Chicken skewers

Chicken skewers

30 min
Chicken skewers with vegetables are perfect for just about any occasion. They may be enjoyed as either an appetiser or a main course, and since they can easily be eaten while standing up, they are also perfect as a buffet treat for larger gatherings. The aromatic, homemade marinade with honey, garlic, garam masala, and cumin sets these specific chicken skewers apart from all the rest. Try our marinated chicken skewer recipe next time you feel like firing up the grill and making some barbeque magic.
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Instructions

Marinade
  • In a mortar, crush cumin seeds and salt.
  • Add garam masala, pepper, and garlic to the mix in the mortar. Crush the garlic and spices with the pestle.
  • Mix the crushed garlic and spices with tomato purée, honey, and olive oil and make sure the marinade is well mixed.
Chicken skewers
  • Cut the chicken tenderloin into 24 pieces, the courgette into 12 pieces, the red onions into 12 pieces, and the red pepper into 24 pieces.
  • Alternate putting pieces of vegetable and meat onto the 12 skewers.
  • Slather them with marinade using either a brush or a rubber spatula.
  • Grill them on all four sides, 10-12 minutes in total.
Enjoy!
Tip

If you are using wooden skewers, it is a good idea to soak them in water for at least 30 minutes and preferably a few hours before adding the pieces of meat and vegetable. This prevents them from accidentally catching fire on the grill. If you forget to soak them beforehand, you can let them soak for just 30 minutes. Do not worry that you will have to wait a bit before putting meat and vegetables on the skewers; you are simply giving the marinade more time to work, making the skewers even more intense in flavour. If you prefer not to eat your grilled chicken and vegetable skewers while they are on the skewers, you can take them off after grilling and use them as delicious filling in wraps. Try using homemade flatbread, perhaps with a bit of earthy hummus or bean dip to complement the spiced honey and garlic marinade and give your chicken skewer dinner wraps a creamy mouthfeel.

Questions about chicken skewers

With our easy BBQ chicken skewer recipe, making tasty grill treats is simple as well as quick. To learn more about chicken skewers, read our answers to the most frequently asked questions about them below.

What are chicken skewers?
Chicken skewers are a popular, delicious, and versatile dish that consists of small pieces of chicken and vegetables (like peppers, onion, and courgette) threaded onto a skewer and cooked on a grill, over an open flame, or in the oven. The chicken can be marinated in a variety of flavourful sauces or spices before cooking, such as a spiced honey and garlic glaze, teriyaki sauce, tandoori spice blend, or a classic barbecue sauce. They may be served as an appetiser, snack, or main course and are often accompanied by different side dishes.
How to make chicken skewers?
Chicken skewers are a wonderful addition to any barbeque meal, either as an appetiser, side, or main course. To make chicken skewers from scratch, start by preparing your homemade marinade by grinding the coarse salt, cumin seeds, and garlic and mixing the spice blend with tomato purée, honey, and olive oil. Then cut your chicken tenderloins, red onions, red pepper, and courgette into uniformly sized pieces. Arrange these on the skewers, alternating meat and vegetables, and brush them with marinade. Cook them for 10-12 minutes on the grill to get the perfect sear and caramelised surface.
How long to grill chicken skewers?
It takes about 10-12 minutes (about 2.5-3 minutes on each of their four sides) to grill chicken skewers on a barbeque, depending on the sizes of the meat and vegetable pieces. However, to ensure an even cook, it is quite important to focus on uniformity. This entails cutting chicken and vegetable pieces that are roughly the same size. After grilling your chicken skewers, allow them to rest for a few minutes before you serve them.
What to serve with chicken skewers?
There are many delicious options to enjoy with marinated chicken skewers. A popular option is to serve them with a fresh Greek salad or a couscous salad with juicy watermelon and tangy salad cheese. Additional roasted or grilled vegetables, such as corn, asparagus, eggplant, or potatoes, are also a great choice and complement the flavours of the chicken skewers well. They also taste great with rice, couscous, or quinoa. Additionally, hummus, bean dip, guacamole, or tzatziki can be served as a dipping sauce for extra flavour and a creamy texture.
Can you freeze chicken skewers?
Yes, chicken skewers, either raw or cooked, can be frozen for up to 2 months. To freeze them, wrap each one in aluminium foil, place them in an airtight container or freezer bag, and remove as much air as possible to prevent freezer burn. If you want to prevent them from sticking together, you can flash-freeze them on a lined baking tray first. It is important to freeze them as soon as possible after they have been cooked to maintain their quality. When you are ready to use eat the skewers, thaw them in the fridge overnight before reheating or cooking them in the oven or on the grill.

Ingredients

Marinade
Whole cumin seed
2 tsp
Coarse salt
¾ tsp
Garam masala
2 tsp
Big garlic cloves, crushed
2
Concentrated tomato purée
2 tbsp
Honey
2 tsp
Olive oil
3 tbsp
Chicken skewers
Chicken tenderloin, rinsed
500 g
Green courgettes
100 g
Red onions
2
Red pepper
1
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Marinated chicken skewers with vegetables

Made with alternating pieces of chicken, purple onion, red pepper, and green courgette, these delectable chicken skewers are wonderfully colourful. The mild meat and vegetables are covered with an aromatic marinade that ensures a flavourful and juicy eating experience. They are sure to be a hit with children and adults alike and to delight at any barbeque.

When cooked on the barbeque, the skewers gain decorative grill markings and get a great char on that creates a wonderful crispiness to complement their juicy, tender qualities. When the onion and pepper are grilled, they gain a lovely sweetness as their surface lightly caramelises.

Cumin, garam masala, and honey marinade

The marinade is the end all be all of the skewers. So, using the right ingredients will ensure perfectly marinated chicken skewers. Cumin has a rich, earthy flavour with bright citrussy notes. The spice is great at adding depth and making other flavours pop, including the tangy-sweet tomato purée, the aromatic garlic, and the Indian garam masala used in this BBQ chicken skewer marinade. Garam masala is a warm, savoury, and fragrant spice blend with many layers of flavour. It adds a complex sweetness, warmth, and floral notes to the homemade marinade.

The black pepper in the spice blend as well as the marinade adds a bit of peppery heat that ensures these honey garlic chicken skewers are perfectly balanced and have a complex flavour profile. When they are cooked and lightly charred on the grill, the marinade gains a smoky quality that makes it deliciously perfect.

Perfectly grilled chicken skewer side dishes

Sticky honey chicken skewers taste great with a fresh salad on the side to brighten things up. If grilling makes you dream of delightful summer holidays, an exotic, invigorating couscous salad with fresh mint, juicy watermelon, and salty salad cheese is a great choice. So too is a classic and colourful Greek salad with tomato, cucumber, green pepper, red onion, black olives, and snow-white salad cheese. The combination of the tender vegetable and chicken skewers and the fresh, crispy vegetables of a salad makes for a great pairing.

Add your own touch

Though our simple chicken skewer marinade is certainly flavourful, you might like to turn up the heat by making it spicier. Use, for example, fresh chilli, dried chilli, or spicy seasoning like chilli powder. Be mindful that many chilli powders contain a variety of different spices though which may affect the overall flavour. 

For a BBQ marinade, smoky flavours work very well. As such, dried chipotle chillis or cayenne pepper will be great choices. You can also give it a citrusy vibe by adding the juice and zest of one lime or lemon, adding a tangy, refreshing flavour to the marinade. For a Thai-inspired touch, add 1-2 tablespoons of fish sauce, the juice and zest of one lime as well as some fresh basil or coriander.

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