Grilled Lemongrass Chicken
Total Time
40 minutes
Prep Time
20 minutes
Cook Time
20 minutes
Rating
5 out of 5 stars
(19)
Ingredients
6 servings
- 2- 2 1/4 lbs chicken thighs, boneless and skinless
- 2 stalks lemongrass (1/2 cup chopped)
- 1 medium shallot, rough chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, whole
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce ( or GF Bragg’s Amino Acid)
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 2 teaspoons sugar ( or alternative sweetener)
- 1 teaspoon Five-Spice powder
- 1-3 teaspoons Chili Garlic Sauce ( optional, for heat)
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Preparation
Step 1
Preheat Grill to Med-High.
Step 2
Make the lemongrass paste. Thinly slice the tender white parts of the lemongrass stalks and place in the food processor. ( You do need to slice it first, otherwise, it will be stringy.) You should have roughly 1/2 cup. Add the garlic cloves and rough-chopped shallot. Pulse repeatedly until lemongrass gets broken down. Add oil, soy sauce, salt, sugar and Five-spice and optional chili garlic sauce and process into a paste, scraping down sides as needed. Process for a couple of minutes, until lemongrass is really chopped up finely and it looks like a paste. See photo.
Step 3
Coat all sides of the chicken with the paste. You can do this ahead and refrigerate up to 48 hours. Or grill right away.
Step 4
Oil the grill well. Grill chicken over medium-high, or medium heat, until deep grill marks appear, 3-4 minutes. The grill marks help naturally release the chicken from the grill, so wait for them. Do not move chicken around too much or you will lose the lemongrass. I like to use a thin metal spatula to flip. Then cook 3 more minutes, check for grill marks, then lower heat way down, cover with lid, and cook all the way through. You can also finish in a 350 F oven, uncovered.
Step 5
Serve over rice noodles with cucumber, mint, Thai basil and nuoc cham dressing. Or simply over rice.
Step 6
Save recipe for the next time?
