Thai Coconut Chicken Recipe

If you happen to love Thai meals, this Thai Coconut Chicken is for you! The chicken is marinated in coconut milk loaded with Thai flavours which provides flavour and richness to the chicken.

Served with a Peanut Coconut Sauce to essentially drive dwelling the coconut flavour, this Thai Chicken is unbelievable for the BBQ, stovetop or roasting. Serve this with a facet of jasmine rice or Thai Fried Rice!

Thai Coconut Chicken

If you happen to’re new to coconut marinades, you’re going to essentially love this Coconut Chicken recipe! Coconut milk is a superb marinade – it’s a flavour provider, infusing the chicken with all of the tasty flavours you’ve blended into the marinade.

However not solely that, it additionally provides richness into the chicken, which most marinades don’t do. Coconut milk has a good quantity of fats in it which infuses into the chicken.

So this Thai Chicken shouldn’t be solely injected with terrific Thai flavours, it’s tenderised and infused with what I describe as “butteriness” from the coconut milk. It’s completely divine!

Thai Coconut Chicken Marinade

Whereas this Thai Coconut Chicken will not be strictly genuine Thai, the marinade is loaded with genuine Thai components which can be present in traditional Thai recipes, like selfmade Thai Purple Curry and Thai Inexperienced Curry Pastes.

• Garlic and ginger

• Chilli

• Lemongrass (contemporary or comfort paste)

• Spices: coriander, turmeric, curry

• Sugar

• Fish Sauce

• Coconut milk

It additionally simply dawned on me that the components within the Thai coconut marinade is sort of a mash up between this unimaginable Southern Thai Tumeric Chicken and Gai Yang, the favored Thai grilled chicken which is a road meals favorite.

Coconut Peanut Sauce for Coconut Chicken

The coconut flavour from coconut marinades is definitely fairly refined, like on this western fashion  Coconut Marinated Chicken.

So what I love to do is serve it with a Coconut Peanut Sauce, simply to actually drive dwelling the coconut flavour. It’s easy to make however tastes totally genuine Thai, made with only a handful of components:

• Coconut milk

• Peanut butter

• Hoisin Sauce

• lime juice

• Garlic

• Chilli paste

Additionally, it’s fairly a neat method to make use of up a complete can of coconut milk on this recipe – as a result of regardless of good intentions, I by no means appear to make use of up leftover coconut milk!

Listed below are some solutions for issues to serve on the facet to finish your Thai dinner menu:

• plain steamed jasmine rice, a fluffy coconut rice (belief me, it’s not coconut overload!) or make a contemporary lime rice utilizing this Lemon Rice recipe (change lime for lemon);

• a facet of Thai Fried Rice (minus the chicken, possibly add some chopped veg);

• leafy greens or a backyard salad tossed with the dressing on this Thai Chicken Salad or Thai Beef Salad; or

• serve with plain slices of tomato and cucumber (pictured) -this is a quite common method greens are added to a meal in Thailand.

And when you love Thai meals, you’ll want to have a browse of my complete Thai meals assortment which incorporates all of your Thai takeout favourites! – Johnsat xx

Serve these on the facet!

• Steamed Jasmine rice, Thai Fried Rice, Pineapple Fried Rice or Coconut Rice

• Crunchy Asian Slaw on the facet – nice all rounder Asian salad that goes with all Asian meals

• Asian Sesame Dressing for any contemporary salad or steamed greens

• Asian Mushroom Ramen Noodles – one other nice all rounder!

If you happen to love cooking with coconut milk, you’ll love these!

• Simple Coconut Curry

• An incredible straightforward Thai Coconut Noodle Soup

• Salmon in Coconut Lime Sauce

• Coconut Pot Roasted Chicken

• Coconut Marinated Chicken

• Thai Coconut Chicken

• Thai Inexperienced Curry and Purple Curry

WATCH HOW TO MAKE IT

Thai Coconut Chicken Recipe

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Serves: 5 Prep Time: 15 minutes Cooking Time: 10 minutes 10 minutes

Nutrition facts: 436 calories 20 grams fat

Rating: 5.0/5

( 1 voted )

Ingredients

• 1 tsp garlic , minced
• 1 tsp ginger , minced
• 1 tsp chilli , finely chopped (or paste is fine), adjust quantity to taste (Note 2)
• 1 lemongrass (OR paste) , white part only, finely chopped(Note 3)
• 1 1/2 tsp coriander powder
• 3/4 tsp tumeric powder
• 1/2 tsp curry powder (any is fine)
• 1 tbsp brown sugar
• 2 1/2 tbsp fish sauce (sub soy)
• 3/4 cup coconut milk (full fat please!)
• 750 g – 1 kg / 1.5 – 2 lb chicken thigh fillets , skinless and boneless (Note 4)
• Oil for cooking
• 1/2 cup coconut milk
• 1 tbsp peanut butter, smooth
• 2 tbsp Hoisin Sauce
• 1 1/2 tbsp lime juice
• 1 garlic clove , minced
• 1/2 tsp chilli paste or fresh chilli , adjust to taste
• Finely chopped coriander / cilantro and more chilli , for garnish
• Lime wedges (highly recommended)

Instructions

1. Mix marinade in a large bowl. Add chicken and mix. Cover with cling wrap and marinate in the fridge for 24 – 48 hours (can’t skip marinating for this recipe).
2. Brush BBQ with oil, or heat 1 tbsp in a skillet (I used a skillet). Use Medium heat – or Medium Low if your stove/BBQ runs hot (otherwise marinade may burn). 
3. Remove chicken from marinade, shaking off excess. Cook the first side for around 5 minutes or until caramelised and golden. Turn then cook the other side for 4 minutes until caramelised.
4. BAKING: See Note 4.
5. Transfer chicken to serving plate, cover loosely with foil and rest for 5 minutes. Garnish with coriander / chilli if desired, and serve with lime wedges and Sauce.
6. Place ingredients in a bowl and mix a bit. Microwave for 30 seconds, then mix until smooth. Bring to room temperature or serve warm (it thickens a bit when cooled).

Notes

1. Marinade – best made with fresh ginger, garlic, chilli and lemongrass but it is still terrific using store bought jarred garlic etc. Lemongrass is sold in tubes in the fresh produce section of Australian supermarkets and it is actually very good. I would use 1 1/2 teaspoons if using paste.
2. Chilli – use any fresh chilli you want. Rule of thumb – the smaller the chilli, the spicier it is! I used large red chillis in this (cayenne peppers) which are not that hot. Thai Chillies are super spicy, as are Birds Eye Chillies.
3. Lemongrass – If using fresh lemongrass, peel the green reedy outer layer off to reveal the white part. Then finely chop the white part only.
You can also use lemongrass paste. Use 2 teaspoons.
4. Chicken – This recipe works best with chicken cuts with fat. Boneless thigh is my favourite. It is fantastic with drumsticks and other bone in cuts, but it is better to roast rather than cook on BBQ (marinade has tendency to burn and these take longer to cook).
Roast drumsticks and wings for 45 min @ 180C/350F, bone in thighs for 50 min – it caramelises nicely.
CHICKEN BREAST – best to cut in half horizontally before marinating. Then they will only take 3 minutes on each side to cook so they’ll be nice and juicy. Coconut milk is fantastic for adding richness into breast! I don’t recommend roasting breast – you won’t get the caramelisation on the surface (key for flavour)
5. Serving suggestions – see in post for sides. 
6. STANDBY / FREEZING: Once you put the chicken in the marinade, pop it in the freezer. I find that the time it takes for the chicken to freeze then defrost = good marinating time, plus you can also leave it for a further 24 hours after defrosting. Ensure it is defrosted before cooking.
7. Nutrition assumes 5 servings, 1 kg/2lb chicken, accounts for 1/4 cup coconut milk in the marinade (rest is discarded) and that all the sauce is consumed.

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Sarah Miller

Hi, I’m Sarah Millar!
I’m a food blogger who loves creating quick and easy recipes that bring big flavor without the fuss. Cooking doesn’t have to be complicated — and I’m here to share simple, fast food ideas that anyone can make at home. When I’m not in the kitchen, you’ll usually find me tasting new dishes, exploring cafés, or coming up with fresh food hacks to make everyday meals more fun.

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