Lemongrass chicken is the famous Vietnamese take on grilled chicken and is gaining more and more popularity worldwide. It’s so goooooood, bursting with flavors of fragrant lemongrass, garlic, complex flavors of fish, and soy sauce giving you the most unbelievably delicious flavor. Pair that with our Sticky Soy Glaze and you no joke will be licking your fingers at the end of this meal. The best part is it’s quick, you can have dinner on the table in 30 minutes. Use the marinade to marinate any dish, chicken, beef, or fish. Grill it on the grill, bake it, sautee it. It all works phenomenally. We really want you to try this tonight for a change on the boring weekly chicken dinner. P.S. THE KIDS LOVED THIS!!! Serve it fresh lettuce, pickled lettuce, lots of lemon wedges, and steamed white rice.
Ingredients for Lemongrass chicken with Sticky Soy Glaze
Let’s make Lemongrass Chicken with Sticky Soy Glaze
We will first make the sticky soy glaze which we will use later for glazing our chicken while it’s in the oven, prepare the lemongrass marinade and marinate our chicken, and finally will show you how to cook these to perfection in the oven.
Make Sticky Soy Glaze
This glaze is sticky, sweet, salty, and perfect on grilled meats and fish. It’s so easy to make just make sure to use low sodium soy sauce or it will be too salty.
Place honey, soy sauce, and garlic in a small saucepan bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer and cook for 3-4 min until sauce slightly thickens. Set aside. This will be used later during grilling to glaze our chicken. If you are overnight marinating, make sure to make this fresh the day of cooking.
Prepare the Lemongrass Marinade
This marinade has a certain smell, how do we say this? Let’s be honest it stinks, it’s very pungent. Do not worry it will turn into a beautiful fragrant flavor you will love once it is cooked.
**Lemongrass Note**
When you are shopping for lemongrass make sure you purchase the whole stalk and not just the upper green leaves. We will only be using the bottom 1/3 of the stalk. Pull back a couple of leaves from the lemongrass, this is a very stringy fibrous part of the lemongrass and we do not want to use it. You should now be able to see where the white base begins. Chop off the end of the base, this is the bit we will use. Chop them into large sections and proceed to use.
In a food processor combine fish sauce, lime juice, brown sugar, garlic, canola oil, lemongrass, and shallot. Puree on high until very smooth and the fibers of the lemongrass have broken down.
We like to use bone-in thighs, it always comes out juicier. Feel free to use chicken parts you like. If using chicken breast make sure to pound down the chicken a bit for even quicker cooking and to allow the marinade to really flavor the chicken.
Cover the chicken thighs with the marinade, use your hands to make sure it’s all covered, and let it sit in a fridge for a minimum of two hours, overnight is best.
Grill and Serve your Lemongrass Chicken
Remember always allow your chicken to come to room temperature before cooking. It will cook faster and more evenly.
Preheat your oven to 200°C.
Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil or parchment paper and place a metal cooling rack on top. This will allow for more even, and fast cooking. If you don’t have a cooling rack no problem just place the chicken directly on the foil. Do not forget the aluminum foil, we did the second time we made this and it made an absolute mess.
Pick up each piece of chicken and allow some of the excess marinade drip off then place on the cooling rack. Repeat with all chicken pieces.
Place in oven and cook for 25-30 minutes until an instant-read thermometer reads 74°C. After the chicken has been in the oven for 10 min, using a pastry brush start glazing the chicken all over with the sticky soy glaze every 5 min. For the last 5 min of cooking turn on the broiler to crisp up the skin.
Remove chicken from the oven. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and sliced green onions. Serve with lettuce, pickled carrots, lots of lime wedges, and white rice.
If you make this Lemongrass Chicken with Sticky Soy Glaze ! Leave a comment, rate it, and don’t forget to tag a photo #thetablediaries on Instagram. We love seeing all the recipes you and your family enjoy.
Lemongrass chicken with Sticky Soy Glaze
Ingredients
- 6-8 pieces chicken thigh bone-in (600-800grams)
- 3 stalks lemongrass (just the bottom white part) Remove the first layer around the lemongrass, then chop the bottom white part of the lemongrass. Refer to the blog for details on this.
- 4 cloves garlic peeled
- 3 tbsp fish sauce
- 1 tbsp low sodium soy sauce
- 2 tbsp brown sugar
- 1 medium shallot (peeled and cut in half) or red onion
- 2 tbsp canola oil
- ¼ cup lime juice
- 1-2 tbsp sesame seeds garnish
- 1 stalk spring onion (sliced thinly at an angle)
garlic honey
- ¼ cup honey
- ½ cup low sodium soy sauce
- 2 cloves garlic minced
Instructions
Sticky Soy Sauce Glaze
- Place honey, soy sauce, and garlic in a small saucepan, bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer, and cook for 3-4 min until sauce slightly thickens. Set aside.
- In a food processor combine fish sauce, lime juice, brown sugar, garlic, canola oil, lemongrass, and shallots into a food processor. Puree on high until very smooth and the fibers of the lemongrass have broken down. (Refer to blog for pictures)
- Place your chicken in a medium-sized bowl and cover with the marinade. Mix well with hands, cover with some cling film, and place in the fridge to marinate for a minimum of 2 hours. Overnight is best.
- Preheat your oven to 200°C (400°F).
- Remove your chicken from the fridge while your oven is preheating. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil or parchment paper and place a metal cooling rack on top.
- Pick up each piece of chicken and allow the excess marinade to drip off, place on the cooling rack. Repeat with all chicken pieces.
- Place in oven and cook for 25-30 minutes until an instant-read thermometer reads 74°C (165°F). After the chicken has been in the oven for 10 min, using a pastry brush start glazing the chicken all over with the sticky glaze every 5 min. For the last 5 min of cooking turn on the broiler to crisp up the skin.
- Remove chicken from the oven. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and sliced green onion. Serve with lettuce pickled carrots, lots of lime wedges, and white rice.
