Tessa the Domestic Diva

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Vietnamese Grilled Chicken – Paleo AIP

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This Vietnamese grilled chicken takes minutes to throw together and has SO much flavor!  This is always a recipe that I get asked for over and over…no one has to know how easy and low maintenance it is!  As an added bonus it works for almost every sinlge special diet: Whole30, Paleo AIP, Keto, gluten free….you name it!
optimized for pinterest grilled vietnamese chicken with a spicy lime chili sauce

This is one of those really deceiving recipes.

Kind of like the item of clothing you see in the store and swear it will look awful on you: but try it on, and voila! A perfect fit.  A match made in heaven.

How can so few ingredients yield anything SO special?

Trust me on this one, this IS a special dish.  It is easy to throw together, and creates a pretty fabulous dinner!

Andrea Nguyen  hit a home-run again with this recipe.  Don’t be deceived by the simple ingredients, it is really delicious and the dipping sauce is a must!  I could eat this every week, no problem!  My kids gobble it up too.

Why Fish Sauce?

If you are not accustomed to fish sauce, or think you will hate, try again!  Fish sauce is the salt in many Asian cuisines.  I am a very finicky fish eater…any sort of fish taste and I head for the hills, really.  Even as far as my taste buds have come from my picky beginnings.  Fish sauce even smells funkilicious, but once in your food and cooked, it makes dishes truly sing.

If you have ever eaten Thai or Vietnamese food, you can bet you have had fish sauce.

 

Time Saving Meal Prep:

This is one of my favorite marinades to throw together when I do batch marinating.

This is how it works: I come home from the store with a whole bunch of boneless, skinless chicken thighs (or sometimes breasts), I whip together several quick and easy marinades.  I place each in a Ziploc bag along with a dinners worth of thighs.  I let those bag marinate overnight then place them in the freezer for ready made meals!!  Here are some of my favorites:

 

 

 

two white dipping dishes filled with lime juice, pepper, and sliced serrano peppers on a royal blue cutting board

The Deceiving Dipping Sauce…A Must!

Vietnamese Grilled Chicken Recipe:

 

vertical image of peppered Vietnamese grilled chicken thighs on the grill
5 from 7 votes
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Vietnamese Grilled Chicken

Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 20 minutes
Servings 6 -8
Calories 272 kcal
Author Tessa the Domestic Diva

Ingredients

  • 2 pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs or if you prefer, with skin (lean cuts of meat will not work overly well with this dish)

Marinade:

  • 1/4 teaspoon honey
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons black pepper
  • 2 tablespoon fish sauce
  • 2 tablespoon fresh lime juice
  • 4 tablespoons avocado oil

Dipping Sauce (adjust amounts to personal preferences, this is enough for 1-2 people):

  • 1 teaspoon coarse sea salt (not fine ground, it will be too salty)
  • 2 teaspoons black pepper
  • 4 tablespoons lime juice
  • 1 serrano chile sliced (w/ the seeds will be more spicy, without less so)

Instructions

  1. Mix all marinade ingredients together.

  2. Add in chicken and marinate for at least 3 hours, I usually put it together in the morning or at lunchtime.  *or see tip above*

  3. Preheat grill to hot.
  4. Add chicken to quickly sear for a couple of minutes, then flip to do the same to the other side.
  5. Turn down temp to med-low, close your lid, and let cook gently until done (Meat will register 165 degrees)
  6. Remove from grill, tent with some foil, and let the meat rest a couple of minutes.
  7. Slice and serve with sticky rice and dipping sauce!

Recipe Notes

PLAN FOR MARINATE TIME!!

Nutrition Facts
Vietnamese Grilled Chicken
Amount Per Serving
Calories 272 Calories from Fat 135
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 15g 23%
Saturated Fat 2g 10%
Cholesterol 143mg 48%
Sodium 1187mg 49%
Potassium 414mg 12%
Total Carbohydrates 2g 1%
Protein 29g 58%
Vitamin A 0.9%
Vitamin C 6%
Calcium 2.1%
Iron 7.6%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

vertical image of peppered Vietnamese grilled chicken thighs on the grill

 

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Comments

  3. Wow – the flavours in this look incredible. Love the simplicity and the ingredients. Vietnamese food is a favourite of mine, and I definitely don’t make it at home often enough.

    Reply

  6. That sweet, salty and tangy marinade is everything! It’s the perfect flavor for grilled chicken.

    Reply

  9. I always like it when a recipe says it’s easy! I never heard of fish sauce. I’ll have to look into that. I like your time-saving meal prep suggestion too. That’s something I want to get better at doing. Would make life much easier.

    Reply

  10. Well this sounds like my kind of meal! I used to be a hard core chicken breast lover years ago but no more. Chicken thighs are a million times better in my opinion!

    Reply

  14. Love this post-I’m the same fish stocks/fish ingredients can be strong but your marinade looks and sounds perfect. Love the dress analogy too! I can’t wait to try this! Thanks for linking up to #tastytuesdays x

    Reply

  15. Delicious! My husband and I have made it several times and love it. Our grill is broken this week, so going to try in our grill tray in the oven tonight.

    Reply

  18. First time seeing your blog and love the way you focus on healthy eating and dietary restrictions.
    Love all types of Asian cuisine and, as my daughter-in-law is part Vietnamese, next time she visits I will surprise her with this meal. It really looks delicious! Thanks for sharing on Waste Not Want Not Wednesday.

    Reply

  21. This is a very nice chicken dish. Would you be happy to link it in to my Chicken Edition of Food on Friday? This is the link . I found you via Melt in Your Mouth Monday.

    Reply

  26. Mmmm…I love this recipe! My husband is Vietnamese so we eat a lot of the traditional foods here. I like how you educate everyone about fish sauce…it really does make the food “sing.” Thanks for sharing! 🙂

    Reply

  27. This chicken would be delicious, Tessa. Hope you are having a great week and thank you so much for sharing with Full Plate Thursday.
    Come Back Soon!
    Miz Helen

    Reply

  29. Tessa, I have purposefully stayed away from chicken for awhile, just because it seemed like that was all we were eating. This recipe has encouraged me to stop and pick up a pack of thighs and prepare this for dinner one night. Our daughter is not fond of ‘hot’ or ‘spicy’ foods, so I will probably have to cut back in that area. Thanks for sharing this week!

    Reply

  32. not surprised…..I'd thought about it, but chicken breasts do not lend themselves to charring, they dry out too quickly! Thanks for letting everyone know for sure! As with any recipe that has very few simple ingredients, each ingredient pays an even larger roll in the finished product.

    Reply

  33. I made this dish with chicken breasts b/c it's what I had in the freezer AND wouldn't recommend it. I think the thighs would offer more flavor…fyi!

    Reply

  34. yes you will…but as with all peppers, some can be fiery, others more mellow, even if they are the same variety. I've never had a problem with the seeds myself, but I do like spicy things! And you don;t have to eat the peppers/seeds if it is too much for you.

    Reply
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