These juicy garlic parmesan chicken skewers taste amazing. Succulent chunks of chicken breast basted in a deliciously punchy garlic and parmesan butter and tangy lemon. They’re a little bit addictive. And they can be prepped ahead of time, so they’re ready to cook at the last minute!
These garlic chicken skewers are incredibly quick and easy to make and perfect for grilling (though they can be baked or air fried too). They’re equally as great for an easy weeknight dinner as they are for a gathering. They can work as an appetizer too.
Try this Greek seasoned chicken too!
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Ingredients & substitutions
Jump to the recipe card for full ingredients and instructions.
- Chicken: I’ve used boneless skinless chicken breasts here but you can use chicken tenderloins or chicken thighs too. I prefer chicken breast or chicken tenders here though, rather than the dark meat.
- Salted butter
- Garlic: Use fresh garlic cloves for the best flavour here. Jar garlic does work but it’s milder so you’ll need more for the same punch of flavour.
- Spices: The seasoning alone makes these chicken skewers delectable. It’s made up of salt, pepper, paprika and onion powder. A little Italian seasoning or Tuscan seasoning is added to the butter mixture.
- Lemon juice: Again, use fresh lemon juice. The bottled variety is very acidic and doesn’t have the sweetness of fresh lemons.
- Parmesan: Grate your parmesan from a block for the very best flavour. I can’t get behind the shelf stable variety – the flavour is completely different. If you buy it pre-shredded, it can be dry and sometimes will have anti-caking agents to stop the parmesan from clumping together – you don’t want that (just check the ingredients label if you want to buy it pre-shredded).
- Sriracha or your favourite hot sauce. You could also swap this for chilli flakes (red pepper flakes).
How to make garlic chicken skewers
These garlic parmesan skewers are very simple to make. They can be prepped ahead of time so all you need to do is heat the grill and cook them (which takes all of 10 minutes!).
Jump to the recipe card for full ingredients and instructions.
1. Prep the chicken
Cut the chicken breast into bite-sized pieces roughly ½x1 inch (1¼cm x 2½cm).
Mix the cubed chicken with the spices and oil in a large bowl.
2. Assemble the skewers
Push the chicken onto pre-soaked wooden skewers with no gaps. I get about 10 skewers but you can make them smaller to get 12 or even smaller again to get appetizer sized chicken skewers.
3. Make the garlic butter
Melt the butter in a pan, then add the Italian seasoning and minced garlic and let that sizzle for 1 minute. This will take the rawness out of the garlic.
Off the heat, stir in the lemon juice and sriracha (or hot sauce). Stir it for a minute or so, then add the parmesan. You don’t need the parmesan to melt. Now set a little of the sauce aside for dressing at the end. The rest can be used for basting while the skewers cook.
4. Cook the skewers
Now, to cook your garlic parm chicken skewers! It’s so quick and easy.
Heat a grill pan / griddle pan or barbecue grill over medium-high heat for a few minutes, then add the skewers (if using a smallish pan, cook them in batches rather than overcrowd them, then keep them warm in the oven).
After about 3 minutes, flip them and cook the other side for 2 minutes.
Flip them again, and baste the top with the garlic and parmesan butter sauce, cooking for another 2 minutes. Flip them one more time, basting again and cooking for another 2 minutes. Check to see if your chicken is cooked through and if you need flip them one last time.
Tips and tricks
Right let’s get to a few quick tips to making the best garlic chicken skewers.
- Use wooden skewers: While you can use metal skewers, wooden or bamboo skewers are best for chicken since they don’t heat up as much as the metal variety. When the metal ones heat up, they can start cooking the meat from the inside.
- Soak your skewers: Soaking the skewers for at least 30 minutes before using them will stop them from burning on the grill or the pan.
- Don’t let them burn. A bit of char is great, especially on the grill but flat-out burnt is not nice – just acrid. Make sure you don’t add the sauce until the last two flips and if you think they’re catching, turn the heat down a touch and flip them more regularly.
- Prep ahead! You can prep the seasoned chicken skewers ahead of time. Once the meat is skewered, just store them in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 3 days. You can also freeze them raw, so long as the chicken hasn’t been previously frozen.
Other cooking options
- Air fry: Place the skewers into the air fryer with a little space between them and cook for 7-8 minutes at 200C/400F, flipping and basting halfway through.
- Oven: Preheat the oven to 200C / 400F. Line a large baking sheet with baking paper. Place the skewers onto the baking sheet with a little space between them. Baste with the garlic parmesan sauce, then cook for 11-14 minutes, basting and flipping them at the halfway point. The won’t get the colour they would from the grill.
How to serve them
These tender parmesan garlic chicken skewers are very versatile from a serving standpoint. Try them on their own as an appetiser. For a main meal, try adding some coleslaw like I have here. For something a bit heartier, serve them up with rice or fries. They’re lovely wrapped in fluffy flatbread too with a crunchy salad and tzatziki or something similar.
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Ingredients
- 10-12 bamboo or wooden skewers
- 600 g chicken breast (or thighs or tenderloin) should make 8-10 skewers
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
- ½ teaspoon paprika (sweet or smoked)
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- 3 teaspoons vegetable oil
FOR THE SAUCE
- 100 g salted butter , melted
- 4 cloves garlic , minced or finely chopped
- 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning , or Tuscan seasoning
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice (notes 1)
- ⅓ cup lightly packed parmesan cheese , finely grated (20g / ¾oz)
- 1-2 teaspoons sriracha (or other hot sauce) , or to taste
- chopped fresh parsley, to serve Optional
For best results, always weigh ingredients where a weight is provided
Equipment
- Bamboo or wooden skewers
- Saucepan
- Grill pan / griddle pan (or BBQ grill)
Instructions
- Note: If you only have a small grill pan that isn’t going to fit at least 10 skewers of chicken on it without crowding them, preheat the oven on the keep warm setting or around 70C/160F.
- Soak skewers for ½ hour before beginning, if using wooden or bamboo.
- Cut chicken into chunks about 2 ½cm (1 inch) x 1 ¼cm (½ inch).
- Mix the chicken with salt, pepper, paprika, onion powder and vegetable oil then thread onto skewers quite tightly (no gaps).
- Melt butter in a saucepan over low-medium heat and add garlic and herbs. Cook for 2 minutes.
- Take the sauce off the heat and stir in the lemon juice and sriracha. After a minute or so, stir in the parmesan (it does not need to melt in).
- Set aside 2 tablespoons of the sauce for serving – the rest will be used for basting.
- Heat a BBQ grill to medium high or your grill pan on the stove over medium high heat for a few minutes.
- Add the chicken skewers to the grill pan without crowding them. It’s best to cook in two batches and keep the first batch warm than overcrowd the pan.
- Cook for 3 minutes. Turn the skewers and cook for another 2 minutes.
- Turn the heat down to medium and turn the skewers again. Brush the top side liberally with the basting portion of sauce then continue cooking for another 2 minutes. If they look like they’re burning at any point, reduce the heat a little (char = good, chunky burnt bits = bad).
- Final turn: Flip them one last time and cook for a final 2 minutes, basting the top with the sauce.
- They should be cooked but you can continue to flip and cook for another minute or so if you need to, to get the chicken fully cooked through.
- If necessary, transfer to the warm oven and cook the second batch.
- Warm the reserved serving sauce in the microwave slightly, and spoon it over the cooked chicken skewers. Scatter over some chopped parsley, if using, then serve.
- Please take a moment to leave a comment & rating. It's appreciated and so helpful.
Notes
- Tablespoons: I use a standard Australian 20ml tablespoon (equal to 4 teaspoons). Check yours before measuring.
- Nutrition details are approximate only – scroll below the recipe to find the full nutritional information.
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2 Comments on “Garlic Parmesan Chicken Skewers”
Love these chicken skewers,made a great change to fried chicken and went down well.
I’m so happy you love them, Lynn. Thanks so much for dropping back to leave a review.