Chicken and Bacon Shish Kebabs on the grill! Perfectly seasoned chicken pieces weaved in between bacon and grilled over indirect heat before crisping up with direct heat. The BBQ sauce fully coats the skewers for maximum flavor!
Love Kebabs? Try Chicken Fajita Skewers and BBQ Chicken Kebabs next.
The perfect summer food? Yes - that's what grill season is all about and I think we're all ready for Chicken and Bacon Kebabs. So, with the summer slowly approaching let's try as many grilled recipes as we can with plenty of hot summer flavor!
Want oven-baked kebabs instead? Then go for Oven-Baked Tandoori Chicken Skewers.
The Juiciest Chicken and Bacon Kebabs You'll Ever Try
The Bacon-and-BBQ combo steals the show and makes these easy chicken skewers so delicious and flavorful. All together this is the perfect summer meal that comes together in no time and is great for summer grilling.
I personally love some really crispy bacon by itself, but adding it to the grilled chicken kebabs is so much better than having it with breakfast.
Chicken and Bacon Kebabs Ingredients
I always think of saucy BBQ chicken as a summer food, but also enjoy the texture and saltiness of bacon, which was really the inspiration behind these skewers.
- Chicken breasts. Can you get away with chicken thighs? Not in this recipe as they are less uniform and more messy. I did make air fry recipe with chicken thighs and that worked very well.
- Bacon. Definitely avoid thick bacon at all costs and use regular thin sliced pieces.
- Olive oil. Turns out that with just some pantry staples, you can have a sweet and spicy sauce that's the easiest to throw together.
- Paprika, salt and coarse black pepper, onion and garlic powders - Turns out that with just some basic flavors, you can have a nice BBQ chicken and bacon skewers that are the easiest to throw together.
- BBQ sauce - I used regular BBQ sauce from a grocery store, my favorite kind is Stubbs original sauce.
Special equipment
- At least 6 skewers
- Small bowl
- Medium bowl
- Grill
How to make bacon and chicken shish kebabs
1. Combine Spices
Combine the salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, and smoked paprika in a small bowl.
2. Drizzle Chicken with Olive Oil
Place the chicken in a medium mixing bowl and drizzle with olive oil. Toss to combine. Sprinkle the seasoning over the top and toss to combine as evenly as you can.
3. Thread Chicken onto the Skewers
Thread the bacon and chicken onto the skewers so the bacon weaves between each piece of chicken.
4. Set up indirect grilling and Grill
- Turn 2 of the burners off on your grill to set your grill up for indirect grilling and oil the grates with no flame underneath with canola oil.
- Place the skewers on top of the grill with no flame and close the lid.
- Cook for 10 minutes and then flip the skewers over and baste with BBQ sauce. Continue cooking for an additional 10 minutes, then flip the skewers and baste once more and then cook for an additional 3-4 minutes.
Move the kebabs to the side that is on and cook each side an additional minute to crisp up the bacon. Cook until the internal temperature reaches 165 F.
Let the chicken rest for 5-10 minutes before serving garnished with chopped parsley or cilantro, if desired.
Chicken and Bacon Shish Kebabs
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Ingredients
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground pepper coarse
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- ⅓ teaspoon smoked paprika
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 lb chicken breasts cut into bite size pieces
- 6 bacon slices
- ¼ cup BBQ sauce
- Parsley for garnish optional
Instructions
- Preheat your grill to medium heat. You are aiming to have the internal temperature be about 350-375 F.
- In a small bowl combine the salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, and smoked paprika.
- Place the chicken in a medium mixing bowl and drizzle with olive oil. Toss to combine. Sprinkle the seasoning over the top and toss to combine as evenly as you can.
- Thread the bacon and chicken onto the skewers so the bacon weaves between each piece of chicken.
- Turn 2 of the burners off on your grill to set your grill up for indirect grilling and oil the grates with no flame underneath with canola oil. Place the skewers on top of the grill with no flame and close the lid.
- Cook for 10 minutes and then flip the skewers over and baste with BBQ sauce. Cook for an additional 10 minutes. Flip the skewers and baste once more. Cook for 3-4 more minutes.
- Move the kebabs to the side that is on and cook each side an additional minute to crisp up the bacon. Cook until the internal temperature reaches 165 F.
- Let the chicken rest for 5-10 minutes before serving garnished with chopped parsley or cilantro, if desired.
Recipe Tips for Perfect Chicken Kebabs
- Always grill your meat and veggies on separate skewers if you're worried the veggies would get burnt before the chicken was done; and that's why there is only meat on my kebabs.
- Use thin bacon - Don't use thick cut bacon or it won't be fully cooked when the chicken is fully cooked.
- Use indirect heat - Cooking with mostly indirect heat allows the bacon to fully cook without burning while letting the chicken still become fully cooked.
- Maintain grill's heat - If your grill's internal temperature gets below 350, increase the heat. Once half the burners are off you may need to increase the temperature of the 2 burners that are still on.
- Is BBQ sauce necessary? You can skip the BBQ sauce if you would like.
- Add real heat (if desired) - If you want to add a little kick to this, add ⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper.
Dana says
Made these this past weekend in the oven on a wire rack pan I use to make turkey. Excellent!
Olya says
Great idea to use turkey pan for that to mimic the grill fire!