Satay chicken & chickpeas with Asian pesto

An easy satay sauce recipe is something I think everyone should have in their cooking arsenal and it’s so adaptable depending on what you have in and like to eat. You could swap the smooth peanut butter for crunchy peanut butter or almond butter, the red Thai paste for curry powder or the honey for brown sugar. What, I think, makes this recipe so good for weeknight dinners, is that you only have to make one sauce and it’s used in two different ways: as a smooth peanut sauce for the chickpeas, and as a marinade for the chicken which chars and crisps up in the oven.

I realise the term ‘Asian pesto’ has the potential to upset cooking traditionalists, but it’s really just a way of describing the style of this sauce: peanuts replace pine nuts, lime replaces lemon, mint and coriander replace basil and a fresh, fragrant sauce to drizzle over the rich peanut stew and chicken is what you’re left with.

This is a great one for meal prep, too. Chicken thighs reheat well without becoming dry and tough, and the chickpeas become more flavoursome the longer they’re left to get to know the satay sauce they sit in.

Ticking all of the nutritional boxes sometimes feels overwhelming but this dish really proves that cooking a high protein and high fibre recipe with lots of plant points, healthy fats and diversity can be fairly easy. It’s also a no chop recipe, which is something I think we can all get on board with for midweek dinners.

I hope you love this satay chicken, satay chickpeas and Asian pesto dish and if you do make it, please send me a picture or tag me on my instagram @jesshallcooks Happy cooking!

Serves 2

500g canned cooked chickpeas

2 skinless chicken thighs

5tbsp smooth peanut butter

2 garlic cloves grated

2 inch piece ginger grated

2tbsp red Thai curry paste

2tbsp light soy sauce

1tbsp dark soy sauce

2tbsp honey or brown sugar

Juice of 1/2 lime

400ml full fat coconut milk

Peanut pesto

1/4 cup peanuts

Large handful mint leaves

Large handful coriander leaves

3tbsp olive oil

Pinch of salt

Juice of 1/2 lime

1 garlic clove

Toppings:

I used some pink pickled onions, peanuts and herbs for toppings, but you could use whatever you like! Spring onions, chilli oil, pickled onions, crispy onions and fresh mint and coriander all work well.

Method

Preheat the oven to 220C/fan 200/gas 7.

To a large mixing bowl, add the peanut butter, red thai paste, soy sauces, ginger, garlic, coconut milk, honey and lime juice. Whisk well until relatively smooth.

Add the chickpeas to a large saucepan. Add two thirds of the satay sauce mixture to the chickpeas and add the remaining third to a baking dish/tray.

Add the chicken thighs to the baking dish/tray and toss in the satay sauce before placing in the oven for 25 minutes or until the chicken is cooked.

Bring the chickpeas to a low simmer and allow them to cook gently for 15 minutes.

To a food processor, add the ingredients for the pesto and pulse together until a rough pesto forms.

Plate the chickpeas, top with the chicken thighs and drizzle over lots of the pesto.