Satay skewers: the benchmark of authentic Thai food! Think deeply marinated chicken with a peanut sauce that’s so good, everyone will be begging for the recipe. 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!
This is a reader-favourite recipe included by popular demand in my debut cookbook “Dinner”!
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:
coconut milk
red curry paste
cider or white vinegar (not lime juice!)
pure peanut butter (see below for more info)
soy sauce
sugar
cooking salt / kosher salt (halve the quantity if you only have table salt which is finer. So 1 tsp cooking salt / kosher salt = 1/2 tsp table 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:
Chicken pieces – chicken thighs yield the juiciest chicken skewers but breast or tenderloin are fine
Red curry paste – see above for my recommended brand Maesri
Curry powder – any is fine here
Coconut milk
sugar
cooking salt / kosher salt – halve the quantity if you only have table salt which is finer. So 1 tsp cooking salt / kosher salt = 1/2 tsp table salt.
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! 🙂
Watch how to make it
This recipe features in my debut cookbook Dinner. The book is mostly new recipes, but this is a reader favourite included by popular demand!
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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 cooking salt / kosher salt (sub 1/2 tsp table salt)
Thai Peanut Sauce:
- 2 tbsp red curry paste (Note 4)
- 3/4 cup natural peanut butter, smooth (Note 5)
- 1/4 cup white sugar
- 2 tsp dark soy sauce (Note 6)
- 1 tsp cooking salt / kosher salt (sub 1/2 tsp table salt)
- 2 tbsp cider vinegar (Note 7)
- 3/4 cup 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……
Definitely the BEST peanut sauce !!!
This is THE best recipe of any sort I have ever tried! My husband and I are obsessed with the peanut sauce and make it at least once a week — it’s the perfect accompaniment to this chicken satay, as well as fresh spring rolls, air frier cauliflower bites, a bowl of rice noodles… it’s hard not to just eat it all by itself! Thank you Nagi, your website is my go-to for recipes of all kinds!
This recipe is a new fave in my house. I cooked this today but instead of skewers I left the thighs whole and baked them in the oven for 30mins on 180 and were absolutely delicious. My question is- the juice that came off the thighs seems too cook to throw away. I drizzled some over the rice but do we think I could have mixed the chicken juice into the satay sauce? Thanks
Hi Olivia, you would LOVE Nagi’s new recipe for baked satay chicken in the Tonight cookbook! It is even easier and tastier- and those delicious roasting juices cook straight into the sauce!
Delicious! This is a definite favourite of our family. I can’t get my satay sauce to be the same colour as yours but tastes good.
Thank you for another delicious recipe! 😋 I will definitely be making this again. ☺️
An absolute winner Nagi! I didn’t have skewers so just cooked chicken straight in a hot pan and it was perfect👌 Served with rice and cucumber and red onion pickle 😋
Just made this tonight! Absolutely scrumptious! I could eat the whole lot!
We have a family tradition Christmas Eve and satay sticks.
I made this Christmas Eve 2023 and again Christmas Eve 2024. My husband said ‘you need to make this dish more often.
I will.
What temp and time would you recommend to cook this in the oven?
OMG! This is the best chicken satay I have ever had. The marinade is perfect, the peanut sauce is exquisite. I made it exactly as written. I had 3 pounds of boneless chicken thighs in my freezer so used those. I doubled the marinade, and made just a single batch of peanut sauce. There was plenty of peanut sauce for what was almost a triple batch of chicken. Served with Thai cucumber salad and jasmine rice. Everyone loved it. Thank you!
These are easily as good or better than any chicken satay skewers I have eaten at restaurants or markets, literally one of my favourite recipes ever
This recipe was great. However, it makes about twice as much peanut sauce as you’ll need. We took it to a party and it was huge hit!
So yum! One of my family is allergic to peanuts so I substituted cashew butter. Tasted fantastic even with this change!!
United States
Wow, this recipe has become one of my favourites by a mile. Since trying it for the first time, it’s now on the weekly menu and family/friends can’t get enough of it. The sauce is amazing and this dish goes great with homemade special fried rice.
So delicious! I didn’t read the recipe carefully enough to see that the peanut sauce was way more than needed – although I realized that after combining all the items in a pot. I’d like to use up what’s left of the peanut sauce, but I don’t want to crack a whole new can of coconut milk just to take a 1/4 cup to marinade the chicken. Is it possible to substitute the coconut milk in the marinade, or marinade without coconut milk?
I made double the quantity 24 hours ahead of time as the savoury element of a baby shower menu. It was amazing. Tasty, tender and just the right amount of spicy. The guests loved it and I was happy to share that it was a Recipe Tin Eats recipe. I think mare will be making this delicious dish.
Making this this evening and wondering if I can cook the whole batch of skewers in the oven? I don’t have a pan big enough for the skewers to fit properly in. I will probably try and see if it does work!
For my vegetarian friends, I use all the same ingredients replacing chicken for veggies and comes out a real treat aswell
Nice, which veggies worked well for you? Thinking of doing a tofu version to cater
WOW, WOW, WOW. Nagi you have done it once again. Definitely adding this one to the rotation. I was in love.
This was great! I made it along with the beef satay skewers and your avocado & cucumber salad for a great dinner party.
It was SO easy to prep almost everything the day before: cut and marinate the meat, make the sauce, and even the rice can be cooked ahead and reheated if you want. Then you have a pretty clean kitchen when your guests arrive.