Bold Thai Chicken Sandwich: Your New Lunchtime Favorite!

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Cooking With Anadi

12K subscribers · Thai chicken, peanut sauce, fresh herbs on warm bread

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Sandwiches are always a good idea for lunch. Sometimes you just need to whip up a cold deli meat wrap, but other times you just want to go all out, like with a meatball sub! Whatever you’re looking for, if you want an in-depth guide on how the formula to making the best sandwiches for the week, then you’ll love this tutorial!

My favorite protein for sandwiches is chicken. Whenever it’s time to explore a new chicken sandwich, I’m all for it! As I mention in my Make Cooking Fun!! free guide - my top 5 tips to explore your potential in the kitchen - going out to eat can inspire you if you’re looking for new ideas. A local bakery is actually how I discovered this sandwich! Furthermore, Thai cuisine was one that I have not delved much into in my own cooking. After making this sandwich and loving the bold flavors of the Thai chicken marinade, I’ve been experimenting with plenty more Thai recipes! Be sure to comment below if you want to see more Thai recipes on the blog! If Thailand is a destination unseen for you too, then this sandwich recipe is a great way to get started! Make this sandwich as part of your Live to Cook one-month challenge! The new year is the best time to go forward with the goal of cooking at home more, so get started by signing up to my newsletter - all of these resources are completely free!

Ready to be excited for lunch and discover your new favorite sandwich recipe? Then let’s get cooking! To follow along as I walk you through all the steps - from the marination to the cast iron cooking to assembly - check out the video at the bottom of this post. If you haven’t already, please subscribe to my YouTube channel and hit the bell button so you receive the notifications when my video recipes go live! I love to share the video recipes along with the written ones so you’re guaranteed the best results when making your creations! Let’s get cooking!

What’s a Thai Chicken Sandwich?

I first had this chicken sandwich at a local bakery, and that’s how I got the inspiration for this recipe. This sandwich features juicy marinated chicken thighs which are pan-fried in a cast iron skillet.

These chicken thighs are sandwiched in crispy bread, topped with cheese, veggies, greens and peanuts. Our special Chicken Sandwich has Thai flavors bursting from those tender chicken thighs, in addition to featuring warm toasted bread. We’ve got a bit of heat coming from our homemade curry mayo (which I’ll show how to make as well!), but that’s balanced out from the coolness of tomatoes. There’s a nice crunch from chopped peanuts and fresh arugula!

If you’re looking for another Asian fusion chicken recipe, I think you’ll love my Asian Fusion Chicken Tacos!

Why Make This Thai Sandwich Recipe?

• Fresh: Nothing beats the freshness of homemade food! While I love the sandwich that sparked my inspiration from the local bakery, it’s still freshest when I eat it piping hot from my very own kitchen! Nothing can beat that! We don’t know for sure when exactly their chicken was cooked, when they toasted their bread, etc. You hope everything is made to order, but is it? You can guarantee that in your own kitchen!
• Cheaper: The net cost of all the ingredients to make the sandwich is probably 3 or 4 times less than paying for the sandwich at the shop. Use up your goodies in the fridge and keep your wallet happy along with your belly!
• Healthier: You don’t know what ingredients are being used when you get your sandwich from the shop. I’ve worked in restaurants, so trust me when I say they’re probably using full fat and full sodium ingredients. The food has to taste its best to sell, right? However, if you want less salt, less fatty cheese, and less amounts, then you have complete control over what ingredients and how much are used! That’s the beauty of home cooking!

Equipment for Thai Chicken Sandwiches

• Cast iron pan: This will be used to cook the chicken thighs.
• Tongs: Makes handling the chicken thighs easier.
• Mortar & pestle: We’ll mix together all the ingredients for our marinade. Alternatively, you can use a blender!
• Cutting board: To chop ingredients for the marinade and the toppings for the sandwich.
• Mixing bowl: You’ll want a medium-sized bowl for our chicken to marinate.
• Sharp chef’s knife: To cut and chop ingredients.
• Whisk: To combine the ingredients for the marinade.
• Ramekins: Could be handy to prep ingredients and to add your curry mayo into!
• Pastry brush: I used this to baste the chicken as it was cooking on the cast iron pan.
• Bread knife: As the name suggests, a bread knife really works wonders to cut bread! If you want your baguette perfectly sliced with ease, then a bread knife is really recommended over a regular knife.
• Measuring spoons: This can be handy to measure out your sauces for the marinade.

Tips for Perfectly Juicy Chicken Sandwiches

• Marinate for 24 hours for the best amount of flavor. The chicken can also be cooked in advance to make sandwiches quicker during mealtime.
• Pre-slicing the baguettes and wrapping them in plastic wrap will save time and keep the bread from drying out.
• Once the chicken is done searing on the first side, it should release from the pan easily. Make sure the pan is hot and searing to ensure a good sear.
• Use the same pan as the chicken to toast the baguettes for most flavor and avoid over-toasting the bread.

Ingredients for Thai Chicken Sandwiches

Scroll to the bottom of this post for the full PRINTABLE RECIPE CARD which has all ingredients and the full recipe instructions. You can scale the recipe based on how many sandwiches you want to make and all individual ingredient quantities will automatically be adjusted!

For the Thai Marinade

• Chicken thighs: I recommend boneless, skinless chicken thighs. You can use chicken breast if you want, but I don’t think it’ll be as juicy since we also want to get a nice sear on the chicken and really have the chicken get all the fabulous flavors from the marinade.
• Garlic cloves: Mince them into the marinade.
• Ginger: One small piece.
• Herbs & spice: We’ll add Thai red chilies, Thai basil leaves, cilantro, brown sugar and lemongrass paste. If you don’t have Thai basil leaves, you can use regular basil leaves. Additionally, if you can find fresh lemongrass, I recommend you use that for an even better taste!
• Sauces: We’ll be adding fish sauce, soy sauce, dark soy sauce, and lime juice. If you cannot find dark soy sauce, you can substitute with oyster sauce, but the flavor and color will be slightly affected. Dark soy sauce is thicker than regular soy sauce and this is what’s used in those famous restaurant fried rices to give that sharp dark color!
• Peanuts: Optional, if you want a stronger peanut flavor in your sandwich. You can also use peanut butter - even better if it’s crunchy!
• Olive oil: To cook the chicken.

For the Curry Mayo

For more details on the ingredients, get the complete Curry Mayonnaise recipe!

• Mayonnaise: I recommend full fat mayonnaise for the best texture. You can use a lighter one if you want, but your mayo will be runnier.
• Red curry paste: Look for the Thai one.
• Sambal Olek: This is a red chili paste without garlic. You can use sriracha if you want a spicier mayo, or you can substitute with chili garlic sauce if you don’t mind garlic and can’t find Sambal Olek.
• Soy sauce: I recommend using a lower sodium one so the mayo isn’t too salty.
• Lime: A freshly squeezed lime to enhance the flavors. You can use bottled lime juice if that’s what you have.

For the Thai Chicken Sandwich

• Baguette of choice: I’m using a jalapeno cheddar loaf. It’s so good!! Any regular baguette or even Ciabatta bread will work just fine. I wouldn’t recommend white bread because it won’t be solid enough to hold the toppings.
• Curry Mayo: As mentioned above.
• Peanuts: I like to use unsalted peanuts so that they are not too strong. We’ll be chopping the peanuts.
• Thai grilled chicken: Our cooked marinated chicken from above.
• Havarti cheese: You could also do white cheddar or Monterey jack. We’ll want to use sliced cheese.
• Granny Smith Apple: You can use your favorite apple if you like. I’m julienning the apple slices.
• Tomato: I use roma tomatoes. They’ll be sliced for the sandwich.
• Thai basil leaves: You can roughly chop them or tear them. If you don’t have Thai basil leaves, regular basil leaves will work just fine, as I used here.
• Pickled green chilies: You can also use pickled jalapeños.
• Arugula: Just a handful to add some greens and crunch!

How to Make This Thai Chicken Sandwich Recipe?

For the Thai Marinated Chicken

In a mortar and pestle create a smooth paste using the garlic cloves, ginger, Thai red chilies, basil and cilantro. Once this mixture is smooth, add the lemongrass paste, fish sauce, soy sauce, dark soy sauce and brown sugar.

Add the chicken into a large bowl and pour in the marinade from the mortar and pestle into the bowl. Mix well, add the lime juice and give a quick stir and marinate for at least 24 hours. If you are short on time, marinate for at least 2 hours.

To cook the chicken, heat a non-stick pan or a heavy cast-iron pan on medium-high heat and add a thin layer of olive oil. Once the pan is hot, add the chicken pieces and sear on one side until you get a good golden brown sear. Then, lower the heat and flip the chicken to cook the other side. Keep turning the chicken often until it registers 165F, around 10-13 minutes.

Once the chicken is cooked, set it aside and prepare the rest of the ingredients as the chicken rests.

For the Curry Mayonnaise

Combine all the ingredients for the curry mayonnaise and mix well. Store in the refrigerator until needed.

For the Thai Sandwich

Once you are done grilling the chicken, slice your baguettes open and toast them lightly on the same pan. Spread 1 Tbsp of curry mayonnaise on both the bottom and top halves of the baguette portion(s).

Spread chopped peanuts on the bottom baguette half, followed by sliced Thai marinated chicken, half a slice of havarti cheese, julienned apple, 1-2 slices of tomato, basil leaves, pickled green chilies and a generous portion of arugula on the top.

Close the sandwich with the top half and serve warm.

How to Make This Sandwich Gluten-Free?

If you’re using a gluten-free soy sauce, then you simply need to ensure you use a gluten-free bread for the sandwich. You can also transform this into lettuce wraps to avoid bread altogether.

Variations

• Protein: You can make this sandwich vegetarian by substituting the chicken with tofu. You can also use chicken breast if that’s all you have. If you want red meat, I recommend you use this marinade for beef strips!
• Melt the cheese: I added the cheese slice over the chicken thighs. If you like molten cheese, then try melting the cheese directly on the bread while it’s toasting on the pan, or toast the entire sandwich on the pan to get some warm molten cheese!
• Fruits: I used apples as the fruit here. I’ve also made it with mangoes, and that worked really well too! You could even do sliced avocados for some extra creaminess.
• Veggies: If you want even more crunch, you could make a slaw with your mayo and mix onions, carrots, cabbage, and any other veggies you would like!
• Greens: You can swap the arugula or also include cucumber, zucchini, or a fresh spring mix.

Storing Extra Sandwiches

These sandwiches are perfect for prepping! For best results, I recommend you cook all the chicken thighs and assemble your sandwiches fresh. However, if you do want to make the entire sandwich in advance, store any assembled sandwiches in the fridge by covering them with plastic wrap. If you are going to assemble your sandwiches in advance, I would add all the toppings except for the arugula or else it will become limp.

You can reheat your sandwich over the stove on a non-stick pan. You could microwave the sandwich, but I fear that the bread will become soggy. Another option to ensure that your bread stays crisp is to air fry your sandwich, using the reheat setting. Heat the sandwich then add the arugula on top.

A Quick Thai Slaw for Extra Crunch

The Variations section suggests a slaw, and it is worth building out, because this is the addition that changes the sandwich most for the least effort. The arugula brings pepperiness and a bit of volume, but it wilts against warm chicken. A quick pickled slaw does not — it stays crisp, and the vinegar cuts through the curry mayo and the fish sauce in a way that greens alone cannot.

None of this is in the recipe as written, so treat it as an optional addition rather than a change to the method:

• Shred cabbage and carrot as finely as you can — red cabbage if you want the color, green if you want it milder. A box grater or a mandoline does this faster than a knife.
• Toss with rice vinegar, a small pinch of sugar and a little salt, and leave it fifteen minutes while the chicken rests. The salt draws water out and the vinegar goes in behind it, which is what keeps the cabbage crunchy rather than soggy.
• Squeeze the slaw out with your hands before it goes near the bread. This is the step that decides whether you get a crisp sandwich or a wet one, and it is not optional.
• Finish with thinly sliced green onion and torn mint. Mint is not in the marinade but it belongs in the same flavor family as the Thai basil and cilantro already there, and it lifts the whole thing.
• Toss through a spoonful of the curry mayonnaise if you want it richer, or leave it sharp and let the mayo on the bread do that job.

Build it above the cheese rather than below, so the warm chicken is not sitting directly against wet slaw, and use it alongside the arugula rather than instead of it — you want both the crunch and the pepper.

Making It Vegetarian, or Fully Vegan

Tofu in place of the chicken is already flagged in the Variations, and it genuinely works here — this marinade is a pounded paste rather than a thin liquid, so it clings to tofu far better than most marinades do. Use extra-firm, press it for half an hour to drive out water, then slice it thick and marinate it as you would the thighs. It will not need the full twenty-four hours; a couple of hours is plenty, since there is no muscle to penetrate. Sear it hard on both sides in the same pan and treat it exactly like the chicken from there.

Going all the way to vegan takes three more swaps, and one of them needs care:

• The fish sauce is the hard one, because it is doing something soy sauce does not — a rounder, funkier salt. A vegan fish sauce is the closest replacement if you can get one. Failing that, use light soy sauce in its place with an extra squeeze of lime, and taste the marinade before it goes on the tofu, because you are swapping one salty ingredient for another and it is easy to overshoot.
• The curry mayonnaise takes a plant-based mayo without any other change. Check the red curry paste, though — some Thai curry pastes include shrimp paste, so read the jar.