Chicken Satay with Peanut Sauce (38g Protein)

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Satay sold from a charcoal grill is one of the great street foods of Southeast Asia, and the home version is closer than most people think. Three skewers with peanut sauce gets you 38g of protein for about 310 calories, which makes this one of the leanest dinners on this site.

The usual problem with homemade satay is a peanut sauce drowned in coconut cream and sugar. This one leans on lime juice and a little chili instead, and I honestly do not miss the heavier version.

Why this works

Thread the chicken in flat ribbons, weaving the skewer through each strip a few times. A flat skewer makes full contact with the grill, chars properly, and cooks in 5 minutes. Meat bunched into a knot steams in its own juices and never browns. The turmeric and sugar in the marinade are doing the visual work too; they brown fast and give you that yellow-edged char that says satay before you taste anything.

Ingredient notes

Use natural peanut butter, the kind that is just peanuts and salt. The sweetened ones push the sauce toward dessert. Lemongrass is worth hunting down (the inner core minces fine), but lime zest covers for it. Curry powder sounds like a shortcut and it is one; traditional recipes grind coriander, cumin, and fennel separately, and a decent curry powder gets you most of the way there.

Chicken Satay with Peanut Sauce

Turmeric and lemongrass marinated chicken skewers, charred fast over high heat, with a peanut sauce that leans on lime instead of coconut cream.

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Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 10 minutes mins

Total Time 30 minutes mins

Servings: 4 servings

Calories: 310

Ingredients Method

Ingredients

  

• 600 g chicken breasts about 1.3 lb, cut into long strips
• 12 bamboo skewers soaked in water 30 minutes
• 2 tbsp soy sauce for the marinade
• 1 tbsp fish sauce
• 1 tbsp brown sugar
• 2 tsp curry powder
• 1 tsp ground turmeric
• 2 cloves garlic, grated
• 1 stalk lemongrass, tender core minced or the zest of half a lime
• 60 ml coconut milk 1/4 cup
• 3 tbsp natural peanut butter for the sauce
• 1 tbsp lime juice
• 1 tbsp soy sauce for the sauce
• 1 tsp honey
• 1 tsp sambal oelek or sriracha
• 1 cucumber, cut in chunks for serving, with raw red onion if you like

Method

 

1. Slice the breasts into strips about 2 cm wide, cutting on a slight diagonal so they thread into flat ribbons.
2. Mix the soy sauce, fish sauce, brown sugar, curry powder, turmeric, garlic, lemongrass, and coconut milk. Toss the chicken in it and refrigerate for 1 hour, or 20 minutes if that is what you have.
3. Thread the strips onto soaked skewers in a flat ribbon, weaving the skewer through each strip two or three times. Flat skewers cook evenly; bunched ones do not.
4. Make the sauce: whisk the peanut butter, lime juice, soy sauce, honey, and sambal with hot water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until it pours slowly off a spoon. About 4 tablespoons usually does it.
5. Heat a grill or grill pan until properly hot. Cook the skewers 2 to 3 minutes per side, until charred in spots and just cooked through. Thin strips overcook fast, so stay close.
6. Rest 2 minutes and serve with the peanut sauce, cucumber chunks, and raw red onion.

Tips and storage

Marinated raw skewers freeze well, so build a double batch and freeze half flat on a tray. Cooked satay keeps 3 days and is good cold, straight from the fridge, which I count as a feature. The sauce thickens overnight; loosen it with hot water. For more Southeast Asian grilling, the lemongrass pork meal prep bowls use a close cousin of this marinade, and the Thai basil chicken is my answer for nights when even skewering feels like work.

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