Easy & Simple Vietnamese Lemongrass Chicken

Easy & Simple Vietnamese Lemongrass Chicken

Tender chicken thighs seasoned in a sweet, savory lemongrass marinade and served with a tangy Vietnamese dipping sauce. This quick and easy Vietnamese lemongrass chicken is made with simple ingredients and great for the family!

5 from 8 votes

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Prep Time 10

Cook Time 6

Total Time 16

Course Main Course

Cuisine Vietnamese

Servings

Calories per serving 140 kcal

Ingredients

1.25 lb skinless boneless chicken thighs or substitute with chicken breast but see Notes below
1-2 tablespoon vegetable oil or any neutral oil

Marinade

1 stalk lemongrass use white parts only and do not use the green parts
1 shallot
2 cloves garlic
2 tablespoon brown sugar or palm sugar/coconut sugar/cane sugar
2 tablespoon lime juice freshly squeezed
2 tablespoon fish sauce
1 tablespoon regular soy sauce not dark soy sauce
¼ teaspoon black pepper

Nuam Cham Dipping Sauce

¼ cup water room temperature or cold
¼ cup white granulated sugar
3 tablespoon fish sauce
3 cloves garlic minced
1 red chili pepper finely chopped

Instructions

Into a blender or food processor, blend marinade ingredients until it's a smooth paste. There shouldn't be any large pieces of lemongrass or it'll be unpleasant to eat.
Transfer skinless boneless chicken thighs to a large bowl or a resealable bag. Pour marinade over the chicken thighs and marinate for at least 1 hour, or overnight.
Heat 1 tablespoon vegetable oil in a large non-stick pan on medium-high heat. Remove chicken from the marinade shaking off any excess marinade. Fry chicken in small batches in a single layer giving each piece enough space. Cook chicken on the first side for 3-4 minutes until golden brown and charred in some areas.
Reduce to medium heat and flip chicken over and fry on the other side for 2 minutes until browned and juices run clear or an internal temperature of 165 F. Immediately remove cooked chicken from pan. Make sure to clean the pan of the burned marinade between batches and add another tablespoon of vegetable oil to fry the next batch.
In a small bowl, combine Nước Chấm ingredients as listed together. Serve as a dipping sauce with chicken.

Notes

Using Chicken Breast Instead?

Make sure to use skinless boneless breast and slice them into half so it's relatively the same thickness as a chicken thigh for the same cooking time.

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