Are you a grill person? Not in the do-you-like-to-eat-grilled-food way, rather, do you like to grill food? As much as I love working around a stove and an oven, I'm not a really big grill fan, but I love kebabs. I eat chicken and fish every now and then, but generally gravitate to veggie-heavy foods. That said, I was really craving chicken the other day, opened my cupboard and started adding a few ingredients to a mason jar for a marinade, which ended up coming together as these very easy grilled balsamic and honey chicken kebabs.
Pantry-Friendly Easy Balsamic & Honey Chicken Kebabs
It seems you can never go wrong using a balsamic vinegar in a marinade. It can be balanced really well with something sweet, in this case, honey, and works well with other flavors, in particular plain old black pepper. Everything in this marinade is very pantry-friendly. No need to search high and low for ingredients.
It seems like a million years ago that I was on the Dr. Oz show talking about acetic acid in vinegar. It's actually very, very good for you. The next time you're playing Trivial Pursuit or want to wow someone with random knowledge, you can let them know that acetic acid:
- helps to kill harmful bacteria in the gut
- helps to control blood sugar levels (A BIG reason why I include apple cider vinegar (ACV) everywhere in The Belly Burn Plan)
- helps to fight infections (So much so that Hippocrates himself touted it for this reason)
- help control high blood pressure
And that's today's lesson about acetic acid! I hope you enjoyed. By the way, I'm a bigger fan of ACV, and even though I haven't tried it with this recipe, I'm sure it would work out as a great substitute for balsamic if you need to swap.
You might like this: This recipe pairs well with my Slightly Spicy Crunchy Chickpeas and my No Bake Chocolate Cashew Coconut Bars.
Chicken Kebabs Go Great With...
I only added onions to this kebab recipe, but really, you can add whatever the heck you want.
- Peppers
- Mushrooms
- Eggplant
- Fingerling Potatoes
- Pineapple
- Cherry Tomatoes
- Zucchini
If you don't fancy adding any veggies, then opt to make a nice side salad instead. My favorite thing to do with kebabs is unleash them over a huge plate of leafy greens, with a few other veggies, I might drizzle a little olive oil over the top, but that's about it. The flavor of the marinade really comes through in this recipe.
Bamboo vs Metal
What kind of skewer do you use?
If you're a bamboo person, then be sure to soak, soak and soak the skewers before adding anything to them, and long before they go on the grill. If not, they could burn and get too charred. The ends could burn off and you'll be left with a hard-to-handle kebab.
Metal skewers are obviously much more durable and can be reused. I use metal kebabs when I'm at home. The key to using metal kebabs is to brush a little olive oil over the top to ensure nothing sticks. Nothing is worse than a stubborn kebab.
Save to BigOven 
This is a delicious and simple grilled kebab recipe anyone can prepare.
Ingredients
- 1 lb chicken breast , chopped in 2" cubes (about 2 large or 3 small breasts)
- 1 small onion, cut in to 2" chunks
- 4 tbsp olive oil
- 3 tbsp honey
- 3 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
Instructions
- Chop chicken, set aside.
- In a small bowl, combine olive oil, honey, balsamic vinegar, sea salt and black pepper. Mix well.
- Pour marinade into a gallon size bag or medium bowl that can be sealed.
- Add chicken to marinade (preferably in bag), seal and shake.
- Refrigerate for at least one hour (or up to overnight).
- Preheat grill to between 375 and 400 degrees.
- Chop onion into 2" chunks, set aside.
- Prepare skewers by layering in chicken-onion-chicken order.
- Dispose of extra marinade. Do not save, glaze chicken or reuse.
- Place on grill for six minutes each side.
- Remove from grill and enjoy with a side salad or fresh vegetables.
