Grilled Chicken Kabobs
on Sep 05, 2022, Updated Jul 05, 2024
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Can we agree that Chicken Kabobs are just so fun to eat?! They are a flavorful and simple meal to make during grilling season.
One thing that makes chicken kabobs so delicious is the marinade. It totally makes the meal. The chicken is soaked in a marinade that is made up of soy sauce, honey, garlic and vinegar. It’s sweet, tangy and oh so good.
Chicken kabobs are great served over rice or some grilled vegetables. I like to pattern the chicken with colorful vegetables on the skewer because its aesthetically pleasing!
Chicken kabobs are really easy to make-think 5 minutes prep and you are in business. They are fun to serve when hosting and need something that you can cook up quickly but still tastes worthy of hosting. Your dinner will be on the table in no time when you serve it with an equally easy cabbage salad.
Table of Contents:
Table of Contents
Why You’ll Love this Recipe:
- Prep is easy
- Great for your family or a crowd
- Very versatile with ingredients
- Quick and easy cleanup after
Ingredients:
- Chicken: this is the main ingredient, it’s best with boneless skinless chicken breast but feel free to use boneless skinless chicken thighs if you prefer, both are great options
- Soy sauce: I love using soy sauce in marinades because it’s basically liquid salt with extra flavor
- Oil: this helps the marinade works its way onto the chicken and also helps the chicken to not stick to the grill
- Vinegar: this adds some tang and also helps to tenderize the chicken.
- Brown sugar: this helps to balance the salt and vinegar and adds a little sweetness to the chicken
- Worcestershire sauce: one of my favorite ways to add a lot of flavor to meat dishes
- Garlic powder: just a little adds lots of flavor, I like to use this more than fresh garlic because it sticks to the chicken better
See recipe card below for full information on ingredients and quantities
Substitutions and Variations:
- Chicken thighs or breasts are suitable for this! Both taste yummy
- You can use whatever vinegar you have on hand for this! White, red wine, or rice works great
- Or use this tangy homemade Catalina dressing as the marinade.
- If you add veggies you can literally add whatever you’d like or have on hand! Makes this recipe so flexible and great to use up what you have in the fridge or pantry
Instructions:
- Cut your chicken up into pieces and set it in a bowl or baggie.
- Mix up your marinade and add it to the chicken, let it rest for 30 minutes to 4 hours.
- Thread the marinated meat onto skewers, grill, and enjoy!
- Find how I grill veggie kabobs to go with the chicken in the notes of the recipe card below!
Frequently Asked Questions:
I would shoot to marinate the chicken for a last 2-3 hours. If you have time overnight would be great or 6 hours. If the chicken has time to marinate properly it will be so tender and tasty.
So many options but I like to serve onions, peppers, mushrooms or zucchini. Don’t be afraid to branch out and experiment with different veggies though.
When you are making chicken kabobs you want to make an effort to cut the chicken in uniform sized pieces. You want each picked to be about 1 inch in size.
When you used wooden skewers you should put them into water and soak for about 30 minutes. This will prevent the stick to catch on fire.
More Chicken Recipes to Consider:
Pasta Dishes
Creamy Chicken and Vegetable Baked Pasta
Soups, Stews & Chowders
White Chicken Chili
Chicken Recipes
Kung Pow Chicken
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Grilled Chicken Kabobs
Ingredients
- 1.5 pounds boneless skinless chicken breast
- 1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 3 tablespoons vinegar, (white, red wine, and rice vinegars are all good options)
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 6 skewers
Instructions
- If using wood skewers place them in a shallow dish with warm water and fully submerge them for at least 30 minutes before using them.
- Cut your chicken up in to uniform 1 inch pieces and place in a large bowl with a lid or in a zipper topped bag.
- In a small mixing bowl add the soy sauce, olive oil, vinegar, brown sugar, Worcestershire sauce, and garlic powder. Stir well to combine.
- Add the marinade to the chicken in the bowl or bag and mix to combine everything well.
- Place the chicken mixture covered in the fridge for 30 minutes or up to 4 hours.
- When you are ready to make your kabobs, thread the skewers evenly with pieces of chicken.
- Preheat your grill to medium to medium high heat (375 degrees F to 425 degrees F).
- Clean and oil the grates (I do this with a cleaning brush and then I dip a paper towel in oil and rub it on the grates with tongs; this helps everything to not stick).
- Place the kabobs on the grill and cook, turning occasionally, until the chicken is cooked through and the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees F on an instant read thermometer, about 15 minutes (start checking the temperature at 12 minutes).
- Remove from the grill and allow the meat to rest for 3 minutes.
- Serve right away.
Notes
- I love keeping my meat and veggie kabobs or skewers separate so that the meat can cook fully without over cooking the veggies. If you’d like to grill some vegetables to go with this meal you can thread zucchini, onion, and bell peppers (cut into uniform pieces) onto a skewer, brush with olive oil and dust with salt and pepper. Grill with the meat just until the veggies are tender crisp, about 5 minutes per side.
- You can use honey in place of the brown sugar. I like to warm it up just a bit before adding it to the marinade mixture to be sure it incorporates well.
