Sweet Chili Cilantro Chicken Kabobs
These chicken kabobs are an easy, healthy kabob recipe that can be cooked and prepped in just a short 15 minutes! Tender skewered chicken marinated in a garlic, cilantro, sweet chili sauce, these chicken kabobs are to die for.
Sweet Chili Cilantro Chicken Kabobs are a favorite in our household because not only does this recipe provide an easy, yet flavorful chicken marinade, the prep is so fast. No need to worry about chopping up tons of vegetables for this chicken shish kabob, making this meal simple yet delicious.
As the weather gets nice, grilling seems to be an excellent cooking choice. It makes me feel like summer is in the air and it keeps my kitchen from getting super hot, as the weather gets warmer. We love these Sweet Chili Cilantro Chicken Kabobs because the marinade is nice and refreshing, doesn’t require a lot of ingredients, and keeps the mess out of the kitchen.
What Is The Difference Between Kebab and Kabob?
I love kabobs! The flavorful vegetables and marinated meat all grilled on a stick to perfection just makes my mouth water. Count me in.
So, what are kabobs or kebabs? Kabob is a meal that is made up of chunks of meat, vegetables, fish, or a combination of those items, all grilled or roasted on a stick.
A lot of times you will marinate the food prior to putting it on the skewer, but you don’t have to.
Now there is no difference between a kebab and a kabob. They are both the same thing. Just the kabob spelling is the U.S. spelling, while the other is how the British spell the word.
So, if you want to be all fancy you can spell it the British way, but they both mean the same dish.
Is A Chicken Kebab Healthy?
Whether a dish is healthy or not, a lot of times depends on variations of ingredients between recipes. For example, some kabob recipes may not use the healthiest cut of meat or some kabob recipes may have a really fattening marinade.
These variations between recipes can be the difference between an unhealthy meal and a healthy one.
The other component of kabobs that you want to watch out for is portion size. If you aren’t making your own kabobs a lot of times all the food on one stick appears to be one portion size serving, but it is actually a lot more than that.
Fortunately this Sweet Chili Cilantro Chicken Kabob recipe is not only pretty healthy, it is so tasty too. The marinade has little amounts of oil and the oil used is olive oil.
I love using olive oil because not only do I like the flavor, it is a lot healthier than vegetable oil.
Plus, because this recipe is so easy to make and has such a great depth of flavor, there is no need to get a kabob at a restaurant where you are unaware of the ingredients being used.
How To Make A Healthy Chicken Kabob:
- Use recipes that are healthier like this Sweet Chili Cilantro Chicken Kebobs recipe.
- Select low calorie marinades that have natural ingredients.
- Use a healthier cut of meat (avoid skin on chicken).
- Be mindful of portion sizes.
- Make your own kabobs instead of getting fast food kabobs.
How Do You Cut Peppers And Onions For Skewers?
A lot of kabobs will have peppers and onions interspersed with the selected meat. While this is a great combination, the refreshing flavor profile for this chicken kabob recipe does not need those extra components, making this dish even that much easier to make.
With these chicken kabobs you don’t have to worry about cutting up onions and peppers. Yay!
If you want an additional kabob recipe that contains peppers and onions, a good one to try is Beef Kabobs, which you can easily substitute the steak out for chicken if you prefer.
As mentioned before you don’t need to worry about cutting peppers and onions for this dish. However, when you are using peppers and onions for kabobs, there are some things you need to be mindful of.
Tips For Cutting Peppers And Onions For Skewers:
- Use a sharp knife for a precise cut. I personally like the J.A. Henckels International Statement 15 piece Knife Set. I like how easy the knives are to cut with and the overall quality of the product.
- Cut veggies in similar size to each other and to the meat for an even cook.
- Chop onions into halves and then into quarters.
- Remove seeds and the stem on peppers and lay peppers flat. Cut peppers into 1.5 square inches.
The next time you need to cut up some veggies to roast or grill some kabobs, use these tips to get the best kabob experience.
Although cutting isn’t necessarily difficult, it does add time to the prep. That is one of the reasons why at our house this Sweet Chili Cilantro Chicken Kabobs makes it frequently into the meal rotation because not only is it flavorful, you don’t have to spend time cutting up all these veggies.
What Should I Serve With Chicken Kabobs?
There are so many options to serve with this great dish.
When choosing a side for kabobs, I look for something that is not only refreshing, but also something that doesn’t overlap in ingredients. For example, if I have a kabob with peppers and tomatoes, I don’t then want to use a pasta salad that has peppers and tomatoes in it. It seems redundant.
Fortunately with this kabob you don’t have to worry about an overlap with veggies, which means the possibilities are endless.
Top Favorites to Serve with Sweet Chili Cilantro Chicken Kabobs:
- Greek Pasta Salad
- Pina Colada Fruit Salad
- Roasted Corn With Bacon And Caramelized Onion
- Sweet Potato Fries (Air Fryer + Oven)
- Grilled Pineapple
I love the refreshing flavor of these Sweet Chili Cilantro Chicken Kabobs and therefore I do not want to partner them with a heavy side dish.
Any of these side dishes would make a great complimentary dish. However, if you want to keep things super simple and stick with having the whole meal cooked on the grill, then definitely go with the Grilled Pineapple.
The Grilled Pineapple is super easy, but extra special, differing from just cooking up pineapple. It is accompanied with a super star, two ingredient marinade.
All you need to do is to remember to marinade the pineapple 30 minutes ahead of time in this easy, but delicious coconut and brown sugar sauce and then you will throw the marinaded pineapple on the grill for about 8 minutes.
I really like the convenience of this side, allowing the whole meal to be done on the grill. Plus, the pineapple is so yummy, making the perfect side to these ever so flavorful Sweet Chili Cilantro Chicken Kabobs.
Now incase the weather is not cooperating or you don’t feel like grilling, you can always roast the kabobs in your oven. It is still a great option for cooking up a shish kabob.
Wait No Longer. It’s Grill Time!
Turn on that grill and let’s get cooking. You and your family will love the Sweet Chili Cilantro Kabobs. Not only is prep oh so quick, it makes a great meal for both family and friends.
Enjoy a little weekend barbecue with the neighbors or just interrupt the monotony of the week and make these tasty Sweet Chili Cilantro Kabobs. Trust me you will be so glad that you did.
Gather up your ingredients.
Chop up your chicken and mix together your marinade/sauce.
Coat your chicken in the sauce, then skewer onto your kabobs.
Grill and enjoy!
Sweet Chili Cilantro Chicken Kabobs
Ingredients
- 1 tbs olive oil
- 1 tbs minced garlic
- 1/4 c cilantro chopped small
- 1/4 c sweet chili sauce Also called chili sauce
- 1 lb chicken breast diced evenly
Instructions
- Dice your chicken
- Mix oil, garlic, cilantro, and sweet chili sauce together.
- Put chicken in mixture, coating evenly
- Skewer onto kabobs
- Grill on medium high heat until cooked through.
Notes
Our recipe card software calculates these nutrition facts based on averages for the above ingredients, different brands, and quality of produce/meats may have different nutritional information, always calculate your own based on the specific products you use in order to achieve accurate macros for this recipe.
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