Honey Lime Chicken Kebabs

August 2, 2023

These juicy chicken kebabs are bursting with flavour and have both a delightful honey sweetness and a real kick of zesty tang! The lime pairs perfectly with our sweet honey to create a really tasty and exciting dish from some humble chicken thighs. Our honey lime kebabs can be served as part of a larger barbecue feast or as a simple but delicious meal with some rice, colourful grilled vegetables, or a fresh salad.

To make our honey lime chicken kebabs you will need:

8 boneless chicken thighs

Marinade ingredients

3 tablespoons of Just Bee Honey
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 lime
3 Garlic cloves
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
½ teaspoon of salt
½ teaspoon pepper
½ teaspoon smoked paprika
1 red onion
1 red pepper
1 yellow pepper

8 large bamboo, wooden, or metal skewers
a medium sized bowl
a small bowl

Time to make and cook: around 30 minutes + 1-2 hours marinading time.

Step One: Prepare the chicken thighs.

Using a sharp knife dice the chicken into suitable sized chunks. We would recommend around 2.5-3cm squares, but don't worry too much about specific shapes- just try to make them roughly about the same size so they will cook through at the same time. Once they are all chopped up move all the chicken pieces into a medium sized bowl.

Step Two: Marinade the chicken.

Next we'll prepare the marinade in the smaller bowl. Start by mincing, crushing or finely chopping the garlic, then zest the lime before adding its juice. Add all the other ingredients and give it a good mix around with a fork until combined. Then pour the marinade over the chicken in the larger bowl, you can use a small silicon spatula to make sure there's none left behind.

Once all the chicken is coated in marinade, cover the bowl with some kitchen foil or cling-film and leave in the fridge for 1-2 hours. There's no need to leave it any longer but if you need to leave it for longer (up to 4 hours) that will be fine. Leaving the chicken marinading over night or all day however is not recommended as it can make the chicken become tougher than it should be.

Step Three: Creating the kebabs!

If you are using wooden or bamboo skewers, then you need to soak them in water for at least a few minutes to prevent them burning. They might still burn a little at the ends but this isn't anything to worry about (as long as they don't catch fire!).

Grab your onion and peppers and slice into chunks.

Remove the chicken from the fridge and start pushing the chunks onto the skewers, alternating between the chicken and the vegetables. Don't squash too much on the skewer, it's better to have the pieces only just touching (or even a little space between) to help them cook evenly all the way through. There should be enough chicken to make 8 large skewers. If there's any marinade left in the bowl, discard it.

Step Four: Cooking the kebabs.

The skewers can be cooked on a barbecue, under a grill or on a griddle pan. Cook on a medium heat, any higher and you'll have too much charring before the chicken is cooked through. It's best to lightly oil the grill or pan to prevent the chicken from sticking.

Turn the kebabs every couple of minutes while cooking to ensure they cook evenly. Ideally you are looking for some slight char at the edges of the chicken chunks, any fatty bits to be bubbling away nicely and the chicken fully cooked through. Be careful with your fingers as you turn the kebabs, as the ends of the skewers can get very hot.

They should only take around 10 minutes to cook through, but that time can vary depending on how big the chunks of chicken are. To check they're cooked, slice into a couple of the larger looking pieces to make sure there is no pink inside and the chicken is hot in the centre.

Handy Hint! If your grill or barbecue was too hot and you have a minor cooking disaster with the chicken burning on the outside but still not fully cooked in the centre, don't panic! Just wrap the skewers in a foil parcel to stop them drying out and pop them in a medium temperature oven for 5-10 minutes until they are piping hot and cooked through. If this does happen then it's likely you made the chicken chunks too big, so make them smaller next time.

Notes and other options.

If you would rather use chicken breasts then you can, but be very careful not to overcook the meat as it can very quickly become dry and tough. Despite being a cheaper meat, we really do think that chicken thighs are best for these kebabs.

If you love the taste then you can also use this marinade recipe to coat chicken drumsticks and wings too!

You could try different meats or if you are vegetarian, you could use halloumi and other vegetables.