These grilled chicken skewers are soaked in a homemade cilantro lime marinade then grilled for a fun and easy appetizer, lunch or dinner.
They're so simple to make and only requires a handful of fresh ingredients that you may have in your fridge. If not, it's worth a quick trip to your local grocery store to pick up these key ingredients.
The cilantro lime marinade can turn plain boring chicken breast into something that tastes really amazing. So, what's grilling season without chicken skewers. They're versatile and brings a bit of flare to the dinner table. You can serve over rice or pasta salad for a complete dinner.
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Ingredients
- Chicken breast (cut into tenders) or pre-cut chicken tenders or cut into cubes
- Kosher salt
- Black pepper
- Onion powder
- Cilantro
- Basil (optional but really enhances the flavor)
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Limes
- Garlic
Essentials
- Indoor or outdoor grill (I used an indoor grill)
- Skewers (either metal or wooden)
- Large ziploc bag (for marinating chicken)
How to grill chicken skewers
The star of the show is this easy breezy cilantro lime marinade. Before I continue, this marinade is also great for marinading beef, shrimp, salmon or can be used as a vinaigrette to drizzle on salads.
Marinade: This 4-ingredient cilantro lime marinade consists of cilantro, limes, garlic, and extra virgin olive oil that's either processed in a food processor or blended in a blender. Either method works great.
If you're able to drizzle in the extra virgin olive oil while processing or blending the other ingredients would be even better instead of combining the olive oil with all the other ingredients. By drizzling in the oil, will allow the olive oil to emulsify much better.
Chicken Breast: I prefer cutting the chicken breast into tender-sized strips myself, so I can control the thickness of each strip. You can purchase pre-cut chicken tenders from the grocery store. It's totally up to you.
Allow the chicken tenders to marinade for 30 minutes. Since the marinade contains a citrus, I recommend that you marinade the chicken tenders for no longer than 30 minutes. Going pass the 30 minute mark could ruin the texture of the chicken due to the acidic nature of the limes. However, you can marinade the chicken longer by not adding the citrus initially then adding it during the last 30 minutes before you remove the chicken from the marinade.
Skewers: I prefer metal skewers, but wooden ones will work just as great. If using the wooden skewers, it's important to soak the skewers in water for 30 minutes or so to prevent them from burning during grilling.
Begin threading the entire chicken tender through the skewer or cut the chicken breast into large cubes and thread each cube through the skewers. If doing the latter, have maybe 6 to 7 cubes of chicken per skewer.
Grill: Place chicken skewers on a preheated indoor grill or outdoor grill and flip half way through the cooking time and cook until the juices have run clear or chicken breast has reached an internal temperature of 165°F. If using an outdoor grill, do not forget to close the lid after placing the skewers on the grill grates.
Rather than obsessing over cooking time, you will get even better results using an internal meat thermometer. This will ensure that you're not left with dry chicken breast.
If you do no have a meat thermometer, I highly recommend investing in one. It can be a total game changer especially when cooking chicken breast.
How long to grill chicken skewers
It takes about 15 minutes to grill chicken skewers.
- Lightly coat the grill grates with cooking oil
- Preheat the grill
- Place the chicken skewers on the grill
- Grill the skewers on one side for about 7 minutes then turn the skewers on the other side to cook for an additional 7 to 8 minutes
- At the15 minutes mark, transfer the chicken skewers onto a clean plate and check that the chicken juices run clear or use an instant read thermometer to check the internal temperature by inserting your thermometer into the thickest part of the meat
Storing
For left-overs, cut chicken tenders into cubes and store in an airtight container and use to make delicious chicken salads, tacos, burritos, pasta or whatever suits your needs. These can serve as a great meal prep idea.
Tips
Chicken breast is one of those cuts of meat that's hard to cook as it can taste dry and become unpleasant to eat if overcooked. Here are 3 key elements to cooking really good chicken breast that's flavorful and moist.
- A great marinade - Marinade the chicken breast for no longer than 30 minutes. If you marinate the chicken longer than the recommended time, the acid from the limes will start cooking the chicken breast causing an unpleasant texture and taste. The same is true if using lemons.
- Season well with kosher salt
- Have a good meat thermometer
You may also like these grilling recipes
Grilled Boneless Chicken Thighs
Vegan Roasted Beet Salad with Grilled Peaches
Connect with me on Pinterest and Instagram for more tasty recipe ideas.
Thanks for visiting,
~Cree
📖 Recipe
Grilled Cilantro Lime Chicken Skewers
Equipment
- Indoor or outdoor grill
- Skewers (either metal or wooden)
- Large ziploc bag (for marinating chicken)
Ingredients
- 3 large chicken breast (cut into tenders yourself or pre-cut chicken tender will work just as fine)
- 3 tsp kosher salt (more or less to taste)
- 2 tsp black pepper
- 3 tsp onion powder
Cilantro Lime Marinade
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 2 cloves fresh garlic
- 2 bunches cilantro (stems removed)
- ½ cup basil (loosely packed)
- 2 limes (juice of 2 limes)
- kosher salt (to taste)
Instructions
Cilantro Lime Marinade
- Place all ingredients into mini chopper, food processor or blender and blend while drizzling in extra virgin olive oil until cilantro/basil appear finely chopped.
Chicken Skewers
- Wash chicken breast and pat dry with paper towels. Cut chicken breast into tenders using a sharp knife. Pre-cut chicken tenders will work just as fine.
- Using a large ziploc bag, pour in cilantro lime marinade. Add chicken tenders. Move tenders around in the ziploc bag to ensure that all are coated in the marinade. Marinade for 15 to 30 minutes in fridge. Try not exceed 30 minutes.
- After the chicken tenders have marinaded, remove from ziploc bag, discard marinade, and thread each tender onto a skewer. If using wooden skewers, soak in water for 30 minutes to prevent skewer from burning. Allow chicken tenders to reach room temperature.
- Heat grill over medium to high heat and prep grill grates by brushing generously with grape-seed oil or extra virgin olive oil. Place chicken skewers on top of grill grates and grill one side for 7 to 8 minutes then turn the skewers over and grill for an additional 7 to 8 minutes.
- Skewers are done when juices run clear or use a meat thermometer to check to see if the internal temperature has reached 165 degrees F. **DO NOT OVERCOOK AS TENDERS WILL BECOME DRY**.
- Plate and garnish with cilantro leaves or your favorite dipping sauce.
Notes
- A great marinade - Marinade the chicken breast no longer than 30 minutes. If you marinate the chicken longer than the recommended time, the acid from the limes will start cooking the chicken breast causing an unpleasant texture and taste. The same is true if using lemons.
- Season well with kosher salt
- Have a good meat thermometer
Dawn @ Words Of Deliciousness
This grilled cilantro lime chicken skewers sound delicious! Great for a summer dinner.
CookingwithBliss
Hi Dawn - Thank you so very much. These are so easy and quick to make. Definitely a favorite for the summer.