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–+ servings
4 roasted chicken thighs on a wooden board with cilantro and limes
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Vietnamese Chicken Recipe (Lemongrass Chicken)

This Vietnamese Chicken is tender and juicy, marinated in mixture of incredible flavors like fish sauce, lime, lemongrass and garlic, then roasted until the skin is nice and crispy.
Course Main Course
Cuisine Vietnamese
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 40 minutes
Total Time 45 minutes
Servings 4 servings
Calories 490kcal
Author Danielle Wolter

Equipment

  • Large Baking Sheet
  • Baking Rack
  • Parchment Paper
  • Large Bowl

Ingredients

  • 2 pounds chicken thighs bone in, skin on (4 thighs)
  • Juice of ½ lime

Marinade:

Instructions

  • Combine all the marinade ingredients in a bowl and add the chicken, ensuring it is coated with the marinade. Refrigerate overnight.
  • Preheat the oven to 425F and line a baking sheet with aluminum foil or parchment paper. Place a baking rack on top.  
  • Place chicken thighs on baking rack and drizzle with the lime juice.  
  • Bake chicken for 40 minutes, flipping half way through.  
  • Skin should be browned and crispy.  If it's not, place it under the broiler for a minute or two until it crisps up.

How to Prepare Lemongrass

  • Pull off the tough outer few leaves until you reach the more tender leaves on the inside. Dice just the bottom ⅓ of the stalk (the white part). This part should be much more tender and easy to dice.
  • If it's still difficult, peel off another outer layer until it's tender enough to roughly dice.

Video

Notes

  1. If the skin is not crisp when done, pop it under the broiler for a couple minutes until desired crispness is reached.
  2. Be sure to boil the reserved marinade if you are going to use it to kill all the bacteria. You can also reserve a portion of the marinade before putting the chicken in if you prefer.
  3. Brown sugar or coconut sugar can be substituted for palm sugar if necessary. 

Variations:

  • Make it spicy by adding a couple minced Thai chilies to the marinade.
  • Use beef, pork, shrimp, fish or tofu instead of chicken - cook time will need to be adjusted for each. 
  • Add 1 teaspoon of minced ginger to the marinade.
  • You can also substitute chicken breasts - just note they won't be a tender and juicy as thighs. 
  • Replace the soy sauce with gluten free tamari for as a gluten free option (affiliate link). 

Nutrition

Serving: 1thigh | Calories: 490kcal | Carbohydrates: 7g | Protein: 49g | Fat: 27g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Cholesterol: 156mg | Sodium: 2259mg | Potassium: 915mg | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 510IU | Vitamin C: 2.5mg | Calcium: 63mg | Iron: 2.3mg