Barbecued Peanut Chicken

by Carolina Jantac, MS, RD, LD  •  Jump to Recipe
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Our recipe today is barbecued peanut chicken! Do you call yourself a grill master? I know many men in my life, including my husband, brother and a few friends, who are proud to display their mastering of the grill. According to the urban dictionary, a grill master is someone in charge of grilling food during a barbecue. That definition is not nearly as exciting as I thought it ought to be. Perhaps it should be something closer to: grill master – the one who handles grilling with excellence continuously outdoing himself with his sizzling creations! Too much? Maybe, but what’s important is that anyone can become a grill master. After playing with the dials and tank nozzles a bit, I learned how to turn on the grill all by myself. This was great achievement, since actually I was already familiar flipping the ingredients on the grill and adjusting the temperatures. Now I too can call myself a grill master.

Do you know what that means? Here comes more grilling recipes using our favorite Once Again nut butters, of course! The traditional taste coming from the grill usually involves barbecue sauce of some variety. But there are so many different flavors the grill can handle, I couldn’t wait to get started experimenting with them. Barbecue Peanut Chicken was one of my first recipes for the grill and one we go back to very often, mainly because of its simplicity and popularity. The first time I made it was for a small house party. Each guest who tried it, loved it and erupted into praise about how hard I must have worked to infuse all that flavor into the chicken. Little did they know that you don’t even have to marinate the chicken ahead of time! The secret is in making the paste that goes on the chicken when you place it on the grill.

The thick paste is made up of soy sauce, turmeric, lime juice, curry and peanut butter that sticks to the surface of the chicken. As the chicken grills, the paste softens and penetrates the meat. After a few minutes of cooking it one side, just flip over the chicken and add the rest of the paste to the other side and repeat the process. The result is a juicy, flavorful and tender chicken with a peanut butter-inspired flavor.

Now this recipe is part of our weekend routine. Sometimes I prepare the paste ahead of time and leave it in the refrigerator so that someone else can handle the grilling. Saturdays have become quite busy with the start of baseball season, swimming meets and gymnastic practices for the kids. It is nice to know that lunch will be ready in minutes when we arrive back home hungry from our morning activities! To complete the meal, a fresh green salad, steamed broccoli and corn on the cob are often family favorites. But go ahead and pair it up with your own favorite barbecue foods!

Need more recipes with peanut butter? Try our Peanut Butter Energy Balls!

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