Grilled Peanut Butter Chicken w/ Peanut Dipping Sauce

My boys were really skeptical of this combination when I told them what we were having for dinner the other night....but let me tell you...one bite had them quickly changing their minds!   Thai inspired flavors all grilled up with some extra sauce on the side to add even more flavor to your chicken, how could it be wrong?   I saw this wonderful chicken dish on Prevention RD.  (Nicole's grilled chicken looks so much better than mine though!)  She is an excellent food photographer!

The thick marinade coats the chicken wonderfully, producing a tender breast with a hint of peanut butter.   I will caution you though, these will have a tendency to burn on the grill, so try to get as much of the thick marinade off the chicken before placing them on the hot grate.  Also, make sure your grate is hot enough to avoid the chicken from sticking. 

The sauce....OMG....I could have slathered that on everything I had on my plate!  In fact, I did mix just a little into my rice pilaf.  It was delightful!  The addition of the sauce puts it over the top with peanut flavor...but in a savory way.

I did change a few things from the recipe Nicole posted to what I had on hand in my pantry and refrigerator.

As you can see....nothing left.  Yup...my family enjoyed it THAT much!  If you are looking for something different to do with boneless, skinless chicken breast this is a must try recipe for you. 

Grilled Peanut Butter Chicken w/ Peanut Dipping Sauce

adapted from PreventionRD and WW New Complete Cookbook

Printable Recipe

Servings - 6   Serving size - 1- 4 oz. breast w/ approx. 1 TBS. sauce    Points Plus per serving - For chicken alone:  6 points+,   For sauce alone:  1 point+,    For chicken AND sauce:  7 points+

Nutrition information for 1 serving of chicken*:  Calories - 248,   Total Fat - 11.8g,   Carb. - 6g,   Fiber - 1.3g  (* this information might be a bit high on the fat, calories and carbs, as you really do use very little of the marinade if you wipe it off the chicken prior to grilling.  It is hard to gauge exactly HOW MUCH marinade actually stays on the chicken itself and gets consumed but for the sake of counting....I am leaving it as is)

Nutrition information for 1 TBS of peanut sauce:  Calories - 42,   Total Fat - 3.1g,   Carb. - 2.6g,   Protein - 1.8g,   Fiber - 0.4g 

For the Marinade:

1/2 cup natural smooth peanut butter

2 TBS. reduced sodium soy sauce

2 TBS. fresh squeezed lime juice

2 TBS. unseasoned rice wine vinegar

4 cloves garlic, minced

a few drops of sriracha OR 1 tsp. red pepper flakes

1 tsp. fresh ginger, minced

6 - 4 oz. boneless, skinless chicken breasts

For the Peanut Sauce:

3 TBS. natural smooth peanut butter

2 tsp. granulated sugar

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 TBS. reduced sodium soy sauce

1 - 2 TBS. water

2 tsp. unseasoned rice wine vinegar

a few drops of sriracha

1 TBS. chopped fresh parsley OR cilantro

1.  In small bowl, whisk together all marinade ingredients except for chicken.  Mixture will be thick.  In a gallon sized ziplock bag, put chicken in, pour marinade over top, seal and massage into chicken.  Place bag in refrigerator for up to 1 - 2 hours. 

2. While chicken is marinading, make sauce.  In small bowl, whisk together all ingredients except parsley/cilantro.  Pour sauce into serving bowl, top with parsley or cilantro.  Cover and set aside until ready to serve.  

3.  When chicken is done marinading, heat grill to Med-hot.  Wipe off most of marinade and grill chicken until done on both sides and internal temperature reaches 165 degrees F.  Serve with reserved sauce.  

---------------------------------------------------------------

I think we are in the thick of the dog days of summer.   Not that I am complaining at all.  Although I wouldn't be sad to get rid of some of the humidity that has been plaguing us for the past few weeks.  Grilled chicken is a great way to not have to heat up the kitchen to make a healthy dinner.    This really was a delicious and different way to serve boring old grilled chicken!  

Like I have mentioned...it is so hard to really compute accurate point+ values for marinades.  I guess to err on the side of caution, it is once again, better to calculate higher values than lower.  

What inventive ways have you made plain old grilled chicken exciting?