Chicken Skewers With Peanut Sauce Recipe (2024)

Question: if you hate coconut milk - what would you substitute? thanks.

Thighs are my favorite part, but I'm too lazy and cheap to use skewers and boneless meat.. Instead, I buy regular thighs (with the skin and bones), and remove the skin and as much fat as possible. Then - and this is crucial - I make several slashes in the meat all the way down to the bone. This allows the marinade to penetrate, and the bones serve in place of the skewers. I make more than I can eat as this is great cold the next day. The skin and fat makes great schmaltz for a bonus.

A quick note on "curry paste or curry powder," which is wide open to interpretation because there are so many different types. I make a similar recipe to this one in which I use red Thai curry paste (and a bit of fish sauce), and it's excellent. I've also made this with typical yellow Indian curry powder, and that's good too. My point is simply that both are very good, but quite different. (For this recipe I'd recommend the red Thai paste.)

Here's the tip I taught to a couple of rocket scientists at NASA: Put your jar of natural peanut butter in the refrigerator upside down. In a day or two, the oil, trying to rise to the surface, will mix into the peanut butter. Voilà.

Am I totally out of it or did others see "nam pla" and go, "Huh?" I was thinking I'd have to get to our Asian market (a bit of a trip here in Albuquerque) but then Googled the term and it's just fish sauce. Right? If so, it would be nice if Mark had just said so.

We made this today and I would rate it 4 stars. After looking at the comments I added Sriracha to the marinade ingredients which helped; I microwaved the mixture for less than a minute instead of cooking it on the stove. It made far more marinade than I needed for the 2 1/2 lbs. of chicken thighs. Next time I would reserve some and serve it along with the meat. I have grill baskets and used one instead of skewering the thighs, which I cut in half to help the marinade penetrate.

Red Thai curry is fine if that's your thing. In the 10+ years that I lived in SE Asia (Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia), where this is a native dish, I virtually always saw this food (satay) prepared with a mild yellow curry. And dipped in additional peanut sauce or (best of all, I think) thinly sliced cucumbers, onions, and red peppers, also thinly sliced, in a thickened, sweetened vinegar base.

Good, but with some tinkering. And next time (and I will make it again), just 1/2 the nam pla, and less salt - way too salty this first time. I added sriracha for heat, garlic for richer flavor, and brown sugar for some needed sweetness, plus doubled the lime to thin a bit. Next time it will be excellent - without with less or no salt. Just the nam pla.

I love this recipe. We make it over and over again. I generally just cook it in the oven and avoid the skewers. I also add a little honey to the sauce. It's an easy recipe that everyone LOVES!

Add in some fish sauce, tamarind puree, brown sugar and garlic for a more flavourful sauce - and definitely use kecap manis not regular soy sauce! Another tip is to add a quarter of the coconut milk in and let it come to the boil and reduce by about half, then stir in the curry paste until it has come together and oil is leeching from the mixture before adding the rest of the ingredients.

I had to male under the broiler but they were delicious. Marinated for an hour and cooked a bit longer maybe 4 turns of 5 minutes. Served with sweet and tangy sesame noodles... delicious!!

I used a pound of boneless chicken breast strips in lieu of thighs. This became a successful comedy of errors - I made my sauce way too thick, had to improvise with cumin & cayenne pepper when I realized I had no cumin. Used half & half instead of coconut milk and cooked them too fast. And it still tasted fantastic! I'll be trying it again to perfect the sauce but wanted to let you know you can mess it up a little and still have a great dish.

Did this tonight with chicken breasts cut into chunks, followed the rest of the recipe to a t and it was great. The key was saving sauce for dipping and putting on a hot grill with mesquite charcoal. I'll being doing this again!

Very tasty! I went with the broiler over the grill. Next time I'll set aside 1/4 c of the sauce to serve alongside.

I liked this peanut based marinade much better than the various ones I've tried that have a lot of yogurt in them.

Very Good dish, needs a little spice and use a lower heat on the bbq for a longer period of time. Hard to over cook thighs.

Made for Marc and Penny for July 4th. Made the marinade ahead and then put into the chicken a couple of hours before. Made as-is and was great.

I've made this many time and it's a keeper! I don't bother with the skewers but just broil it all in a frying pan for about 10 mins. I serve with the "Turmeric Coconut Rice with Greens" and its heaven.

Sub lime for apple cider vinegar. Add 1-2 Tbs honey. Marinate overnight and reserve extra sauce for topping.

Sub lime for apple cider vinegar. Add 1-2 Tbs honey. Marinate overnight and reserve extra sauce for topping.

This was a great marinade for skewers and used up the bottom part of a jar of peanut butter that was a bit dry - I could adapt the coconut milk to make the right consistency. I'll make this again and again.

Made as (mostly) directed. Used the last of a jar of natural, chunky peanut butter for the marinade. I upped the soy sauce, salt and lime juice before adding the chicken. Wish I'd have added more Madras curry powder. Grilled skewers slowly on a 300-degree gas grill along with skewers of onion, sweet peppers and fresh pineapple chunks. Wonderful results. Satay chicken. Who'd a thunk?

Definitely agree with saving 1/4 cup for serving with the satay. Also, 2 Tsp sriracha sauce and about a tsp garlic powder (and a little extra lime) gave the flavor a boost. I used chicken breast, brined overnight, and it was delicious.

No charcoal grill, so airfried for 15 minutes. Delicious and moist. Boys loved this recipe. It's a keeper. Made extra peanut sauce for dipping.

A rare misstep from Mark Bittman. This marinade is much better suited as a dip and not a marinade. My family ate all 4 pounds of skewers but, in my estimation, due to grilled chicken thighs being wonderful and less because it was flavorful. I added 3x more red curry paste and Sriracha based on reviews but it still lacked any discernible, tasty flavor profiles. Will not be making again.

Easy to prepare and absolutely delicious, even as leftovers.

If using soy sauce, 1 tablespoon is a bit too much.

I enjoyed the recipe, but found it a bit bland if you like Thai food. Next time I plan to double the curry paste and also add some Thai chilis for heat.

This is so good and a crowd pleaser. As others have noted, you can tweak the marinade depending on what you have - I added some honey, fresh garlic, lemongrass, and sriracha, but it is excellent as is too. Definitely reserve about half the sauce for dipping/pouring later on. Served with rice and a Thai-inspired cucumber salad, plus chili garlic sauce. Perfect summer meal on the grill.