If you’ve been craving smoky chicken satay slathered in a creamy peanut sauce while on your Whole30, I’ve got something right up your alley: this lip-smacking no-nut version of the real deal!
Healthy homemade chicken satay recipe
These delicious paleo chicken satay skewers are a simple Whole30-friendly weeknight meal that you can cook indoors or out and taste like the real thing! Got leftover Paleo Hoisin Sauce after making Moo Shu Pork? Then use it to make Hoisin No-Nut Sauce—it’s to die for! You won’t even miss the peanut dipping sauce!
What is satay?
Satay is a southeast Asian dish that consists of seasoned grilled meat on skewers that’s typically served with a soy- and peanut butter-based dipping sauce. Although the dish originated in Indonesia, you can find it on the menus at Thai, Malaysian, and Singaporean restaurants.
Do you have to serve satay with a dipping sauce?
Of course not! These skewers are well-seasoned and don’t require a sauce. Sure, I prefer to slather them with Hoisin No-Nut Sauce, but whenever I don’t have leftover Paleo Hoisin Sauce on hand, I just skip the sauce. By the way, if you want a fiery dipping sauce, I have a Spicy Thai No-Nut Sauce recipe on page 58 of our Ready or Not! cookbook. (There’s also another tasty variation of chicken satay on that page as well!)
Can I use other proteins?
Yes! Feel free to substitute chicken thighs, beef, pork, goat, or whatever meat you prefer. You can’t go wrong with grilled meat on a stick!
How do I make this ahead of time?
You can marinate the meat up to 12 hours in advance, and the sauce can be made up to 3 days in advance—just be sure to store both in sealed containers in the fridge.
Ingredients
Chicken Satay
- Boneless and skinless chicken breasts
- Full-fat coconut milk
- Thai red curry paste
- Medjool date, pitted and chopped: Instead of using brown sugar, I use a date to sweeten the marinade naturally.
- Garlic cloves
- Red Boat fish sauce: Don’t leave out the fish sauce! It gives the satay that special umami flavor—which is not replicated by something like soy sauce!
- Ground turmeric
Hoisin No-Nut Sauce
- Paleo Hoisin Sauce: I love my homemade hoisin sauce and it works perfectly in this sauce!
- Sunbutter: To keep this recipe nut-free, I replace peanut butter with sunflower seed butter. Almond butter will also work if you don’t need to keep it nut-free.
- Rice vinegar: If you don’t have rice vinegar, you can substitute lime juice or apple cider vinegar.
- Water
How to make chicken satay
Slice the chicken breasts into ½-inch strips and place in a large bowl.
Combine the coconut milk, Thai red curry paste, date, garlic, fish sauce, and turmeric in a high speed blender…
…and blitz until smooth.
Pour the chicken satay marinade over the chicken strips and mix well.
Cover the chicken and marinate in the fridge for up to 12 hours. Usually, I just let the chicken hang out in the fridge while I’m preparing my side dishes for dinner.
When you’re ready to cook the chicken, grab some soaked wooden skewers. Using one strip of chicken at a time, carefully skewer the meat in an accordion-like fashion. Depending on the size of the chicken pieces and the length of the skewer, you might have two to four pieces threaded tightly on a skewer.
Now, you can choose how you want to cook the chicken skewers: on the grill or in the oven. If you’re cooking the skewers on a grill, set the grill to high heat. When it’s nice and hot, clean the grill and brush the grates with a high smoke point fat (e.g., ghee, avocado oil, etc.) Place the skewers on the hot grill and cook for about 3 to 5 minutes per side or until cooked through. (You can also cook them in a grill pan on the stovetop!)
If you choose to roast them in the oven, heat the oven to 400°F convection or 425°F (no convection). Place the skewers on a rimmed baking sheet and cook them in the hot oven for 10 minutes or until cooked through, flipping the skewers over at the halfway point. Broil for an additional 2 minutes if you want some more color.
Time to make the Hoisin No-Nut Sauce! Dump the hoisin sauce, sunbutter, water, and rice vinegar into a blender and blitz until smooth. You can add a smidge more water if you like a thinner sauce.
Slather the sauce on the chicken satay and chow down! You can serve them as the main dish or as an appetizer!
What side dishes do I serve with chicken satay?
Don’t overthink it! Just serve these skewers up alongside a crisp green salad. I also love to serve them with Asian Cauliflower Fried “Rice”, Simple Cauliflower “Rice”, Chinese Garlic Green Beans, and Smashed Cucumber Salad.
What’s the best way to save leftovers?
Keep any leftover cooked skewers in a sealed airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. You can quickly reheat them in a hot skillet or in a 350°F oven for a few minutes. (Me? I like to eat them cold right out of the fridge.)
Looking for more recipe ideas? Head on over to my Recipe Index. You’ll also find exclusive recipes in my cookbooks, Nom Nom Paleo: Food for Humans (Andrews McMeel Publishing 2013), Ready or Not! (Andrews McMeel Publishing 2017), and Nom Nom Paleo: Let’s Go! (Andrews McMeel Publishing 2022).
Chicken Satay
Ingredients
Chicken Satay
- 1½ pounds chicken breasts boneless and skinless
- ½ cup full-fat coconut milk
- 1 tablespoon Thai red curry sauce
- 1 large Medjool date pitted and chopped
- 3 garlic cloves peeled and roughly chopped
- 2 tablespoons Red Boat fish sauce
- ½ teaspoon ground turmeric
Hoisin No-Nut Sauce
- ¼ cup Paleo Hoisin Sauce
- ¼ cup sunbutter
- 2 tablespoons water
- 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
Instructions
Chicken Satay
- Slice the chicken breasts into ½-inch strips and place in a large bowl.
- Combine the coconut milk, Thai red curry paste, date, garlic, fish sauce, and turmeric in a high speed blender and blitz until smooth.
- Pour the marinade over the chicken strips and mix well. Cover the chicken and marinate in the fridge for up to 12 hours. Usually, I just let the chicken hang out in the fridge while I’m preparing my side dishes for dinner.
- When you’re ready to cook the chicken, grab some soaked wooden skewers. Using one strip of chicken at a time, carefully skewer the meat in an accordion-like fashion. Depending on the size of the chicken pieces and the length of the skewer, you might have two to four pieces threaded tightly on a skewer.
- Now, you can choose how you want to cook the skewers: on the grill or in the oven. If you’re cooking the skewers on a grill, set the grill to high heat. When it’s nice and hot, clean the grill and brush the grates with a high smoke point fat (e.g., ghee, avocado oil, etc.) Place the skewers on the hot grill and cook for about 3 to 5 minutes per side or until cooked through.
- If you choose to roast them in the oven, heat the oven to 400°F convection or 425°F (no convection). Place the skewers on a rimmed baking sheet and cook them in the hot oven for 10 minutes or until cooked through, flipping the skewers over at the halfway point. Broil for an additional 2 minutes if you want some more color.
Hoisin No-Nut Sauce
- Time to make the Hoisin No-Nut Sauce! Dump the hoisin sauce, sunbutter, water, and rice vinegar into a blender and blitz until smooth. You can add a smidge more water if you like a thinner sauce.
- Slather the sauce on the chicken satay and chow down!
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Oh my god! I’ve made this a few times and it is amazing! I like to make a double batch of the sauce because it’s so good!
I am wondering if I can double or triple the marinade recipe and freeze it in portions. The vitamix doesn’t do as well with small amounts, imho. Or can an immersion blender make it through the date and garlic to make it smooth?
Hi! Is there a substitute for the coconut milk? I’m allergic. Thanks
Cashew milk should work!
Hi Michelle and fellow Nom-sters: If I have hoisin sauce and peanut butter in my house that I’m trying to use up, can I use them in the sauce recipe at the same quantities? (1/4 cup for both)
I’m assuming yes? Thanks in advance – can’t wait to try this. Chicken satay is one of my favorites.
Yes, that should work!
Hi! This looks amazing! I was wondering if almond butter would be a good substitute for the sauce or if the flavor would be too different? Looking forward to trying this! Thanks for your help 🙂
Almond butter will work!
Hi Michelle,
I follow the autoimmune protocol. Do you have any suggestions for replacing the Thai Red Curry Sauce or if I left it out would it still be flavorful enough? I’m sorry…I know it won’t taste the same without it and it’s a pain when people ask for substitutions.
Awesome flavors that really come together, and yet so easy. I have a feeling we’ll be making this frequently for my 10 year old!
Can you use chicken thighs instead?
I made this on Saturday night. I don’t have an outdoor grill, but I do have a grill pan. I skewered the chicken at first, but I kept thinking that, if I just placed the flat chicken pieces directly on the grill pan, I could save time and sort of get the same result. Well, I cooked the Satay this way and it came out perfect, with nice little grill marks, too! Not as authentic but… I had marinated them for about 8 hrs. The Hoisin No-Nut sauce was outstanding! I slathered it onto my grilled chicken pieces and I can’t remember the last time I ate anything so delicious! Thank you, Michelle!