This Easy Thai Baked Chicken is a simple make-ahead meal to pop in the freezer for a busy day. It's a slightly spicy Thai chicken recipe made with coconut milk that leaves you wanting more! Paleo-friendly.
This Easy Thai Baked Chicken recipe makes a simple weeknight dinner but it's special enough for a date night or dinner party!
Don't you just love the complex tastes of Thai food? Thai recipes usually contain ingredients that are sour, sweet, salty, bitter and spicy. The marinade for this easy Thai Baked Chicken blends and balances those flavours harmoniously.
Cilantro, jalapeño, ginger, basil, garlic and coriander all play together with coconut milk to produce this aromatic, slightly spicy chicken dish that leaves you wanting more.
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❤️ Why you'll love this recipe
Easy and freezable. As much I love Thai dishes, I also love easy meals. Especially ones that I can make ahead and have in the freezer, ready to grab for a quick dinner on a busy day.
Grill or bake! This Thai chicken recipe also makes a great meal to take camping as it can easily be grilled instead of baked. It's suitable for those on a paleo diet, too!
Three simple steps!
- Blend all marinade ingredients in your blender or food processor.
- Pour the marinade into a zipper closure bag with the chicken. Let it marinate.
- Bake it in the oven.
🛒 Ingredients
Before we get to the full recipe for Thai chicken, here are a few notes about some of the ingredients.
- chicken: boneless, skinless chicken thighs or breasts
- coconut milk: the canned variety, full-fat, not the beverage
- cilantro
- basil: fresh leaves. Use Thai basil if it's available
- jalapeño: 1 large or 2 small. Adjust the amount depending on how much heat you like.
- coriander: dried
- ginger: fresh
- garlic: fresh cloves
- limes
- brown sugar: or coconut sugar. A small amount of sugar is important to balance the flavours in this recipe.
🔪 Step-by-Step Instructions
- Add the marinade ingredients to a food processor and purée until smooth.
- Arrange the chicken parts in a single layer in a large freezer bag. Pour the marinade sauce over the chicken, seal tightly or vacuum seal and massage the marinade into the chicken a bit. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours and up to 24 hours, or simply lay it flat in the freezer and freeze for another day.
- To bake: Preheat the oven to 375°F. Heat a large oven-proof skillet over medium to high heat. Add oil and wait until it ripples or shimmers. Add chicken pieces and sear on each side for 3-4 minutes, then place the skillet in the oven for 15 - 20 minutes, or until it has reached an internal temperature of 165°F. Check the temperature with an instant-read meat thermometer.
- Cover with foil and let it stand on a platter for 5 to 10 minutes before serving.
- If you want to grill it instead: Place the chicken on a medium-hot well-oiled grill. Use tongs to turn the pieces when the chicken has grill marks (approx. 5 to 6 min). Cook until the internal temperature is 165°F. at the thickest part (about 7 to 8 minutes).
- Sprinkle with more chopped cilantro and serve with lime wedges.
❓Frequently Asked Questions
Yes! It's delicious when grilled. Keep the heat to medium-low, oil the grill well before starting, and cook, turning once until the chicken has reached an internal temperature of 165°F. when measured at the thickest part with an instant-read meat thermometer.
I've made this recipe with several different brands of canned coconut milk, and it has always turned out well. I use the full-fat variety. It seems to help the marinade to cling to the chicken.
Yes, you can. I've made it with bone-in, skin-on thighs. For crispy skin, I'd suggest searing the chicken parts in an ovenproof skillet first, drain the excess fat, then add the marinade and bake in the oven. Depending on the size of the chicken parts, it will take about 30-40 minutes at 375°F.
Yes, there will be enough flavour from the other spices and herbs to still keep this chicken dish full of flavour. If you wanted to garnish it, you could use a little chopped parsley instead of cilantro.
I recommend that you don't omit the sugar, it's a small amount but it's important for balancing the flavours in this recipe. If you're avoiding sugar in your diet, you can use Monkfruit sweetener instead.
🥶 Storage and Freezer Instructions
If you're not planning to use this Thai Baked Chicken right away, lay the freezer bag with the chicken and the marinade flat on a baking sheet or other flat surface and freeze it. Then it will be ready for another day or to pack for a camping trip.
Make Thai Coconut Rice (which also freezes well) to go with it. Then all you'll have to do is prepare a salad and veggies.
How easy is that?
🗒 More chicken recipes to marinate and freeze
Love easy meals that you can prep, marinate and freeze? Here are a few more favourites!
Caribbean Jerk Chicken Breasts
This easy chicken dish has consistently been one of the most popular recipes on Flavour and Savour. It has lots of flavour without being overly spicy and it's quick and easy to make.
📖 Recipe
Easy Thai Baked Chicken
Ingredients
- 6-8 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves or 12 boneless chicken thighs
- 1 tablespoon oil (for skillet)
Marinade
- 1-½ cups chopped fresh cilantro
- ¾ cup canned coconut milk
- 12 leaves fresh basil
- 1 large or 2 small jalapeños, seeds removed
- 3 cloves garlic
- ¼ inch slice of fresh ginger
- 1-½ teaspoon salt
- 1-½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- ¾ teaspoon ground coriander
- 2 teaspoon packed brown sugar, or coconut palm sugar
- 2 limes cut into wedges, for garnish
Instructions
- Add marinade ingredients to food processor and purée until smooth.
- Arrange chicken parts in a single layer in a large freezer bag. Pour marinade over chicken, seal tightly or vacuum seal and massage the marinade into the chicken a bit. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours and up to 24 hours, or simply lay it flat in the freezer and freeze for another day.
- To bake: Preheat oven to 375F. Heat a large oven-proof skillet over medium to high heat. Add oil and wait until it ripples or shimmers. Add chicken pieces and sear on each side for 3-4 minutes, then place skillet in oven for 15 - 20 minutes or until it has reached an internal temperature of 165 degrees.
- Cover with foil and let stand on a platter for 5-10 minutes before serving.
- If you want to grill it instead: Place chicken on medium-hot well-oiled grill. Turn when chicken has grill marks (approx. 5-6 min). Cook until internal temperature is 165 degrees at the thickest part (about 7-8 minutes).
- Sprinkle with more chopped cilantro and serve with lime wedges.
Su
Can I directly bake it without searing on the stove top? If yes how long should I bake it?
Elaine
Hi Su, If you're using boneless skinless chicken thighs you wouldn't have to sear them first. Bake for about 30 minutes or until the internal temperature of the thickest part of the thigh registers 165°F. If you use skin-on chicken parts, I think it would be more appealing to sear them before baking. Thanks for your question! Hope this helps you.
hedda
Can you partially cook the marinated chicken and then thaw and finish on a grill?
Elaine
Hi Hedda, I'm a stickler for food safety, so I'd be worried about storing partially cooked chicken. Any bacteria present would not have been destroyed. This chicken cooks quickly on a pre-heated grill, usually in about 15 minutes. Thanks for your question! I hope this helps.
Leyla
This looks so delicious! I must try , what do you think I should serve this with? I am going to give it a try!
Elaine
Hi Leyla,
I love this chicken dish! I like it with rice, especially my Never-Fail Thai Coconut Rice. Add a healthy salad or something like this Asian Pear Slaw with Ginger and Lime. Enjoy! Let me know how you like it.
Annette Young
It was delicious. I would make more marinade to have in noodles!!!
Elaine
Hi Annette, That's a great idea! Love it and going to do that next time I make this dish!
Michelle
Hi. I just prepared the marinade 2 days in advance. I got excited reading this recipe and had all the ingredients on hand. I kept the seeds in the jalapenos bc we like spicy. This marinade is amazing! I didn't realize it would be thick. After pouring it into my container I realized that this would make a terrific dip with vegetables and chips, etc. I would just add less jalapeno seeds. Will the flavor keep if I grill the chicken or do you think searing on the stove will keep the flavor better? The flavors are insane. Thank you 🙂
Elaine
Hi Michelle, So happy to hear you like this as much as I do! As far as the cooking method, I have cooked this Thai chicken in the oven, on the stovetop, on an outdoor grill and even on a small barbecue on a sailboat! It's always flavourful, no matter how I cook it. Thanks for sharing your idea to use it as a dip--must try that!