This spicy flavorful Indonesian-style, Sambal Chicken is juicy and delicious! Serve it with Thai Crunch Salad, or Asian Slaw and top with fresh mint, scallions optional Peanut Chili Crunch (Seroendeng)!
Here is a delicious recipe for Indonesian Style, Grilled Sambal Chicken- full of great flavor with a little bit of heat, and so juicy and tender. Fast and simple to make, it comes together in less than 30 minutes – and lately, it’s been on our plates a lot around here! It’s a little addicting! The flavorful marinade would taste great with tofu or fish too!
I love this best served over Thai Crunch Salad, a healthy vegan, GF salad made with shredded cabbage and summer vegetables, mint, basil, scallions and a light peanut dressing.
The combination of spicy, sweet, salty, tangy Grilled Sambal Chicken, paired with the cool crunchy Thai Peanut Salad is so delicious! Whether it’s tossed into salad, folded into tacos, served over rice or with a bowl of grilled veggies, it’s very versatile recipe I think you will love.
Sambal Chicken Variations:
The Sambal chicken can be quickly be grilled in whole pieces, or if you have more time, cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces, then skewer.
What is Sambal Oelek?
Sambal Oelek is an Indonesian-style red chile paste is available at most grocery stores and it’s the secret to this great flavor. It’s moderately spicy, not overly, just perfectly, with a subtle sweetness.
I will often double the recipe because the refrigerated leftover chicken keeps really well and tastes incredibly good, cold….perfect for quick lunches or to-go meals.
Be sure to use boneless, skinless thigh meat, to ensure the juiciest chicken possible. I’ve also used this flavorful marinade on tofu, then grilled it with great results –just make sure to grease the grill extra well first, and use a metal spatula to flip.
If serving the chicken on its own, without the Thai Vegetable Crunch Salad, you could garnish it with fresh mint leaves, scallions and crushed roasted peanuts.
If serving with the Thai Vegetable Crunch Salad, simply slice and place over top or plate with the skewers.
A grilling tip!
Reduce the leftover marinade and use it to baste the chicken while it’s grilling. This keeps the chicken juicy while adding and building flavor.
Grill over medium-high heat, getting both sides deeply seared. Turn heat down to low, and cover until cooked through. You can also place this in a warm oven until cooked through.
You may also like:
- Grilled Lemongrass Chicken
- Chipotle Grilled Chicken Salad with Corn, Peppers and Arugula
- Grilled Chicken Shawarma Recipe
- Grilled Tandoori Chicken
- Grilled Chicken with Italian Style Salsa Verde
- JAPANESE FARM STYLE TERIYAKI Chicken
Grilled Sambal Chicken
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 15 mins
- Total Time: 30 mins
- Yield: 6 1x
- Category: Main, chicken
- Method: Grilled
- Cuisine: Indonesian
Description
A flavorful Grilled Indonesian Style, Sambal Chicken that is easy and delicious! Serve with Asian Slaw or Thai Crunch Salad!
Ingredients
- 2 – 2 1/2 lbs Chicken (boneless, skinless chicken thighs)
- 4 garlic cloves
- 1 1/2 tablespoon sliced fresh ginger
- 1/4 cup sriracha sauce
- 1/4 cup fish sauce
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
- 2 tablespoons olive oil or peanut oil
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce or Bragg’s liquid Amino
- 1/4 cup Sambal Olek ( garlic chili paste) plus 1 -2 tablespoons more for extra spicy.
- 8–10 Pre-soaked Skewers (optional)
Garnish Options: crushed roasted Peanuts, fresh mint leaves, sliced scallions
Serve with Thai Crunch Salad or Asian Slaw.
Instructions
- Cut chicken into bite-size pieces (to skewer) or leave whole and place them in a gallon zip lock bag or bowl.
- Place the rest of the ingredients, except Sambal Oelek (or red chili paste) in a blender, and blend until smooth. Stir in the Sambal Oelek chili paste, to combine. Pour marinade over the chicken and marinate for 15 minutes or overnight.
- Pre-heat the grill to med-high.
- Skewer chicken (or leave whole)
- Pour the leftover marinade into a small pot, bring to a simmer, and simmer on low for 5-10 mins, until thickened and reduced. You will use it to baste the chicken.
- Place chicken on a hot, preheated, greased grill. Cover. Cook 5 minutes or longer until deep grill marks appear. Turn over, baste, cover. Once you’ve got a good sear on both sides, and both sides are basted, turn heat to low, or move to upper rack and continue cooking through ( or finish in 375 oven).
- Serve with Thai Crunch Salad, or the Asian Slaw garnish with fresh mint, scallions and crushed roasted peanuts, or try this Peanut Chili Crunch (Seroendeng)!
Notes
Of course, you can use chicken breast, just cook a little less so it doesn’t get overcooked or dry.
Nutrition
- Serving Size:
- Calories: 272
- Sugar: 21.3 g
- Sodium: 1192 mg
- Fat: 6.6 g
- Saturated Fat: 1.7 g
- Carbohydrates: 21 g
- Fiber: 0.3 g
- Protein: 30.6 g
- Cholesterol: 142 mg
For the Sambal chicken, is there anything I could substitute instead of the Fish Sauce?
Perhaps more soy sauce- maybe just 2 tablespoons more?
Fantastic recipe- nice bit of kick and great flavor. My partner kept saying over and over how good it was. Served with the Thai Crunch salad and coconut rice. Definitely will be a regular in our cooking adventures!
Great to hear Laura!
This recipe creates the best chicken I have ever made! The first time I made it we also made the Thai Crunch Salad, which was delicious. The next time, I made the chicken for Asian style tacos, they were great!
Love that taco idea! Thanks Jacob!
You reheat the sauce that the chicken was marinating in correct? Heating it to be hot enough to cook off any bacteria I assume? Thanks!
Correct!;)
Yum!
How could I cook it without the grill? 🙂
I would Roast in a 400F oven on parchment-lined sheet pan until internal temp reaches 170F – approx 20-30 minutes.
Made this with salmon instead of chicken… delicious!
Love it! Great idea!
Ooohh, I came here to comment that I’m doing the same! Chicken thighs last night were out of this world. Tonight is salmon and I’m making a batch of marinade to freeze.
Awesome Cori!
Fabulous. My guests absolutely loved this. I made this chicken, asian slaw and the aguachile.
Great to hear!
Would you be able to give me the calories p.p.? I am dieting and would love to make this, but… I am very calorie conscious. Many thanks!
(By the way, the official name of the Sambal that you are referring to is OELEK.)
thanks, Barbara, I added the Nutritional info for you!
Thank you so much! I’m going to make this over the weekend and will definitely send in my comments. Looking forward to this treat.
I have cooked this chicken on the grill many, many times – I LOVE IT!!!! Today it is cold and I wanted to try baking it in the oven. Have you ever baked rather than grilled? Any tips? Thank you so much!!
Hi Laura, I haven’t baked this, but don’t see why it wouldn’t work?
This is a phenomenal recipe! The sauce is absolutely ridiculously good, the only change I made was to half the sugar. I left the chicken thighs whole and put them over the thai crunch salad, edamame, white rice, and a bit of pickled ginger on the side. This is definitely going to become a staple in our house.
Glad you liked this Caitin!
Soooooo good!! I be just discovered your blog and can’t wait to make everything! This chicken is delicious!! Thank you for sharing.
This chicken recipe was definitely my family’s favorites!!! Everyone loved it. Another quick question- I made a lot of extra marinade. What’s the best way to store it – fridge? Freezer? And for how long?
Thank you!
You know this marinade should keep for a couple weeks in the fridge, in a sealed jar. Or feel free to freeze.
So delicious! Turned out so moist and flavorful!
Yay Diane! Glad this worked for you! 🙌
We had it with the salad and rice (flavored with lime, cilantro and green onion)and it was one of the best meals we have ever had!! thank you sooo much!!
Oh awesome!
Hi Sylvia. Cooked your sambal oelek chicken with Thai salad. Oh ! Sooo delicious!!! My wife fell in love with me once again. Will be cooking it for friends after lockdown ends. Thank you.!!!
Thanks Roman!!!
I tripled the sauce ingredients and substituted chicken wings and drums for the thighs. Also added lemongrass + Cilantro and substituted palm sugar instead of brown sugar. Turned out phenomenal!
Great to hear!
Very flavorful, even though I cut the sambal olek to 1 T total to accomodate our toddler grandson. I left the chicken thighs whole, turned out beautifully.
So delicious! I subbed stevia instead of sugar and it worked just as well. Beautiful recipe
This was phenomenal!! SO easy and full of delicious flavor.
Great to hear!
This is the perfect summer dish. I have made the chicken a couple of times– always with the amazing thai crunch salad, and it’s always a hit. I love that the sweetness balances out the heat. And that the heat level is fairly adaptable to taste both in the initial ingredient list but also when basting– I add extra sauce to mine and leave it off of those who don’t love heat.
Im so glad you liked it and thanks for the comment and rating! xoxo
This recipe was awesome! Just the right amount of spiciness without being too spicy. i forgot to buy ginger so I made the recipe without it – still had tons of flavor. I would put this recipe in my top 10 chicken recipes. Thanks much for sharing.
Oh awesome! thanks Amy! glad you enjoyed.
Making this as I write. Can’t wait to eat!
This is THE BEST chicken recipe!! My family cannot get enough of this recipe. No changes needed. Thank you so much! I wish you would post more chicken recipes like this–easy to make but with *tons* of flavor.
I appreciate the feedback ….and I will make a point of doing that! Thanks Martha!
This looks yummy..! Must try this! Thank you for the recipe. 🙂
Thanks Atty, yes, it’s an easy one, tasty too….let me know what you think!