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.
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.
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.
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!
For more recipes, check out:
- Yellow Coconut Chicken Curry
- Curried Chicken with Brown Rice
- Homemade Massaman Curry
- Perfect Couscous
Chicken Satay Noodles Recipe
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 turmeric
- 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 shallot - diced
- 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 tablespoon dark brown sugar
- 1 tbsp Thai red curry paste
- 10 oz dry rice noodles - softened (see packet instructions)
Optional Garnishes
- chopped peanuts
- chopped fresh cilantro
- chili flakes
- lime wedges
Instructions
- Combine all 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 for 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 Fahrenheit (63 degrees Celsius). Remove from the heat and set aside.
- Reduce the heat to medium-low and add the remaining 2 teaspoons of oil to the skillet. Sauté the shallot, then add the remaining ingredients to the satay sauce. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and allow it to simmer until thickened, about 5 minutes. Add the noodles and stir to combine. Place the chicken over top and cover. Allow it to cook until the noodles have softened and the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees Fahrenheit (74 degrees Celsius).
- Remove from the heat and garnish with chopped peanuts, chopped cilantro, chili flakes, and lime wedges if desired.
A bit confusing – in the notes you say you like to use Thai noodles, but rice noodles are listed in the recipe…no mention of shallots in the ingredients, but is in directions…
Could you please clarify?
Hi Cat! My apologies, yes that is confusing. I use rice noodles as my Thai noodles, but you can easily substitute with any noodles instead of rice noodles. I must’ve missed adding the shallot into my ingredients so that has been updated! Thanks!