With summer just around the corner, ML Spell from Dry Spell invited us to play with fire! She challenged us to make some mouthwatering eats on the grill for the June Daring Cooks challenge.
Hmm. Well, I don’t know about the ‘summer just around the corner’ bit – down here in Kiwi-land, we’re into winter and there’s a good thick blanket of snow on the hills.
Another thing I have to put straight for the record is that Down Under we don’t use the word ‘grill’ to mean a barbecue. Down here, a barbecue (or barbie as we tend to call it) is just that – a barbecue. A grill, on the other hand, is the heating element at the top of the oven – if we’re cooking a pizza, we put it on the top shelf of the oven and ‘grill’ it on high to make the cheese melt. It’s what y’all from the U.S. refer to as ‘broiling’. Confused much?
Anyway, back to the challenge at hand and the requirement to make something ‘on the grill’. Well, I’m sure you can understand my decision not to stand outside in Arctic temperatures, freezing my tush off, cooking on the barbie. Thankfully, there was some flexibility allowed around the method of grilling, so I hauled out the cast iron grilling fry-pan, cranked up the heat on the stove and ‘grilled’ this sumptuous chicken satay with a spicy peanut sauce.
And, may I just say, ‘yum’. Thanks to Eating Well.com for this no-fuss recipe. There are undoubtedly more authentic Thai recipes out there with a list of ingredients as long as your arm, but if you’re wanting a recipe that’s ultra quick and tasty, with ingredients you’ll probably have in your pantry, this is as good as any.
Serve as is for a delicious appetizer for 4, or with coconut rice and a simple marinated cucumber salad for a main meal for 2. If you like lashings of sauce, you might want to double the sauce recipe.
Note: Click here to access the original challenge and grilling recipes provided by The Daring Kitchen.

THAI CHICKEN SATAY WITH SPICY PEANUT SAUCE
Ingredients
For the marinade:
- 3 tbsp lime juice
- 3 tbsp canola oil
- 2 tsp reduced-sodium soy sauce
- 2 tsp fish sauce
- 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper (I used chilli flakes)
- 1 pound about 450 grams chicken tenders (long strips of chicken)
For the peanut sauce:
- 2 tbsp smooth or crunchy natural peanut butter (or make your own healthy peanut butter)
- 2 tbsp ‘lite’ coconut milk
- 2-3 tsp lime juice or to taste
- 2 tsp reduced-sodium soy sauce
- 1 tsp brown sugar
- 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper or to taste
Instructions
- For the marinade: Whisk lime juice, oil, soy sauce, fish sauce and red pepper in a shallow dish until combined; add chicken and turn to coat. Let it marinate in the refrigerator for 15 minutes.
- For the peanut sauce: Whisk peanut butter, coconut milk, lime juice, soy sauce, brown sugar and red pepper until smooth.
- Prepare the barbeque (grill) or use a grilling fry-pan (skillet) on high heat. Thread each chicken tender onto a wooden skewer. Grill until cooked through and no longer pink in the middle, about 3 minutes per side. Serve warm with Spicy Peanut Sauce.
Notes
- Make Ahead Tip: Cover and refrigerate the peanut sauce for up to 2 days.
- Ingredient note: Fish sauce is a pungent Southeast Asian sauce made from salted, fermented fish. You can find it in the Asian section of large supermarkets and in Asian specialty markets.
- Tip: Refrigerate leftover coconut milk for up to 1 week or freeze for up to 2 months. It will appear separated when thawed; simply mix until smooth.
- Tip: It can be a bit difficult to cook every bit of chicken when it’s threaded onto a skewer – if in doubt, take the chicken off the skewer and grill a little longer to ensure the flesh is cooked through.
You don’t know how much I am salivating just seeing your recipe! it looks absolutely delicious! Love your photo!
Congrats on completing this month’s Daringk Kitchen Cooks Challenge too!
Thanks Joanne – just heading over to see what everyone else has cooked! And yes, just managed to scrape into the challenge!
I’m so hungry right now and have no chicken in my fridge yet, but that looks utterly delicious. Definitely going to try this out soon! 😀
Haha… yeah it certainly does look tempting doesn’t it! Hope you enjoy it!
Ha! Ha! Completely understandable that you don’t want to freeze your tushy off. I think this was a great compromise cooking this satay up on the grilling pan. I’ve made plenty of complicated chicken satay in my life and I fully appreciate that this can be whipped up at a moments notice with no fuss. Fortunately, it’s warm in Boston (sort of) so I can throw my satay on the barbie. 🙂
Hi Lynn! Lucky you over there in the warmth! Thanks for siding with me on the ‘not freezing my tush off’ decision! And enjoy that barbie!!