It makes great leftovers, and is completely flexible in how you decide to cook it — stovetop, oven, grill. Serve it with some rice noodles or steamed jasmine rice and some crunchy quick-pickled vegetables and you’ve got a complete meal filled with fantastic flavors and textures.
Don’t be surprised when there are no leftovers!
Lemongrass Chicken
Serves 4-6
6 Chicken thighs, boneless skinless preferably
2 Tbsp. avocado oil
Lemongrass Marinade
1 Lemongrass stalk, roughly chopped
2 Tbsp ginger, finely chopped or grated
5 cloves garlic, finely chopped or grated
2 Tbsp soy sauce
2 Tbsp honey
2 Tbsp avocado oil
2 limes, zest and juice
1 tsp black pepper
Sesame-Scallion Oil
½ c. avocado oil
1 bunch scallions, thinly sliced
2 Tbsp ginger, finely chopped
2 Tbsp garlic, finely chopped
2 T. sesame seeds
1 tsp salt
1 tsp gochugaru (Korean chili powder)
Mint leaves (optional garnish)
Cilantro leaves (optional garnish)
Serve with room temperature rice noodles or steamed jasmine rice
Preparation
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
- To prep the lemongrass, slice off the bottom and remove any outer leaves that are bruised or don’t look good. Then, roughly chop the lemongrass.
- Combine all of the marinade ingredients into the bowl of a food processor and pulse until everything is combined and a paste is formed. Coat the chicken with the marinade and leave to sit for at least 30 minutes or overnight in the refrigerator.
- While the chicken is marinating, start the sesame scallion oil by combining all of the ingredients, except the avocado oil, into a heat proof bowl.
- Next, in a small saucepan, heat the avocado oil over medium heat until it is very hot – just before it starts to smoke. Then, carefully pour that hot oil over the scallion mixture. It will sizzle and start to smell amazing as the oil cooks everything. Using a spoon, stir everything around to combine and then set aside.
- To cook the chicken, heat a saute pan over medium heat. Add 2 tablespoons of avocado oil and let it heat up.
- While the oil is heating up, season both sides of the chicken generously with kosher salt. Then, add the chicken to the pan and let it cook for about 5 minutes and then flip over and repeat.
- Transfer the chicken to a sheet pan and roast in the oven for another 10 minutes or until the internal temperature has reached 165 degrees. Remove and let rest.
- To serve, top chicken with the sesame-scallion oil, cilantro and mint and serve with rice noodles or steamed white rice.
Notes:- You can easily double the amount of chicken (if you want leftovers) without needing to double the marinade.
- You can use bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs. You will just need to cook for an additional 5+ minutes.
- You skip the stove-top cooking of the chicken and just roast on a sheet pan if you prefer. The chicken will likely not get as caramelized and browned, but it will still be delish!
- You can also grill this chicken instead.
- Any oil you use should be a neutral flavored oil, like avocado, peanut, grapeseed, etc.
- If you can’t find gochugaru, you can substitute it with red chili flakes. If you prefer no heat, you can just omit it.Hello, I’m Natalie! I’m a professionally-trained chef, culinary instructor and recipe developer living in Ann Arbor. A career change, a trip through culinary school 20 years ago, and being a lifelong Julia Child enthusiast has led me to a career doing my very favorite thing: making food and cooking approachable to home cooks of all ages! My passion for creating great food experiences and getting people excited about learning and having fun in the kitchen is always at the heart of what I do. You can find me at NatalieMarbleCooks.com. And on social media you can find me at @NatalieMarbleCooks. Sign up for my bi-weekly email newsletter here, where I share family-friendly recipes, tips & tricks, new class information, and hopefully a little inspiration!
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