Southwestern Barbecue Chicken Kabobs are absolutely delicious. Grilled chicken and veggies on skewers with a tangy-spicy sauce will be a summer dinner your family will love.
BBQ chicken kabobs are a family-favorite dinner and this recipe combines chicken, veggies, and Southwestern BBQ sauce. Thread it all on skewers, brush on the amazing sauce, and toss them on the grill for an easy, light, and fantastic dinner option for the summer.
Grateful to be collaborating with Safeway today to bring you these BBQ Chicken Kabobs. All opinions expressed are my own.
Summer to me all is about the grilling. Wait, let me clarify – it’s all about my husband grilling. I am terrible on the grill; I hate waiting outside in the heat to turn the chicken or flip the burgers because I usually head inside instead and forget all about what I put on the grill, ending in extra crispy everything.
Another reason I’m terrible on the grill is I am not patient, so I blast up the heat and scorch anything that had a chance of being served. Let’s just say I know what “well-done” means.
These Southwestern Kabobs are actually the first things this summer I didn’t burn on the grill, and I will tell you why:
- They are easy to prep and cook in about 12 minutes.
- All you have to do is turn them every few minutes until the meat is cooked through and has beautiful char marks.
- Cutting the veggies and chicken into equal-sized pieces ensures they cook evenly. There’s no worry about undercooked meat and burnt veggies with this recipe. It turns out perfectly every time.
Oh, and the sauce. It’s delicious. It’s a spicy-tangy-sweet BBQ sauce inspired by Southwestern flavors. It’s perfect with the chicken and veggies.
My daughter Jersey and I were shopping at our local Safeway when we were inspired to make these kabobs. After coming home from a 4-week summer vacation where we ate ice cream once or sometimes twice a day, I am even more motivated to make wholesome and delicious meals.
So as we meandered around the store, Jersey pined for cheeseburgers, but I wanted chicken. So we negotiated and landed on barbecue chicken, her favorite.
Ingredients
- Finely chopped jalapeño peppers
- Canola oil
- Finely chopped garlic
- Chili powder, cumin, cayenne pepper, and ground coriander
- Ketchup
- Fresh lime juice
- Brown sugar
- Cubed O Organics® Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts
- Red onion cut into chunks
- Bell peppers cut into chunks – I like to do a mix of colors.
I am in love with all of the O ORGANICS® products sold at my local Safeway. You can find all of the O Organics products I use in this recipe exclusively at ALBERTSONS Family GROCERY STORES.
I picked up the 4 lbs of the O Organics chicken and O Organics ketchup which is part of the base of our homemade Southwestern Barbecue Sauce.
Recipe Steps
Make the Southwestern Barbecue Sauce by combining the jalapeno, oil, garlic, all of the spices, ketchup, lime juice, and sugar. Place barbecue sauce in the refrigerator until ready to use.
Place the chicken and one cup of BBQ sauce in a Ziplock bag and toss the chicken to combine with the sauce. Marinate the meat for one to two hours. Refrigerate the reserved sauce. too.
Thread the meat and vegetables onto skewers. I like to alternate them so each skewer is colorful with a mix of veggies and meat.
Heat gas or charcoal grill to medium heat. Place the kabobs on the grill and cook for 3 minutes with the lid shut.
Then rotate the kabob to cook on the opposite side and baste with remaining southwestern barbecue sauce. Cook another 3 minutes.
At this point, check the meat to see how it’s cooking. To know if the chicken is done, the juices should be clear.
If not done, baste again with the barbecue sauce continue to cook for another 3-minutes on a side you haven’t cooked yet. Repeat until done. My chicken kabobs take from anywhere to 9-12 minutes.
Remove the kabobs from the grill once completely cooked and serve immediately.
Recipe Tips
Grill Tip: My husband swears by a digital meat thermometer. He pulls off all our chicken between 155 and 158 degrees and lets it rest for a few minutes (which brings the final temperature up to 160-165. It turns out super juicy and just right.
Serving tip: If I am serving these to the kids, I will remove the meat and veggies from the skewers so they don’t burn themselves or use the skewers as weapons at the table.
Make-Ahead Tip: You can make the BBQ sauce a few days in advance and keep it in the refrigerator. You can also prep the vegetables the night before or the morning of the day you want to cook them. Keep them chilled in an airtight container.
FAQ
We like to grill kebobs over medium heat, turning them every 3 minutes until they are cooked through (165°F). They are usually done in less than 15 minutes.
Yes, for this recipe you should close the grill lid. Open it every three minutes to check the skewers and turn them.
Leftover BBQ chicken kabobs will keep for three to four days in the refrigerator. I love to use the leftovers to make a delicious grilled chicken and vegetable salad the next day.
I love that both the O ORGANICS (USDA Certified Organic) and OPEN NATURE® lines are available exclusively where I live {near Denver, CO} at Safeway stores because they offer high-quality chicken and beef.
Cooking with chicken and beef makes it easy to serve a variety of meals, including simple weeknight dinners like these easy skewers.
Another reason I love shopping at SAFEWAY is that both O Organics and Open Nature lines are affordable, which is important to me as a mom working on a budget and feeding a large family.
So with summer stretching ahead of us, I’ll be firing up the grill to make these BBQ chicken kabobs for dinners. Nothing else – just kabobs – as dinner will be easy and healthy while still tasting delicious.
And of course… hopefully not burned. From our summer-inspired healthier dinner table to yours, enjoy friends. XOXO San
Don’t forget to pin this recipe to your favorite Pinterest board for later!
More Grilling Recipes
Southwestern Barbecue Chicken Kabobs
Ingredients
Southwestern Barbecue Sauce
- 1 jalapeño peppers finely chopped
- 2 tablespoons canola oil
- 4 garlic cloves finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 2 teaspoons ground coriander
- 2 cups ketchup
- 1/4 cup fresh lime juice
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
Kabobs
- 4 lbs O Organics® Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts
- 1 large red onion
- 1 large red pepper
- 1 large green pepper
- 1 large orange pepper
Instructions
- Make the Southwestern Barbecue Sauce by combining all of the ingredients into a large mason jar. Twist on the lid to the jar and shake vigorously to combine. Place barbecue sauce in the refrigerator until ready to use.
- Prepare peppers and onion for the kabobs.
- To chop the peppers, I cut it in half and remove the core and stem, then cut the two halves into thirds. Cut each third into thirds as well. I do the same for the onions.
- Prepare the chicken into 1-2-inch cubes: Cut the chicken breast into 1-inch slices, then each slice cut into 1-inch cubes.
- Add the chicken and 1 cup of the southwestern barbecue sauce into a Ziplock bag and toss the chicken to combine with the sauce. Set the chicken, sealed in the Ziplock, in the refrigerator for 1-2 hours. Place the remaining barbecue sauce back in the refrigerator.
- Using a skewer, I prefer metal ones, add 2-pieces of chicken and push to the bottom of the skewer. Then add one green pepper square, 1-2-pieces of onion and one red or orange pepper piece. Repeat the sequence until you reach the top of the skewer, making to sure to push the chicken and vegetables closely together. Once completed, set kabob on a plate and repeat with the remaining chicken, onions, and peppers.
- Heat gas or charcoal grill to medium heat. Place chicken on grill and cook for 3 minutes with the lid shut. Then rotate the kabob to cook on the opposite side and baste with remaining southwestern barbecue sauce. Cook another 3 minutes. At this point, check the chicken to see how it’s cooking. To know if the chicken is done, the juices should be clear. Grill Tip: My husband swears by a digital meat thermometer. He pulls off all our chicken between 155 and 158 degrees and lets it rest for a few minutes (which brings the final temperature up to 160-165. It turns out super juicy and just right.
- If not done, baste the chicken again with the barbecue sauce continue to cook for another 3-minutes on a side you haven’t cooked yet. Repeat until done. My chicken kabobs take from anywhere to 9-12 minutes.
- Remove the kabobs from the grill once completely cooked and serve immediately. If I am serving these to the kids, I will remove the chicken and veggies from the skewers so don’t burn themselves or use the skewers as weapons at the table.
Notes
Visit SAFEWAY.COM to find a store near you and discover more meal prep tips and recipe ideas. Looking to buy O Organics products? Visit your local ALBERTSONS FAMILY GROCERY STORES, including Albertsons, ACME Markets, Jewel-Osco, Vons, Pavilions, Randalls, Tom Thumb, Shaw’s, Star Market, United Express, United Markets and Carrs/Safeway.
This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Albertsons Companies. The opinions and text are all mine.
ohhh yumm!! I’ll be making these next week! Thanks for the recipe 🙂 Anything with lime, chili, & garlic, I’m alllllll in! lol!
These were so juicy and flavorful. The sauce is incredible.
These are great for the weekend! Perfect flavor!
Beautiful chicken, and a great-tasting kebab! The sauce made everything 1000x better
I know for sure this Barbecue Chicken Kabobs would be a huge hit in my house!
This Southwestern BBQ Sauce is our new favorite!