Vietnam
Steamed Chicken with Lime Leaves Recipe

Steamed Chicken with Lime Leaves Recipe

Hanna Tran Hanna Tran | Updated October 16, 2026

Steamed chicken with lime leaves is a whole chicken steamed over salt, lemongrass, ginger and lime leaves, which scent the meat. The recipe isn’t hard, but follow it carefully. There are 4 steps to make this dish, and it just needs 40 minutes. I like to eat it with a pepper and lime juice sauce, and it’s perfect on rainy days.

Steamed Chicken with Lime Leaves Recipe

Serves: 4–5

    Ingredients

    For the chicken

    • One chicken (weighing from 1 to 1.5 kg)
    • Salt
    • Lemongrass
    • Ginger
    • Lime leaves
    • Wine

    For the sauce

    • 1 tablespoon of lime juice
    • 1 tablespoon of sauce
    • 1 teaspoon of sugar
    • Garlic
    • Chopped peppers

    How to make steamed chicken with lime leaves

    1. Clean the chicken

    After washing the chicken, rub it all over with salt, then wash it again. Mix the wine and ginger and rub the mixture over the inside and outside of the chicken. You can then wash it again, or wait about 10 minutes for the alcohol to evaporate.

    2. Set up the pot

    Line the bottom of the pot with salt. Spread the crushed lemongrass, crushed ginger and lime leaves on top of the salt, and put the chicken on top.

    Lime leaves on a chopping board

    3. Steam the chicken

    Steam the chicken for about 40 minutes. After the first 20 minutes, turn the chicken over so it cooks evenly. This step is very important.

    The whole chicken in a steamer pot

    4. Make the sauce

    Mix 1 tablespoon of boiling water, 1 teaspoon of sugar, 1 tablespoon of lime juice, 1 tablespoon of sauce, the chopped peppers and chopped garlic. Serve it with the chicken.

    Steamed chicken with a bowl of dipping sauce
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