The secret to perfect skewers

Difficulty level: Easy 
Duration: 40 min. 
Number of servings: 3

Now, towards the end of summer, when you can still take advantage of the long, sunny days to spend time with friends at a barbecue, we have the ideal recipe for you – chicken skewers. And not just any kind of skewers, because we have discovered the secret to perfect skewers and we want to reveal it to you too, for a delicious dish and a successful combination of chicken and colorful, appetizing vegetables. 

There are plenty of skewer ideas, but we have prepared a delicious chicken skewer recipe for you that will delight the taste buds of all grilled meat lovers. Furthermore, the recipe is also ideal for those on a diet, as we have already told you how many calories does grilled chicken have, and when it comes to vegetables, there is no question about how tasty and healthy they are when grilled. That being said, let's fire up the grill and make one of the best skewer recipes together! 

Ingredients for chicken skewers 

From the ingredients in the list below you will get 3 delicious portions of grilled chicken skewers, but you can adjust the quantities of ingredients depending on the number of hungry people hovering around the hot grill. Don't be scared by the length of the ingredient list, because you surely already have most of them in your kitchen. Here is what you will need for the perfect chicken skewers! 

Marinade ingredients

• 1 tablespoon of olive oil; 
• 1 crushed garlic clove; 
• Juice from 1 lemon; 
• 1 teaspoon of coarse salt; 
• 1 pinch of freshly ground black pepper; 
• Chili flakes (optional) 
• ½ teaspoon of thyme, oregano or other aromatic herbs (optional); 
• 1/2 teaspoon of coriander seeds or another spice of your choice (optional). 

Ingredients for skewers 

• 300 g Fragedo boneless, skinless chicken thigh meat;  
• 200 g of zucchini, cut into small pieces; 
• 200 g eggplant, cut into small pieces; 
• 2 red bell peppers and 1 white bell pepper cut into small pieces; 
• 1 large onion, cut into quarters and separated into pieces; 
• 2 tablespoons of olive oil; 
• Salt, to taste. 

Required materials 

• Wooden or metal skewer sticks. 

How to prepare the perfect chicken skewers 
Don't you know how to make skewers? In the following lines you will find the preparation steps for the perfect chicken skewers, the most important of which is, of course, marinating the chicken. Here is how you can get the best grilled chicken skewers: 

1. We will start the chicken skewer recipe by marinating the meat, of course. So, cut the chicken thighs into small pieces, about 4-5 cm. Put them in a bowl and sprinkle over them the salt, ground pepper, crushed garlic, olive oil, and lemon juice. We also added chili flakes, along with ground coriander, for a more intense and slightly spicy flavor. Mix everything well, massaging the chicken pieces so that the flavors of the ingredients thoroughly intermingle. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and leave it at room temperature for 2 hours to marinate the meat. If you didn't know the secret to perfect skewers until now, this is it! 
2. While the meat is marinating, take the time to salt the zucchini and eggplant pieces as well. Sprinkle a few pinches of salt and leave the vegetables in a sieve over a bowl to remove excess water. Then pat the zucchini and eggplant pieces dry thoroughly using paper towels. Also cut the peppers into pieces of about 4-5 cm now, and you are ready to assemble the skewers with vegetables and juicy pieces of chicken. 
3. We chose to start and end the chicken skewers with a piece of onion because, being firmer, it holds better on the skewer sticks, helping the rest of the ingredients stay in place. Therefore, add a piece of onion to each skewer, followed by a piece of meat, a piece of pepper, a piece of eggplant, a piece of zucchini, and continue until the skewer is sufficiently loaded, finishing the assembly with a piece of onion. 
4. If you have any vegetables left over, you can assemble the skewers with just vegetables. No one will mind, because vegetable kebabs are just as delicious, even without a single bit of meat! 
5. These chicken and vegetable skewers can be cooked just as well either on the garden grill or in a grill pan. Before placing them on the grill, drizzle them with olive oil. In both cases, whether we are talking about the grill or the grill pan, the cooking surface must be heated very well before putting the skewers on. They should sizzle the moment they are placed on the grill—another secret to cooking perfect skewers! The skewers will cook for about 3-4 minutes on each side, being turned three times in total. 
6. We cooked the skewers for 15 minutes, even though some people like to keep them on the grill longer. The cooking time should not exceed 20 minutes, because chicken skewers browned all around are definitely cooked enough. 
7. Remove the chicken skewers from the grill and let them rest for 5 minutes before serving them. You can choose to serve them alongside a delicious bulgur pilaf, a tomato salad, or an appetizing portion of rice. They will be a true culinary delight! 

Tips for the tastiest chicken and vegetable skewers

Now, at the end of the recipe, we have a few more useful tips and tricks for you, to make sure you prepare the best chicken and vegetable skewers. Here is what you can use for the perfect chicken skewers: 

• If you use wooden skewers for grilling, it is advisable to let them soak in cold water while the meat marinates. Otherwise, they risk burning in a very short time on the grill, before the chicken and vegetable skewers are ready; 
• You can also choose to make chicken breast skewers with vegetables, since the chicken breast will require a shorter marinating time compared to the thighs, but the chicken thigh skewers with vegetables are a much tastier option; 
• The grill and the grill pan are best suited for preparing skewers, but you can also make chicken skewers in the oven, directly on the oven rack. It takes about 15 minutes for the ingredients to cook properly in the oven. However, the classic grill option is much tastier;  
• Serve the chicken skewers hot. The more the meat cools, the tougher it will become and the harder it will be to remove from the skewer sticks; 
• To get the perfect skewers, we recommend preparing a flavored oil from 2 sliced garlic cloves, 1 bunch of finely chopped parsley, 50 ml of olive oil, salt, and pepper. Put all the ingredients in a blender and you will get a flavored oil, in a pleasant shade of green, with which to drizzle the chicken and vegetable skewers before serving.  

Other chicken recipes to try 

A savory recipe never comes alone, especially since there are so many delicious ways to cook chicken, particularly in combination with vegetables. Besides skewers following the classic recipe, here is what else we have prepared for you: 

• Baked chicken drumsticks with vegetables, another savory chicken and vegetable recipe; 
• Grilled chicken with oven-roasted vegetables and red cabbage salad; 
• Oven-baked chicken thighs; 
• Greek-style chicken breast;  
• Stuffed roast chicken;
• Chicken sausages with vegetables in a pan.  

The chicken and vegetable skewer recipe becomes child's play when you have all the ingredients at hand and know the secret to perfect skewers. Are you ready for a tasty and colorful dish? We promise it will be a real rainbow on your palate!