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Coconut Chicken is definitely a Wilkes Family Favorite. The chicken is marinated and grilled and then covered with a flavorful sticky glaze.
Sticky Coconut Chicken is one of our favorite ways to grill chicken in the summer. We really don’t call it Sticky Coconut Chicken at our house though. We call it Tar Chicken. It earned it’s nickname from the sauce that you put on the chicken, the sauce is cooked until it is almost as thick as tar, but not quite!
Recently my son brought a group of 17 friends home to Oregon for the weekend and requested this for a meal. It was a big hit with all 18 of them.
I don’t know where this recipe came from. It’s been in my recipe collection for years and it is a good one. The recipe calls for chicken thighs which is what I use all the time but it would also work with chicken breasts. Not only does it make it an inexpensive meal to serve and a great one for parties but the dark meat makes them nice and moist.
Tips for Making Sticky Coconut Chicken
The chicken is marinated in coconut milk with some ginger and red pepper flakes. You can control how spicy it is by the amount of flakes you add to the marinade and to the sauce.
Watch the sauce closely as it thickens, it can go from “just right” to “burned” very quickly. (Believe me, I have burned it more than once!) I usually cook it in a frying pan so the liquid level is shallower and it cooks faster that way. You want it thick but not so thick that you can’t spread it easily, not quite as thick as “tar”!
After glazing the chicken we like to pour the extra glaze over our rice – yum! I always serve it with rice pilaf, another family favorite!
Enjoy some other Wilkes family favorites:
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Coconut Chicken Recipe
Sticky Coconut Chicken
Ingredients
Sticky Coconut Chicken or "Tar" Chicken
- 8 boneless chicken thighs
- 3/4 cup canned coconut milk I usually am cooking about 10-12 thighs so I just use the whole can
- 1 Tbsp. minced ginger
- 1 tsp. fresh ground pepper
- 1 tsp. red pepper flakes
Chili Glaze:
- 3/4 cup rice vinegar
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 3 Tbsp. soy sauce
- 1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes
- 2 green onions chopped for garnish
- 1 tsp sesame seeds for garnish
Instructions
Sticky Coconut Chicken or "Tar" Chicken
- Marinade chicken in coconut milk, ginger, pepper and red pepper flakes at least one hour
- Grill on barbecue
Chili Glaze:
- Bring above ingredients to a boil over high heat and cook until mixture is reduced and thickened, 5-10 minutes depending on size of pan.
- Spread glaze over the grilled chicken. Sprinkle with green onions and sesame seeds.
Nutrition Facts:
Originally posted in 2008
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Kathi Soth says
I would like to cook this in the oven instead of grilling. Would you have any suggestions as to how to do this?