From Our Kitchen: Chicken Satay with Ginger Peanut Sauce

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Happy Monday! This is what we ate Saturday night in our house. If you’re looking for an easy and delicious real food meal that even the kids will like, this is it. We have been making this chicken for years and it is an easy grilled meal (easy for me to prep + easy for B to grill=win/win!). It is perfect for weeknights and even impresses guests.

A few comments about this meal:

  • You can add some brown rice if you like, but frankly my kids don’t love brown rice, so we prefer to enjoy it without rice for a lower carb meal. Sometimes we have it with cauliflower rice (more on that coming soon).
  • As you can see, we eat peanut butter. Sometimes even Jif, so we have some room for improvement. This tells you a few things. We aren’t perfect (surprise). And we are not strictly following a Paleo diet, although when searching for recipes it’s a great place to start.
  • Actually, we aren’t strictly following any particular diet. But our number one aim is to decrease sugar and carbohydrates in our diet, particularly refined carbohydrates. But of course, we have other nutrition concerns, too. It’s hard to know where to “draw the line” when choosing foods. Total amount and types of carbs; amount and type of fat;less processed/fewer ingredients; organic; local, etc. Sometimes it seems obvious. Sometimes it’s not. Almost always it’s overwhelming. (You’ll see how I handle these priorities if you stick with me…)
  • In full disclosure, dinner is our best meal, so don’t think the kids aren’t eating plenty of carbs. They are growing and are at a healthy weight. But if they were overweight, I would think twice about that. They just eat their high carb foods mostly at breakfast, and some at lunch. But at dinnertime, they eat what we eat and usually like it. I have to admit, that really surprised me at first! But it is so encouraging to know they are learning how to eat and enjoy real foods for their best chance at health. And put simply–they are worth it. And so are you.

Please leave a comment if you will try it!

Chicken Satay with Ginger Peanut Sauce

  • Servings: 4
  • Difficulty: easy
  • Print

Ingredients

Sauce
  • 1 tablespoon coconut oil
  • 1 tablespoon minced garlic
  • 1 teaspoon fresh grated ginger (I keep some peeled and on hand in the freezer; it grates easier this way, too.)
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 1/4 cup smooth peanut butter (Try soy nut butter or sunflower seed butter if you can’t have peanuts.)
  • 1 tablespoon soy sauce
  • 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 1/4 teaspoon garlic chili sauce (more to taste for spice)
  • 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
Chicken
  • 1 pound chicken breasts, cut in pieces
  • ¼ teaspoon chili powder
  • ¼ teaspoon curry powder
  • ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt

Directions

      1. For the sauce: In a small saucepan, warm oil over med-high heat. Add garlic and ginger, cook 1 minute, stirring occasionally. Add ½ c water, followed by peanut butter, soy sauce, pepper, and garlic chili sauce.  Whisk until smooth. When simmering, remove pan from heat. Just before serving, reheat the sauce over medium heat and add lime juice, whisking thoroughly.
      2. For the chicken: Cut chicken into bite-size pieces; place in a large bowl. Combine chicken with the chili powder, curry powder, pepper, and salt.  Thread the chicken on skewers or grill without if pieces are large enough.  Grill over direct high heat until just opaque and cooked through, turning once halfway through grilling time. Serve warm with peanut dipping sauce.

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