Last year, about this time, I created this recipe for a giveaway from Great American Spice Company, where I am an occasional contributor. Since the giveaway is long over, I thought the recipe deserved it’s own post, so I’m republishing it today.
Now, it’s true that we don’t use a whole lot of processed food around here – I’m a DIY sort of gal for the most part. But, I do get in a hurry sometimes, and I like to have a few tried and true “store bought” things on hand for when I run short on time. BBQ sauce is a pretty handy item, and any spicy sauce will work very nicely in this recipe, but I am particularly fond Mild to Wild Southwest Chipotle Sauce. It contains just real stuff, with no preservatives or unpronounceable ingredients.
Chicken kebabs are a favorite for us. They are so easy to make, look pretty impressive on the plate and everyone loves them, because they’re fun. The thing I like the best about them though is that you can combine big chunks of raw vegetables with cubes of skinless, boneless chicken breast, and everything gets done at the same time, without the veggies cooking too fast and falling off the skewers before the chicken is done. Easy, fast and delicious – you can’t beat that combination!
- about 12 to 14 ounces skinless, boneless chicken breasts
- 1 medium sweet yellow onion
- 1 sweet red or green pepper
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 8 - 10 grinds fresh black pepper
- ½ teaspoon each smoked paprika and cumin
- 1 large garlic clove minced very finely , or ½ teaspoon granulated garlic powder
- Any spicy, smokey bottled BBQ Sauce
- Trim the chicken breasts of any fat and cartilage, and cut in 2 inch chunks.
- Remove skin from the onion and cut in half. Cut each half into 3 pieces, the long way, and then cut in half through the short way, keeping the layers together as much as possible.
- Remove the stem from the pepper, and cut in half, end to end. Pull out any membranes and seeds, and cut each half into 3 long strips, then cut the strips in half the short way. For both the onions and peppers, you want to have pieces about the same size as the chicken.
- Place the chicken and peppers in medium sized bowl.
- Add the olive oil, salt, pepper, paprika, cumin and garlic and mix gently, but well with a wooden spoon.
- Drizzle a bit of oil over the onion chunks, and sprinkle with some salt and pepper - if you put them in the bowl with the chicken and peppers, the layers will not stay together.
- String the chicken chunks and vegetable evenly on 4 metal skewers. The chunks of chicken and veggies should be touching, but not pushed together super tightly.
- You may have some peppers and onion chunks leftover - I just string those on a separate skewer to serve alongside.
- Allow the skewers to sit for about 15 minutes.
- Prepare your gas or charcoal grill, making sure to oil the grates, using vegetable oil on a paper towel, held in a pair of long tongs.
- Grill the kebabs over medium heat, turning to cook all sides evenly, for about 15 minutes.
- Brush all sides of the kababs with a generous amount of Mild to Wild Southwest Chipotle BBQ Sauce, and cook another 5 minutes or so to get a nice glaze on everything.
- Serve hot and store any leftover in the refrigerator.
It really doesn’t get a whole lot easier than that – serve with rice [the extra onions and peppers are really good mixed in there!] and a veggie or salad and dinner is served!
11 thoughts on “Southwest Chicken Kebabs”