One Pot Balinese Chicken is a quick dinner idea. Cooking in one pot makes this chicken extra juicy and tangy, it’s incredible. Serve it with rice and pour over the golden thick gravy. The combination of ingredients is magical – you will love how it is roasted till golden!
One Pot Balinese Chicken
Technically I think you might say this is a two pot chicken if you count cooking the rice. Just for arguments sake let’s not count that rice because you are going to find this Balinese Chicken truly stacks up in flavour. The pure fact it’s made in one pot is just an extra bonus.
Mix it together and pop it in the oven. You’ll come back to the most intensely flavoured Chicken, and it will become a favourite.
You can add vegetables if you like, there’s plenty of sauce in this recipe to smother them in.
The secret to getting that tangy Balinese Flavour
This version of Balinese chicken, is simple enough that you don’t have to go hunting all over town for ingredients. It combines ginger, garlic, turmeric, lemongrass and lime leaves to create the AMAZING mouth smacking flavours of our favourite Indonesian Island.
Chicken and Pork are some of the staple meats in Balinese cuisine and these proteins work incredibly well with the traditional spices and herbs used in this part of the world.
For your own tropical night in give this Chicken a try.
Traditional herbs and spices used in Bali
This recipe uses some of the traditional ingredients that are used in Balinese cooking but there are lots of others too including galangal, shrimp paste, tomatoes and palm sugar. There’s even a Balinese 8 spice made with white pepper, black pepper, coriander, cumin, clove, nutmeg, sesame seed and candlenuts.
This is my special Ayam Guling or Balinese Roast Chicken cooked in one pot.
Remember the secret to cooking this and other “curries” like it, is to cook off the base ingredients well first. Cooking them releases the water out of the ingredients and caramelises them making a sweeter rounder flavour
Try these other one pot recipes too!
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Ingredients | Unit: |
- 6 whole Chicken cutlets skin on bone in
- 40 ml oil
- 200 gm onion chopped into dice
- 30 gm garlic 6 cloves, crushed
- 80 gm ginger grated or chopped fine
- 1 tablespoon turmeric
- 200 ml tomato passata plain tomato puree
- 1 tablespoon chilli paste unsweetened, masterfoods
- 2 whole limes zested
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 20 ml Soy Sauce light soy ( not dark) 1 tablespoon
- 20 ml Ketchup Manis Sweet Soy Sauce 1 Tablespoon
- 400 ml coconut cream 1 can
- 80 ml lime juice 4 tablespoons
- 1 stick lemongrass cut into sections
- 6 whole lime leaves
Instructions
- Set the oven to 190 C. You will need an ovenproof pot to bake your chicken in.
- Put the onion, garlic, ginger, turmeric, chilli paste, sugar, soy sauce, lime zest and tomato puree into put a food processor and pulse into a paste. (You could also use a stick blender for this. Just make a nice smooth paste. This will form your sauce)
- Pour the paste into a bowl and add the 6 pieces of chicken turning to coat in the marinade while you get the other ingredients ready.
- Heat the pot you will use to bake the chicken. Add the oil and then shake off excess marinade from each piece of chicken and add one by one to the pot. Sear on both sides till golden and coloured. Take out of the pot and set aside once done. Remember this is just to seal and colour the outside
- Add the flavour paste to the pot and stir while it is cooking. The paste needs to cook out. (Cooking the paste cooks out the water and then caramelises and sweetens it.) This will take about 5- 8 minutes on a medium to high heat. It will begin to darken and smell fragrant. Add the sweet soy sauce and stir in well for 1 minutes. Don't let the paste catch on the bottom. Reduce the heat if you need to.
- Pour in the coconut, lime juice then add the lemon grass, lime leaves and a small pinch of salt. Stir well.
- Return the chicken to the pot letting it peak above the sauce to further brown and colour and bake without a lid for around 40 minutes. Test one of the thighs by piecing with a knife. The juices should run clear.
- Serve with rice. You can also add chopped roasted macadamia nuts or peanuts and crispy fried shallots ( from Asian supermarkets)
Recipe Notes
I use a Le Creuset baking pot but you can use any thick based baking / cooking pot with high sides about 24-28 cm /10-12 in. A roasting pan that is flat and large is not suitable because it is too wide for the sauce to bubble around the chicken.
You can use the chicken straight away without the need to marinade for a long time. Equally you could marinade for a few hours or even overnight if you like.
You can also use a whole chicken or boneless pieces. A whole chicken will take around 60 minutes (test the leg for when the juices run clear. The boneless pieces will take less time. Around 30 minutes for thighs and approx 20 minutes for breasts ( depending on there size) The recipe is best though with chicken on the bone ( its juicier)
If the bottom of the pot is very darkened or burnt once the chicken is sealed it is better to use a piece of kitchen paper to clean. Add a bit more oil, heat and add the paste after that.
It is important to cook out the paste well till the colour changes and it smells fragrant.
Never save part of the marinade. It must be cooked out as it has had raw chicken in it.
This is great recipe . I Love to eat this ….
Hi Jett. Thanks for your comment
wow nice blog while seeing the blog itself its mouth watering i hope after preparing it won’t disappoint.
Hi Angela. Wow I hope you are not disappointed too.
Synchronicity!!!! I was only just speaking to a work colleague about Balinese food – her husband is Balinese!
This looks and sounds a lovely alternative to the Tuscan Chicken I make. I think this one will grace our dinner table over the coming weekend as I will be busy doing my assignment for cooking school – quick, different & delicious !! ?
Kathryn recently posted..Meat – Lesson Two: Venison & Pork with Panzanella Salad
Hi Kathryn so nice to hear from you. Wouldn’t it be nice to just go to Bali and eat it there. At any rate it is a flavour packed recipe that will take you half way to Bali at home. I am just about to read your last post about venison and pork.
This looks really good. And I agree – this is a one-pot meal. I do love one-pot meals – so easy. Lots of wonderful flavours here xx
Hotly Spiced recently posted..When Your Dog Gets Dementia
Hi Charlie Thanks for visiting. Its an almighty delicious one potter!
I don’t know why Ketchup Manis is not a staple in US grocery stores, but I found it on Amazon and want to try this. I bet the flavors are even better the next day. Sounds delicious!
Liz recently posted..January – Curried Carrot Soup in the Electric Pressure Cooker
Oh that’s a shame Liz. You can make it without the Ketchup manis though
I tried this recipe this afternoon and it was easy and delicious. Thanks for sharing such a delicious recipe with us.
Hey there Ajay I am glad you liked it.
Thank you for posting a Balinese recipe that doesn’t require exotic ingredients. This one I can handle just fine. This will be a fun cook and I look forward to experiencing the flavor of your Balinese Chicken.
Ron recently posted..Skansen, fascinating kids and adults since 1891…Part Two.
Hey Ron, yes I wanted it to be as simple as possible with the best flavours possible
Looks saucy, flavourful and so tasty…love the ease of preparation too.
angiesrecipes recently posted..Vegan, Gluten Free Spinach Chickpea Crepes
Hi Angie thanks yes it is nice and saucy thats what I love about it.
Certainly a chicken fusion I’ll try – want to taste the interplay of kecap manis I use often with the lemongrass and unexpected chilli paste, the coconut blending it into an obviously harmonious whole. Also wanting to see the difference the use of limes in more than one format makes to the whole . . . looking forwards to the cook 🙂 !
Hi Eha
How are you?
Thanks for your comment. The overall flavour is quite bright and tangy with both zest and juice.
It’s funny you should mention the chilli paste as I used that in place of fresh chilli for two reasons. I always buy fresh chilli but before I can ever use they turn into shrivelled flavourless socks, so instead I used jarred chilli- which I always have as a backup. That way I also thought the heat would be the same each time it was made. I hope you like it
Tania
Definitely going on my menu plan in the coming week. This looks like the perfect dish for a weeknight, and I bet the aroma as it bakes is irresistible! I have everything but the Ketchup Manis Sweet Soy Sauce on hand, do you think it would be missed if I just omitted it?
Eva Taylor recently posted..La Bete Noir (Flourless Chocolate Cake)
Hi Eva, although the ketchup manis adds a bit of caramel salt depth you can certainly make this without it. It will still be very good.
This sounds delicious and I love that it is one pot. Great flavour combinations and perfect for weeknights. Such pretty photographs, thank you for sharing 8)
Merryn recently posted..Cream Cheese Cake