Thai Grilled Chicken
This Thai grilled chicken (Gai yang) recipe will transport you to the streets of Thailand. These perfectly juicy grilled chicken thighs are packed with fresh Thai flavours. The marination consists of soy sauce, fish sauce, freshly pounded lemongrass, cilantro, and garlic. These amazing Thai barbecue chickens have to be in your next summer grilling menu.
I bet you will be making this Thai grilled chicken all through the summer. The marinade is sweet, spicy, and packed with fresh Thai flavours. Grilled chicken vendors on the streets of Thailand is a common sight. Whole/spatchcock chicken grilled on charcoal, with that signature smokey flavor.
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I love how aromatic the marinade is. Freshly pounded lemongrass, garlic, and coriander root are the key. Then add soy sauce, fish sauce for umami, and palm sugar to balance the salty sauces. Traditionally, the heat comes from Thai bird’s eye chilli, but I have used sriracha as it is more convenient.
I don’t always fire up the outdoor grill; a stovetop grill pan does a decent job. Marinate the chicken overnight for the most
Ingredients For Thai Grilled Chicken
- Chicken Thigh– Boneless Chicken thighs
- Garlic – Fresh garlic, tons of it
- Lemongrass – Fresh lemongrass steam.
- Cilantro with root– We need cilantro leaves along with the roots/ thick steam for the marination.
- Brown Sugar / Palm Sugar – This balances all the salty sauce and also gives nice caramelization to the chicken.
- Turmeric- Probably the only unusual ingredient, that you might not be having handy. If you make Thai/Indian recipes often, then worth having a bottle of it. Also can be used in making a Turmeric latte.
- Soy sauce- For umami and
- Fish sauce- Thai cuisine essential. This pungent salty funky sauce is a must in most of thai recipes.
- Sriracha- For heat. If you can get hold of Thai bird’s eye chilli, then use that instead for a more authentic flavor.
- Lime- It’s a must to balance the sauce.
- Oil- We add it the marinade, as it helps tenderize the meat.
Steps to make Thai Grilled Chicken
Let me walk you throught the steps. Once the chicken is marinated, rest of the process is pretty hands off.
Begin with making the base for Thai marinade. If you own a mortar pestl ( a good upperbody workout) use it or a mini food processor will also do. Remove the white hard outer layer of lemongrass and also trim the top green part. Thinly slice lemongrass stem, so that it will be easier to pound. Add garlic, cleaned cilantro stem/roots and sliced lemongrass to the mortar, sprinkle a pinch of salt for the aste
Tips to make the juiciest Thai grilled chicken
- For the best result, use boneless chicken thighs. Chicken thighs remain juicy after grilling and don’t tend to turn dry. You can also use chicken breast, but you must be careful while grilling.
- Marinade the chicken for at least 2 hours up to 24 hours. Marinating the chicken for a long time helps the meat absorb all the flavors and remains juicy and tender while grilling.
- Make sure the marinated chicken is at room temperature while grilling. This ensures even cooking of chicken.
- While grilling bast with leftover marinade for succulent and tender chicken.
Serve With
Grilled chicken is best served with plain rice or rice dishes with an Asian flavor like coconut rice or jasmine rice. Asian Cucumber Salad adds crunchy freshness to the meal. These can be sliced and served on noodles or along with them. With a little more effort, make some Garlic noodles or Thai Noodles (you might skip adding chicken to it) as they go perfectly well with the Thai Cashew Chicken flavors
More Grilled Recipes
- Buttermilk Grilled Chicken
- Grilled Teriyaki Chicken
- Grilled Rosemary Chicken Kebabs
- Grilled Chicken Wrap
- Vietnamese Grilled Shrimps
Thai Grilled Chicken
Ingredients
- 8 Boneless Chicken thighs
- 4 Garlic cloves
- 2 tablespoons Lemongrass chopped (only bottom white part)
- 2 Cilantro along with roots
- 2 tablespoons Soy Sauce
- 2 tablespoons Fish Sauce
- 4 tablespoons Plam / light brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons fresh Lime Juice
- 1-2 teaspoons Sriracha (ref note)
- ¾ teaspon turmeric
Instructions
- Begin with making the marinade. Add chopped lemongrass, garlic, and cilantro roots along with 2-inch thick stems to a mortar and pestle. Pound to a paste ( more fine the paste, sticks better to chicken).
- Pat dry chicken thighs, add the above paste, soy sauce, fish sauce, sugar, turmeric, sriracha, and lime juice to the chicken. Mix and coat it well. Let it marinate for at least 4 hours (preferably overnight).
- Bring chicken close to room temperature before you start cooking it.
- Heat a grill pan. Cook marinated chicken thighs 3-4 minutes on one side, brush some marinade on the chicken, and flip. Cook for another 3-4 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through.
- Alternately, you can also cook the chicken on an outdoor grill.
Notes
- Traditionally mortar pestle is used pound, the flavors are unbeatable. To make it easy and quick to pound, thinly slice lemongrass before adding. Alternately use a food processer to make it easy.
What was the measurement for sweet Chile sauce? Thanks!
it is 1/3 cup.
Hi Chelsey, it is 1/3 cup of Sweet chili sauce.
Thanks for asking this! I was confused!!
Hello! Your recipe looks really good, but I’ve never used lemongrass before. How do I mince it or can I get it minced at the grocery store? Is it a spicy flavour?
Thanks!
Apologies for the delayed reply. As the name suggests Lemongrass has a refreshing lemony flavour. You get lemongrass stalks, take only the white part of it and mince it in a mortar or pestle. If you have access to an Asian store, you might also get bottled lemongrass paste.