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These easy chicken kabobs brushed with a honey lime sauce are juicy, tender, and flavorful. No more dry or rubbery grilled chicken!
Today’s Chicken Kabobs recipe is sponsored by my friends at Morton Salt. Thank you so much for supporting the brands I love and for making Isabel Eats possible!
Grilling season is officially in full force, and I can’t think of a better way to celebrate than with some juicy chicken kabobs!
There’s something so satisfying about eating a tender and moist kabob on a hot summer day with friends and family that instantly puts me in a relaxed, happy mood. I absolutely love it. But have you ever made chicken kabobs that turned out dry and rubbery? I know I have, and it was definitely NOT happy and relaxing. It was really sad and disappointing!
Today I’m excited to partner with my besties at Morton Salt to show you how I make perfectly juicy, tender and moist chicken kabobs every single time. All you need is 30 minutes of letting the chicken rest in a mixture of water, some Morton’s Coarse Kosher Salt® and a touch of table sugar and you’re good to go.
So whether you call them kabobs, kebobs, kebabs or skewers, here’s how to make the JUICIEST chicken kabobs ever! Let’s get started.
How to Make Juicy Chicken Kabobs
- Place boneless skinless chicken breasts in a large bowl full of water, Morton’s Coarse Kosher Salt® and sugar. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- Remove the chicken from the water and pat dry with paper towels. Cut chicken into bite-sized chunks.
- Transfer chicken to a large bowl and toss with olive oil and seasonings.
- Thread chicken onto metal or wooden skewers and grill on high heat for 10 to 15 minutes, turning halfway through the cooking time, until chicken if fully cooked through.
Once the chicken is cooked through and ready to eat, you can serve it as is or you can brush it with a sauce like this sweet and salty honey lime sauce.
The sauce is a simple mixture of butter, honey, lime juice, a pinch of Morton’s Coarse Kosher Salt® to make sure it isn’t too sweet, cilantro and red pepper flakes. I thickened it up slightly by adding in a little corn starch. (If you’re following the Paleo diet or trying to avoid corn, you can use arrowroot powder instead.)
Tips for Making Chicken Kabobs
- Don’t skip out on brining the chicken. It only takes 30 minutes to ensure that your chicken is juicy and tender, so don’t forget this step! During that time, you can make the honey lime sauce and get together all the other seasonings so you don’t waste any time.
- Try to cut the chicken pieces into same size chunks. This ensures the chicken will cook evenly and all the skewers will be done cooking at the same time.
- If you’re using wooden skewers instead of metal ones, be sure to soak them in water for 15 minutes up to overnight to prevent them from burning on the grill.
- It’s important to salt the honey lime sauce so that it isn’t overly sweet. This will result in balanced sweet and salty chicken that will have people asking for seconds!
- For easy cleanup, line a baking sheet with aluminum foil before brushing the skewers with the honey lime sauce. There’s nothing worse than trying to clean off sticky honey in the summer time!
Whether you live in an apartment building and don’t have a grill or it’s the middle of winter and your porch is covered with snow, you can make these chicken kabobs indoors using your handy dandy oven!
How Do You Make Chicken Kabobs in the Oven?
- Preheat oven to 450°F. Lightly spray two large baking sheets with nonstick cook spray.
- Place kabobs on baking sheets and bake for 20-25 minutes, turning the skewers over halfway through the cooking time.
- Remove kabobs from oven, brush with sauce and serve immediately.
Once you’ve got the whole chicken kabob situation sorted out, you may be wondering what pairs well with these skewers! Here’s a few ideas I put together to get the ball rolling.
Sides to Serve with Chicken Kabobs
- Elote (Mexican Street Corn)
- Avocado Salad
- Quinoa Salad with Farro and Barley
- Authentic Mexican Rice Recipe
More Grilling Recipes
The Juiciest Chicken Kabobs Ever!
Ingredients
For the chicken kabobs
- 8 cups room temperature water
- 1/3 cup + 1/2 teaspoon Morton Coarse Kosher Salt®, divided
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
For the honey lime sauce
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
- 3 tablespoons honey
- 1 lime, juiced and zested
- 1 tablespoon chopped cilantro
- 2 teaspoons corn starch or arrowroot powder
- 1/2 teaspoon Morton Coarse Kosher Salt®
- 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
Instructions
For the chicken kabobs
- In a large bowl, add water, 1/3 cup Morton Coarse Kosher Salt®, and sugar. Mix together with a spoon until the salt and sugar has dissolved. Add the chicken breasts to the salt water solution, cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- Remove the chicken breasts from the water, pat dry with paper towels and cut into 1-inch chunks.
- Toss chicken with olive oil, onion powder, garlic powder, black pepper and remaining 1/2 teaspoon Morton Coarse Kosher Salt®.
- Thread the seasoned chicken onto 8 12-inch metal skewers. If using wooden skewers, be sure to soak them in water for 15 minutes to prevent them from burning on the grill.
- Heat grill to high heat, about 400°F. Place kabobs on grill, cover and cook for about 10-15 minutes, turning the kabobs 2 to 3 times until chicken fully cooked through and has beautiful grill marks.
- Remove from grill and generously brush them with the honey lime sauce.
For the honey lime sauce
- In a small bowl, combine all ingredients for the honey lime sauce and whisk together until the corn starch has completely dissolved and the sauce has thickened.
Notes
- Don’t skip out on brining the chicken. It only takes 30 minutes to ensure that your chicken is juicy and tender, so don’t forget this step! During that time, you can make the honey lime sauce and get together all the other seasonings so you don’t waste any time.
- Try to cut the chicken pieces into same size chunks. This ensures the chicken will cook evenly and all the skewers will be done cooking at the same time.
- If you’re using wooden skewers instead of metal ones, be sure to soak them in water for 15 minutes up to overnight to prevent them from burning on the grill.
- It’s important to salt the honey lime sauce so that it isn’t overly sweet. This will result in balanced sweet and salty chicken that will have people asking for seconds!
- For easy cleanup, line a baking sheet with aluminum foil before brushing the skewers with the honey lime sauce. There’s nothing worse than trying to clean off sticky honey in the summertime!
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This looks good. We do what wecall chicken spiedies. Marinate the chicken pieces in a marinade of vinegar, vegetable oil and spices overnight and grill them. During grilling, the spiedies are basted with fresh marinade. No sugar.
Made this recipe for a family dinner celebration. EVERYONE LOVED the chicken. It was so moist, best ever, and the flavor was fabulous. Highly recommend. In fact, I made it a 2nd time the following night!
Me and my boyfriend grilled this today and I have to congratulate you is one of the best softest tender grilled chicken ever. The only thing we are going to change next time is the salt that goes in with the water just a tap and it should be perfect 🙂
Thanks, Victoria! I’m so glad it came out super tender!
Hi Isabel 🙂 Do you think I can use lemon instead of the lime?
Yes! You can substitute in lemons for limes.
In Honduras I noticed the Spanish term, they call the skewers pinchos.
We absolutely loved these kabobs! So much flavor, and so easy to put together. Will be making them over and over this summer for sure! Thanks for the great recipe.
Hello
Just a single question.
I wanted to make these for a Potluck
But wouldn’t be able to serve them
Immediately out of the oven after being prepared , What would happen with the quality of the Kabobs *
Hello! After removing from the oven, the kabobs remain warm for about 15 minutes. I’d recommend serving immediately or covering & keeping them on a hot plate until you can serve.
Thank you for the great recipe post. I liked that these Kabobs can be used as an appetizer, main course, or addition to a main course when vegetarians are visiting. Ingredients are easy to obtain, affordable and the sauce adds so much flavor to simple chicken breast. Loved that you went the extra mile to include possible sides with links to the recipes, big beautiful photos and nutritional information. Really nice stylizing of dishes as inspiration for serving. Adding instructions for making in the oven was a huge plus for people like me who are not fond of grilling in the snow. Thanks again!
Thanks so much, Marils! I’m glad you found the oven instructions helpful – I know not everyone is able to grill year round, so I wanted to be able to offer an alternative!
Hello Isabelle:
Could yo kindly advise how would it turn out without the sugar. For those of us who are allergic to see the letter “S” let alone sugar, we must avoid sugar at all cost. Diabetes is not a fun disease to be suffering from. Mine is in check and that is because I refrain from using sugar.
Have you ever made your recipe without sugar? I am going to try out mine. Even honey has sugar. Believe it or not, lime has the lowest sugar content, even lower than lemon itself. I bet you did not know that. Look it up.
Kombiz
Wish there was a way to save your recipes without having to cut & paste, transfer to Word, then format for my Notes app. An easy way to forward the recipe to my spouse would be great too. Thanks
Hi Pete! I added a button to the top of each recipe that let’s you email it to someone. I also love Pinterest for saving and categorizing my favorite recipes, so I recommend checking that out if you have a chance.