Pineapple Chicken Kabobs

Photo of the grilled chicken kabobs with pineapple on wooden skewers.

Fire up the grill and makes these sweet & delicious Pineapple Chicken Kabobs for dinner. Chunks of marinated chicken, bell peppers, fresh pineapple, and red onion is all it takes. The simple marinade consists of bbq sauce, teriyaki sauce, and pineapple juice for the best flavor!

Course Dinner

Cuisine American

Keyword chicken and pineapple kabobs, chicken kabobs, pineapple chicken kabobs

Prep Time 30

Cook Time 12

Marinate Time 1

Total Time 1 42

Servings kabobs

Calories 186kcal

Author Jessica - Together as Family

Equipment

Ingredients

Chicken Kabob Marinade

1/2 cup bbq sauce
1/2 cup teriyaki sauce
1/4 cup pineapple juice
4 cloves garlic (minced or pressed)
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger (or use ginger paste)
2 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts (cut into 1-inch chunks)

Pineapple Chicken Kabobs

2 cups fresh pineapple chunks
1 red onion (cut into 1-inch chunks)
1 green bell pepper (cut into 1-inch chunks)
1 red bell pepper (cut into 1-inch chunks)

Instructions

In a gallon-sized Ziploc bag, add the bbq sauce, teriyaki sauce, pineapple juice, garlic, and ginger. Mix together with a whisk or spoon.
1/2 cup bbq sauce, 1/2 cup teriyaki sauce, 1/4 cup pineapple juice, 4 cloves garlic, 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
Add the chicken chunks into the marinade bag.
2 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Close the bag securely while letting out the extra air. Shake and massage the bag with your hands to mix everything together and make sure the chicken is well coated. Place it in the fridge for at least 1 hour or up to 6 hours to marinate.
TIP : If using wooden skewers, be sure and soak them in water for 20 minutes prior to assembling the kabobs.
Preheat the grill (375 degrees to 400 degrees F). Use either an outdoor grill or a grill pan on the stove top. Brush the grill with oil if needed.
Assemble the marinated chicken, pineapple chunks, red onion, and bell peppers onto the skewers.
2 cups fresh pineapple chunks, 1 red onion, 1 green bell pepper, 1 red bell pepper
Brush each kabob generously with some of the leftover marinade from the bag before cooking them.
^{* Discard the remaining marinade and don't use on the finished/grilled kabobs. Only brush the kabobs with the marinade before grilling them.}
Cook the kabobs on the grill, about 4-5 minutes per side, or until the internal temperature of the chicken reaches 165℉.
If wanted, brush some leftover teriyaki sauce onto the cooked kabobs before serving. We love these kabobs served with coconut rice and an extra drizzle of teriyaki sauce over top the rice and kabobs.

Notes

Extra Chicken Marinade : After brushing each kabob (before cooking) discard the marinade. Because the raw chicken touched the marinade, you cannot use it on the cooked kabobs once they're grilled. Which is why it's ok to brush the uncooked kabobs with the marinade before grilling them.

Ginger : The little knobs of fresh ginger have a brown and woody looking hard exterior to them. Use a spoon or vegetable peeler to peel that skin off of the ginger piece. The inside should be white and pale. Use the fine side of a cheese grater or citrus zester to grate the fresh ginger. You can also use ginger paste that comes in a tube. Or, the last option could be to use 1 teaspoon ground ginger in place of fresh ginger.

Chicken : About 1 pound to 1.5 pounds is good for this recipe. The chicken does need to be cut into small bite-sized pieces (about 1 inch) so you will get plenty of chunks from each chicken breast.

Similar-Sized Cuts : When chopping the chicken breast, red onion, pineapple, and bell peppers make sure that they are all similar in size so everything will cook evenly and in about the same amount of time. If the chicken is in really large chunks, it needs a longer cook time, which could make the veggies overcooked.

Use Fresh Pineapple : Fresh pineapple tastes much better when grilled so I highly recommend using fresh. If you don't want to mess with an entire pineapple, check the produce section at the store for the pre-cut packages of fresh pineapple.

Make It Spicy : This recipe as is, is pretty mild with more sweeter tones to it. To spice it up try these options; add hot sauce, add chili powder or cayenne pepper into the marinade, or use a hot & spicy bbq sauce.

Nutrition