stick to puree (so the onion and chilli blends throughout the sauce – this is key). (See Note 2 for blending instructions) Stir through crushed peanuts and lime juice and simmer for 2 minutes. Allow to cool slightly before serving or to room temperature – it will thicken.
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition for Peanut Sauce based on my estimate that one batch is sufficient for 3 batches of chicken skewers.
Nutrition Information:
Chicken on sticks is always a good thing!
Chicken Souvlaki (Greek)
Yakitori (Japanese skewers) – on my mother’s Japanese cooking website, RecipeTin Japan!
I just came back from Bali on Saturday.. and I definitely am missing my sate skewers! Thanks for the recipe Nagi, I have to make these tonight.
Thanks Thalia! Hope you had fun!! I miss Bali 🙂 Satay central!!
That is one nice photo background you have there Nagi 🙂
😉 Thanks Caroline! Not a vanity top 🙂
Beautiful chicken satay Nagi! Light and bright and delicious dish! I feel like I am right there at the dinner table with you! Not only do your grilled skewers look delicious but you were able to reduce the Asian ingredient list by many. I know that many people have a difficult time even getting excited about Asian dishes as they always have a huge ingredient but your version seems so much easier. Take care
Thanks so much!! Yes, the ingredients for the Indo/Bali style satay is MUCH shorter than other Asian versions! I love it so much! 🙂
Haha, I like your description – doesn’t taste “westernised”. So I know it’s a great recipe to try at home 🙂
I totally agree that authentic Malay style satay just requires so many ingredients, and yeah it has a reason. But when I browse through your Indonesian version, it just appears so flavorful! It’s one of my favorite dish and can’t wait to try out this! 🙂
I agree with you Maggie! And YES this is just as flavourful because of the peanut sauce 🙂 I love Malay satay but it is an EFFORT to make! (Worth it….but I just don’t have the energy most days!!) 🙂
Definitely trying your recipe, Nagi… satay chicken is a favourite at my place and this looks and sounds yum!
Thanks Lizzy! Satay chicken is a huge favourite over here too! 🙂
Your photos have me drooling!! I love the incredible flavours you’ve used in this dish. Just divine.
Thanks Lucy! 🙂
I made this for dinner tonight and this is my favourite recipe ever. EVER.
Chicken satay is my favourite food but I’ve never been able to find a restraunt or recipe that comes close to the restraunt I first ate satay in. This recipe was perfect!
The sauce, oh my god, the sauce! I was rummaging through my kitchen just to find stuff to dip into it! Eventually I just used my fingers (the shame!).
Even my husband declared it, “delicious!” and he’s very hard to please. He was mooching about the kitchen looking for more.
If you hear about a peanut butter shortage in Scotland that’ll be me. 😀
Oh wow, thank you SO MUCH for your feedback Sacharissa! I’m so thrilled you enjoyed it!! Yay yay yay!! 🙂 I have no shame when it comes to this sauce – I just had it spread on toast for breakfast!! Disgusting!! 🙂
Food on a stick! We absolutely have the same taste in foods. Love that the peanut sauce is nice and thick!
Thanks Sandra!! 🙂
Nagi, you beat me to this one – I’ve been wanting to work on a satay recipe for ages. I made a sauce I was really happy with about a year ago and guess what – I’ve totally forgotten which recipe I used!
I love that yours is simple but still has enough ingredients in it to make it taste like it’s supposed to.
Oh, by the way, when I was in Bali or year or so ago we asked how they made the satay sauce in one place and they said they didn’t know – it just came in a can! Haha – was delicious, though! 🙂
We had a cook at the villa we stayed in at Bali and he never showed me how to make the sauce…..hmm….suspicious! Maybe it WAS out of a can!! 🙂
I can’t even express my excitement for this!!! I’m putting it down on my meal calendar for this weekend. NO JOKE! The photos are stunning as always!
K 🙂
Thanks for your lovely comment Kayiu!! Love to hear what you think! 🙂
westernized!! haha, I know what you mean. Some people are quite shocked when they have Asian food in Asia. what they know as Asian is often an Asian based corrupted/westernized dish. Interesting fact about the peanuts, I had to actually think for a second if the peanuts in India were gritty or smooth, they are more smooth I feel but then it depends on the quality. I have had a few times satay chicken but I never knew what style it was and of course I learned something here today, that satay is originally Indonesian. Thank you for sharing your take on this, gonna save it.
Thanks Helene! I know what you mean about Asian food in Asia! It is like Indian food in India – here in Australia, it is insanely oily. INSANELY. When I read restaurant recipes for curries I am horrified at the amount of oil used. Curries in India are nowhere near as oily – and SO MUCH tastier! 🙂
I LOVE satay chicken. My recipe is a bit different but it also uses peanut butter in the sauce. My marinade is a bit different. I’ll try yours next time. 🙂 This looks outstanding!
Oh, I must check out yours! I do love comparing recipes 🙂
These skewers are absolutely mouthwatering! I completely agree about dolloping sauce versus thin sauce that drips everywhere.
And I had no idea that satay originated in Indonesia. (I’m always learning from you, Nagi!!) That’s so interesting about the peanut texture too – I wonder why the difference?
Thanks Marissa! I had a reader say that if I kept blitzing, it should go smooth….but honestly, I blitzed for almost 15 minutes on high and it just didn’t go creamy. Maybe peanuts here are different. Over the years I’ve tried different brands but always the same problem. Maybe it works with peanuts in the US? In any case, my sauce is much easier!! Grounding peanuts is hard work 🙂
I absolutely adore satay, and I had no idea there were so many different versions from different countries! This one sounds fantastic and very simple indeed. Love how thick it is, all the better to pile it on! 😉
Thanks Allie! I’m with you, gotta PILE the sauces on!! 🙂
Interesting that the Australian peanuts seem different and won’t go smooth. How pesky of them. I wonder what the difference is. This looks amazing and I love satay sauce. One of my absolute favourite foods – with or without the protein! The dollopy the better.
Hi Caroline – have you tried grounding peanuts and found they go smooth?? Popping over to check your blog! In any case, I prefer my version because it’s EASIER!! 🙂
HAHA “same same but different”. I’m from Singapore, so I can attest to the complexity of the different satay recipes. Well done on creating a simple and quick version that still looks authentic! Good on you. =)
Thank you! It took a few goes before you couldn’t tell it was made with peanut butter. 🙂 Much easier than grounding peanuts!! 🙂
Dear Nagi,
I grew up in Malaysia and this recipe is bringing back a lot of fond childhood memories. Thanks for sharing something special with us.
Thank you so much!! Satay brings back many fond memories for me too of my travels throughout SE Asia 🙂
So funny – I swear, I just made chicken satay this weekend! I think we must have some weird foodie e.s.p. going on 😉 This is one of my very favorite dishes and one that my husband asks for all the time! I generally make a Thai version so I’m very interested to try Indonesian satay. I’m also very intrigued to make your peanut sauce. I started off doing it the old school way – mortar and pestle (good, but way too much work). Your recipe sounds so much easier and all without cutting out any of the flavor. Can’t wait to give this dish a try!
Of COURSE you make it the traditional way!! I tried that too when I was making this but the damn peanuts just won’t go smooth! It is hard work. My arm was tired – and the sauce was still gritty!! 🙂
Hi Nagi!
I am SO interested in this peanut sauce recipe! A while back, I made chicken pad thai for dinner, (It took SO MUCH work, but I did not get the sauce right?) my daughter wanted peanut sauce which I did not know how to throw together to taste- what would you think if I made this sauce for pad thai ? Do you think that I could use this peanut sauce in other recipes and if so, could you name a few. 🙂 A challenge! I would like to surprise her with a great chicken pad thai with peanut sauce. You know how Mama’s are, wanting to take care of their children.. even if they are 23 😉 I love the thought of a platter filled with chicken skewers….
Hi Lisa! You will love this peanut sauce, “our” kind of flavour! Pad Thai doesn’t actually use a peanut sauce like this. But I will share a pad thai recipe soon! You can use this sauce for beef and pork skewers (same recipe as this one), drizzle over steamed vegetables served over rice with slices of boiled egg on the side (this is called Gado Gado and it is a traditional Indonesian dish), make a stir fry (with or without noodles) with fairly light flavours and drizzle this over the top or serve on the side. The recipe for a peanut sauce to use IN stir fries and fried rice is different – it is thinner with stronger flavours so it disperses throughout the ingredients better. This one is too thick and if you thin it with water to use as a stir fry sauce, the flavour isn’t strong enough. I will share one soon to use in stir fries! If I forget, shoot me an email to remind me! 🙂 PS I’m thirty-something and my Mama still wants to take care of us kids 🙂 We love it!
Nagi,
I just found your blog a couple weeks ago. I have had bariatric surgery, (weight loss) and I have looking for recipes that are high in protein, and SIMPLE to make with( ingredients I have in my house (mostly)!
Thank you, thank you so much. My family is happy and we are eating more variety, and ooooohhh sooo tasty!
The ribs you posted last week were amazing!! seasoned them in the morning, came home at lunch and cooked them up in my slow cooker as I had meetings that evening…. husband and son were nice enough to leave me a couple after their feasting on it!
Hi Rhonda! I am so glad you are enjoying my recipes! You will find plenty of high protein recipes here, I love my protein! 🙂 I am glad you enjoyed the ribs! Isn’t the sauce amazing? I love it so much, and it’s crazy easy! Great idea to throw it all in the slow cooker, though I thought the sauce would not thicken up enough to coat the ribs “jam” like? 🙂