Chipotle Honey Chicken Kabobs
This Chipotle Honey Chicken Kabobs recipe is a fun way to enjoy tender grilled chicken and veggies. The kabobs are delicious with sweet and spicy flavor, and off the grill in 15 minutes. You can even assemble the skewers in advance – perfect for entertaining!
Easy Chipotle Honey Chicken Kabobs
This Chipotle Honey Chicken Kabobs recipe has been a longtime family favorite. The chicken and veggies have such wonderful flavor – and we love how the sweet honey caramelizes with the heat of the grill!
This is such a delicious, easy chicken kabobs recipe. Featuring grilled skewers of tender chicken flavored with a chipotle honey marinade, plus fresh bell pepper and onion, it’s great for both entertaining and weeknight suppers. You can even assemble the skewers in advance!
Why You’ll Love These Grilled Chicken Kabobs
We grill year-round here in Minnesota. Yes, even during snow storms in January! So recipes like this, that are super flavorful and cook up quickly on the grill, are awesome to have on hand. Here’s why you’ll love these kabobs!
- Easy to prep in advance. I love that I can not only marinate the chicken earlier in the day, but also thread the skewers in advance. This works great for entertaining and busy family schedules!
- Cook in 15 minutes. These honey chicken kabobs are a great quick dinner grilling option. They’re off the grill in 15 minutes!
- Yummy flavor & texture. The chipotle honey marinade is deliciously spicy-sweet. A big “thank you!” to my sister Jessica for her brilliant suggestion to use my chipotle honey vinaigrette recipe as a marinade – it’s PERFECT! We love how the grill caramelizes the honey on the tender, flavorful chicken!
- Versatile. Honey chicken kabobs go just as well with a hearty salad as they do with classic BBQ side dishes like coleslaw. You can check out some of my serving suggestions lower down.
What You’ll Need
Here’s a rundown of everything you’ll need to make these honey chicken kabobs.
Scroll down to the printable recipe card at the end of this post for the exact ingredient amounts.
- Chipotle honey vinaigrette – This flavorful recipe makes about 1 cup of vinaigrette, which is used as both a marinade and as a finishing grill glaze for this kabobs recipe.
- Chicken – I use boneless, skinless chicken breasts for these kabobs.
- Onion – If you can, use a sweet onion such as Vidalia. You can also use a white, yellow, or red onion.
- Bell pepper – Our family prefers red bell peppers, but you can use any color you like.
- Olive oil – Fold the onion and bell pepper pieces with a little olive oil.
- Salt & pepper – Sprinkle some over the assembled skewers before grilling.
How to Make Chipotle Honey Chicken Kabobs
Follow along with my super easy method for chicken honey kabobs below:
- Make the marinade. You can make the chipotle honey vinaigrette, which serves as the marinade, up to a few days in advance if desired. Just store it in an airtight container in the fridge until ready to use.
- Marinate the chicken. Reserve ¼ cup of the marinade to use as a grilling glaze. Then pour the rest into a wide shallow bowl or sealable plastic baggie. Fold the chicken pieces with the marinade. Cover the bowl of chicken tightly and place in the fridge to marinate for 2-4 hours (longer marinating time = more flavor).
- Coat veggies with oil. Place onion and red pepper pieces in a bowl and drizzle with olive oil. Fold to evenly coat.
- Add ingredients to the skewers. Then thread the chicken and vegetables alternately onto skewers, and place the assembled kabobs on a rimmed baking sheet. Discard any remaining marinade left in the bowl. Sprinkle the kabobs with salt and pepper to taste.
- Heat the grill. Heat grill to medium/medium-high heat. Make sure grates are scrubbed clean and then oiled.
- Cook the kabobs. Place the kabobs on the hot grill grates, turning the kabobs as each side gets charred, about 12 to 15 minutes total. After kabobs have cooked for about 10 minutes, brush them with the reserved ¼ cup of marinade and grill until done.
Tips for Success
I have a few tips that will help your grilled chicken kabobs turn out wonderfully:
- Make the marinade in advance. The marinade keeps well for up to a week, so making it in advance helps you create the kabobs quickly and easily on the day you want to grill them.
- Cut everything the same size. For evenly charred kabobs, it’s important to cut all the ingredients about the same size. I also keep the pieces on the smaller side, so the chicken cooks quickly.
- Add more vegetables. You can add more vegetables to your skewers if you like. Some nice choices include mushrooms, grape or cherry tomatoes, asparagus, and summer squash or zucchini – just be sure to coat them with a little olive oil before adding them to the skewers.
- Soak wooden skewers. If you’re using wooden skewers, place them in a shallow pan of water to soak for at least 1 hour before threading on the chicken and veggies. This will help them to not burn up as quickly on the grill.
- Prepare your grill. Because of the honey in the marinade, it’s especially important to properly prep your grill. So heat up the grill, then clean the grill grates well and oil them. To oil the grates, add some vegetable oil to a small bowl. Then fold a heavy paper towel a few times to make a smaller square. With tongs, grasp the folded paper towel and dip it into the oil until the paper towel is soaked. Then run the paper towel over the clean, hot grates, repeating until the grill grates are thoroughly oiled.
Serving Suggestions
Kabobs are such a fun and easy way to make a main dish! I like to serve them with rice, another grain, potatoes, or a simple salad. Here are a few of my serving suggestions for honey chicken kabobs:
- Alongside rice. Serve honey chicken kabobs with a big bowl of fragrant cilantro lime rice for a complete meal.
- With potatoes. Grilled chicken kabobs are wonderful with all sorts of potatoes, from a warm German potato salad or cold dill pickle potato salad, to buttermilk mashed potatoes or roasted potatoes. Our family will never turn away our favorite baked potatoes, either!
- Add a salad. For a lighter dinner, pair grilled chicken kabobs with salad. My arugula beet salad, broccoli salad, or winter apple salad are beautiful fresh choices.
- Try classic barbecue sides. Serve grilled chicken kabobs at a barbecue along with some classic sides, like my creamy coleslaw, Hawaiian macaroni salad, or a pot of cowboy beans.
Can These Be Assembled in Advance?
Yes, you can absolutely put together these honey chicken kabobs ahead of time. In fact, I recommend doing so!
You can make the marinade up to a few days in advance and keep it in an airtight container in the fridge. You can also place the chicken in the marinade up to 8 hours before threading the ingredients onto skewers. The longer you let the chicken marinate in the vinaigrette the more flavor it will have! And you can thread the skewers up to a couple hours prior to grilling – just place the assembled kabobs on a rimmed baking sheet, cover it tightly, and refrigerate until grill time!
How to Store & Reheat Leftovers
If you have leftovers, I recommend removing the grilled chicken and veggies from the skewers. Place them in an airtight container and store in the fridge for up to 3 days.
To reheat, you can gently microwave the chicken and vegetables, in 30-second intervals until hot. Or heat everything in a skillet on the stovetop or in a 350° F oven until hot.
Grilled Chipotle Honey Chicken Kabobs
Ingredients
- Chipotle Honey Vinaigrette – this makes about 1 cup of vinaigrette which will be used as both a marinade and as a finishing grill glaze for this kabobs recipe
- 1¼ to 1½ pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into chunks about 1¼” in size
- 1 medium yellow onion a sweet onion such as Vidalia, if possible, cut into 1¼” pieces and separated into single layers
- 1 large red bell pepper ribs and seeds removed, cut into 1¼” pieces
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- Morton kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Make the marinade: Prepare the Chipotle Honey Vinaigrette. You can make it up to a few days in advance, if desired, then store it in an airtight container in the fridge until ready to use.
- Marinate the chicken: Transfer ¼ cup of the vinaigrette to an airtight container and place in the fridge until grilling time. Pour the rest of the vinaigrette into a wide shallow bowl or sealable plastic baggie. Add the chicken to the bowl/baggie with the vinaigrette, folding to evenly coat. Cover the bowl of chicken tightly and place it in the fridge to marinate for 2-4 hours (longer marinating time = more flavor).
- Make the kabobs: First, place onion and red pepper pieces in a medium bowl and drizzle with olive oil. Fold to evenly coat.
- Then thread chicken and vegetables alternately onto skewers, and place kabobs on a rimmed baking sheet. Discard any remaining marinade left in the bowl.
- Sprinkle the kabobs with salt and pepper, to taste, and turn the kabobs over once and sprinkle again.
- Heat grill to medium/medium-high heat. Make sure grates are scrubbed clean and then oiled (see Notes).
- Place kabobs on hot grill grates, turning the kabobs as each side gets charred, about 12 to 15 minutes total. After kabobs have cooked for about 10 minutes, brush them with the reserved ¼ cup of vinaigrette/marinade and grill until done.
- Serve hot with cilantro lime rice.
Notes
Nutrition Information:
More Easy Chicken Recipes On The Grill
- Grilled Honey Mustard Chicken Kabobs
- Grilled Chicken Kabobs with Meyer Lemon Salsa
- Southwest Salad with Grilled Chicken
- Grilled Chicken & Pineapple Sandwich
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Made this two days ago and am still thinking about them. The combination is great, and it appeals to even my pickiest eater. Thank you.
Wonderful! So glad you liked this recipe. Thanks for coming back to let me know!
Love the honey chipotle flavor combo!
I made these tonight and they were fantastic! My husband and sons loved them.
Thank you for this terrific recipe!
AWESOME!!! I’m so glad you all liked these kebabs. If you want to try another kebab recipe out on your family, this one is always a winner, too, and very quick to mix up: https://www.afarmgirlsdabbles.com/2012/05/30/grilled-honey-mustard-chicken-kebabs/
I used to beg for kabobs as a child. They carry this childhood nostalgia with them, and I love the dressing-as-marinade here.
My sisters just arrived with their kids for a few days, and we served kebabs last night. They were such a fun hit for our tribe. Not one piece of kebab left over! Hope your summer is off to a great start, Shaina. xo
Great looking kabobs! Found you through Brandie at The Country Cook.
Thank you, Sarah – I had so much fun meeting Brandi!!
These kabobs look really good!You and Brandi from The County Cook made a great team in Nashville!
Thank you! And I had so much fun meeting Brandi, loved getting to know her!
These look amazing and I will have to try them! I will have to thank Brandie from The Country Cook for sending me your way!
So nice to meet you, Paula! Brandie is so fun and lovely, I truly enjoyed meeting her in Nashville. She’s great with her biscuits, too. ;)
These look and sound amazing! Saved these to my person “to try” recipe file, yum!
Gorgeous kabobs! I have to try these soon.