Thai Coconut Milk Grilled Chicken
So easy and tasty, this healthy Thai Coconut Milk Grilled Chicken is a perfect example how every day, simple flavors can take plain old chicken to delicious new heights.
This Thai {inspired} Coconut Milk Grilled chicken definitely falls into the category of:
Recipes I’ve Been Holding Out on Sharing.
Don’t be mad.
I wanted to wait until there was no longer snow on the ground to share it.
Not that I’m above grilling in the snow, of course.
In fact, we basically survived the snowpocalypse earlier this year because I willingly traipsed out on the back deck in sub-zero temps and blizzard-like conditions at least weekly to grill this chicken.
Grilled chicken made summer not feel so far away. And I’m no dummy; I recognize when food can become therapy, and I run with it.
But I also realize that not everyone views January as an ideal time for grilling. Now that the weather has warmed up to a balmy 55 degrees where I live, I feel comfortable getting this recipe out there.
I’m not exaggerating when I say that we really do make this Thai coconut milk grilled chicken all the time.
Even though the chicken obviously has a Thai-inspired flavor profile, it totally belongs on a backyard grilling menu right there with the classics (like grilled pork chops, kebabs, and other favorite grilled chicken recipes).
And if you’ve fallen in love with this Grilled Lime Coconut Chicken, you’ll absolutely adore today’s recipe. Similar…but different enough to allow you to have room in your heart for both.
The flavors are subtle and perfectly balanced, and it seems as though marinading in coconut milk + fragrant spices is the secret to amazingly juicy chicken.
One time, probably mid-December when we had a few cousins over, I doubled this recipe using 4-5 pounds of chicken tenders and was sure we’d be eating leftover coconut milk grilled chicken for days.
Boy, was I wrong.
I have never seen tender, tasty chicken devoured so quickly. Even though manners were (somewhat) enforced, I was still shocked at the rate this delicious chicken was gobbled up.
It’s easy to see why it has become a family favorite.
Serve this delectable Thai Coconut Milk Grilled Chicken with this 5-minute Thai Peanut Sauce for dunking and alongside this chopped Thai salad, and you might have one of the most delicious meals on the planet staring you in the face.
A quick note about grilling:
If you don’t own a grill or it’s still too cold or you’re a little scared, don’t panic – I’ve included some alternate ideas for how to cook this deliciously flavorful Thai Coconut Milk Chicken.
Personally, I grill everything on my Camp Chef pellet grill. I’ve waxed poetic about it before, but it’s amazing.
I love this grill so much and have been known to engage innocent bystanders in a one-sided conversation about how much that pellet grill means to me while they stand there awkwardly figuring out how they got into this situation. <–no one is paying me to say this, btw, I’m just a big fan.
One Year Ago: Turkey and Brown Rice Taco Burritos
Two Years Ago: Skillet Taco Pasta Shells {30-Minute Meal}
Three Years Ago: My Favorite Lightened Up Egg Salad Sandwich
Thai Coconut Milk Grilled Chicken
Ingredients
- 1 (14-ounce) can light or full-fat coconut milk
- 5-6 cloves garlic, finely minced
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 ½ teaspoons coarse kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon finely grated fresh ginger or ginger paste
- 2 teaspoons ground turmeric
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- ½ teaspoon ground coriander
- ¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro
- 1-2 pounds chicken breasts or chicken tenders
- Lime wedges, for serving (optional)
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the coconut milk, garlic, brown sugar, salt, ginger, turmeric, cumin, coriander and cilantro.
- Place the chicken in a gallon-size ziploc bag; pour in the marinade. Seal the bag and press until the marinade coats the chicken evenly. Refrigerate for 2 hours or up to 24 hours.
- Preheat a grill to medium-high.
- Remove the chicken from the marinade, letting the excess marinade drip back into the bag.
- Grill the chicken until cooked through (time will depend on thickness of chicken – about 5-6 minutes per side for chicken breasts and 2-3 minutes per side for chicken tenders).
- Let the chicken rest for a few minutes before serving.
Notes
Recommended Products
Recipe Source: inspired by recipes from Serious Eats and in this cookbook by Chrissy Tiegen
This was very good. I served it, as suggested, with the chopped thai salad w/ hony garlic dressing…amazing! I’m going to slice up the leftover chicken and serve it over the leftover salad for lunch. Yum!
My 9-year-old daughter declared this “birthday dinner worthy!” so that is pretty high praise. We all loved it tonight with your suggested 5 minute peanut sauce and chopped salad. What an amazing summery meal!
Can i use different herbs like thyme or rosemary or something like that indstead of the cumin and the coriander ?
You could definitely try that. 🙂
I finally made this and it was soooo good! I cut the chicken into bite size pieces and cooked it in a pan with the all of the marinade, served it with jasmine rice and roasted broccoli. We all loved it.
I made this the other day with chicken tenderloin pieces, cooked in a skillet on the stove and simmered it in the extra marinade. Holy deliciousness. I am still thinking about it.
I am about to make this chicken over the weekend to test it for my yearly Soup Event. My question is can I add some of the sauce to my soup to add extra flavor? My plan was to cook the chicken almost all the way, shred or chop it and then add to my soup and let it simmer. Was going to add some of the leftover marinade to the soup for added flavor. Anyone know if this would work? It’s my 11th Annual Soup Night and I think this chicken in my soup could be a WINNER!!!!
I think you could do that! I’d reserve some of the marinade to use in the soup vs using the marinade the chicken has been sitting in.
OMG! This is exactly what I wanted. I doubled the recipe because I had a whole cut up chicken. It’s marinating as I write and I cannot wait to fire up the grill! I followed your advice and made the peanut sauce. Delish! The only thing I substituted was almond butter and that was only because I was out of Adams peanut butter. I’m also out of lime, but I’m not concerned. And, finally, I made the delicious salad dressing. I bought one of those store packaged cabbage salads and am excited to use your salad dressing. Can’t wait for dinner tonight. Yum!
If you did this in the instant pot do you think you could throw in some veggies like chopped sweet potato or cauliflower?
Love this recipe! Thanks so much for sharing. I use coconut cream and have to wash off the cream because it is so thick. Still leaves an amazingly flavor and tenderizes the meat when I leave it marinating for 24 hours. Tasty! Big hit with the fam.
Love this recipe! Have made it several times now.
how long to bake?
You could try 15 minutes or so at 375 or 400 degrees.
Have you tried it with fish? Do you think this would work?
I haven’t, but it would probably work!
Absolutely delicious! I didn’t have time to marinate the chicken for 2 hours so I stabbed the chicken several times with a fork and let it set for about 15 minutes in the marinade. I also didn’t want to toss or waste anything so I boiled the chicken in the sauce until the chicken was cooked all the way through on low for about 20-30 minutes and put it all over rice! Recommend to those who need something quick and easy. Thank you for the recipe! :p
Do you think this recipe would be ok without the brown sugar? I’ve had to eliminate ALL added sugars 🙁
Sure, I think you could probably leave it out.
I made it sans brown sugar and it was DELISH!
Absolutely delicious!! Can you heat the marinade and use it over the chicken?
The salad was incredible, too, and the Brazilian cheese rolls were a big hit!! My granddaughter is gluten intolerant and was thrilled that she could eat EVERYTHING!
So happy to hear that, Sue! And yes, I think the marinade could be used over the chicken if it’s boiled for several minutes.
I tried it in the instant pot! It was great! I threw everything in and cooked at high pressure for 8 minutes, then did quick release. I pulled the chicken breasts out and let them rest for a couple of minutes while I thickened up the remaining sauce with a bit of corn starch. I cut the chicken into bite sized pieces and added back to the pot to warm and get rid of any last trace of pink, then served over the coconut rice from your coconut lime chicken recipe. It was a hit! Simple flavor, but very yummy!
OH MAN! This was the best chicken dish I have ever made! I may have to make it again tomorrow, there weren’t any leftovers, that’s for sure. Thank you.
Hi Mel! Chanced upon your recipe whilst searching for coconut milk timings for my chicken to be infused with flavour. What is a good duration for the chicken to be soaked in the marinade, as the range was 2 to 24hrs. Great recipe! Can’t wait to try it .
I prefer at least 8-10, but in a hurry, I’ve shortened it to 2, and it’s still tasty (just not quite as infused with flavor!)
Whole family loved this. I modified by addig red chili flakes and baking it.
Thank you so much for the recipe!! Looks so good! “Pan-fried in a skillet” is perfect for me.
Made it tonight. So good! Put it over your lime coconut rice too 🙂
Love this chicken. I do it with boneless, skinless chicken thighs and my youngest cannot get enough. I’m almost at the point where I have to double batch it – darn those growing kids and their constant need to eat!
This was TO DIE FOR! Kiddos and I LOVED IT!! Thank you for a new family favorite that we will be making a lot .
Thanks for the recipe, it looks delicious. It’s raining outside now – would you recommend sautéing the chicken?
Sure, you could do that!
Is there something else we can do with the marinade? I just about die dumping it down the sink when the chicken is grilling. It is THE MOST amazing smelling marinade in the universe. If it wasn’t for the raw chicken sitting in it I’d pour it over my grilled chicken with rice! This chicken is outstanding cut up and served over your chopped Thai salad. A true winner in our house!
You could simmer it for 15-20 minutes and serve it as a sauce?
I’ve never tried it that way, Mari! Sorry. I suppose you could try cooking the beans in the IP (google a recipe for Instant Pot black beans) and then use them in this recipe?
Thank you so much for the recipe.
Our family loved it!
We had this tonight and the whole family loved it. My kids had multiple helpings, which never happens, especially the one who rarely eats meat! My husband claims to not like Thai food, so I was vague in my description to him, and he liked it too! I had planned to have plenty for leftovers and enough to freeze, but after how much we all ate, I’m looking at maybe one or two portions left! Guess I’ll be making it again soon! Thank you!
So happy this was such a hit with your family, Emily!
I made this last night and served it with a small jug of 5 minute peanut sauce. The chicken was full of flavour, tender and moist. I liked the peanut sauce too. But my husband wouldn’t try it. He said he just couldn’t wrap his head around peanut butter and chicken! Not an adventurous eater. So I have lots of leftover sauce. I’ll use some of it on noodles for lunches. Have you ever frozen it?
I believe others have commented that it freezes great!
My instinct/habit tells me to serve this chicken over a bed of rice, but rice usually needs a sauce too. Do you think simmering the marinade would work?
Sure! Or make extra marinade and simmer that for a sauce if you don’t want to use the part that came in contact with the raw chicken.
Hi Mel,
Just curious, why kosher salt? I learn so much from your site!!!
Good question! I use coarse, kosher salt for most savory recipes so that’s why I included it here. I prefer it over table salt for seasoning meats and the like. If you are using table salt, you might want to cut down on it just a bit.
Ah! So glad to know that!
Hi Mel! I finally made this tonight and tried it in my crockpot…it turned out great and was a big hit! I served it over rice and am thinking I’ll throw some chunked carrots into the slow cooker along with the chicken next time, just for kicks 🙂 Thank you for the dee-lish recipe! xo
Love to hear this worked in the slow cooker, Molly – thank you!
So yummy! Made this last week and my entire family loved it.
I made this over the weekend and it is fantastic! My (very picky) 7 year old declared it her new favorite chicken and has asked the past 3 nights when we are having it again! I love how quick and easy it was to put together and with summer and 100+ degree days here in South GA I am happy to not turn the oven on! Thanks Mel!
The moment I saw this recipe I knew I have to cook it. It was so delicious! I don’t have a grill, so I fried my chicken on a grill skillet. I served it with your Quick Thai Sauce, variation of your Chopped Thai Salad (kale and edamame are not available here) and some Cilantro Lime Rice. Definitely goes to my recipe collection!
What a delicious recipe. I made the Thai peanut sauce with it. Made some rolls, roasted broccoli and strawberries. Thanks Mel!!
Delicious! So happy you liked it!
So I insta-potted this…and chunked the chicken when it was done…yum. I have started experimenting with frozen chicken in the instapot and I would say it was a complete success! 22 ounces of frozen chicken (the chicken breasts were frozen in one big mass from the way I froze them) along with the marinade recipe, for 35 minutes and quick release. No other ingredients added. Turned out fantastic. I checked the meat to make sure it was cooked through and it checked out! Whoa, nice quick dinner! I’m wondering if I could add rice and water in with this….hummm that would be even better! So many things to try!
This was delicious and worthy of using a can of coconut milk. For doubling I just thinned with water. I served wih the salad and peanut sauce you suggested and it was delicious.
Mel,
I made this chicken last night and we LOVED it!. We eat chicken often and I have prepared it all different ways, but this I think was the best:) Thanks for sharing! Every blog I follow has a recipe or two from Chrissy’s cookbook and everyone loves them. I think I need to finally purchase her cookbook!
I have never bough coconut milk before. The only one I could find at my grocery store said it was unsweetened. It didn’t say anything about “lite.” Is this one ok to use? It has 11g of total fat and 2g of sugar.
Sounds like that will work just fine!
If this is like Silk coconut milk from the carton, it’s not the same thing. The coconut milk in the recipe is usually canned in the Asian foods section.
Ah, yes, AJ, good point. I wasn’t thinking that maybe Susan P was referring to refrigerated coconut milk but that is definitely worth noting.
Can’t wait to try this tomorrow night! I am a “new” fan of yours, and so far every recipe I have tried has delivered, and left me wanting more! Thank you! Question- I’m wondering if this marinade would be good on say grilled shrimp or fish? Any thoughts? Thanks in advance.
Hi Tabitha! I definitely think this would be delicious on fish or shrimp (not so much on beef, though, in my opinion).
I LOVE your site. Every single thing that I have made has been a success! Many are in regular rotation at our house. I made this last night, using chicken tenders. I marinated the tenders for about 4 hours, set the broiler to low, and cooked them on a foil-lined sheet pan, 5 minutes each side, or so. My fiancé gets excited about NOTHING, but said this is the kind of chicken he’d go to a restaurant for, and even requested it again tonight. I served it with turmeric rice, to which I added peas, and a side of steamed broccoli. I’ve never seen him eat something so fast. Thank you for this brilliant site!!
That’s awesome, Kate! Glad your fiancé loved this recipe (sounds so yummy with turmeric rice on the side!).
Mel, first of all let me say I love your site! I was looking for something to do with some boneless skinless chicken thighs and your recipe looked amazing. I took your suggestion about trying to cook it a different way and I did just that; I have recently jumped on the sheet-pan bandwagon, so I cooked it on a sheet pan–at 425 degrees—first I roasted some cubed sweet potatoes tossed with olive oil, salt & pepper for 10-12 minutes, then added broccoli and red onion tossed with olive oil, salt & pepper along with the chicken—cut in bite sized pieces before marinating–baked for 15-20 more minutes, stirring once or twice and served it with cauliflower rice. Light and delicious!!! Thank you!!!
Oh my gosh, amazing! Sounds so yummy! I’m totally going to try that, Nancy – you are a genius.
Nope…you are! You’ve given me the courage to step out of my comfort zone and not be bound by following a recipe “to the letter”. Thanks again!!!
Why not use regular creamy peanut butter and skip the 1/4 cup of sugar/honey? Will it ruin the texture or is this an option?
You could definitely try that! I like the flavor/texture of the natural PB but it wouldn’t be a deal breaker to use creamy.
Hi Mel! I love your recipes. You should be proud of yourself! I wanted to email you a question, but I couldn’t find any way to contact you on your site, so I’ll just leave it here. Haha! Do you have any go-to recipe ideas for toddlers? My son is almost 2 and he used to be such a good eater, but has slowly become more and more picky, which makes me sad! I find myself constantly giving him bread, cheese, and pasta, because that’s what I know he will eat. I would be so appreciative if you would do a toddler post, or something about healthy snacks/lunch/dinner ideas.
Hey Shelly – have you seen this post I did on Raising Adventurous Eaters?
https://www.melskitchencafe.com/10-tips-to-raise-and-encourage-adventurous-eaters/
You had to say Instant Pot ! I might have to try that with boneless chicken thighs ! Thank you for sharing your recipe Mel .
This chicken looks amazing!
Paige
http://thehappyflammily.com
This sounds fantastic, and I’m looking forward to trying it! I have to admit that I’ve never tried coconut milk or cooked with it. My family does not like coconut…at all. 🙁 Does the chicken taste like coconut, or are there enough flavors that they won’t taste any it (I hope!)?? Thanks for your help. 🙂
Hey Kara – that’s a great question! The chicken definitely does NOT have a strong coconut flavor. The coconut milk helps give the chicken a juicy tenderness, but the other flavors shine through after grilling (not the coconut flavor).
Mel- you need to try a Traeger grill. It’s a wood-burning grill/smoker/BBQ/heaven. It is SO amazing. It will change your grilling forever!
Hey April – that’s actually what I have – it’s just the Camp Chef version. 🙂 And I agree, I love it!
I have a traeger too! What settings do you use for this recipe?? So what temp is med/high?
I usually preheat my pellet grill to 375 degrees for this recipe (and other grilled chicken recipes).
Thanks for sharing this yummy looking recipe! Quick question: do you do anything about the tendon in chicken tenders before you cook them?
I don’t; but that’s why a lot of times I avoid chicken tenders and just slice regular boneless, skinless chicken breasts into thinner cutlets if I want a smaller chicken piece, like a chicken tenderloin.