Chicken Skewers

Chipotle Chicken Skewers – Tender and juicy bites of grilled chicken are flavored with bright lime and smoky chipotle. They’re mouth-wateringly delicious. Pair this with a creamy and chunky avocado dipping sauce, and you’ve got the best shareable BBQ-worthy dish.

Nothing says summer more than a grill lined with sizzling kabobs! They’re effortless to put together, super tasty, and incredibly versatile. Skewer some Grilled Teriyaki Shrimp Kabobs or Ginger Soy Beef Kabobs. You can mix and match flavors, veggies, and proteins for an array of crowd-pleasing fare.

Chipotle Chicken Skewers

Make sure that you add these Chipotle Chicken Skewers to your next BBQ menu! Bite-sized chicken strips are combined with an umami marinade. Sour lime juice meets salty chipotle in adobo and tangy balsamic vinegar to create a flavor explosion.

Pair them with a quick and easy avocado dipping sauce, and these skewers will surely be a hit. They’re perfect to eat right from the grill or pack away for lunch during the week.

Why This Recipe Works

• Easily scale up this recipe when you need to feed a crowd. Prep is quick and minimal even when you’re making a lot
• These chicken skewers are versatile. You can eat them right from the skewer or use the chicken in a salad, taco, or quesadilla. Or marinate chunks of your favorite veggies with the chicken. Then, pop those onto the skewer to make the protein go further and add variety to the kabobs.
• Serve this recipe for lunch or dinner. Or, serve it to a crowd at a BBQ or potluck. It’s a simple dish but full of flavor, and it’ll please even the pickiest eaters.

What You’ll Need

Be sure to scroll down to the recipe card to get the measurements and full instructions!

Chicken

• Chicken – Use boneless, skinless chicken breast for this recipe. Usually, you can even find it already cubed at the grocery store. Or, you can save money by buying the full breasts and slicing them into strips yourself.
• Lime Juice
• Balsamic Vinegar
• Chipotle Pepper in Adobo – You’ll find tiny cans in the Latin section of your grocery store’s International Aisle. Otherwise, check with the canned tomatoes.  

Avocado Sauce

• Avocado
• Sour Cream – You could swap this for low-fat sour cream or plain greek yogurt if you’d prefer a lighter alternative.
• Cilantro
• Lime Juice
• Lime Zest
• Salt

How To Make Chipotle Chicken Skewers

1. Prepare the chicken. Pound out the chicken breasts to ¼ inch thick. This way, they’ll all cook evenly. Then, cut them into 1-inch strips.
2. Make the marinade. Add salt, lime juice, balsamic vinegar, and the minced chipotle to a Ziploc bag. Zip up the top and give the bag a good shake or squish to combine all the ingredients.
3. Marinate the chicken. Add the chicken strips to the marinade, and toss them around to coat. Then, put the sealed Ziploc bag flat in the fridge to marinate for 30-45 minutes.
4. Skewer the chicken. Remove the chicken from the Ziploc bag and discard the marinade. Then, thread about 3 strips of chicken onto each skewer. Start by poking the skewer through the bottom, then bend the chicken and skewer it again. Continue this process, skewering the chicken in a zig-zag formation to ensure it’s secure.
5. Grill the chicken skewers. Transfer the skewers to a hot grill. Cook them covered over medium heat for 4-6 minutes per side.
6. Mash together the avocado dipping sauce. While the chicken is cooking, prepare the avocado sauce. Add the peeled and pitted avocado to a bowl and mash it with a fork until it reaches your desired chunkiness. Then, stir in the sour cream and cilantro. Once that’s all combined, you can add in the zest, salt, and lime juice. Cover the sauce by placing plastic wrap directly onto the surface (to prevent browning) and keep it in the fridge until you’re ready to serve.

Recipe Tips

• You can cut the chicken into strips or cubes, whatever your preference is. I like strips because they’re easier to take small bites without the chicken falling from the skewer. 
• You can add the ingredients to a food processor or blender if you want a smooth dipping sauce instead of a chunky one.
• Turn the avocado sauce into a guacamole sauce by adding finely diced garlic, red onion, and tomato.
• You can allow the chicken to marinate longer than 45 minutes, but don’t exceed 36 hours of marination. After this amount of time, the acidic lime juice and vinegar will break down the fibers of the chicken and lead to a mushy, undesirable texture.

How To Pick Ripe Avocados

There’s nothing worse than cutting open an avocado only to discover it’s rock hard and not ripe at all or overripe, brown, and mushy. 

Look for a darker green or black colored exterior rather than bright green. Pick one that is bumpy, not smooth. 

Then apply gentle but firm pressure to the avocado. If it’s unyielding, then it’s not yet ripe. If it’s squishy and your fingers leave indentations, it’s overripe. You’ll want to choose one that slightly yields to gentle pressure.

Can I Make Chicken Skewers Ahead Of Time

To save even more prep time, especially on busy days, like when you’re hosting a backyard BBQ party, start marinating the chicken early. 

You can prep the chicken and leave it to marinate in the fridge for up to 24 hours. Then, when you’re ready to cook, all you have to do is skewer the chicken and grill!

What Goes With Grilled Chicken Skewers

Serve Chipotle Chicken Skewers with any of these BBQ-worthy sides:

• Fajita Veggies – Remove the cooked chicken from the skewers. Then, pair them with these veggies for an effortless, build-it-yourself fajita dinner.
• Smoked Corn on the Cob – This smoked corn is super flavorful and a must-add to any outdoor summertime menu.
• Grilled Potato Packs – While you already have the grill going, it’s easy to throw on these foil-wrapped potatoes. There’s virtually no cleanup, and everyone can top their baked potatoes to their desire. So easy!

More Tasty Grilling Recipes

• Grilled Avocado Chicken
• Fiesta Lime Chicken
• Poor Man’s Burnt Ends
• Grilled Chicken Legs
• Margarita Grilled Chicken
• Grilled Pork Chops
• Grilled Chicken Sandwich
• Grilled Turkey Tenderloin

Continue to Content

Yield: 4

Chicken Skewers

Print

Chicken Skewers - tender pieces of chicken marinated with lots of lime juice and chipotle, then grilled and served with an avocado dipping sauce.

Prep Time 5 minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes

Total Time 20 minutes

Ingredients

Chicken

• 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 1/2 cup lime juice
• 1 Tablespoon balsamic vinegar
• 2 teaspoon chipotle pepper in adobo, minced

Avocado Sauce

• 1 whole ripe avocado
• 2 Tablespoon sour cream
• 1 Tablespoon cilantro, minced
• 1/2 lime juiced
• 1/2 teaspoon lime zest
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Instructions

1. Pound out the chicken breasts to ¼ inch thick. This way, they’ll all cook evenly. Then, cut them into 1-inch strips.
2. Make the marinade by adding salt, lime juice, balsamic vinegar, and the minced chipotle to a Ziploc bag. Zip up the top and give the bag a good shake or squish to combine all the ingredients.
3. Add the chicken strips to the marinade, and toss them around to coat. Then, put the sealed Ziploc bag flat in the fridge to marinate for 30-45 minutes.
4. Preheat the grill to a medium high heat.
5. Remove the chicken from the Ziploc bag and discard the marinade. Then, thread about 3 strips of chicken onto each skewer. Start by poking the skewer through the bottom, then bend the chicken and skewer it again. Continue this process, skewering the chicken in a zig-zag formation to ensure it’s secure.
6. Transfer the skewers to a hot grill. Cook them covered over medium heat for 4-6 minutes per side, until the chicken is cooked through.

Avocado Dipping Sauce

1. Using a fork mash the avocado. Stir in the sour cream and cilantro until well combined.
2. Add the zest, salt, and squeeze in the juice from half a lime.
3. Refrigerate until serving.

Notes

Recipe from Taste of Home Healthy Cooking

Nutrition Information

Yield

4

Serving Size

1
Amount Per Serving Calories 161Saturated Fat 1gCholesterol 76mgSodium 327mgCarbohydrates 3gSugar 1gProtein 24g

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Erin S

Welcome to Dinners, Dishes, & Desserts where my love of food meets my busy life. My name is Erin and I’m a casual home cook who loves to feed people. On this blog, you’ll find hundreds of quick and easy recipes made mostly from scratch. My days are spent in the kitchen, creating new recipes to share with family and friends.

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