Broiled Chicken and Vegetable Kebabs

Broiled Chicken and Vegetable Kebabs-1-18Sometimes when you’re in a kebab mood, it’s not always practical to go fire up the grill. Not only is this recipe an indoor kebab recipe, but it’s also another recipe to store in your “Quick and Easy” dinner options. Another advantage of this recipe is that you are cooking vegetables right along with the chicken, so you don’t have to worry about making a side dish.

Marinating the chicken in Greek yogurt and a blend of spices and lemon juice gives it nice creaminess and tang. Mayonnaise is another great option to use instead of the yogurt and will work just as well. I used smoked paprika, which is an awesome way to add that smoky flavor that we love from the grill. You can use just about any fresh herbs and spices that you like. Simple enough for a quick family dinner for those busy nights, this dinner is also something that you can feel proud to serve to guests too. Healthy, quick and yummy – that’s my motto. 

Ingredients:

Marinade for 2 chicken breasts:

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts (you can also use 4 boneless skinless chicken thighs)

1/3 cup yogurt

1 Tablespoon lemon juice

1-2 garlic cloves, grated

1 Tablespoon grated onion

1 teaspoon dry mustard or 1/2 Tablespoon dijon mustard

1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika

2 Tablespoons olive oil

1 1/2 Tablespoons fresh herbs (dill, parsley and thyme)

Vegetables:

2 tomatoes

1 bell pepper

1 shallot

1-2 Tablespoons olive oil

salt, pepper

herbs (parsley, dill and thyme)

1 garlic clove, minced

Instructions:

Broiled Chicken and Vegetable Kebabs-1-30Cut the chicken into 1 inch pieces. Broiled Chicken and Vegetable Kebabs-1-29Combine all the marinade ingredients and mix them up with the chicken. Broiled Chicken and Vegetable Kebabs-1-28

Broiled Chicken and Vegetable Kebabs-1-27Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes and up to 6-8 hours. I wouldn’t marinate it longer than that, since the acid in the yogurt and lemon juice will break apart the protein in the meat too much and make it mushy.

Cut the seeded tomatoes and bell pepper into 1 inch pieces and the shallot (or onion) just a little bit smaller, since it will need a little more time to soften. Mix the vegetables with the olive oil, herbs and garlic and ground black pepper, but don’t season it with salt until right before you broil them.

The salt will draw out moisture out of the vegetables, especially the tomatoes and they will become very mushy and soggy if you leave them in the salt for too long.

Refrigerate the vegetables also.

Broiled Chicken and Vegetable Kebabs-1-26

Broiled Chicken and Vegetable Kebabs-1-25Preheat the broiler in your oven and set the oven rack to a position as close to the heating element as you can, to the highest rack. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil. Trust me on this one – it will make cleanup a lot easier. The food itself will not be resting on the aluminum foil, so if you avoid using aluminum foil for that reason, you don’t have to worry about it in this case. Place a metal cooling rack inside the rimmed baking sheet.

Elevating the kebabs above the baking sheet really helps the kebabs to cook quicker and more evenly. If you place them directly on the baking sheet, they will steam and not get charred and crisp, so you’ll end up with poached kebabs instead. The meat and vegetables will release a lot of liquid as they cook, so you don’t want the kebabs to cook in their own juices. The hot air will circulate all the way around the kebab this way, not just from the top.

Thread the chicken and the vegetables onto metal skewers. I got 5 chicken and veggie kebabs and one extra vegetable kebab. Place the skewers on top of the cooling rack and place in the preheated oven.

Broiled Chicken and Vegetable Kebabs-1-23Cook for about 8-12 minutes total, depending on your oven. Turn the kebabs over halfway through cooking.

Broiled Chicken and Vegetable Kebabs-1-22They cook pretty quickly, so check them often. The worse thing you can do is overcook the chicken, in which case it will be dry, rubbery and tough. Blah! I hate overcooked chicken. If you use chicken thighs, you don’t have to worry about that too much.

Broiled Chicken and Vegetable Kebabs-1-21Cooking the vegetable kebabs along with the chicken is a great way to have most of your meal cooking at the same time. The veggie kebabs are a big plus. They taste phenomenal with that char in some places, get caramelized and somewhat sweet, but are still slightly crisp.Broiled Chicken and Vegetable Kebabs-1-18

Broiled Chicken and Vegetable Kebabs
 
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Prep time
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Total time
 
Author:
Recipe type: Entree
Serves: 2-4
Ingredients
Marinade for 2 chicken breasts
  • 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts (you can also use 4 boneless skinless chicken thighs)
  • ⅓ cup yogurt or mayonnaise
  • 1 Tablespoon lemon juice
  • 1-2 garlic cloves, grated
  • 1 Tablespoon grated onion
  • 1 teaspoon dry mustard or ½ Tablespoon dijon mustard
  • ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
  • 2 Tablespoons olive oil
  • 1½ Tablespoons fresh herbs (dill, parsley and thyme)
Vegetables:
  • 2 tomatoes
  • 1 bell pepper
  • 1 shallot
  • 1-2 Tablespoons olive oil
  • salt, pepper
  • herbs (parsley, dill and thyme)
  • 1 garlic clove, minced
Instructions
  1. Cut the chicken into 1 inch pieces. Combine all the marinade ingredients and mix them up with the chicken. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes and up to 6-8 hours. I wouldn't marinate it longer than that, since the acid in the yogurt and lemon juice will break apart the protein in the meat too much and make it mushy.
  2. Cut the seeded tomatoes and bell pepper into 1 inch pieces and the shallot (or onion) just a little bit smaller, since it will need a little more time to soften. Mix the vegetables with the olive oil, herbs and garlic and ground black pepper, but don't season it with salt until right before you broil them. The salt will draw out moisture out of the vegetables, especially the tomatoes and they will become very mushy and soggy if you leave them in the salt for too long. Refrigerate the vegetables also.
  3. Preheat the broiler in your oven and set the oven rack to a position as close to the heating element as you can, to the highest rack. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil. Place a metal cooling rack inside the rimmed baking sheet.
  4. Thread the chicken and the vegetables onto metal skewers. I got 5 chicken and veggie kebabs and one extra vegetable kebab. Place the skewers on top of the cooling rack and place in the preheated oven.
  5. Cook for about 8-12 minutes total, depending on your oven. Turn the kebabs over halfway through cooking. They cook pretty quickly, so check them often.

Broiled Chicken and Vegetable Kebabs-1-17

Broiled Chicken and Vegetable Kebabs-1-16

 

27 Comments

  • Tina

    Ummm Yummm!!! I am drooling!!! Thank you Olga for such a wonderful recipie! You inspire me to love kitchen more and more! I hope you and your little guy are feeling wonderful! Wishing you many blessings!:)

  • Mila

    Such a great idea, adding to my my menu plan! I like that it can be customized to different tastes, if someone doesn’t like a particular vegetable. Have you tried some other veggies in this, Olga? What works the best? I wonder if it will work on a grill pan? I like making shrimp kebabs on my stove-top grill pan (I have a recipe on my blog). You get nice grill marks without having to use an outdoor grill.

    • olgak7

      I haven’t tried other vegetables for this particular recipe, but you would need to use something that cooks quickly, Mila. That’s why I chose tomatoes, peppers and shallot. If you use mushrooms, zucchini, broccoli or anything else, I would put the vegetables on separate skewers and cook them longer than the chicken, since they will still be hard when the chicken is done.

    • olgak7

      That depends on your oven. The best indicator would be to watch the chicken itself. I set mine for 500 degrees, but you have to really watch the chicken to make sure it doesn’t overcook. The higher the temperature, the better. The faster the chicken chars, the faster you can turn it over and the faster it will cook. I would err on the side of caution and check it earlier than later.

  • Milana

    Wow! I would’ve never thought to make shish kabobs in an oven. Chicken marinated in yogurt sounds extremely juicy 🙂
    Thanks again for another awesome recipe.

    • olgak7

      I haven’t tried using wooden skewers in the oven, but I have done it on the grill, Alina. Soak the wooden skewers in water for at least half an hour before threading the chicken and vegetables on it.

    • olgak7

      No, I have never tried this method with pork, Kseniya.
      I would not marinate the pork in the yogurt, but use some oil instead. Plus, you will have to cook it longer, since chicken breast cooks a lot faster.

  • jen

    I made these last night but thought the dry mustard was way to much and made them bitter. I liked the idea of broiling but will change things up next time.

  • Rimma

    Made them once. They turned out absolutely delicious and have been making them over and over again. They are so easy to make. Thank you for th recipe.

    • olgak7

      I wouldn’t recommend baking it, Marina. Chicken breast dries out very quickly, so if you don’t broil it, the chicken will be cooked through way before it gets any browning at all.
      You can broil it without the skewers; that should work just fine:).

  • alice

    Made this recipe to marinate and grilled the chicken thighs for my daughter birthday party this weekend and it was delicious!!! Thank you for the recipe Olga!

  • Andi

    I know this is an ‘older’ recipe, but I just came across it today. I doubled the recipe for my family of 5 (mom, dad and 3 kids: 4, 3, and 20months). There was a fight between the kids for the end of the chicken and vegetables and mom and dad were left wishing I had tripled it. I have good eaters, but this knocked it out of the park. I’m so excited to add such a quick and simple recipe to our rotation!

    Thank You! I can’t wait to try more of your recipes.

    • olgak7

      Wow! That’s awesome, Andi:). I am so happy to hear such great feedback. I’m thrilled that you and your family enjoyed the kebabs. Thank you for taking the time to write.

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