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!
Why use fish sauce? Doesn’t it taste fishy?!
If you are not accustomed to fish sauce, or think you will hate, try again!
Fish sauce is the simply the added salt in many Asian cuisines. It also lends incredible umami to any dish (pungent irresistible flavor)!
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 for Vietnamese grilled chicken and more chicken marinades:
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).
Firstly, I whip together several quick and easy marinades.
Then, I place each marinade in a Ziploc bag along (or other container) with a dinners worth of chicken meat.
Finally, I let those individual bags marinate overnight then place them in the freezer for ready made meals!! Here are some of my favorite chicken marinades:
- Lemon Garlic Chicken
- Asian Garlic Chicken
- Thai Garlic Chicken
- Chicken Fajitas
- Chicken Tikka Masala
- Cilantro Lime Chicken @ Tasty Thin
- Keto Fried Chicken @ MY PCOS Kitchen
Vietnamese Grilled Chicken Recipe:
If you try this Vietnamese chicken marinade recipe, please come back and leave a comment and let me and other readers know what you thought!
Vietnamese Grilled Chicken
Ingredients
- 2 pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs or if you prefer, with skin and bones (lean cuts of meat will not work overly well with this dish)
Marinade:
- 4 tablespoons avocado oil
- 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
- 2 tablespoons fish sauce
- 1 1/2 teaspoons black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/4 teaspoon honey may omit
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
-
Mix all marinade ingredients together.
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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*
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Preheat grill to hot.
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Add chicken to quickly sear for a couple of minutes, then flip to do the same to the other side.
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Turn down temp to med-low, close your lid, and let cook gently until done (Meat will register 165 degrees)
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Remove from grill, tent with some foil, and let the meat rest a couple of minutes.
-
Slice and serve with sticky rice and dipping sauce!
Recipe Notes
PLAN FOR MARINATE TIME!!
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OH, my!!!!!This chicken recipe has become a family favorite including our extended family. It’s regularly one we use at the family cabin when all together. The dipping sauce has a kick, and is used my those with a love for spice pallet. Younger children tend to stay away from the sauce and enjoy the chicken alone. It can be prepared ahead of time and best cooked on the barbecue. It’s our keeper!
I’m ready to start grilling! This looks an easy, super flavor-filled recipe and low in carbs too! 🙂
STACEY CRAWFORD recently posted…Keto Blackberry Cheese Danish Turnovers
I’m always looking for new quick and easy recipes, this one hits the spot! Thank you so much it is banked and saved for dinner this week.
I cannot wait to make this! The flavors look amazing!
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.
Love how simple and delicious this recipe is. How wonderful!
This looks epically flavorful! Mmmmmm! That marinade!!
That sweet, salty and tangy marinade is everything! It’s the perfect flavor for grilled chicken.
Sounds amazing! I needed a dinner change up this week – might try this! Thanks!
This sounds so flavorful and delicious! I love everything in the marinade and I would eat that dipping sauce with everything.
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.
It totally does Teresa!! A life save on those busy days of a million after school things!
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!
Looks delicious! Guess I need to get a grill this summer…. 😉
You MUST Raia! I adore my grill and love how it gets the heat out the kitchen in the summer!
I’ve made this a lot – delicious!
Glad you like it Betsy, one of my go-to quick and easy dinners
Simple = MY FAVORITE so this is right up my alley!
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
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.
Glad you like it as much as we do Betsey, hope the no grill version works well too!
I put it under the broiler for a few minutes on each side and works well.
good to know Betsey, thanks!!
Thanks for sharing on Mostly Homemade Mondays! I hope you join us again next week 🙂
Kelli @ The Sustainable Couple
What an interesting and delicious looking recipe! I’ve pinned for later so that I can try it. I’ve never used fish sauce. Where do you find it? Thanks for sharing at Savoring Saturdays!
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.
How can I make this recipe on the stove or in the oven? I don’t have a grill. Thanks!
This looks MARVELOUS! Think I’ll do it with drumsticks and and thighs. Thanks so much.
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.
I love the simplicity of this Tessa. Beautiful flavors are allowed to shine through. You’re right that fish sauce smells really funky but it imparts such great flavor.
This flavor combo looks really good. Thanks for sharing with GAPS Friendly Fridays! A reminder for GAPSters: Choose the honey, not the sugar!
Thank you for your submission on Nourishing Treasures’ Make Your Own! Monday link-up.
Check back later tonight when the new link-up is running to see if you were one of the top 3 featured posts! 🙂
I cook a lot with fish sauce and anchovy paste it really heightens flavor. Thanks for sharing this on foodie friday and I will pin it too.
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! 🙂
Fish sauce is so misunderstood in our culture! I love traditional Vietnamese food too Michelle, a total weakness of mine!
This chicken would be delicious, Tessa. Hope you are having a great week and thank you so much for sharing with Full Plate Thursday.
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Miz Helen
you are a diva indeed! thanks for linking with KiK
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!
I CANNOT WAIT to try this!!! Pinning!! Thanks for sharing 🙂
Yum! I pinned this one for this summer.
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.
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!
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.
will i still taste the serrano if I seed it? how hot are they?