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
Originally posted in 2008
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I would like to cook this in the oven instead of grilling. Would you have any suggestions as to how to do this?
whatever you call it, it sounds delicious, and soon to be one of our family favorites too
No one else asked this so I guess I am the lame on here but do you add the marinade (coconut milk and seasoning) to the chili sauce recipe?
Diana, Not sure I understand your question. The coconut milk and seasoning marinade is thrown after you remove the chicken from it to cook it. Hope that helps.
I have a feeling I’m gonna love this recipe. 🙂 There’s always cuts of chicken in the freezer and cans of coconut milk in the cupboard, so this will be the next new recipe for me to try…just as soon as I get a bottle of rice vinegar from the grocery. 😉
Alpha, I have even just used regular white vinegar when I didn’t have rice vinegar and it worked fine.
I can see why this is a family favorite! That sauce alone I want on a spoon!
Meg, The sauce is the best part!!
This looks absolutely delicious! 🙂 I am a huge fan of using chicken thighs in dishes too! The meat is so flavorful, and it is so budget friendly too.
Wonderful. I try make it. Thank you!
Just made this tonight, and it was a HUGE hit! Served it with steamed broccoli. Yum! Yum! Yum!
I am so glad it is one of our family’s all time favorite recipes!
Leigh Anne, this was wonderful my whole fam (kiddos + Mr) loved the chicken! I marinated it over night then grilled it off. I made it gluten free using what little tamari and Bragg Liquid Aminos I had for the sauce. It’s a keeper, glad I saw it via pinterest. I’ll be blogging & linking back soon! 🙂
So glad you found it and enjoyed it. It is one of our family’s most favorite dinners!! Looking forward to checking out some of your gluten free recipes.
My Father loves cooking. I will suggest to him this recipe. He would love to have this. I am not a good cook. But I do want to learn. Maybe this one would enable me to have the needed steps.
🙂
Just made this tonight and LOVED it. Used light coconut milk and only had thighs with bones in them (removed the skin) and used some drumsticks. Both thighs and drumsticks were awesome. Thank you for the great recipe.
So glad you enjoyed it – it is one of our all time summer favorites. Will have to try it with drumsticks too.
I loved it however, my sauce did not turn out 🙁 Did you ever have trouble with it not burning, but turning dark brown and almost crunchy?
I have had that happen before and that is what it does when it burns. Cook it a little slower and lower heat next time. It’s worth it!
Holy cow! This was so good! I tried this before and it just didn’t turn out right, but I made it today and I am so glad I tried again because this is good.
Glad it worked out better the second time!
Sarah,
I don’t see why you couldn’t use the rice vinegar. Sometimes when I am using a recipe that calls for rice vinegar and I am out I just use regular vinegar so they are pretty interchangeable – Enjoy!
This sounds great! All I have is seasoned rice vinegar, would using that still taste the same?
I’ve had this recipe bookmarked since you posted it and just last night got around to making it. Holy Cow. I should not have waited. This was a huge hit with the whole family. We will definitely make this again! Thanks for sharing!
Laurie »
Yeah! I am so glad they liked it. I love it when I find a new receipe that everyone loves! Makes life so much easier. We’ve had it twice in the last week!
I believe we have a common friend in J. Card of American Mothers. She and my mother are good friends.
I made this and it was a huge favorite with my family. My kids said, “this is the best chicken ever”. I have chicken marinating in coconut milk as we speak. I can’t wait for dinner. Thanks for sharing.
This recipe was wonderful. Made it for Sunday dinner. I did have trouble with the sauce. I had to make it a second time. The marinated chicken would even be great without the sauce (if you are not a sauce person or counting calories).
This recipe was wonderful. Made it for Sunday dinner. I did have trouble with the sauce. I had to make it a second time. The marinaded chicken would even be great without the sauce (if you are not a sauce person or counting calories).
Yum! This sounds delicious. I am bookmarking it to make very soon!