Rendang Ayam Padang – Coconut Chicken Rendang
Rendang Ayam Padang – Coconut Chicken Rendang! If you know me at all you know I’m nuts about Indonesian food. We’ve been there on many travels and mainly the food keeps bringing us back. Rich, bold, spicy, packed with flavor—Indonesian cuisine just hits different. Every bite feels like a perfect balance of heat, sweetness, and deep umami.
This is a Padang style chicken rendang, originally from West Sumatra. I usually make beef rendang, slow cooked beef in a thick coconut gravy. Yum! but when you’re in a bit of a time squeeze chicken rendang is a great alternative and oh so tasty! With a few basic Asian ingredients in your pantry or freezer you can easily create this dish on any week day.
The beauty of this dish is that if you’ve got a few key Asian ingredients in your pantry, fridge, or freezer, you can whip it up on any weeknight. No need for a long grocery list—just a handful of essentials, a little patience, and you’re on your way to a plate of absolute magic.
Here’s what I always have on hand:
In my freezer:
🔥 Chili peppers
🫚 Ginger & galangal
🌿 Lime leaves, lemongrass, bay leaves
Dried spices:
✨ Turmeric, cumin, nutmeg, coriander
✨ Cardamom, white pepper, cloves
✨ Cinnamon, star anise
Seasoning essentials:
🥄 Tamarind paste
Fresh ingredients (if I have them):
🌶️ Fresh chili peppers
🧅 Shallots & garlic
🍋 A squeeze of fresh lime juice
Once you have these, you’re just a simmer away from an aromatic, deeply flavorful dish that’s guaranteed to impress. Trust me—serve it with rice, maybe some crispy fried shallots on top, and you’ll be in food heaven.
Have you tried making chicken rendang before? Let me know how it turns out!
Recipe inspired by What to Cook Today. Another great Indonesian dish is Ayam Smoor – Indondesian Ketjap Chicken. Or browse through some of these recipes for inspiration.
Rendang Ayam Padang
(2 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)
Loading...Ingredients
- Main ingredeints
- 1.5 kg chicken thighs, skinless and boneless (left whole)
- 3 tbsp ghee or vegetable oil
- 100 ml water
- 1 can coconut milk
- 120 g unsweetened grated coconut
- Spice paste
- 5 Long Red Peppers
- 2 Thai chil (Leave out if you don't want it to spicy)
- 6 shallots, roughly chopped
- 5 garlic peeled, roughly chopped
- 4 cm ginger peeled
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 tbsp water
- Dried Spices:
- 1 tbsp turmeric powder
- 1 tbsp galangal powder
- 1 tbsp cumin powder
- 1 tsp nutmeg powder
- 1 tbsp coriander powder
- ¼ tsp white pepper powder
- ¼ tsp cardamom powder
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 5 cloves
- 2 star anise
- Whole spices
- 4 bay leaves
- 2 stalk lemon grass, crushed
- 6 lime leaves
- Seasonings (to taste)
- 2 tsp salt
- 3 tbsp brown sugar
- 1 tbsp tamarind paste
- Juice of 1 lime (start with 1/2)
Instructions
In a heavy based pan (which you'll use for the rendang too) add the coconut and toast until nice a browned. Keep stirring and keep an eye on ot, it will go quite quickly towards the end. ± 3 minutes. remove from the pan and set aside (you can make this ahead of time).
Blend all the ingredients for the spice paste (so NOT the dried spics) into a coarse paste.
Heat the oil in a heavy based pot and add the spice paste. Cook until fragrant and the water has evaporated, don't let it burn, ± 3 minutes.
Then add of the dried spices, the whole spices and half of the seasonings to start. Mix well, sauté for 1 minutes.
Add the chicken pieces, mix well so all the chicken is coated.
Deglaze the pan with the water and coconut milk.
Bring to a boil and let it gently simmer with the lid on, after about 15 minutes you'll see the oils start to separate a bit (don't worry if you don't see this). Add the toasted coconut, stir and continue to cook on low heat with the lid off until the chicken is cooked through and the sauce has reduced slightly.
I like mine quite saucy so I don't reduce it too much.
Serve with steamed white rice, pickled cucumber and sambal goreng for example.
