These six Indonesian chicken recipes take between 40 and 95 minutes, and four of them carry no chili in the pot.
Cook the Balinese shredded chicken when you want heat fast, and semur ayam when you want a first Indonesian dinner with no chili.
I sorted them by total time, with marinating and resting counted. That is the number that decides a weeknight.
Each entry names the heat level, the cut of chicken and the step that decides whether the dish works.
Best Indonesian Chicken Recipes At a Glance: Time, Heat and the Deciding Step
The table sorts the six recipes from fastest to slowest. The last column names the one step that decides each dish.
| Recipe | Style | Total time | Heat | Serves | The step that decides it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ayam suwir bumbu Bali | Shredded in a chili paste | 40 minutes | Spicy | 3 | Cook the chicken down in the paste until slightly dry |
| Semur ayam | Sweet soy braise with potatoes | 1 hour 5 minutes | None | 4 | Fry the paste until oil pools, then reduce uncovered |
| Opor ayam | White coconut curry | 1 hour 10 minutes | None | 4 | Add the coconut milk late and never boil it hard |
| Chicken satay | Grilled skewers with peanut sauce | 1 hour 25 minutes | Mild, in the sauce | 4 | Cook the peanut sauce first and marinate with some of it |
| Soto ayam | Turmeric chicken soup | 1 hour 30 minutes | None in the soup | 4 | Fry the spice paste before it joins the pot |
| Ayam goreng | Braised, then fried | 1 hour 35 minutes | None | 4 | Dry the skin until matte before it meets the oil |
Four of the six carry no chili in the pot. Soto ayam and ayam goreng get their heat from a sambal served on the side.
How These 6 Chicken Recipes Made the List
A recipe made the list by passing three tests.
- Chicken is the main ingredient, in a cut you can buy at any supermarket.
- The total time counts marinating and resting, so the number matches the clock.
- The recipe lists a swap for its hardest ingredient, such as macadamia nuts for candlenuts.
Each link below goes to the full recipe, with quantities and steps.
Ayam Suwir Bumbu Bali: 40 Minutes, Real Heat
Balinese spicy shredded chicken, called ayam suwir bumbu Bali, is the fastest recipe here at 40 minutes. It is also the hottest, and it serves 3.
The paste is 4 bird's eye chilies, 4 long red chilies, 3 shallots, 5 or 6 garlic cloves and 3 to 4 medium tomatoes, pounded or blended.
The fast route is a roast chicken from the supermarket, shredded and stirred into the fried paste. If you poach raw chicken instead, cook it until the thickest part reads 74°C (165°F).
Lemongrass and lime leaves fry with the paste, then the chicken, kecap manis (Indonesian sweet soy sauce) and lime juice join them.
Everything cooks down for 10 to 15 minutes, until the chicken has soaked up most of the sauce and looks slightly dry.
Cut the bird's eye chilies first if you want less heat, because they carry most of it. The dish keeps up to 3 days in the fridge and tastes better on day two.
Serve it over steamed rice with krupuk, the Indonesian crackers.
Semur Ayam: A Three-Ingredient Paste, No Chili
Semur ayam, chicken and potatoes braised in sweet soy sauce, takes 1 hour 5 minutes and carries no chili.
The paste is only shallot, garlic and ginger, so there is no galangal, candlenut or turmeric to hunt down.
Warmth comes from nutmeg, cloves and white pepper. The sweetness comes from ⅓ cup (80 ml) of kecap manis.
The name comes from the Dutch word smoor, which means cooked at low heat, according to a Jakarta Post guide to Betawi cooking.
Two moves decide semur ayam. First, fry the paste until oil pools at the edges.
Second, take the lid off for the last 10 to 15 minutes, so the sauce reduces by about a third.
The sauce is ready when it coats the back of a spoon and a finger drawn through it leaves a clean line.
Freeze the chicken and sauce without the potatoes for 3 to 4 months, then add freshly boiled potatoes after thawing.
Opor Ayam Wants a Bare Simmer, Never a Boil
Opor ayam, chicken simmered in coconut milk with no chili, takes 1 hour 10 minutes and serves 4.
ANTARA, Indonesia's national news agency, lists opor ayam among the dishes served with ketupat at Eid al-Fitr.
The sauce stays white because the recipe has no chili and no turmeric, and the chicken is turned in the paste but never browned.
The coconut milk goes in last, after the thickest thigh reads 74°C (165°F) and the heat is on low. Keep it at a bare simmer for 10 to 12 minutes, stirring now and then, until the sauce turns creamy and slightly thick.
A hard boil can split the sauce, so reheat leftovers on low heat, stirring, to 74°C (165°F). Opor ayam keeps 3 to 4 days in the fridge and tastes better on day two.
Candlenuts give the paste body, and macadamia nuts replace them one for one. Ginger replaces galangal at three quarters of the amount, with a little lime zest.
Serve it with lontong or steamed rice and fried shallots.
Chicken Satay Starts With the Peanut Sauce
Chicken satay with a cooked peanut sauce takes 1 hour 25 minutes, and 30 of those minutes are the marinade.
Satay is one of five dishes that Indonesia's tourism ministry named national dishes in 2018, alongside soto, rendang, nasi goreng and gado-gado.
Cook the sauce first. Then stir 2 tablespoons (30 ml) of it into the marinade with kecap manis, garlic, oil and lime juice.
That puts peanut flavor into the meat itself, not only on top of it.
The sauce blends 1½ cups (200 g) of roasted peanuts with 3 candlenuts, 3 garlic cloves and 4 red cayenne chilies.
It then fries for 3 to 4 minutes and simmers for 15 to 20 minutes, until a rim of orange oil pools at the edge.
The four chilies give warmth rather than heat, and 2 chilies make it milder for children.
Grill the skewers at 200 to 230°C (400 to 450°F) for 6 to 8 minutes, turning three or four times. Brush on extra kecap manis only in the last 60 to 90 seconds per side, because the sugar in it burns first.
The thickest cube should read 74°C (165°F). Soak bamboo skewers for 30 minutes and wrap the bare handles in foil.
Soto Ayam: Fry the Paste, Keep the Broth Clear
Soto ayam, the turmeric chicken soup, takes 1 hour 30 minutes and is also on that national dish list.
The soup carries no chili at all. The heat is a chili sauce of 10 bird's eye chilies, served on the side.
Shallot, garlic, candlenut, turmeric, galangal and ginger make the paste. It fries for 5 to 7 minutes before it joins the pot, and it is ready when a rim of oil separates at the edge.
Skim the foam for the first 10 minutes of simmering, so the broth stays clear and gold.
Opor and soto start from similar pastes. Soto's has turmeric and ends as a thin gold broth, where opor's stays white and thick with coconut milk.
Each bowl gets glass noodles, shredded cabbage, half a hard-boiled egg, fried shallots and lime. A spoonful of koya, which is fried prawn crackers ground with fried garlic, goes on top.
Koya contains prawn crackers, so leave it off for a shellfish allergy.
Keep the broth, shredded chicken and garnishes in separate containers for 3 to 4 days in the fridge. The broth freezes for up to 3 months, but the noodles do not.
Braise First, Fry Last: Ayam Goreng in 95 Minutes
Ayam goreng, Indonesian fried chicken, is the slowest recipe here at 1 hour 35 minutes, and most of that time is not frying.
The chicken simmers in a paste of turmeric, galangal and coriander with 1½ cups (350 ml) of coconut water, until the liquid is gone.
It then rests on a wire rack for 20 minutes, until the surface turns matte and dry. Dry skin decides the dish, because any moisture makes the oil spatter.
The chicken fries in 2 inches (5 cm) of oil at 175°C (350°F) for 3 to 4 minutes, turning once, until deep gold.
Most fried chicken wears a flour or batter coat. Ayam goreng wears its own paste, which dries to a thin, tacky layer before it hits the oil.
Braise the chicken up to 3 days ahead and fry it just before serving. Leftover fried pieces crisp again on a wire rack in a 200°C (400°F) oven for about 10 minutes.
Serve it with steamed rice, cucumber and sambal matah.
What All Six Share: Fried Paste, Thighs, 74°C (165°F)
Five of the six recipes use thigh meat, and all six fry a paste before the liquid or the chicken goes in.
| Cut | Recipes | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Bone-in, skin-on thighs and drumsticks | Opor ayam, soto ayam, ayam goreng | 2.5 lb (1.1 kg), 6 to 8 pieces |
| Boneless, skinless thighs | Semur ayam, chicken satay | 1.75 lb (800 g) for semur, 1 lb 5 oz (600 g) for satay |
| Breast, thigh or a roast chicken | Ayam suwir bumbu Bali | 1 lb 2 oz (500 g), or half a roast chicken |
Five of the six recipes give a time for the paste, from 3 to 7 minutes. It is the one habit worth taking from this list.
Whatever the recipe, chicken is safe at 74°C (165°F) in the thickest part. That is the USDA FSIS safe minimum for all poultry, measured with a food thermometer.
Candlenuts and macadamia nuts give several of the pastes their body, and the satay sauce is made from peanuts. Leave out the nuts for anyone with a nut or peanut allergy.
Left Out: Rendang, Goat Satay and Fried Rice
Three popular Indonesian dishes did not make the list.
Beef rendang and goat satay, called sate kambing, are not chicken. Nasi goreng kampung takes chicken as an option, but the base recipe is meatless, so it did not qualify.
Which Indonesian Chicken Recipe Should You Cook First?
Cook semur ayam first if you have never made Indonesian food. Pick from the table if your night looks different.
| Your situation | Cook this | Why |
|---|---|---|
| You have 40 minutes and like heat | Ayam suwir bumbu Bali | Fastest of the six, with 8 chilies in the paste |
| You want a first Indonesian dinner | Semur ayam | A paste of shallot, garlic and ginger, no chili, one pot |
| Your guests avoid chili | Opor ayam | A white sauce with no chili and no turmeric |
| You have a grill and a crowd | Chicken satay | 20 skewers from 600 g (1 lb 5 oz) of thigh |
| You have a Sunday and a big pot | Soto ayam | Broth keeps 3 to 4 days and freezes for 3 months |
| Guests arrive tomorrow night | Ayam goreng | Braise ahead, fry at the last minute |
My pick for a first night is semur ayam. Its paste is only shallot, garlic and ginger, and the whole dish cooks in one pot.
The rest of the Indonesian collection, including beef rendang, goat satay and nasi goreng kampung, is in the Indonesian recipes page.
Questions About Indonesian Chicken Recipes
Five short answers on difficulty, heat, cut, make-ahead cooking and satay without a grill.
What is the easiest Indonesian chicken recipe for a beginner?
Semur ayam is the easiest starting point for a beginner. Its paste is only shallot, garlic and ginger, it carries no chili, and it cooks in one pot in 1 hour 5 minutes. Ayam suwir bumbu Bali is faster at 40 minutes, but it needs 8 chilies and fresh lime leaves.
Are Indonesian chicken dishes always spicy?
Indonesian chicken dishes are not always spicy. Opor ayam, semur ayam, ayam goreng and the soup in soto ayam carry no chili at all, and the heat comes from a sambal served on the side. Ayam suwir bumbu Bali is the hot one, with 4 bird's eye chilies and 4 long red chilies in the paste.
Which cut of chicken works for Indonesian recipes?
Thigh is the cut most Indonesian chicken dishes call for. Five of the six here use thigh meat, bone-in for opor ayam, soto ayam and ayam goreng, and boneless for semur ayam and chicken satay. Ayam suwir bumbu Bali is the exception and takes breast, thigh or a shredded supermarket roast chicken.
Can Indonesian chicken dishes be made ahead?
Most Indonesian chicken dishes can be made ahead, and several taste better the next day. Opor ayam and ayam suwir bumbu Bali keep up to 3 days in the fridge, and soto ayam broth freezes for 3 months. Braise ayam goreng up to 3 days ahead and fry it just before serving.
Can you make chicken satay without a grill?
Chicken satay works without a grill under a broiler. Set the rack 6 inches (15 cm) from the element and broil the skewers for about 8 minutes, turning once, with foil over the exposed ends. A grill pan on medium-high heat takes 2 to 3 minutes per side. Cook until the thickest cube reads 74°C (165°F).