Did you know that you can create succulent chicken skewers in the oven without needing a BBQ or creating a mess? It's a simple process, yet the results are impressive, with delightful char marks reminiscent of grilling. You can also enhance the skewers by adding bell peppers or onions to incorporate more vegetables.
These chicken skewers in the oven are ideal to cook no matter what the weather or what the season is. If the weather or time of the year permits, it can be beautifully cooked on the grill or barbeque too.
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Making chicken kabobs by baking them is a tasty and easy way to cook juicy, seasoned chicken anytime. People love chicken kabobs because they're flavorful, they look fantastic and are very simple to make. With a delicious marinade, tender meat, and minimal cleanup, they're perfect for any meal. Plus, if you broil them quickly at the end, they taste almost like they've been grilled 😉
🍗Ingredients
- chicken breast or chicken thighs
- red onion
- courgette or zucchini
- yogurt
- spices (use any you like such as zataar, cumin, curry powder, chili powder)
🔪How to make oven chicken skewers or kabobs
A few simple steps:
- Gather all the ingredients, wash and chop/ cut as desired, soak the skewers, and preheat the oven when the time comes.
- Marinade the meat cubes any time between 30 minutes to 24 hours (refrigerated of course).
- Place on skewers by alternating meat and vegetable chunks.
- Bake them beautifully by turning them once midway during the cooking time.
- Serve with desired sides, salads, potato, rice, bread, and ENJOY!
🤹♂️Variations and substitutions
- Use any herbs you may like
- Add ginger and turmeric
- Use a full-fat yogurt and ditch the love oil if you don't like the idea of using oil
- I have used chicken breast and thighs this time but I have used lamb, pork, or prawns
- add any other vegetables you may like (mushrooms, peppers (any color), spring onions or even add fruits like pineapple or peaches.
♨️How to serve these baked chicken kabobs
This divine and healthy dish for all seasons can be enjoyed with couscous, quinoa, or rice and a side salad or pickles like these Quick pickled carrots or Pickled Garlic or, even a crazier option like my Pickled Watermelon. Simply amazing. Serve with quinoa or couscous like this Easy BBQ Chicken Kebabs, or a broccoli salad like in this Easiest Chicken Thighs Recipe With Broccoli Salad. The options are endless.
🥗Other recipes you may like
- Succulent exotic BBQ-ed prawns
- Homemade burgers with mint and cumin yogurt sauce
- Teriyaki chicken skewers
❓Recipe FAQs
Typically, chicken skewers are cooked in the oven for about 20 minutes at 375°F (190°C) in a preheated oven. However, cooking times may vary depending on the size of the chicken pieces and your oven.
Marinating chicken skewers before baking will not just enhance the flavor of these oven-baked chicken skewers but will keep the chicken moist. So, I recommend marinating the chicken for at least 30 minutes if not overnight.
To prevent chicken skewers from drying out in the oven, avoid overcooking them. Remove them from the oven promptly once cooked.
Yes, you can use wooden skewers in the oven but remember to soak them in water for at least 30 minutes before threading the chicken onto them. This helps prevent the skewers from burning during baking.
Chicken skewers are done when the internal temperature of the chicken reaches 165°F (74°C). You can use a meat thermometer to check the temperature at the thickest part of the chicken pieces.
Well, yes I do recommend you do so these halfway through the cooking time - it will help cooking and browning them evenly.
I suggest you only freeze the prepped meat in airtight containers and though over night before cooking them when you will add the fresh vegetables too.
👩🏻🍳Cook's Tip
Do not place those on baking sheet but place them directly on a greased grill to get the char markes. Make sure you do place a tray underneath it to catck all the juices so you do not make a mess in your oven. Remember, we said, no mess, right?
You may also place the skewers in a ttay on parchment paper if you don't care about the char marks and it will also not stick, and it's mess free too.
🍢How to make ahead, store, or reheat?
- Preparation in Advance: For convenient meal preparation, make your chicken marinade up to two days ahead. Keep the chicken and marinade in a sealed container in the refrigerator. When you're ready to cook, assemble the skewers and proceed with baking.
- Storage: Once baked, allow your shish kabobs to cool to room temperature before refrigerating. Store the skewers in an airtight container for freshness. Alternatively, you can remove the meat from the skewers before storing it. Your leftover kabobs will maintain freshness for 2-3 days in the refrigerator.
- Reheating: Reheat your leftover chicken skewers by preheating the oven to 180 C or 350 F. Heat them for approximately 10 minutes until they are throughout. If they seem dry, lightly coat the chicken pieces with a bit of olive oil before reheating. Alternatively, you can microwave the chicken kabobs for 1-1½ minutes, checking every 30 seconds until thoroughly warmed.
Oven-baked chicken kabobs are excellent for anyone who enjoys easy meal prep. Prepare these kabobs, and simple meals will be ready throughout the week.
💞Pair these chicken kabobs with:
- Easy Instant Pot Coconut Rice
- Potato And Roast Asparagus Salad
- Homemade Horseradish and Roasted Beetroot Relish
- Quick pickled carrots (fermented)
- Healthy Potato Salad
- Salmon And Crudités Salad With Coconut Blossom Nectar And Umami Salt Vinaigrette
- Crusty Baked (Potato) Spuds
- Potato, Cucumber And Garlic Salad
📋 Chicken skewers in the oven
Equipment
- skewers
- bowl
- knife
- chopping board
- oven tray
Ingredients
For the grill:
- 500 g chicken thighs and breast (1 lb)
- 2 large red onions
- 2 large courgettes
For the meat marinade:
- ½ lemon
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon sea salt or Himalayan Salt
- ½ tablespoon ground pepper black, freshly ground
- 1 large garlic grated
- 1 tablespoon dry herbs optional
Instructions
The marinade & grill:
- Prepare the marinade by mixing the finely chopped garlic, salt, pepper, olive oil, yogurt, and any herbs or spices you fancy.
- Cut the chicken meat into chunks of about a square 1 inch or slightly bigger and marinade. These should be marinated, ideally, for about 3-4 hours. It is best to prepare the meat in advance, even the night before.
- Chop all the veggies into the desired size chunks. Ideally the same size as the meat chunks.
- Alternate the meat and the veggies on the soaked skewers and cook for about 20-25 min in the preheated oven.
Notes
- Marinade meat of your choice in lemon or wine (white wine if chicken or fish and red wine for pork, beef or lamb), salt, pepper and garlic.
- If you are choosing to go for chicken breast, add 2-3 tablespoons of yogurt to the marinade. This will help to keep the meat juicier and prevent it from drying.
- Put on skewers with veggies or even fruits that you like such as pineapple, kumquat, peaches, or lychees!
- The oven should be only preheated for about 10 min priorly.
- Use metal skewers if you have some.
Brittany F. says
I love the idea of making these chicken skewers in the oven. Sometimes I don't feel like grilling and this is the perfect alternative. The flavors are great too!
Jeannie says
the perfect dish for get togethers, making them in the oven is super easy. Also we like your marinade for the chicken.
Anaiah says
These skewers are so easy to make. They're going to be awesome to bring for work potlucks!