This Keto grilled chicken & peanut sauce is the perfect low carb Summer recipe! Juicy and flavorful grilled chicken, topped with a tangy ginger peanut sauce – it’s great for parties, or to have on hand for an easy Keto lunch all week long!
Summer is in full swing, which typically means cooking outside whenever possible to avoid your kitchen temperature rivaling that of the surface of the sun. ☀️??
I like to prep a bunch of Keto friendly veggies and proteins and grill them all at once, so that I have easy low carb lunches and even dinners ready for a few days at a time. This Keto grilled chicken & peanut sauce lends itself perfectly to being grilled ahead.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s amazing hot and sizzling straight off the grill! But it’s almost as good served cold on a salad – and that Keto peanut sauce is the perfect dressing for greens or cabbage!
I used chicken thighs for this Keto grilled chicken & peanut sauce recipe because I’m partial to them. Their high fat content makes them great for a low carb high fat diet, but they are also one of the tastiest cuts in my opinion.
That being said, if you prefer the drier breast meat like Mr. Hungry does, then you can absolutely grill breasts or tenders instead – and the peanut sauce is high enough in fat to compensate for the lower fat content in the meat. Get breasts with skin on if you can, it protects the meat during cooking and keeps the chicken from drying out on the grill.
The flavors in the Keto chicken marinade and the peanut sauce are classic Thai – ginger, garlic, fish sauce, coriander, etc. There is a bit of heat to it, but not so much as to be overwhelming, and it’s easily customized to your preference.
As you can see in the photos, I served this Keto grilled chicken & peanut sauce on a bed of raw white and red cabbage and I highly recommend doing that as well. Not only does it look really nice, the juice and sauce coats the cabbage and turns it into a delicious Keto side dish with pretty much no extra work involved – especially if you buy bagged slaw mix.
Attractive, delicious, AND easy? YASSSSSSS! ???
This Keto grilled chicken & peanut sauce is perfect for your next BBQ or patio party and is guaranteed to be a hit with even people who aren’t doing a low carb diet!
Don’t have a grill? No problem – you can easily bake or saute this chicken with great results!
Keto Grilled Chicken & Peanut Sauce
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
Description
This keto grilled chicken & peanut sauce is the perfect low carb Summer recipe! Easy and delicious, it’s also low carb, gluten free & Atkins friendly!
Ingredients
For the Chicken:
- 1 Tbsp lime juice
- 1 Tbsp fish sauce (sugar free)
- 1 Tbsp rice wine vinegar (sugar free)
- 1 Tbsp soy sauce (wheat free) (coconut aminos for Paleo)
- 1 Tbsp avocado oil (or other light oil)
- 1 tsp minced fresh ginger
- 1 tsp minced fresh garlic
- 1 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- 1 tsp granulated erythritol sweetener (honey for Paleo)
- 6 skin on chicken thighs (or other cut if you prefer)
For the Peanut Sauce:
- 1/2 cup peanut butter or almond butter (sugar free, all natural)
- 1 tsp minced fresh ginger
- 1 tsp minced fresh garlic
- 1 Tbsp chopped fresh jalapeño pepper
- 1 Tbsp fish sauce (sugar free)
- 2 Tbsp rice wine vinegar (sugar free)
- 1 Tbsp lime juice
- 2 Tbsp water
- 2 Tbsp granulated erythritol sweetener (or to taste) (honey for Paleo)
Instructions
For the Chicken:
- Combine the lime juice, fish sauce, rice wine vinegar, soy sauce, avocado oil, ginger, garlic, cayenne pepper, ground coriander and sweetener in a large bowl and whisk together.
- Add the chicken pieces and stir to coat the chicken thoroughly with the marinade.
- Cover and refrigerate for a minimum of one hour, up to 24 hours.
- Remove from the refrigerator 1/2 hour before cooking and preheat the grill.
- Grill the chicken for about 6-8 minutes per side over medium heat, or until a thermometer inserted in the center reads 165 degrees.
- Remove and serve with peanut sauce.
- Optional garnishes include shredded cabbage, chopped peanuts, chopped scallions and chopped cilantro.
For the Peanut Sauce:
- Combine all of the sauce ingredients in a blender, magic bullet, or food processor and blend until smooth.
- Taste and adjust sweetness and saltiness to your preference before serving.
Notes
The chicken can be baked or sautéed rather than grilled if that is your preference. Bake for about 40 minutes at 400 degrees, or saute over medium heat for about 5 minutes per side or until a meat thermometer reads 165 degrees at the center.
Approximate nutrition info broken down by component:
1 marinated grilled chicken thigh with skin on: 384 calories, 25g fat, .5g net carbs, 37g protein
2 Tbsp peanut sauce: 108 calories, 2.5g net carbs, 4g protein
- Category: Main Dish
- Method: Grilling
- Cuisine: Thai
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 chicken thigh & 2 Tbsp sauce
- Calories: 492
- Fat: 33g
- Carbohydrates: 3g net
- Protein: 41g
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Margarita says
It’s super rare that I don’t adjust the recipe, especially if it’s an Asian recipe. This one is an absolutely fantastic, full of flavor and super well balanced recipe. Just awesome and tasty! I didn’t have to add anything to it and sweet/sour balance is perfect!
★★★★★
Mellissa Sevigny says
Thanks so much!
T says
Easy, tasty and I had all the ingredients on hand! Will make again!!
★★★★★
Sarah says
This is a great sauce! Since I’m using this as a salad dressing, I added avocado oil and the liquid from a can of coconut milk to thin it out. I didn’t have the fish sauce on hand, so I substituted it with half soy sauce, half rice vinegar as Google suggested. I appreciate how this recipe includes many staples in my kitchen that I already have on hand!
★★★★★
Kara says
We really liked it but also had to dilute the sauce a bit. Great dish!
★★★★
Sarah RdV says
I just wanted to say that this recipe is FANTASTIC. Made it last night and my family thoroughly enjoyed it. Thank you for your consistently delicious recipes (I’ve made quite a few others). The peanut sauce was thick for me, but I just diluted it with more water until I achieved the consistency I like and it was perfect.
Trina says
I’m in the process of making this dish; however the peanut sauce is coming out very thick like a paste. How do I fix this problem?
Jamie says
Mine came out pretty thick too. I added another tablespoon of rice vinegar, soy sauce, 2 more tablespoons of oil, and 2-4 more of water. Fixed it perfectly.
Lard Belly says
Great recipe. Loved the marinade and peanut sauce. Actually one of the best peanut sauce recipes I’ve ever used. Thank you!!!
★★★★★
Karen says
Absolutely the best, I’ve tried many of your recipes but this one is the top of the list for us. Love it!!!
★★★★★
Mellissa Sevigny says
This is one of my favorites still too Karen! So glad you guys enjoyed it!!!
H Sheehan says
This was absolutely wonderful! I’ve been on keto for about two months, and I’ve made a lot of meals from online recipes, but this one is hands down the best! I used sliced chicken breast and put it in to marinate before work, and it came out perfect. I didn’t have any cabbage slaw, so I served it with cauliflower rice. Delicious!!
Kerri Knox says
This was so amazing! I can’t believe I have been wasting money on store bought peanut sauce all these years. This was so delicious,
★★★★★
TheaMaria says
Holy moly lady, this is delicious! Ive made it twice, first with bone-in thighs and this time breast tenderloin kabobs. The breast kabobs took on SO much more flavor from the marinade. Served it over coconut cauli rice.
★★★★★
Esther R. says
I can’t wait to try this . YUM !!
★★★★★
Jenn says
OMG This is my favourite recipe. The sauce goes with everything, and you’re right, it’s amazing cold! Thank you for sharing so many great recipes!
Amy says
This looks great! I can’t have fish sauce, is there a good sub for it? Thanks!
Leslie says
O
M
G.
This was an amazing dish! I loved all of the juxtaposed flavors. Summery Asian food at its finest. I did end up marinating the thighs for close to three days (oops!) and they were still magnificent. I’ll be making this again and again. Thank you!
★★★★★
Mellissa Sevigny says
Thanks so much Leslie, I already can’t wait to make this one again too!
Rick says
Peanuts and therefore peanut butter is not keto diet compliant. Almonds and almond butter are. This is labeled as a keto recipe but heavily emphasises the peanut sauce so this needs to be made clear.
Mellissa Sevigny says
You sir, are incorrect. What “needs to be made clear” is that people should do their research before making bald statements on the internet – or anywhere else for that matter. Peanuts are a legume and therefore not Paleo compliant, the keto diet has no such prejudice. For the purpose of keto your body only cares about glucose levels and as long as you are eating 20g or less of carbohydrates a day, it doesn’t matter if it’s peanuts, almonds, or pineapple – you’ll stay in ketosis.
Mike says
Most off the shelf peanut butters have way too much sugar, thus do not meet the Keto guidelines. So I partially see his point.
Jan Taylor says
I’ve made this recipe two times and have absolutely LOVED it both times! Everything works so well together—the heat, the sweet, the crunch from the cabbage. Thank you for sharing the results of your work in your kitchen!
Jess says
I definitely want to try this cold on a salad! Any suggestions for a low carb dressing that would work? I’m thinking some kind of ginger sesame something? ?
Mellissa Sevigny says
The peanut sauce works as a dressing too – but ginger sesame something would also be great!
Amanda Kiser says
Thank you for this. It was amazing. Mr. Please not chicken again liked it. I love what one person said about using the sauce for dressing on a salad. I think I will do that with the left overs.
Christine Anderson says
Oh my, this looks amazing!! I love peanut sauce, so this is totally up my alley. :D Think I will be trying it in the coming week. ;) Thank you so much for sharing such amazing recipes!
Meagan says
what is sugar free peanut butter? Like the powdered kind? And if so, are you supposed to constitute it with water first, or do 1/2 cup of the powder?
Mellissa Sevigny says
An all natural peanut butter that doesn’t contain sugar. A lot of popular store brands like Jif, etc contain quite a bit of sugar and therefore extra carbs. Look for a brand without any sugar in the ingredients list.
Roxanne says
This was awesome! Thanks for the great recipe. I served it over a crunchy salad with cabbage (inspired by your photo :-)) Family loved it. Said it was the best peanut sauce we ever had.
Only sub I used was honey for the peanut sauce. Loved it!
★★★★
Annaliese says
Can’t wait to try this! A restaurant near me serves a salad with a spicy peanut dressing that I adore but probably is high in carbs. Now I can recreate it at home with this sauce!
Beth Fagundes says
Does the fat content come mostly from the chicken or the peanut butter? I
Jan says
This sounds amazing. I have one with nut allergies, so I will substitute with sesame tahini and see how it turns out! Thanks for the inspiration!
★★★★★
Mellissa Sevigny says
That should work fine Jan, hope it’s a hit!
Kristen says
I’m psyched to try this recipe…but…I have food allergies and I’m curious — what (if anything) can I substitute for the fish sauce?
Thanks! :)
Your newest fan,
Kristen
Mellissa Sevigny says
Hi Kristen and welcome! You can use soy sauce or coconut aminos and get a similar salty tang as the fish sauce provides in most recipes, including this one! Enjoy!