Chicken Satay with Peanut Sauce

Juicy pieces of marinated and grilled chicken breast served with a warm peanut sauce is so good, that everybody will ask you for the recipe. Served on its own or with a side of rice, bread, or couscous.

A lifetime ago, I ate this dish on a regular basis. We used to go on weekends to a bar called ‘Hello There’ that was owned by 2 friends and they served a killer Satay with Peanut Sauce. It was a small place, they played great music, served creative cocktails and …. Satay. This is my version:

Key Ingredients in This Recipe:

You’ll find the complete list of ingredients and exact quantities in the recipe below.

• Chicken breast
• Marinade made from:
  • Olive oil
  • Lime juice & zest
  • Garlic
  • Maple syrup
  • Cilantro
  • Spices: cumin, chili powder
• Peanut sauce made from
  • Smooth peanut butter
  • Coconut milk
  • Soy sauce
  • Red curry paste
  • Light brown sugar
  • Lime juice

Marinade the Chicken

Chicken marinades are a great way to add flavor, tenderize the meat and keep in juicy while it cooks. The leaner the meat the easier it can dry out and a marinade can help avoiding that.

First decide how you want to marinade your chicken, in a bowl or a Ziploc bag or something similar. Transfer all ingredients for the marinade into the bowl and mix. Cut the chicken in pieces of cubes and place the chicken in the marinade. My advice would be to cut the chicken in relatively equal pieces, so they all need the same cooking time. Cover the bowl or seal the bag. Marinade the chicken for at least 30 minutes – 2 hours, keeping the bowl in the fridge. When you’re ready to cook, in a grill pan or outside on the grill, thread the chicken pieces on skewers.

If you want to use wooden skewers, make sure to soak them in water for approx. 2 hours. If you’re using metal skewers, make sure you have a pan holder ready when you take them off the grill – the skewers will be too hot to handle. While the chicken cooks you can make your peanut sauce.

Peanut Sauce

• Place all the ingredients for the peanut sauce, except the lime juice, in a sauce pan.
• Heat over medium heat and stir to combine.
• Simmer slowly for a few minutes, stir every now and then.
• Add the lime juice and turn the heat off.
• This sauce should be relatively thick, but still pourable. If it is too thick, add some water.
• Keep warm until the chicken is ready
• Pour some of the sauce over the chicken and serve the rest in a bowl.

Serve the Chicken Satay with Peanut Sauce with rice, bread or any other grain. I placed the skewers on a bed of Herbed Pearl Couscous. This same peanut sauce can be used in other recipes as well, like Halloumi Cucumber Kebabs.

I hope you will try this recipe.