30 Minute Chicken Satay Skillet

You’ll fall in love with this creamy 30 minute chicken satay skillet! It’s loaded with flavors like coconut, curry and peanut butter!

This recipe can usually be found as an appetizer, but we’ve turned it into a delicious dinner idea. If you love Thai food, you’ll also love our Thai chicken noodle soup and Thai noodles

  Chicken Satay skillet over noodles

Better than Take Out

We absolutely love all of the flavors of classic chicken satay. Our family devours it when we order it from our favorite little Thai place… but it always leaves us wanting more!

But, what is chicken satay? It’s a dish from India that is seasoned, skewered and grilled meat, served with a sauce. It’s also very popular in Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand. 

Because we love it, we wanted to turn this insanely delicious appetizer into a full-blown meal! It’s typically served on a skewer, which you can do with this dish, but we served it off the skewers and over noodles making it more of a dinner recipe.

We love how the dish turned out and have decided it’s even better than the restaurant’s and we are thrilled that we can now make this at home whenever we want.

Cooked Chicken for satay

Marinate + Make

I started off by marinating the chicken fillets the night before which made it not only super flavorful, but really tender. They seared beautifully in no time!

Then I made the sauce in the same skillet, because I’m all about dirtying the least amount of dishes possible!

I added a bit of oil back into the skillet, then sauted the shallot (which only took a minute or so since the pan was nice and hot), added all of the other ingredients into the pan, whisked it all together and then let it thicken.

I added in the noodles, then the chicken, covered it and let it cook until the noodles were nice and soft and the chicken was cooked throughout.

After removing the skillet from the heat, I sprinkled on some chopped peanuts, cilantro and chili flakes. 

FOR SKEWERS: We recommend cutting the chicken into 1 inch cubes and letting it marinate for at least a few hours. Then, preheat the grill to medium high heat, add chicken to skewer and grill for about 12 -16 minutes making sure to flip occasionally. Serve with the sauce.

Chicken Satay recipe close up pic

Serving + Storing Tips

We love to serve satay with Thai noodles, but it also goes great with our cucumber salad, chopped Thai salad, or lettuce wraps. You can also serve it with rice, brown rice or even cauliflower rice. 

The chicken and sauce can be MADE AHEAD but we recommend no more than 24 hours in advance. If you want to FREEZE this, just put the marinade and chicken into freezer-safe bags. Allow to defrost in the fridge overnight or on the counter

If making skewers, thread onto skewers after they’ve defrosted completely. They can be baked at 400 for 18-20 minutes or grilled for 12 – 16 minutes.

This dish was a huge hit with everyone. It was sweet, salty, and loaded with red curry flavor. I seriously cannot wait to make it again!

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Chicken Satay Skillet | lifemadesimplebakes.com

30 Minute Chicken Satay Skillet Recipe

You'll fall in love with this creamy 30 minute chicken satay skillet! It's loaded with flavors like coconut, curry and peanut butter!
5 from 8 votes
Pin Rate
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Indian
Prep Time: 8 minutes
Cook Time: 22 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes
Calories: 581kcal
Author: Andrea
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Ingredients

For the Marinade

  • 1/4 cup coconut milk
  • 2 tbsp lime juice
  • 1/2 stalk lemongrass
  • 4 cloves garlic
  • 1 tbsp dark brown sugar*
  • 1 tbsp creamy peanut butter
  • 1 tbsp low-sodium soy sauce
  • 1/2 tbsp red curry paste
  • 1 tsp tumeric
  • 1/4 tsp red chili flakes
  • 1/2 tsp kosher sea salt
  • 1 tbsp canola oil - OR vegetable oil OR peanut oil
  • 2 chicken breast - fillet

For the Sauce

  • 2 tsp canola oil - OR vegetable oil OR peanut oil
  • 1 1/2 cup coconut milk
  • 1/3 cup creamy peanut butter
  • 1/4 cup water
  • 1 1/2 tbsp fish sauce
  • 1 1/2 tbsp low-sodium soy sauce
  • 1 tbsp dark brown sugar
  • 1 tbsp Thai red curry paste
  • 10 0z dry rice noodles - softened(see package's instructions)

Optional Garnishes

  • chopped peanuts
  • chopped cilantro
  • chili flakes
  • lime wedges

Instructions

  • Combine all of the ingredients in a food processor or blender and mix until smooth and creamy. Pour into a large ziploc bag, and place the chicken inside. Seal and lay flat in the refrigerator overnight (or a minimum of 30 minutes).
  • In a large skillet set over medium-high heat, add the oil. Sear the chicken on both sides until it reaches an internal temperature of 145 degrees, remove from the heat and set aside.
  • Reduce heat to medium-low, add the remaining 2 teaspoons of oil to the skillet. Sauté the shallot, then add the remaining ingredients for the sauce. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and allow to simmer until thickened, about 5 minutes. Add the noodles and stir to combine. Place the chicken over top and cover. Allow to cook until the noodles have softened and the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees.
  • Remove from the heat and garnish with chopped peanuts, chopped cilantro, chili flakes and lime wedges, if desired.

NOTES

*I like to use dark brown sugar in this recipe, however, you can use regular brown sugar or honey.
-Don't want to use noodles? Try serving it with rice!
-We ate this with a side of steamed veggies, however you could easily add them to the sauce at the very end.

Nutrition

Serving: 4serving | Calories: 581kcal | Carbohydrates: 20g | Protein: 34g | Fat: 43g | Saturated Fat: 23g | Cholesterol: 72mg | Sodium: 1425mg | Potassium: 870mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 9g | Vitamin A: 957IU | Vitamin C: 6mg | Calcium: 49mg | Iron: 5mg

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About the Author

Andrea

Hi I'm Andrea!

Hotelier turned Food Blogger to help make your life simple, one recipe at a time.

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Comments:

  1. 5 stars
    my family absolutely love this recipe. very rich and flavourful. It is worth the extra effort compared to getting a tin of satay sauce.