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These Thai-Inspired Grilled Coconut Chicken Skewers are bursting with fresh, delicious, summery flavors! White meat chicken is marinated in coconut milk before being grilled and dipped into unforgettably good homemade peanut dipping sauce.
Each bite of these Thai-inspired grilled chicken coconut skewers is like taking a bite of heaven! That is, if your version of heaven includes coconut, red curry paste, brown sugar, ginger, and so much more.
As much as I love the chicken skewers all by themselves, they become even more delicious when dipped into the homemade peanut dipping sauce! It’s an easy sauce that’s made with lots of flavorful ingredients that always hit the spot.
I always recommend making skewers for pool parties, backyard barbecues, etc… But these Thai chicken skewers are so good, I really think I’m going to start making them at least once a month as a fun weeknight dinner. I mean, I practically dream about these bad boys!
Ingredients
For the chicken, you’ll need:
- Coconut milk – Any brand will do just fine! Use a can, not a bottle.
- Chicken breasts – Boneless and skinless is the way to go for easy prep.
- Cooking oil – Olive, vegetable, canola, or avocado oil will all work.
- Lime – You’ll need the zest and fresh juice from half a lime.
- Thai red curry paste – You can use another color paste if you’d prefer, but red works best in this recipe.
- Brown sugar – Light or dark brown sugar are both delicious.
- Ginger – Freshly grated ginger provides the most outstanding flavor.
- Garlic – Pre-minced or freshly minced will both work.
- Soy sauce – Tamari is also tasty if you’d like to cut back on sodium.
- Red pepper flakes – Toss an extra 1/2 teaspoon in there to heat things up.
- Black pepper – Freshly ground pepper always has the most flavor.
- Salt – Just a dash will help enhance the other flavors.
- Sesame seeds – Just a sprinkle will be perfect!
- Sesame oil – Be careful not to add too much, you don’t want the chicken to be oily and sesame oil can be overpowering in flavor when too much is used.
- Imitation coconut – Just a splash is so tasty!!
The peanut dipping sauce calls for:
- Water
- Unsalted butter – You could use salted if you want to, but I find that it makes the sauce a little too salty for my liking.
- Coconut milk fat – This should be reserved from the can you used to marinate the chicken with.
- Peanut butter – Creamy, not crunchy!
- Thai red curry paste – If you have any left over, use it by making Chicken Butternut Squash Red Curry.
- Lime – Use the other half of the lime you used for the chicken!
- Brown sugar – Light or dark brown sugar both work.
- Soy sauce – Careful not to add too much, or it will overpower the other ingredients instead of complimenting them.
- Ginger – This is what really gives it that Thai-inspired taste.
- Salt – Just a pinch will be enough.
- Black pepper – While I love freshly ground black pepper, make sure it’s not too coarse.
- Red pepper flakes – Keep this seasoning limited, unless you want a spicy sauce.
- Sesame oil – The hint of nutty flavor here will really compliment the peanut butter.
What should I serve Thai-inspired grilled coconut chicken skewers with?
As you can see in my pictures, I love serving these chicken skewers with some vegetable skewers!
To compliment the sweet coconut flavor, also consider serving these skewers with Pineapple Fried Rice for a fun, beachy vibe. Of course, white rice works too.
How long will these chicken skewers stay fresh?
In an airtight container in the fridge, the cooked chicken skewers will stay fresh for up to 3 days.
You can reheat the chicken skewers on the grill, but I like to use the cold chicken on my salad the next day!
What other Thai-inspired recipes do you enjoy?
If you’re craving Thai food, you’ve come to the right place. Thai Chicken Curry Noodles is one of my favorite easy dinners! I also really love Pad See Ew.
Thai-Inspired Grilled Coconut Chicken Skewers
Equipment
Ingredients
For the chicken:
- 15 ounce (425 ml) can coconut milk, reserve 1/3 cup of fat for peanut dipping sauce
- 2 pounds (907 g) boneless skinless chicken breasts, thighs, or combination of both
- ¼ cup (59 ml) of cooking oil
- ½ a lime, both zest and juice
- 2 teaspoons Thai red curry paste
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon grated ginger
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon sesame seeds
- ¼ teaspoon sesame oil
- 1 teaspoon imitation coconut, optional, but delicious!
For the peanut dipping sauce:
- ½ cup (118 ml) water
- 2 tablespoons (28 g) unsalted butter
- ⅓ cup (75 g) coconut milk fat, reserved from the chicken marinade
- ½ cup (129 g) peanut butter
- 2 teaspoons Thai red curry paste
- Juice from ½ a lime
- 3 tablespoons brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon ginger
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- ¼ teaspoon sesame oil
Instructions
For the chicken:
- Open your can of coconut milk and take out 1⁄3 cup of the coconut fat from the top of the can and set aside, you will use this for the peanut dipping sauce. Pour the remainder of your coconut milk into a large bowl with a lid (cling wrap would also work).
- Add all of the remaining ingredients to the bowl, except for the chicken, and mix well until combined.
- Remove 1⁄2 of a cup of the marinade from the bowl and set it aside, you will use it later to brush on the chicken while it cooks.
- Cut your chicken into approx. ½” cubes.
- Put all the chicken into the bowl with the marinade and mix until chicken is coated.
- Put the lid on your bowl and let sit in the fridge to marinate, ideally 4 to 24 hours, however it will still work if you only have an hour.
- After the chicken has marinated, take it out and fill grill-safe skewers with the marinated chicken.
- Season the skewered chicken with salt and black pepper.
- Preheat your grill on full heat.
- Oil the grates then grill your chicken skewers for a few minutes on each side, brush with your reserved marinade as they are cooking.
- When your chicken has finished cooking (165 °F (74 °C)) remove from heat and let sit for 5 minutes.
- Serve with a peanut dipping sauce (instructions below).
For the peanut dipping sauce:
- Over medium high heat warm the water and butter in a small saucepan until the butter has melted.
- Turn heat down to medium and add in remaining sauce ingredients. Mix well until combined (a whisk works best).
- Continue to cook the sauce over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until it has thickened a bit. This will take approximately 5 minutes.
- Remove from heat and serve. This sauce can be served hot or room temp.
Notes
Chop up leftover chicken and make an asian salad for lunch the next day!
Made this for dinner tonight and it was so delicious. The flavors were amazing, definitely glad I grabbed the immitation coconut. I really loved the dipping sauce, I want to eat it on everything.