Grilled Chicken Kabobs

Grilled chicken kabobs, seasoned with lemon, garlic, and herbs, are a healthy and delicious meal that’s easy to prepare. The tender chicken breasts are juicy and full of flavor, making these kabobs a crowd-pleasing favorite.

Grilled Chicken Kabobs Easy Chicken Kabob Recipe

In our family, we’ve always been partial to grilled chicken kabobs. They’re a budget-friendly choice, but what we love most is how juicy and tender the meat turns out. I like to add lemon juice and mayonnaise to the marinade – the lemon brightens the flavor while the mayo helps the seasoning adhere and keeps the meat moist.

Grilled meats have an incredible, smoky-charred flavor that’s hard to beat. When you bite into those juicy, flavorful pieces, you can taste the fire-kissed notes all the way through. And there’s nothing quite like gathering your favorite people, bonding over a backyard barbecue. Those shared meals and memories make for a lifetime of connection.

In our Belarusian culture, kebabs are ubiquitous at grilling gatherings, with a 95% or greater chance of appearing on the menu. Skewered chunks of meat cooked over an open flame are a beloved tradition, almost a sport unto themselves with a dedicated name – “kebabing” (давай соберемся на шашлыки).

Gathering around a campfire to grill kebabs is a cherished ritual, filling the air with the mouthwatering aroma of roasting meat as friends converse, laugh, eat, and even sing together.

Kebabs are the perfect meal for group settings, requiring minimal prep and cleanup while allowing more time to savor the outdoors. Their crowd-pleasing appeal makes them a go-to option for meal prepping and entertaining.

Ingredients:

  • chicken breast
    • Most of the time, we use chicken breast for kabobs, but chicken thighs (boneless & skinless) work great too.
  • salt, ground black pepper
  • dry herbs and spices
    • This is such a versatile recipe and you can use many different seasonings to create different flavors. A seasoning mix, such as poultry seasoning is perfect for Chicken Kabobs.
    • I love using Trader Joe’s Onion Salt and Simply Organic All Purpose Seasoning.
  • garlic
  • onion
  • mayonnaise
    • If you don’t want to use mayonnaise, you can use olive oil or avocado oil instead.
    • Another option is to use plain Greek yogurt instead of the mayonnaise.
  • lemon juice (lime juice will also work)
  • Optional: fresh herbs, such as parsley, dill, thyme, rosemary, etc.
Ingredients for Grilled Chicken Kabobs

How To Make Grilled Chicken Kabobs

  1. Cut the chicken breast into 1 1/2 – 2 inch chunks. 
  2. Marinate the chicken. Add the salt, pepper, dry herbs and spices, garlic, onion, mayonnaise and lemon juice. 
  3. Mix until well combined.
  4. Marinate for at least half an hour, or even overnight. 
    • If you’re using bamboo skewers, soak them in water for about 20 minutes, so the water soaks into the wood. This will prevent the skewers from burning too quickly.
  5. Thread the meat onto the skewers.
    • You want the meat to be close together, but not smooshed in too tightly.
    • A glass casserole dish is a perfect vessel to carry the skewers to the grill, the perfect size, and shape.
  6. Preheat the grill to high heat. Soak a paper towel/regular towel in oil, and holding it with tongs, coat the grill grates well with oil, at least five times.
  7. Place the kebabs on the grill and grill for about 5-8 minutes per side.
    • The outside of the meat should be charred but still juicy inside.
    • If you use a thermometer, chicken breast should be 160-165 degrees Fahrenheit.
    • Another trick to check for doneness is to take of the pieces of meat off the skewer, check to make sure that it’s not pink in the middle.
  8. Serve hot. You can add a squeeze of fresh lemon juice and garnish with some fresh herbs, such as parsley, dill or green onions.
How to make grilled chicken kabobs tutorial

What To Serve

Chicken Kabobs are so versatile and pair with so many varieties of sides that you can’t go wrong with any option. Here are a few of my personal favorites:

More delicious sides.

Meal Prep

Marinated chicken is perfect for meal prep. You can do all the work and clean up ahead of time, then simply grill the chicken when you’re ready to eat. It’s so convenient!

Marinate the chicken and refrigerate for up to 48 hours in advance.

Marinated chicken also freezes really well. Mix all the ingredients together, then place the marinated chicken in a freezer ziptop bag, airtight storage container or vacuum sealed package and freeze up to 3 months.

Grilled Chicken Kabobs Easy Grilled Chicken Skewers

More Grilled Chicken Recipes

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Grilled Chicken Kabobs

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5 from 1 review

Juicy and flavorful grilled chicken kabobs, that are so easy to make. The chicken breast kebabs are healthy and so tasty with lemon, garlic and herbs.

  • Author: Olga’s Flavor Factory
  • Prep Time: 25 minutes
  • Cook Time: 20 minutes
  • Total Time: 45 minutes
  • Yield: 10 kebabs 1x
  • Category: Main Course

Ingredients

Scale
  • 6 chicken breast halves (chicken thighs work really well for this recipe too)
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
  • 1/2 Tablespoon dry herbs and spices or poultry seasoning, (or to taste) (I like using Trader Joe’s Onion salt and Simply Organics All Purpose seasoning)
  • 1–4 garlic cloves (minced)
  • 1 very small onion (grated on the smallest holes of a box grater)
  • 1 1/2 Tablespoons mayonnaise
  • 1–2 Tablespoons lemon juice
  • optional, fresh herbs, such as parsley, dill, thyme, rosemary, etc.

Instructions

  1. Cut the chicken breasts into 1 1/2 – 2 inch pieces.
  2. Add the salt, pepper, dry herbs and spices, garlic, onion, mayonnaise and lemon juice. Mix until well combined. Marinate for at least half an hour, or even overnight. If you’re using bamboo skewers, soak them in water for about 20 minutes, so the water soaks into the wood. This will prevent the skewers from burning too quickly.
  3. Thread the meat onto the skewers. You want the meat to be close together, but not smooshed in too tightly.
  4. Preheat the grill to high heat. Soak a paper towel in oil, and holding it with tongs, coat the grill grates well with oil, at least five times.
  5. Place the kabobs on the grill and grill for about 5-8 minutes per side, keeping the heat on medium high, more on the high side. The outside of the meat should be charred but still juicy inside.
  6. Chicken breast should be 160-165 degrees Fahrenheit and chicken thighs 170-175 degrees Fahrenheit.
  7. Serve hot. Store leftovers in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.

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20 Comments

  • Natasha of Natashaskitchen.com

    I will have to try this marinade. I have been using something similar but its always nice to try something new 🙂

  • Tanya

    Olya, Thank you sooooooo much for this recipe! I made it yesterday for my daughter’s Birthday and it was so easy and huge hit. We made extra and saved for the next day, and they were even more flavorful. Thank you, again and again. This is my first time ever doing shashlik and it turned out very yummy. All of the guests just loved it and said that this is very, very good. I followed your recipe exactly as you wrote, except I added big pieces of onion in addition to shredding them. Thank you for another great success in the kitchen! I feel as if I’m growing wings with all of the successes I’ve had with your recipes and I am feeling confident as I try your new recipes. Thank you and May God bless you and enrich your talents even more. -Tanya

    • olgak7

      Yay! That’s awesome, Tanya! We love shashliki and make them A LOT. I’m so glad you and all your guests enjoyed them. I make them with onion pieces most of the time too:). Last time I made shashliki I made vegetable kebabs on the side with zucchini, peppers and onions and we loved that too.

  • Yelena

    This recipe sounds soo good! Although I don’t have a lemon press. I have actually been thinking about getting one, would you recommend one? Thanks.

    • olgak7

      I love my lemon press! I use lemons all the time, though. It squeezes out every last drop of juice from the lemon. If you don’t use lemons very often, you can just some girl power and give it a good squeeze. Roll the lemon around on the counter, pressing on it lightly, before you cut it open. This bursts all the tiny cells in the lemon, and makes the juice come out much more freely.

        • olgak7

          Yep, AMCO. It is wonderful. I don’t like to have too much clutter, with useless tools, so I keep it at a minimum. I only buy tools that I use all the time:). This one is great. I use it to squeeze limes and smaller oranges too.

  • Maria

    This recipe sounds great. Two questions: 1) how much lemon juice should be added (as I don’t see the amount listed under ingredients; 2) can chicken thighs be substituted for chicken breasts?

  • tanya

    making this for tonight. marinading in the fridge right now. i can’t wait to have some!! this one i know will make all my kids happy. thank you!!

  • Nataly

    Hi, Olga! I’m going to use this recipe for my girls birthday party, since we don’t have grill, (we usually grill only with charcoal), and my husband won’t be at the party, I wonder if there is a way of baking in the oven??? I know the taste won’t be the same, but that’s the situation;)

    • olgak7

      I would recommend using the broiler, if you want to make the kebabs indoors, Nataly. I have a recipe here.
      Also, I would recommend using chicken thigh meat instead of chicken breast, since you will be able to cook the meat longer and get a better char on them, without drying out the meat too much. Chicken breast gets dry very quickly, so I usually prefer using dark meat if I need to cook it longer. I hope your birthday party goes well! Have fun.

    • olgak7

      There are so many different ones available. I’ve used many varieties over the years.
      One of my favorites is Chicken Seasoning from the brand Simply Organic. I also love using Onion Salt from Trader Joe’s, which has a great combination of herbs.
      I always hesitate sharing specific brands because they aren’t available for everyone, since different grocery stores carry different options. The main thing is to find one that you like.

  • Oksana M

    Hi, Olga. This recipe sounds great, but I used to use your other recipe for chicken kabobs all the time. I can’t seem to find it, it doesn’t look like it’s here anymore. It had a title with “куриные шашлыки” in it. If you could point me to that recipe I would be very grateful. Thank you!

    • olgak7

      I’m not sure which recipe you are referring to, Oksana. I think this is the recipe I use most often for chicken kabobs and don’t have another one. I haven’t changed the recipe ingredients, only updated the photos.

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