Sticky chicken skewers

I’m loving the party snacks that you can pick up in the supermarkets at this time of year – especially the sticky chicken skewers. They’ve got a gorgeous sticky glaze and the chicken is so moist and juicy. In fact, I love them so much that I’ve made my own version!

Why I think you’ll love them too

There are so many reasons why I think you’ll love these sticky chicken skewers. They are:

Super easy to make – just marinate the chicken for half an hour in the delicious glaze, thread it on to skewers and bake for 20 minutes.
Healthier than deep fried chicken – these sticky chicken skewers are baked in the oven without any oil.
So tasty – the honey and mustard glaze is combined with tomato ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, chilli, garlic and ginger for a flavour sensation.
Versatile – serve them as a starter or a party hors d’oeuvre (along with this Jack Daniels dipping sauce) or turn them into a quick and easy meal with the addition of rice or noodles and your favourite vegtable.
Economical – you get far more chicken skewers from this recipe than you would from a couple of boxes of store-bought ones.

In addition, if you don’t fancy the marinade I’ve used you can just use a jar of your favourite marinade instead. (Makes them even easier to make).

Ingredients

**You can find the complete recipe with all the ingredients and detailed instructions for making these sticky chicken skewers on the printable recipe card at the end of this post**

This recipe will make 8 to 10 chicken skewers, depending on how big you make the chicken cubes. If you want to make a larger batch, just use extra chicken and double the marinade ingredients.

Ingredients for sticky chicken skewers. — Apart from the chicken, you will only need a few pantry staples.

Chicken – I’ve used skinless chicken breast fillets, but you could use deboned skinless chicken thighs instead.
Mustard – Dijon mustard gives a milder flavour, or for a stronger kick use English mustard. I would’t use wholegrain mustard as the seeds may burn when the chicken is in the oven.
Worcestershire sauce – substitute with soy sauce.
Tomato ketchup – substitute with half the amount of tomato paste thinned down with a little water.
Dried chilli flakes – this provides a nice touch of heat and you can adjust this to your own taste. Substitute with cayenne pepper if you don’t have chilli flakes or if you don’t like chilli you can leave it out altogether.
Ginger – if you have fresh ginger you can peel and crush it, or for convenience just use a jar of crushed ginger paste.
Garlic – either freshly minced garlic cloves, or crushed garlic from a jar.

I haven’t included salt in the picture as this is optional and to your own taste.

How to make sticky chicken skewers

You will need a mixing bowl for the marinade and a large baking tray. My top tip here is to line the baking tray with tin foil which will firstly prevent the skewers from sticking, but more importantly, will make the washing up a lot easier.

You will also need some wooden skewers. If you are worried about the skewers burning in the oven, soak them in cold water while the chicken is marinating. I didn’t soak mine, and they didn’t burn.

A dish of chicken cubes covered with marinade. — **Step 1** – Cut the chicken into approximately 1-inch sized cubes (about 2 cm). You should get between 16 and 20 cubes from each chicken breast. Place the chicken in a large bowl.

Then mix all the marinade ingredients together and pour it over the chicken.

Chicken cubes marinating in the prepared marinade. — **Step 2** – Stir well to coat all the chicken with the marinade. Cover the bowl and refrigerate for half an hour to give the chicken time to absorb all the delicious flavours.

Chicken skewers on a baking tray ready for the oven. — **Step 3** – Thread 4 pieces of chicken onto a wooden skewer and place it on the baking tray which you have lined with tin foil. Repeat until all the chicken has been skewered. Then spoon any remaining marinade over the chicken on the baking tray.

**Step 4** – place the tray into a preheated oven and bake for 15 to 20 minutes.

The oven should be preheated to 200C / 400F.

The actual time you bake the chicken will depend on the size of the chicken cubes. Check them after 15 minutes and give them a few minutes longer in the oven if necessary.

If you have a probe thermometer you can check the internal temperature of the chicken. Cooked chicken will have an internal temperature of 74C / 165F.
Otherwise cut a piece of chicken in half – if it is properly cooked it will be completely white with no pink showing.

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Two chicken skewers on a bed of noodles.

Questions

Can I freeze the chicken skewers?

Yes – you can freeze the uncooked, marinated skewers PROVIDED that you have made them with fresh unfrozen chicken – not chicken that has been previously frozen and then defrosted.
Just assemble the skewers and pack them into a suitable freezer container, along with any remaining marinade.
Freeze for up to three months.
To use, allow the chicken skewers to defrost in the refrigerator (or defrost them in the microwave if you are in a hurry) then arrange them on a baking tray and bake as per the recipe instructions.
If you are going to freeze the chicken skewers there is no need to marinate them first.

Can I make them ahead?

You can assemble the chicken skewers the day before you intend to cook them and store them in a covered container in the refrigerator. You can also skip the marinating step.

What other marinade can I use?

Here are a few ideas for marinades that you can purchase in jars or bottles from your local supermarket:
– teriyaki sauce
– barbeque sauce
– sweet and sour sauce
– curry sauce
For 10 chicken skewers you will need approximately half a cup of sauce.

Additional resources

Don’t forget to check out my handy Cookery Conversion Calculator if you want to convert any of your recipe measurements from grams to cups, ounces, tablespoons or millilitres and vice versa. You can also use the calculator for converting oven temperatures between Fahrenheit, Celsius, and Gas marks.

If you live at a high altitude you may find you need to adjust your baking recipes to compensate for this. You can read all about it in this post on baking at high altitudes.

Pin for later

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Other chicken recipes

If this isn’t quite what you are looking for, why not take a look at some of my other chicken recipes.

The recipe

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Sticky chicken skewers