Vietnamese Caramelised Chicken with Coconut, Lime & Lemongrass
Vietnamese Caramelised Chicken with Coconut, Lime & Lemongrass – Sweet, Savoury & Irresistibly Sticky
I’ll say a big YES to any Vietnamese dish—I just love the contrast between flavours, textures, and ingredients. And this Vietnamese Caramelised Chicken with Coconut, Lime & Lemongrass hits all the right notes! It’s sweet, savoury, spicy, tangy, crispy, and fall-off-the-bone good. Plus, one of the most exciting parts? The chicken is braised in coconut water, which gives it a subtle natural sweetness and makes the meat incredibly tender. It was my first time trying this technique, and wow—it’s a game-changer!
The chicken thighs are first marinated in a flavour-packed mix of sesame oil, spring onions, garlic, chilli peppers, fish sauce, sugar, and lemongrass. Then, they’re pan-fried until the skin is beautifully crisp and golden before being simmered in coconut water along with onions and the rest of the marinade. The magic happens in the last step—after 25 minutes of simmering, a drizzle of honey is added, and the sauce is reduced to a thick, sticky, glossy glaze. A final squeeze of fresh lime juice adds the perfect zing to balance all those deep, rich flavours.
You can serve this dish just as is for an appetiser or pair it with steamed white rice and vegetables for a full, satisfying meal. Either way, you’re in for something seriously delicious!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
✔️ Incredible Flavour Balance – Sweet, savoury, tangy, and spicy all in one bite.
✔️ Crispy Yet Tender – Pan-seared for crispness, then braised until fall-apart soft.
✔️ Sticky Caramelised Glaze – A rich, glossy sauce that coats every bite.
✔️ Easy Yet Impressive – Simple ingredients, big bold flavours.
If you love Vietnamese cuisine, this Vietnamese Caramelised Chicken with Coconut, Lime & Lemongrass is a must-try.
Recipe inspired by the amazing Seonkyong Longest , in the end I added lemongrass to the marinade and lime juice to the sauce.
Another great version is this Vietnamese Lemongrass Chicken and Nuoc Cham Dipping Sauce. Serve them with these Cha Gio as a starter and you’ve got a meal.
Vietnamese Caramelised Chicken with Coconut, Lime & Lemongrass
(1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)
Loading...Try Vietnamese Caramelised Chicken with Coconut Lime & Lemongrass for a tender, flavourful dish that will impress everyone.
Ingredients
- The Marinade
- 1 tbsp brown sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- 1.5 tbsp fish sauce
- 5 green onions, white part only, roughly chopped
- 2 to 3 red chili, roughly chopped
- 5 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
- 1.5 tbsp sesame oil
- 1 lemongrass stalk, roughly chopped
- 4 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs (see notes)
- The Sauce
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 large white onion, sliced into rings
- 1.5 cup 100% coconut water
- 1.5 tbsp honey
- Juice of 1 lime
- To serve (see notes)
- Fish sauce
- Thai red chili's, finely chopped
- Spring onions, the green part, finely chopped
Instructions
For this dish you need a frying pan with a lid.
Add all the marinade ingredients (excl. the chicken of course) into a blender and blitz until you get a smooth paste.
Massage the marinade into the chicken, making sure everything is coated. Place in a an airtight container and marinade for at least an hour in the fridge.
Heat the vegetable oil in the frying pan. Scrape any excess marinade off the chicken (keep the marinade!) and place the thighs skin down in the pan. Fry for 3-4 minutes on medium heat until the skin crisps up, the chicken doesn't have to cook through yet.
Turn the chicken thighs over and sprinkle the onions in between. Deglaze the pan with the coconut water, scraping down all the brown goodness from the pan. Stir in the rest of the marinade and close the pan with a lid.
Let the chicken simmer on low heat for ± 25 minutes until the chicken is cooked through.
When the 25 minutes is up, take the lid off and turn the heat up high. Drizzle the honey over the top and keep stirring and moving the chicken around.
Let the sauce reduce until a thick gravy, this will take about 15-20 minutes. Keep your eye on the pan so the sugars don't burn. Keep turning the thighs over so everything stays coated in the sauce.
When happy with the consistency of the sauce, remove the chicken from the pan and place under the grill or broiler for 2-3 minutes, skin side up, to crisp up the skin (this step is optional, I like my skin crispy).
Serve with the fish sauce, red chili and spring onions (or the nuoc cham dipping sauce (see notes).
Notes
- I wouldn't use chicken breast for this recipe as it will dry out too much. You can use skinless chicken thighs, the preparation is the same, but you won't get the same colouring and crispy skin of course, still super tasty!
- This chicken would also be great with Nuoc Cham Dipping Sauce, see the recipe here in one of my other Vietnamese dishes
