Almond Coconut Milk Chicken Satay
Quick, healthy, and crazy delicious, this almond coconut milk chicken satay has simple, unique flavors that will make it a new grilled chicken favorite this summer!
If you grill chicken as much as we grill chicken, you are constantly looking for ways to change things up a bit.
No offense to grilled chicken, but as much as it is a solid dinner favorite for warm summer nights, sometimes I need a few crazy flavors in there to change things up a bit and really make things exciting.
I still keep my standby list of grilled chicken recipes super close by:
Lemon and Garlic Grilled Chicken
Grilled Island Chicken
Pesto Marinated Grilled Chicken
Grilled Sesame Herb Chicken
Grilled Coconut Lime Chicken
But this almond coconut milk chicken satay is so delicious with just the flavors I’m looking for to make me feel like I’m living life on the edge that it’s quickly moving up the ranks as a go-to favorite.
And that quick, fresh, and tasty cucumber salad is the perfect zesty compliment to the warm flavors of the chicken satay.
We’ve had this quick grilled chicken so many times, I’ve been able to do a little experimenting for you!
Although the recipe is written to use almond butter (so delicious!! I score mine at Trader Joes), I’ve also subbed in peanut butter (the creamy jiffy/skippy variety), and it’s equally as tasty. And probably a bit cheaper if almond butter isn’t widely available where you live.
And instead of grilling on skewers, I’ve tried marinating the chicken breasts whole and grilling them that way. Also very, very delish!
If I’m being honest, however, making this kabob-style is my favorite.
My mother-in-law recently gave me some metal skewers she had hanging around her house that had never been used. I’ve always used regular ol’ bamboo skewers in the past, but my goodness, these metal wonders have made me fall in love with kabobs all over again! Metal skewers for life.
They don’t burn, they are so much easier to thread the chicken onto, and they clean up really easily. WHERE HAVE THEY BEEN ALL MY LIFE?? Thanks, Grammie! FYI: The ones she gave me are really similar to these ones {aff. link} except they are 10-inch instead of 12-inch.
Anyway, even though I manage to have strong opinions about everything, I promise it really doesn’t matter what kind of skewer you use. The simple delicious flavors of this almond coconut milk chicken will blow your mind.
As I mentioned above, don’t discount serving the grilled chicken with that quick and tangy cucumber salad. Not only is it a super easy side dish you barely have to think about, but the light and fresh flavors are perfect with the richer, warmer flavors of the chicken marinade.
The whole combo is fantastic.
One Year Ago: Slow Cooker Korean Beef {With Instant Pot Directions}
Two Years Ago: Peanut Butter Chocolate Mousse Brownie Cake
Three Years Ago: Slow Cooker Baby Back Ribs with Root Beer BBQ Sauce
Four Years Ago: Greek Pita Salad
Five Years Ago: Maple Pecan Crusted Salmon
Almond Coconut Milk Chicken Satay with Quick Cucumber Salad
Ingredients
Chicken Satay:
- 1 cup almond butter, I’ve subbed peanut butter with good results, too
- 1 (13.5 ounce) can light coconut milk
- ⅔ cup about 12 tablespoons fresh lime juice, (5-6 limes)
- 1 to 1 ½ tablespoons red curry paste (see note)
- 2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts or thighs, cut into bite-size pieces or strips
Quick Cucumber Salad:
- 1 English cucumber, thinly sliced
- 1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
- 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
- 2 tablespoons rice vinegar, can sub red wine or white wine vinegar
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- Salt and pepper
Instructions
- In a medium bowl (or in a blender), combine the almond butter, coconut milk, lime juice, and curry paste. Whisk or blend until well-combined and smooth. Reserve 1 cup of the mixture and refrigerate (to use for serving later). Place the chicken pieces in a container with a lid or in a gallon-size ziploc bag. Pour the marinade over the chicken, tossing so the chicken is evenly covered. Refrigerate for 15 minutes (or up to 12 hours).
- For the cucumber salad, in a medium bowl, add the cucumber and bell pepper. Whisk together the lime juice, rice vinegar, olive oil, and pinch of salt and pepper; add to the vegetables and toss to combine. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
- Preheat a grill (indoor grill pan or skillet will work, too) to medium or medium-high.
- Remove the chicken from the marinade (the marinade will be very thick, especially if it has been refrigerated longer than 15 minutes; that’s ok – just take the chicken pieces out and scrape off any excess marinade). Thread the chicken onto skewers. Grill/cook, turning once or twice, until chicken pieces are cooked through, 7-9 minutes.
- Serve the chicken skewers with the cucumber salad and the reserved almond coconut milk sauce (to drizzle over the chicken, if desired).
Notes
Recommended Products
Recipe Source: adapted from Cooking Light Jan/Feb 2018 (increased all proportions, changed up ingredients, added vinegar to the cucumber salad, etc)
22 Comments on “Almond Coconut Milk Chicken Satay”
I made this the other night and we LOVED it. I didn’t feel like the curry paste made it spicy at all. We served it with Chrissy Teigen’s recipe for jasmine rice (with toasted coconut on top) and it was perfect. I feel like grilled pineapple would also be so good with it! Another great one.
Replying late, but we made this this summer and it was super delicious. A perfect summer dinner. I tasted the marinade before adding chicken, and actually ended up doubling the red curry paste. Not too spicy and really flavorful. I was hesitant to make the cucumber-bell pepper salad, but I’m so glad I went for it!! It was so good and really compliments and elevates the chicken. Thanks for the recipe!
PS. Definitely add the cilantro!
Loved this! So easy, so delicious
Not that good.
I made this last night, and didn’t love it as much as I expected. It didn’t have much spice. My red chili paste (Thai Kitchen brand) was from the bottom of the jar – does that lose it’s spicy-ness over time, maybe? Anyway, it was definitely worth trying again, with more spice! The cucumber salad was AMAZING! I hadn’t had it with rice vinegar and lime before, and that really made a difference. Thanks, as always for your great recipes!
Yes, metal skewers are all I use for grilling kabobs!
Question: It looks like you either have flat leaf parsley or cilantro on your salad in the picture, but I don’t see it in the recipe. I’m a fan of adding fresh herbs and although I’m sure a wide variety of herbs would work, I am wondering if there is a suggested one for this salad. Thanks!
It’s cilantro. 🙂
Can I use red curry powder, i cant find red curry paste at the store? Thanks, love your stuff Mel!
I think that would work – the flavor will be a bit different, but still tasty.
For the cooking with kids series will you tell us what to buy before hand to cook along with you or is it just watch and then go do yourself type of thing?
Yes, yes! I’ll be giving all the details of the weekly recipe a few days’ in advance (still finalizing details for this Friday’s cook with kids series, but it will most likely be a fun cookie to get us started this summer!).
So . . . I’m kinda scared of grilling. It seems you say you can use stove top. I was thinking of cubing the chicken, marinade it then dump marinade and all in the pan and sauté it. Thoughts? How would you do it in a skillet?
Thanks! Love allll your stuff. Just did my daughter’s wedding reception with half your cookie recipes. Thanks for your help and advice!!
Congrats on making it through your daughter’s wedding reception!! As for this chicken, yes, I definitely think you could saute it in a skillet. If it were me, I’d probably still wipe most of the marinade off the chicken pieces and saute in a hot skillet with oil so the chicken pieces get some nice color/caramelization…I think if you poured marinade and chicken and everything in the skillet that the marinade may overpower the chicken.
Do you need to cook the extra sauce before you serve it over the chicken?
No…I just refrigerate it (make sure to reserve it BEFORE pouring over the chicken so it doesn’t come in contact with the reserved chicken). Cooking it might deepen the flavors, but we quite enjoy it uncooked.
Can I substitute gochujang (hot pepper paste) in place of the red curry paste? I have some on hand but am wondering how it will go with the almond and coconut milk? I’m guessing you can’t marinate longer than 12 hours or the lime juice will start cooking the meat? Thank you
Hey Sandra – I’ve only marinated this a max of of 12 hours but with all the creamy ingredients, I don’t think the citrus will “cook” the meat quite as quickly like other strong citrus-based marinades. I’ve never used gochujang in this recipe, but I think it would work – the flavor profile will be different since the red curry paste has different ingredients added to it, but if you have it, I think it’s worth a try. I’ve seen other recipes that use gochujang and coconut milk.
Yep! Metal skewers all the way. They are all I use!
Mel, this looks fantastic! The flavor profile does indeed look phenomenal. Can’t wait to try it! Also, thank you for doing the Cooking with Kids series this summer! I know now how we will be spending our Friday afternoons. Yay!!! Quick question: I read on a recent post that you use the Costco thin cut frozen chicken breasts. I’m wondering what your favorite method for defrosting is (looking to improve my chicken repertoire and hoping you might have some good suggestions). Thanks again, girl! You’re rockin’ this!
Hi Amy! I usually try to plan ahead and I put the frozen chicken in a dish and place in the refrigerator the night before. It’s usually perfectly defrosted in 12-18 hours (the thin cut chicken). When I don’t plan ahead, I usually figure out something else for dinner! Seriously, though, microwaving to defrost chicken is the pits and kind of gross.
Awesome! Thanks again, Mel! I’m excited to give it a try! Hope you’re having a great summer already!