I’m sorry for the slight increase in Thai recipes here on A Duck’s Oven. But let me defend myself:
- Thai food is really good. This could be so much worse.
- Who cares? You’ll like it.
- I promise.
The inspiration for this recipe came while I was listening to one of my favorite podcasts, The Splendid Table. I am in no way benefiting from talking about them. LISTEN TO THIS PODCAST. Lynne Rosetto Kasper is my BFF (in my head).
Someone called into this podcast saying they had a bunch of coconut cream and wanted to do something with it that wasn’t a dessert, and the person subbing for Lynne while she was on vacation recommended a sauce for beets. Somehow that spiraled into the dish you’re looking at.
I truly think grilling is my favorite way to cook meat. Less messy, quick, it doesn’t heat up my house, direct heat = char. It’s perfect. Right now we use a propane grill, but eventually I’d like to have a propane and charcoal grill. A girl needs options.
The marinade is pretty basic and really wonderful: garlic, cilantro, fish sauce, brown sugar, soy sauce, lemongrass. I just used drumsticks, but you can use whatever cuts of chicken you’d like. Just make sure to use bone in, skin on for the most flavor.
I kept the beets very simple. Boiled until tender, tossed with olive oil, salt, and pepper, then into a grill basket to get a good char. I’ve never been much of a beet hater or a lover, but charred beets? Consider me the latter, now.
The sauce is lovely. It’s essentially a simplified coconut milk curry sauce. I could drink this silky, zesty stuff.
We ate ours with rice, but there’s no need if you want to skip it.
Pro tip: leftovers make excellent rice bowls for lunch (have I mentioned I’m rice bowl obsessed?). Before storing, I always remove the meat from the bones of our leftover chicken once it’s cooled, then put it all in a tupperware container and into the fridge. That way it’s a lot easier to eat in bowl form, and better yet eat at work without making a mess and/or looking ridiculous.
You can also view this recipe as a step-by-step web story here.
Get the Recipe:
Grilled Thai Chicken and Beets with Coconut Lime Sauce
Ingredients
Chicken:
- 8 bone in, skin on pieces of chicken (I used drumsticks)
- 2 tsp minced garlic
- 2 tbsp choppd cilantro
- 2 tbsp brown sugar
- 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- 2 tbsp fish sauce
- 2 tsp dark soy sauce
- 1 tbsp lemongrass paste, optional
Beets:
- 3 beets, peeled and diced into 1 inch cubes
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
Coconut Lime Sauce:
- Zest of 1 lime
- Juice of 1 lime
- 1 tsp curry powder
- 1 tsp white sugar
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup coconut cream, or use the cream at the top of a can of coconut milk
Instructions
- For the marinade, combine all ingredients except the chicken in a gallon sized ziploc bag. Add the chicken, seal the bag, and toss to coat. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours, up to 24 hours.
- For the beets, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add beets, and boil for 10-12 minutes, or until beet cubes are tender when pierced with a fork. Strain and run cold water over the beets to cool them.
- Preheat your grill over medium high heat.
- Once beets are cool, toss them with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Add them to a grill basket.
- Place the grill basket and marinated chicken legs to your preheated grill. Reduce grill heat to medium under the beets and medium low under the chicken. Cover. Let cook for 7 minutes, then flip the chicken and toss the beets. Cook for another 7 minutes then remove chicken to a plate and remove grill basket.
- While the chicken and beets are cooking, prepare the coconut lime sauce by adding all ingredients to a small sauce pan. Cook for about 5 minutes over low heat, or until smooth and warmed. Taste and adjust salt and lime juice as necessary.
- Serve over steamed white rice (optional) with coconut lime sauce poured over the chicken and beets.
This was beyond good. And so many pantry staples! Will be back.