Chicken tikka skewers

These chicken tikka skewers can be either grilled in the oven or cooked in the open air on the barbeque for that smoky outdoor flavour. The tikka sauce is prepared separately in a saucepan using half the marinade combined with tomato puree and double cream, creating a rich flavourful sauce that coats the skewers perfectly.

Let me introduce my latest creation - chicken tikka skewers. The skewers are made from tender chicken breasts, interspersed with bell peppers (or capsicums), red onion petals and juicy courgettes (or zucchini).

This recipe is loosely based on my recipe for chicken tikka masala which you might also like to try.

Before being skewered, the chicken is marinated in a mixture of yoghurt and spices allowing it to absorb all the tasty tikka flavours. Half of the marinade is reserved for the sauce, ensuring those delicious flavours infuse throughout the entire dish.

I've added tomato puree and double cream to the sauce, to tone down the spices and provide a mild creamy taste. And I have to admit this sauce tastes so good I was eating it by the spoonful out of the pan as I was cooking it!

What I love about this dish is that it can be cooked either in the oven or outdoors on the barbeque. So whatever the weather you can enjoy these delicious chicken tikka skewers.

All you will need by way of a side dish is a bowl of fluffy white rice to soak up all the delicious flavours of the sauce.

This is quite a mild dish which will be suitable for the whole family. If you prefer more heat, simply increase the amount of cayenne pepper.

Jump to:

• Ingredients
• Instructions
• Tips for a successful outcome
• How to cook the skewers on the BBQ
• Variations
• Equipment
• Storage
• FAQ
• Save for later
• Related recipes
• 📋The recipe

Ingredients

This is sufficient for 6 skewers. If you would like to make more skewers you can simply add more meat and vegetables. The quantities given for the sauce and marinade should be sufficient for 12 skewers.

• Vegetables - you can add your own choice of vegetables to the skewers. Anything that will fits onto a skewer and cooks in 30 minutes in the oven will be suitable. I have chosen to use a yellow capsicum (cut into large pieces), courgette (sliced into thick rings) and a red onion (quartered and separated into petals).
• Chicken breasts - the chicken breasts should be cut into pieces large enough to skewer easily. If you intend making 6 skewers you will probably want to put 4 pieces of chicken on each skewer so you will need 24 pieces of chicken.
• Yoghurt - this is thick Greek yoghurt. Natural thick yoghurt will work just as well. Don't use fruity yoghurt!
• Lemon juice - you don't need too much - the juice of half a small lemon will be sufficient, but it does add a slight citrus tang to the marinade.
• Double cream - this should be double cream or heavy cream and it should allow the sauce to thicken. If you don't have double cream you could use single cream mixed with a tablespoon of cornflour or cornstarch. You could also substitute the cream for milk mixed with 1 tablespoon of cornflour and add a knob of butter to the sauce.
• Tomato puree or tomato paste - this is thickened tomato concentrate, normally sold in tubes or small cans.
• Spices - these are the spices I used. If you don't have them all you could use your favourite brand of curry powder instead, although I would add garlic granules, cinnamon and paprika as commercial curry powder doesn't normally contain these.
  • garlic granules - I use garlic granules because I don't want bits of garlic in the sauce. You could use garlic paste or very finely minced fresh garlic instead.
  • ground cinnamon
  • smoked paprika
  • cayenne pepper - use this to your own taste depending on how hot you want the chicken tikka to be.
  • ground cumin
  • ground coriander
  • turmeric
  • salt

**You can get the exact ingredient measurements on the printable recipe card at the end of this post**

Instructions

Marinade the chicken.

While the chicken is marinating you can make the sauce.

Once the chicken has marinated you can assemble and bake the skewers. These are the instructions for baking the skewers in the oven. See further down the post for instructions for cooking them on the barbeque.

Tips for a successful outcome

Here are my top tips to ensure the chicken tikka skewers turn out perfectly:

• Cut the chicken into equally sized pieces so that it all cooks at the same time.
• When cutting the chicken bear in mind the number of skewers that you are making and cut sufficient pieces of chicken to skewer them evenly. I like to allow 4 pieces per skewer but you may prefer more.
• If the sauce doesn't thicken sufficiently, make a slurry with 1 tablespoon of cornflour or cornstarch and 2 tablespoons of water. Drizzle this into the sauce on a low heat, stirring continuously, until the desired consistency is reached. You may not need all the slurry. The sauce should have a thick pourable consistency.
• You may find the sauce starts to split when you heat the marinade with the tomato paste. It should come back together once you add the cream.

How to cook the skewers on the BBQ

Everyone has their preferred method of cooking food on the barbeque. This is how I would cook the skewers on the grill:

• Allow the coals to burn until they have a nice grey coating of ash.
• Brush the grill with oil to prevent the chicken from sticking to the grid.
• Arrange the skewers around the edge of the barbeque away from direct heat - ie don't put them directly over the coals.
• Cook them for 20 - 25 minutes. Use a pair of tongs to turn them frequently, until they have developed a nice char on the edges and the chicken has cooked through.

Variations

I wouldn't make any changes to the sauce other than adding extra cayenne pepper for more heat. I'm not a lover of food that hurts, so consequently my recipes err on the side of caution when I suggest the amount of chilli to add.

You could change the vegetables - why not try cherry tomatoes and/or button mushrooms on the skewers or even pieces of butternut or sweet potato? Anything that cooks in the oven in half an hour will work. You could even add parboiled baby potatoes - they would taste good with the tikka sauce and the chicken!

Equipment

I have a little expandable rack (with 6 metal skewers) that fits onto either a baking tray or a BBQ grid. It holds the skewers above the tray so they don't stew in the juices that get released.

You can see the rack in the pictures above. It's simply a square frame with holes in the sides to hold the skewers. I place it on a baking tray lined with tin foil to catch the drips of marinade.

You could use stainless steel or bamboo skewers to make this dish. If you use bamboo skewers, soak them in water for 10 minutes so that they don't burn while they are in the oven or on the BBQ grill.

If I didn't have a rack I would be inclined to rest the skewers across a baking dish to keep the meat elevated while in the oven.

You will also need a small mixing bowl for the marinade and a small saucepan to make the sauce.

Storage

The assembled skewers can be frozen (before cooking). Lay them on a sheet of tin foil and fold it over carefully taking care not to snag the tin foil on the end of the skewers. Then wrap it in one or two layers of plastic wrap.

Freeze for up to 4 months.

To use, allow the chicken to defrost in the refrigerator and cook according to the recipe instructions.

The sauce can be frozen for the same length of time in a plastic container, defrosted and reheated in a saucepan or in the microwave.

I normally remove leftover chicken from the skewers and store it in a tupperware container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

You can also assemble the skewers and leave them on a tray covered in plastic wrap in the refrigerator for up to 3 days before cooking.

FAQ

Save for later

If you would like to make these chicken tikka skewers why not save the recipe to one of your Pinterest boards so you can find it easily? Just click on the image below.

Alternatively, you can save the recipe by clicking on the floating heart icon on the right-hand side of the screen.

Related recipes

Why not visit my curry recipes page for other delicious and easy curries? Here are a few chicken curries that you might enjoy:

📋The recipe

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