Grilled Lemongrass Chicken

This Grilled Lemongrass Chicken is juicy, smoky, and bursting with bold citrusy flavor. Perfect for quick weeknight dinners, backyard BBQs, or flavorful meal prep!

A couple of months ago, Tuttle Publishing sent me a copy of a cookbook, Easy Thai Cooking by Robert Danhi. As I consider Thai food to be one of my favorite cuisines, I was very happy with this surprise gift and looked forward to trying all of my favorite recipes as well as other delicious new dishes from this cookbook that I have never tried before.

I put post-its everywhere in this book to mark my favorite ones, but the first recipe I wanted to try was one that everyone in my family loves – Grilled Lemongrass Chicken. My husband loves spicy food, but neither my children nor I can eat really spicy food, so we always go for mild flavors when we order Thai food. Now that I can cook Thai food at home and control the amount of spice, I look forward to trying many recipes from this book at home. Maybe even making a few spicy ones just for my husband to surprise him.

This was my very first time making Grilled Lemongrass Chicken at home. Actually my first time making anything with fresh lemongrass, but I was extremely happy with the result. It’s quite an easy process, too. I couldn’t find finger-size chilies for the homemade Thai Sweet Chili Sauce, so I substituted with dried chilies. But all the ingredients should be easily found in your nearby Asian store. I have never had palm sugar before, but the flavor and fragrance of this sugar are really amazing, so I wouldn’t substitute it with light brown sugar as the author suggested (unless you really can’t find the palm sugar). If you are worried about buying lemongrass and don’t know other lemongrass recipes, don’t worry. There are other delicious lemongrass recipes in the book, like Silky Butternut Squash Coconut Soup, Green Curry Pork with Eggplant, Cinnamon-scented Beef Noodle Soup, and more.

Everyone in my family really enjoyed this chicken, and I’ll be cooking it often. This time, I had prepared other main dishes, so I only cooked four chicken thighs. In the end, we wished that we had cooked more because the chicken was fabulous, and we wished that we had leftovers for the next day’s lunch! If you like Southeast Asian dishes, especially Thai food, this is a must-try.

Other Thai Recipes You May Enjoy:

• Thai Chicken Lettuce Wrap
• Coconut Curry

Grilled Lemongrass Chicken

4.75 from 4 votes

Juicy and flavorful grilled chicken thighs marinated with lemongrass, palm sugar, Thai chili, and fish sauce. Enjoy with homemade chili sauce. 

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Prep Time: 10 minutes mins

Cook Time: 20 minutes mins

Marinating Time: 1 hour hr

Total Time: 30 minutes mins

Servings: 4

Ingredients

 

US CustomaryMetric

 

1x2x3x

• ▢ 2 stalks lemongrass
• ▢ 2 tsp cilantro (coriander) (stems, minced)
• ▢ 2-4 Thai chilies
• ▢ ½ tsp white pepper powder
• ▢ 3 Tbsp fish sauce
• ▢ 2 Tbsp Thai palm sugar (or use light brown sugar)
• ▢ 6-8 chicken thighs
• ▢ 2 Japanese or Persian cucumbers

For Homemade Thai Sweet Chili Sauce

• ▢ 1 Tbsp red chilies (finger-length; minced)
• ▢ ½ Thai chili (minced)
• ▢ ½ Tbsp garlic (minced)
• ▢ ¾ tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt
• ▢ ¾ cup sugar
• ▢ 1 Tbsp fish sauce
• ▢ 6 Tbsp distilled white vinegar
• ▢ ¼ cup water

Japanese Ingredient Substitution: If you want substitutes for Japanese condiments and ingredients, click here.

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Instructions

 

• Before You Start…Please note that this recipe requires 1 hour of marinating time. 

  Gather all the ingredients.
  

To Marinate the Chicken

• Remove the outer skin of lemongrass till you see the tender inner part. We only need the bottom third and slice it thinly. Mince cilantro stems.
  
• Rinse and score the chicken pieces, at the thickest part, lightly with a knife.
  
• Chop Thai chilies and Thai palm sugar into small pieces.
  
  
• Make a coarse paste with the lemongrass, cilantro stems, chilies, and peppercorns using a mortar and pestle (or a mini-food processor).
  
• Mix in the fish sauce and palm sugar until the sugar dissolves.
  
  
• Coat the chicken with this spice paste. I put the spice paste and chicken in a Ziploc bag. Marinate in the fridge for at least one hour. Marinating chicken overnight always improves the flavor and tenderization.
  

To Grill the Chicken

• Preheat the grill to medium-low heat. Slowly grill the chicken, turning often until cooked through and golden brown all over. Alternatively you can rotisserie, bake, or broil this chicken until cooked through to an internal temperature of 165ºF (75ºC). We have a gas grill, but we also like cooking on a grill over charcoal so the flavor is good.
  

To Make Homemade Thai Sweet Chili Sauce

• Combine all the ingredients in a small saucepan and bring to a boil.
  
• Boil over medium heat for 10 minutes or until the mixture has reduced to 1 cup (240 ml). It might be still runny and not syrupy, but it will thicken further as it cools. Remove from the heat and cool to room temperature before storing in the refrigerator for up to 2-3 months.
  

To Serve

• Serve with wedges of cucumber to snack on and a bowl of Thai Sweet Chili Sauce for dipping.
  

To Store

• You can keep the leftovers in an airtight container and store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days or in the freezer for a month.

Notes

Chili: Be careful when handling fresh peppers in case you are allergic. Peppers can cause really painful burns to your skin (It happens to me! More info here).

Nutrition

Calories: 484 kcal · Carbohydrates: 28 g · Protein: 29 g · Fat: 28 g · Saturated Fat: 8 g · Polyunsaturated Fat: 6 g · Monounsaturated Fat: 12 g · Trans Fat: 1 g · Cholesterol: 166 mg · Sodium: 952 mg · Potassium: 560 mg · Fiber: 1 g · Sugar: 23 g · Vitamin A: 421 IU · Vitamin C: 40 mg · Calcium: 35 mg · Iron: 2 mg

Author: Namiko Hirasawa Chen

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Thai

Keyword: chicken

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Please Note: The Grilled Lemongrass Chicken recipe is reprinted with permission by Tuttle Publishing.

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of the book but was not asked to review this book by the publisher or author. I chose to review this book because I really enjoy this cookbook. All the opinions expressed are my own.