Oven or BBQ grilled chicken sliced and served with an easy cucumber salad, butter lettuce and a fabulous homemade peanut sauce.
If you’re looking for a quick and easy Summer dinner salad, this chicken satay salad is it! There are lots of flavours and textures going on in this salad, not the least of which is the peanut sauce, which honestly … I could drink from a glass :)
Ingredients and substitutions
A few notes above the key ingredients …
Chicken – You can start with either boneless chicken breasts or boneless chicken thighs. I’ve used chicken breasts here, but use what you have or prefer. If starting with chicken breasts, be sure to butterfly them (cut them in half from the side almost but not all the way through, then fold them open like a book. Flatten slightly).
Cucumbers – The cucumber salad is a great addition to this salad. You can use Persian or English cucumbers or field cucumbers, as you like.
Peanuts (or peanut butter) – Starting the peanut sauce with whole peanuts makes for a wonderfully flavoured and textured peanut sauce. Unsalted or lightly salted dry-roasted peanuts are all you need (peanuts in the shell are dry-roasted or you can use the dry-roasted peanuts in the jar). If you don’t have peanuts, peanut butter is always an option too. Natural peanut butter would be the best option but regular peanut butter is fine, too. Be sure to adjust the seasoning (additional salt and sugar) slightly if using regular peanut butter or salted peanuts.
Lemongrass – It is getting easier to find lemongrass in grocery stores, but lemongrass paste is a great option. Look for it in the tubes often found in with the produce.
Butter lettuce – A butter lettuce mix is a nice base for this salad, but you can use any lettuce or lettuce mix you have or prefer.
How to make this chicken satay salad
Start by making the chicken marinade in a food processor or blender …
- Add all of the chicken marinade ingredients to a food processor or blender.
- Process together until well combined.
- Add the marinade to a bowl with the chicken. Cover and refrigerate while you prepare the rest of the salad or for up to 8 hours.
While the chicken is marinating, heat the BBQ grill (or heat a grill pan in the oven) and quickly make the peanut sauce …
- Rinse out the food processor then add the dry roasted peanuts.
- Process the peanuts to break them down into smaller pieces. You can process them as chunky or as smooth as you like.
- Add the remaining peanut sauce ingredients to the food processor.
- Process together until well combined. Set the sauce aside or cover and refrigerate if making ahead.
Grill the chicken and quickly make the cucumber salad …
- I’m grilling the chicken in the oven, so I preheated my grill pan in the oven, then place the marinated chicken in to cook.
- While the chicken is cooking, add all the cucumber ingredients to a bowl and toss together. Let stand to marinate a bit while the chicken cooks.
- Remove the grill pan from the oven when the chicken is cooked and let rest a few minutes.
Assemble the salad …
- After the chicken has rested a couple of minutes, slice up on a cutting board.
- Spread a layer of lettuce onto a larger serving platter, then add the cucumber salad on one side.
- Add the sliced chicken to the platter. Finish by drizzling with lots of peanut sauce and serve extra peanut sauce on the side.
Recipe tips!
- A food processor makes this salad super easy, but a blender will work fine as well. If you don’t have either you can certainly use a knife, bowl and spoon.
- If you make the peanut sauce and and refrigerate, you’ll find that it has thickened in the fridge. You can thin it out by stirring a bit of hot water into it until it is good drizzling consistency.
- Make extra chicken and refrigerator or freeze to enjoy this salad easily anytime!
Making ahead, storing and freezing
The chicken can be combined with the marinade and refrigerated up to 8 hours ahead.
The peanut sauce can be made ahead and refrigerated up to 2 days.
The chicken can be grilled ahead and refrigerated or frozen.
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Get the Recipe: Chicken Satay Salad
Ingredients
- 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, or 4-5 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
For the chicken marinade:
- 2 Tablespoons lemongrass paste , or one stalk lemongrass, white parts only finely minced
- 2 medium shallots, finely chopped (or about 1/4 cup onion finely chopped)
- 2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
- 2 Tablespoons vegetable oil, or other neutral-tasting cooking oil
- 1 Tablespoon fish sauce
- 1 Tablespoon white or brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
- 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
For the peanut sauce:
- 1 cup dry roasted peanuts, unsalted (or about 1/3 cup natural peanut butter) *see Note 1 below
- 2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
- 1 teaspoon soy sauce, low-sodium recommended
- 2 teaspoons sesame oil
- 2 Tablespoons brown sugar
- 2 Tablespoons fish sauce
- 2 Tablespoons lime juice, more to taste
- 1/8 teaspoon cayenne
- 1/2 cup coconut milk, well-stirred before measuring *see Note 2 below
For the cucumber salad:
- 1 Persian cucumber, unpeeled and thinly sliced
- 2 Tablespoons rice or white wine vinegar
- 1 Tablespoon light brown sugar
- 1 Tablespoon sweet chilli sauce, optional *see Note 3 below
- 1/4 cup Fresh cilantro, chopped
Instructions
- Make the chicken marinade: Add all of the chicken marinade ingredients to the bowl of a food process (or a blender would work). Process in the food processor to combine well. Remove the marinade to a medium bowl.
- Butterfly the chicken by cutting in half from the side, cutting almost all the way through, but not all the way through. Open the chicken up like a book and press down to flatten. Add the chicken to the marinade and let stand at least 15 minutes or cover and refrigerator for up to 3 hours.
- Prepare the peanut sauce: Rinse out the food processor or blender. Add the peanuts and pulse the peanuts briefly until finely ground. Add the garlic, soy sauce, sesame oil, brown sugar, fish sauce, lime juice, cayenne and coconut milk and process until well puréed. Transfer the peanut sauce to a small bowl. Taste and add a bit of salt at this point if needed. Set aside if using immediately or cover and refrigerate for up to 2 days. The peanut sauce will thicken in the refrigerator. To thin, drizzle in a little hot water until the sauce is thinned enough to run off the end of a spoon.
- Preheat the BBQ or place a grill pan into the oven and preheat with the oven to 450F (non-convection) oven.
- Place the marinated chicken onto the BBQ or the hot grill pan in the oven and cook, flipping once, until the chicken reaches 165F internal temperature, about 12-15 minutes. Remove the chicken to a cutting board and let it rest a few minutes before slicing into strips.
- Make the cucumber salad: While the chicken is cooking, add all the cucumber salad ingredients to a bowl. Stir together to combine and set aside.
- Assemble the salad: Place a layer of lettuce onto the bottom of a serving platter. Spoon the cucumber salad on top to one side of the plate. Place the sliced chicken on the other side of the plate. Drizzle with peanut sauce.
- Serve immediately with additional peanut sauce on the side and some lime wedges for drizzling.
Notes
More salad recipes to love!
Hi! I’m Jennifer, a home cook schooled by trial and error and almost 40 years of getting dinner on the table! I love to share my favourite recipes, both old and new, together with lots of tips and tricks to hopefully help make your home cooking enjoyable, stress free, rewarding and of course, delicious!
New favourite meal! The marinade is so good and this is the first homemade peanut sauce I’ve really loved – and probably the easiest to make. I used peanut butter it was so tasty and the texture – not sticky at all – amazing. Even the cucumber salad was delicious. Fantastic meal Jennifer – thanks for sharing.
So glad you enjoyed it, Nick! Thanks so much :)
This is another amazing recipe. Perfect for a warm summer night.
So glad you enjoyed it, Carolyn! Thanks so much :)