File this meal under “easy, healthy dishes packed with flavor” because these skewers are exactly that: super simple and really, really tasty. I have always loved grilled skewers with meat and veggies – it was something I grew up eating in my family every time the weather started getting warmer each year, and my love for dinner on a stick has only grown as I’ve gotten older.
For my money, a skewer is best when it’s loaded with a bunch of different things, smothered in a tasty sauce and cooked until the edges of everything are perfectly charred and crispy. For my version of my family’s go-to summer dinner, I whip up a five-minute teriyaki sauce and use it as both a marinade and sauce for cubes of chicken, which get skewered with bell peppers, red onions and pineapples and cooked to perfection in the oven.
To go with the skewers, I love to add my Citrus Chimichurri, which is a punchy, green, slightly spicy sauce that I swear tastes like guacamole without the avocados. It’s really. really good, and when it’s drizzled over these skewers, it’s the perfect way to balance out the sticky sweetness of the teriyaki marinade.
If you’re looking for a meal that’s healthy, easy and full of flavor, this recipe is a really good place to start:
Chicken Teriyaki Skewers With Citrus Chimichurri
Ingredients
For the Teriyaki Marinade
- 4 chicken breasts cubed
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 1/4 cup ketchup
- 2 tbsp dark brown sugar lightly packed
- 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
- 1.5 tbsp white sugar
- 1 tbsp honey
- 2 tsp fresh ginger peeled and minced
- 1 clove garlic peeled and minced
- 1 pinch chili flakes optional, for added heat
For the Citrus Chimichurri
- 2 cups cilantro leaves lightly packed
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 3 tbsp red wine vinegar
- 3 cloves garlic peeled
- 1 green chili of your choice, halved a jalapeno works well here!
- juice of one lemon
- juice of one lime
- 1/2 tsp salt
Additional Skewer Ingredients
- 2 yellow bell peppers chopped into 1' pieces
- 2 red bell peppers chopped into 1" pieces
- 2 red onions peeled and chopped into 1" pieces
- 2 cups pineapple chunks
- 10 skewers
Instructions
For the Teriyaki Marinade
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Prepare your marinade by combining all of the ingredients for the marinade (aside from the chicken) in a small sauce pot. Stir to incorporate everything together and bring the mixture to a simmer for 3-5 minutes, until the marinade has thickened a bit. Remove the marinade from the heat and allow it to cool for about 5 minutes.
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Once the marinade has cooled, pour it over the chicken pieces – stirring to make sure each chicken piece is coated in the sauce – and marinate the chicken for about 3 hours, in the refrigerator. Note: I like to use a tupperware container for this, but a zip-top bag would be fine!
For the Citrus Chimichurri
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When the chicken has been marinating for almost 3 hours, prepare the chimichurri. Pop the cilantro, garlic, red wine vinegar, lemon juice, lime juice and chili in a food processor or blender and process until the chimichurri is finely chopped, but not totally pureed.
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Pour the chimichurri into a small bowl and add the salt and extra virgin olive oil and stir to combine.
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Set the chimichurri aside while you prepare the rest of the meal. It can sit at room temperature.
To Prepare the Skewers
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Half an hour before you want to use them, soak your skewers in an inch of water. This makes sure that wooden skewers don't burn in a hot oven.
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Prep your veggies and get your skewer assembly line set up: you'll want your chicken (still in the marinade), bell peppers, onions and pineapples all out and ready to be skewered.
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Preheat your oven to 170FAN or 350 Fahrenheit and line a baking tray with parchment paper.
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One at a time, prepare your skewers by adding a few pieces of chicken, bell peppers, onion and pineapple in whatever order you like. I prefer to mix each skewer so that each one has every component, but you could separate the skewers by individual component and nothing else about the directions would change!
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Arrange your skewers in a single layer on the baking sheet and put them into the preheated oven for 12 minutes.
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While the skewers cook on the first side, add your leftover marinade to a sauce pan and bring it to a low boil for at least five minutes. By boiling the marinade, you are able to re-use it as a basting sauce and avoid wasting all that extra flavor!
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After the skewers have cooked for 12 minutes, remove the tray from the oven, flip the skewers over, and baste the skewers with the simmered marinade. Put the tray back in the oven and cook the skewers for another 12 minutes.
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If you want, you can bump the heat up to broil or grill for an additional 2-5 minutes after the skewers have finished cooking, which will give you nice charred, crispy edges on the chicken and veggies.
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Serve the skewers with the chimichurri. I like mine over white rice and lightly dressed greens as well. Enjoy!