Hawaiian BBQ Chicken Skewers – Skewers are loaded with BBQ chicken, pineapple chunks, ham, and red onion and grilled to perfection
There just seems to be an infinite amount of ways to enjoy chicken, doesn’t there? But at the same time, we seem to get bored of it quickly. Isn’t that just the way it works? I seem to forget about all the amazing chicken recipes out there that can easily transform a boring piece of chicken breast into a yummy meal for the whole family.
Today’s recipe does just that. It requires few ingredients, many that you may already have on hand. And the use of store-bought BBQ sauce makes it all the more easier to put together.
So what’s this magic recipe? It’s for Hawaiian BBQ Chicken Skewers! The chicken is marinated in the BBQ sauce and layered on skewers before getting grilled. It really doesn’t get much easier than that, people!
What makes it Hawaiian?
My inspiration for these skewers was the main toppings for a Hawaiian pizza – pineapple and ham. The ham I used was just sliced ham and I folded it multiple times to make it easier to skewer.
The BBQ chicken is made using a sweet BBQ sauce so it pairs well with those ingredients. There’s nothing fancy about the sauce – I just use my favorite store-bought one to save some time.
How are these skewers made?
Skewers have always been a favorite of mine, even when I was a kid. It made eating food fun because it came on a stick. And it was a great way to get me to eat my veggies!
Mixture of colors and flavors
To make skewers, you just layer on the meat and veggies onto wooden skewers and grill away. But you want to make sure to use a mixture of flavors and colors to make the skewers super appealing.
For these skewers I used red onion to add a beautiful pop of color that looks so good with the yellow pineapple.
Tips & Tricks
- Make sure you don’t cut the ingredients into small pieces but rather into large chunks – or else they’ll fall off the skewers as they grill.
- Don’t forget to soak the skewers in water for at least 30 minutes before adding the ingredients and grilling. It will keep the skewers from catching fire during the grilling process.
- These skewers don’t taste as good when made ahead of time, so I recommend grilling right before you serve them. You can skewer them ahead of time, if you need to save time.
- When reheating, make sure to remove food from the skewers or else you risk burning the skewer in the microwave/oven!
Hawaiian BBQ Chicken Skewers
Ingredients
- 1 pound chicken breast
- ½ cup BBQ sauce divided
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ⅛ teaspoon pepper
- 8 ounces thinly-sliced ham
- 1 pineapple
- 1 medium red onion
- 12 large wooden skewers
Instructions
- Cut chicken into large 1-inch chunks. Place into medium bowl and add ¼ cup of BBQ sauce, salt, and pepper. Toss together until evenly coated. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour. In the meantime, soak wooden skewers in water.
- When chicken is done marinating, prepare the other skewer ingredients. Slice the top, bottom, and skin off the pineapple. Cut into chunks, making sure to remove the tough core pieces. Cut the red onion into large pieces. Fold each slice of ham 3 times to make a wedge.
- Preheat grill to medium-high. Assemble the skewers by organizing the ingredients in a pattern such as this: pineapple chunk, ham wedge, two pieces of onion, and marinated chicken. Repeat this pattern again on the skewers and then on the remaining wooden skewers.
- Grease the grill with non-stick spray or canola oil. Place chicken skewers on grill over the flame. Rotate after 6 minutes and cook for 4 more minutes. Remove from the grill and brush skewers with the remaining BBQ sauce. Serve immediately.
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Oh my gosh those look soooo good, I know what we’re having for dinner tonight!
this is a perfect recipe for Summer!
Oh, this would make for a nice lunch! I’m gonna make these tomorrow.
I love the combo fo chicken and pineapples! I can’t wait to try the recipe!! It will be perfect for this Summer!!
I am firing up the grill this weekend and these are definitely going to be on the menu. I love grilled pineapple the bbq chicken is just an added bonus 🙂
Even my pickiest eater loved this dinner! I think having it on skewers was a fun idea for the kids. Thank you for such a delicious dinner with easy clean up too.
These chicken skewers sound like the epitome of summer, perfect on the BBQ and packed full of flavour.
Oh yes! These would go down very well at a BBQ at our house. They look amazing.
This is absolutely delicious! I love that it’s such a crowd pleaser for the whole family
This is perfect for grilling season! Loved how tasty this is!