Air Fryer Thai Chicken Satay
by This Thai Chicken Satay recipe made in an Air Fryer is off-the-charts DELICIOUS! Thanks to a no chopping satay marinade, the chicken is super flavorful and bubbly delicious out of the fryer. The smell is UBER DELICIOUS and you’ll be astonished how EASY it is!
With only 10 ingredients, this is a great Asian style chicken marinade for summer BBQ or meal prep. Stovetop instructions are also included!
Thai Chicken Satay is one of my favorite dishes whenever we eat out. The chicken tastes earthy and little sweet, and with a light charcoal smoky flavor. Today’s recipe is a simplified version, made in an air fryer. It is my answer to those days when you want a Thai Satay Chicken, but –
- Don’t have time to hunt down specialty ingredients,
- No time to soak and thread the skewers, and
- You just want something easy and it still tastes A-MAZING! This is for you. 🙂
The smell is SUPER GOOD when the chicken fries up in an air fryer or hits the stove, you’ll know they are going to taste amazing.
What Does Chicken Satay Taste Like?
This Thai-inspired Chicken Satay recipe with the marinade tastes earthy, savory, and with a kiss of sweetness. It’s far more complex than teriyaki chicken and is a popular street food in southeast Asia. I use boneless and skinless chicken thighs so that every bite is tender and flavorful.
This dish is usually served with a satay dipping sauce or a peanut sauce mixed with soy sauce. I’ve made this dish several times without dipping sauce and it’s tasty enough to eat on their own. If, however, you like to kick the flavor over the top, try my no peanut Thai “Peanut” Sauce to make it extra tasty!
Thai Chicken Satay Marinade
This dish tastes uber yummy that you might be surprised how few ingredients go in the dish! Here’s what you need –
- Turmeric powder
- Coriander powder
- White pepper
- Cumin powder
- Dairy-free creamer, or melted coconut cream
- Fish sauce
- Coconut aminos
- Ginger
- Hot sauce
How To Make Thai Chicken Satay
- Marinate the chicken with turmeric, coriander, cumin, white pepper, dairy-free creamer, fish sauce, coconut aminos, grated ginger, and hot sauce for at least 30 minutes.
- Lightly drip off the marinade and from here you can air fry, pan fry, or barbeque!
See easy? This Thai-inspired Chicken Satay recipe makes a great everyday as well as party food. Kids will love it!
Meal Prep Version
This dish is perfect for meal prep – just dump and store!
- Add all the ingredients to a large freezer friendly ziplock bag.
- Gently mix well with the seasonings.
- Squeeze out the air and store the bag flat until it’s solid frozen.
- Defrost a night before in the fridge with a tray underneath.
What To Serve With Chicken Satay
Serve it with Thai Chicken Fried Rice (made with shirataki rice), Keto Fried Rice (with garlic chips!), or Broccoli Fried rice!
If you want to go all out with a homemade Thai banquet, serve this Thai Chicken Satay on the side with Thai basil chicken, Air fryer chicken wings, Green curry chicken, Crispy Thai chicken salad, Whole30 Pad Thai, Thai Chicken Curry Noodles – Khao Soi, Keto Pad Woon Sen, or Keto Pad See Ew!
More Paleo Thai Recipes
For A Fresh Side Salad
Try my Mandarin Orange Salad, Smoked Salmon Salad, Japanese Potato Salad, Broccoli Pesto Salad, Grilled Peach Salad, Thai beef salad, or Watermelon Fruit Salad.
More Paleo Salad Recipes
This Air Fryer Thai Chicken Satay is a new favorite in my household. Trust me, this dish smells so good the moment the chicken gets fried up, you’ll know immediately tonight’s dinner is gonna be GREAT! With only 10 ingredients and no chopping, this dish comes together in a snap. Pair it with fried rice and a big bowl of salad, you’ll love every single bite!
Thai Chicken Satay Recipe (Paleo, Keto, Whole30)
Ingredients
Thai chicken satay marinade:
- 1.5-2 lbs chicken thighs, boneless and skinless
- 1 tsp turmeric powder
- 1 tsp coriander powder
- 0.5 tsp white pepper
- 0.5 tsp cumin powder
- 4 tbsp dairy-free coffee creamer, or melted coconut cream
- 1 tsp fish sauce
- 2 tbsp coconut aminos, or 1 tbsp low sodium/gluten-free tamari
- 2 tsp grated ginger
- 2 tbsp hot sauce, I use Frank’s original hot sauce
- Avocado oil cooking spray, for the air fryer basket
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, marinate the chicken thighs with ingredients from turmeric to hot sauce. Gently mix well and cover the bowl. Store in the fridge for at least 30 minutes or up to 1 day before cooking.
- To air fry, lightly spray the fryer basket with avocado oil. Slightly drip off the marinade and place the chicken thighs into the basket in one layer with some space between each piece. Please do not over crowd the basket. I cook mine in two batches.
- Air fry at 370F (188C) for 15 minutes on the first side and 8-10 minutes the second side or until the chicken is cooked through. Please note that cook time varies, depending on the type of air fryer.
- To pan fry (stovetop), add 1 tbsp avocado oil to a well-heated skillet. Pan fry 6 minutes the first side and 5-6 minutes the second side over medium heat or until the chicken is cooked through.
- Serve hot or at room temperature. The chicken is very tender and flavorful and you don’t need a dipping sauce however if you like to kick the flavor over the top, try my Paleo Thai “Peanut” sauce. Serve it over a big bowl of salad greens or Keto garlic fried rice!
Notes
This dish is perfect for meal prep – just dump and store!
- Add all the ingredients to a large freezer friendly ziplock bag.
- Gently mix well with the seasonings.
- Squeeze out the air and store the bag flat until it’s solid frozen.
- Defrost a night before in the fridge with a tray underneath.
Nutrition
Hi is it possible to omit coconut cream/coffee creamer from the recipe? Or is there something I can replace it with?
You can also try plain Greek Yogurt 🙂
This is one of Chihyu’s BEST CHICKEN DISHES!! And that’s saying something, because literally every recipe on here is amazing. My partner and I cannot stop thinking about this chicken.
I recommend definitely overnight marinating if you can! We did it once with 24 hour marinade and once with 1 hour marinade and you can definitely taste the difference (although both were mouthwatering and delicious). Love doing this with sautéed bok choy and rice!
Thanks so much for sharing, Bella! I appreciate it!
Wow! This chicken is the best! I made it in the air fryer and it turned out so juicy and full of flavor. This is the first recipe I’ve tried in the air fryer and I loved it! This will go into our regular meal rotation!!!
I’ve made this twice in one week with a side salad and it’s amazing!! Thank you so much!!
Thanks for sharing! So happy to hear!
This is a fabulous recipe Chihyu. Love that glaze on the chicken from the marinade. We have been on the fence about getting an air fryer but think we need one just to try your delicious recipes. Take Care
Thank you so much!
This was delicious! I’m looking at your bok choy- please share that recipe!
What type of air fryer do you have? Would you recommend it?
Hi Lezlie, I think I left the link in the recipe card notes section if you want to check it out. In short, I had two – gourmia and cosori. Gourmia died on me a few days ago it was an older model no long available. I have yet to open my cosori fryer but I bought it based on great reviews on Amazon. I’m looking forward to give it a try very soon!
WOW! This looks SO good.. and easy to prepare.Totally love it!
Thank you for using easy-to-find ingredients, actually I had everything at home but the chicken! I’m one of those people who always uses skinless breasts (don’t know why) but ventured out to the thighs per your recipe AND THEY WERE DELISH!
That’s awesome, Jen!
I really want to try this recipe but my husband is allergic to coconut. Even the non dairy creamer at our store has coconut in it and I’m scratching my head trying to think of something else to sub for the creamer/coconut cream. Anyone got any ideas? Cashew cream is out, too.
Hey Sunshine, can you have other type of dairy-free creamer that’s not made of coconut or cashew? If you can have some dairy, regular coffee creamer (unsweetened) will work, too!
My family loves these! We will make them again and again! Delicious, juicy, quick to make!
Every bite is so delicious! I love how easy and quick that they are to make!
I love easy chicken recipes like this! I always have these ingredients on hand so this is perfect for me. Thanks!
Made this in an air fryer and it was amazing! Love the quick marinade. So easy and delicious!
Thank you! So happy to hear!
This is very easy and tastes wonderful. I only had chicken tenders and it worked great. I pan fried them being careful not to over cook. I made the peanut sauce too, which was also easy and delish ! I love all your recipes.
Thanks so much, Nancy!
Hi!! I’m definitely adding this to our meal plan this week. I had a quick question about the picture – you show bok choy there. Is that grilled? How did you prepare that, it sounds delicious with the chicken satay! Thank you!
Hey Natasha! So sorry I’m just getting back to you now. About the bok choy, here’s what I did – I halve it (some are quartered if large bundle), then I rinse it to get the dirt out and set aside to drain. I get the pan real hot and pan fry the bok choy – cut side down – with avocado oil until I get a nice sear. Season with salt to taste. I didn’t really cook the flip side (so I only cook the cut side). Hope that helps!
Not a problem! I’m planning to cook it all for tonight. I did a search on your site for bok choy, and found the sesame dressing one. I am planning to make that with it. I made the dressing last night, and OMG both my husband and myself can’t wait to eat it! I’m going to drizzle on steamed green beans for him as he doesn’t like bok choy.
I have coconut milk in the house. Can I use that instead of going out to buy coconut cream?
HI Elinor! If the milk is full fat coconut milk (i.e. if it’s quite thick and creamy), then yes! 🙂
Is there any reason I shouldn’t just grill these? I’m considering doing that, because it’ll be quicker. That said, they’ve been marinating for a few hours and the marinade smells amazing and it came together so easily.
Hi Elisa, I responded your question earlier and now realize your question is for Thai chicken satay! I thought you were asking about Tusukune – grilled chicken meatballs. Sorry I got confused last night. 🙂 You can absolutely grill chicken satay. It’s perfect for BBQ! Let me know how it goes. Can’t wait! XOXO!
Grilled the satay and it was delish!!! I sprinkled Eden seaweed gomasio on top and it was really good.
OMG! That’s probably what I would do, too! YUM YUM YUM!
Hello! I was trying to find the version of air fryer that you use? Can you please share?
Thank you, Juliette. I have two. The 6 qt. is from Cosori – https://amzn.to/2YPmsl6. The 5 qt. is from gourmia (the one in the photo). It’s an older model and I believe it’s not available on the market anymore. I like them both!
I have everything at home! The chicken is already marinated in the fridge. It smells so good! Dinner is gonna be great tonight! HAPPY 😀
That’s perfect! So happy to hear!