All the wonderful flavors of Thai Peanut Sauce on tender, juicy grilled chicken. This easy and delicious low carb recipe is perfect for your next cookout!
I think if I were forced to pick a single ethnic cuisine to eat for the rest of my life, I would pick Thai food. I just find something magical about the interplay of flavours in Thai, of heat and salt and sweet and tangy.
The undertones of things like lemongrass and ginger and garlic just fire up my tastebuds and I salivate just thinking about it. And the liberal use of coconut and coconut oil appeals to me too. I’ve created quite a number of Thai-inspired recipes for All Day I Dream About Food.
I don’t dare say it’s authentic Thai, but it emulates the flavours and textures as best it can in my low carb fashion. Add this one to the list!
I think I first had peanut sauce on a dish made by my sister-in-law. She’d found a good recipe that they used frequently in a couple of ways, one of them being as a sauce for chicken thighs. Not a marinade, mind you, but a sauce to pour over after the chicken was done.
I carried a hand-written version of that recipe home with me and we made that sauce frequently for a long time. Over the years, it changed and adapted to my own tastes, with a bit more heat and the addition of some tangy, salty fish sauce. And I started leaving out the sugar even before I went low carb, as it just didn’t seem to need it.
I don’t quite know what inspired me to use it this time as a marinade. It just struck me as the right thing to do. At first I envisioned leaving some sauce for pouring on after, but in the end, I used it all up as the marinade and for brushing on the chicken while it grilled so that it got sticky and slightly charred.
It was so good, some of the best grilled chicken I’ve had in a while! It would also be great on grilled chicken wings.
Thai Peanut Grilled Chicken
Ingredients
- ½ cup warm water
- ⅓ cup peanut butter
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 tablespoon tamari
- 1 clove garlic minced
- ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- 2 ½ lbs chicken drumsticks and thighs
- salt and pepper
Instructions
- In a blender, combine water, peanut butter, vinegar, soy sauce or aminos, garlic, red pepper flakes and ginger. Blend until smooth.
- Pat chicken dry and season with salt and pepper. Place in a single layer in a large pan and pour marinade overtop. Turn each piece to coat and refrigerate at least one hour.
- Preheat grill to medium. Place chicken, skin-side down, on heated grill and cook 8 to 10 minutes, until skin is crisp (watch for flare ups and move chicken around grill if necessary). Brush with marinade from bottom of pan.
- Turn chicken over, brush with marinade and grill another 5 to 10 minutes, until the internal temperature away from the bone reaches 165F.
- Turn off grill and let chicken sit inside a little longer to stay crisp before serving.
Joanne Hopkins says
I haven’t tried this yet but my Parents being from the Netherlands and my Dad was stationed in Indonesia during the WW2 so he was taught authentic dishes like Nasi Goreng and Bami Goreng. I’ve been trying to figure out a way to create the same flavours “keto style”. Using Cauliflour rice instead of regular rice, using Kale, Leeks, onions, chicken etc…. WE use to use Soy sauce but I have severe migraines from the MSG. So this makes me excited to learn about Aminos as being a soy sauce substitute and hope use your peanut marinade with the nasi goreng keto style. They had Chicken Satay (with a spicy peanut sauce) we loved so much we poured it on to our Nasi Goreng.
Tee says
Oh my! What a great recipe. I did the chicken in my air fryer and it was a huge hit! Will be making this again. Thank you for so many great recipes.
Carolyn says
That’s so great to hear!
Cici says
I’m trying to minimize last minute cooking for a backyard event I’m having. Any make ahead tips you can share?
Kelly says
Hi Carolyn! I just wanted to let you know that this chicken totally rocks! I’ve been making it weekly every since you posted the recipe. The only change I make is I add a little SWERVE to the peanut butter marinade/sauce. Thank you!
Carolyn says
So glad you liked it. It was a hit in our family too.
SBO says
Looks wonderful really!!!
Dianne says
Made the Thai Peanut grilled chicken. Very good, but even better very easy. Wonderful recipe, thanks, D