You only need 5 ingredients for this coconut chicken recipe
5 ingredients – coconut milk, lime juice, garlic, ginger, and chicken. That’s all you need for this recipe. I even used minced garlic and grated ginger from jars, so it’s literally just about dumping everything into a zip-top bag.
This might just be the easiest dinner I’ve ever made. Since I prepped my marinade early in the morning, dinner felt like it only took a few minutes.
If you like this recipe, you have to try these peanut chicken wraps, and these ground chicken tacos and this tequila lime chicken.
Other awesome chicken recipes: Chicken & Vegetable Coconut Curry / Thai Basil Chicken / Chinese Chicken & Broccoli
Ingredients & substitutions
- Chicken – This recipe uses a whole cut up chicken. If you don’t have one or can’t find one at the store, that’s okay. You can swap any combination of bone-in, skin-on chicken pieces. If you’re doing that, I’d recommend a combination of dark and white meat. Make sure your chicken breasts aren’t super large, or they’ll take longer than the rest of your chicken to cook (this applies when you’re choosing your package of whole cut up chicken, too).
- Coconut milk – Make sure to get unsweetened coconut milk, this is used to marinate the chicken.
Making changes to a recipe can result in recipe failure. Any substitutions listed below are simple changes that I believe will work in this recipe, but results are not guaranteed.
The following is a detailed overview of the recipe steps with added tips and tricks for recipe success. For a simplified and printable version, including ingredient amounts and more formal instructions, see the recipe card below.
How to make easiest coconut chicken recipe ever.
Marinate the chicken. Once your chicken has soaked up the marinade, preheat your oven and pat your chicken dry. Do not rinse it. Just use some paper towels and dry off the skin so it will get nice and brown in the oven.
Bake. You can bake your chicken on a cookie sheet, in a baking dish or even in a Dutch oven. Feel free to line whichever you choose with parchment paper or non-stick aluminum foil to make your clean up easier.
Then bake your chicken for about 1 hour, and be sure to use a meat thermometer to make sure your chicken has reached a food-safe temperature of 165˚F.
When the chicken is fully cooked, remove it from the oven and let it sit for about 10 minutes before serving. This makes sure the chicken will be perfectly juicy, and it also allows the chicken to come to a more reasonable temperature for eating.
Garnish and serve. Just before serving, sprinkle your chicken with fresh chopped cilantro. If you don’t care for cilantro, try fresh chives or basil, or skip the garnish entirely.
More great chicken recipes: garlic braised chicken legs / beer brined chicken drumsticks / grilled herb mustard chicken
Ingredients
- 4 pounds whole cut-up chicken
- 1 15- ounce can coconut milk
- 1/4 cup lime juice
- 2 tablespoons fresh ground ginger
- 6 garlic cloves - minced
- 1/2 – 1 teaspoon coarse salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- Fresh chopped cilantro - optional, for garnish
Instructions
- In a small bowl, whisk together coconut milk, lime juice, garlic, ginger, salt & pepper. In a large zip top bag, combine chicken and marinade. Allow chicken to sit in marinade for at least 1 hour.
- Preheat oven to 350˚F (180˚C). Place chicken in a large baking dish and bake for 1 hour – or until chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165˚F.
- Top with cilantro before serving.
