Sweet, spicy, salty and sour, this honey chipotle chicken has it all! Chicken is marinated in a simple honey, chipotle sauce with apple cider vinegar and soy sauce, before being skewered up and grilled. These chicken skewers are the perfect summer appetizer or finger food, eaten straight from the stick, it’s also great on a plate, in a salad, in sandwiches, in tacos, etc. I like to make a double or even a triple batch when I make this so that there is plenty of it to use in different ways. Only half of the honey chipotle sauce is used for the marinating and the rest can be used for basting the chicken as it’s grilled, or it can be served on the side for dipping, or used as a salad dressing, a sauce in tacos, or whatever you are using the chicken in!
Honey Chipotle Grilled Chicken Skewers
Chicken marinated in a tasty honey and chipotle sauce, skewered up and grilled to perfection!
ingredients
- 1/4 cup honey
- 1/4 cup chipotle chilies and adobo sauce (from a can)
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar (or lime juice)
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon cumin, ground
- 1 pound boneless and skinless chicken breasts or thighs, cut into bite sized pieces
directions
- Puree the honey, chipotle chilies and adobo sauce, vinegar, soy sauce, garlic and cumin in a food processor.
- Marinate the chicken in half of the honey chipotle sauce for 20 minutes to overnight.
- Skewer the chicken and grill over medium-high heat until slightly charred and cooked, about 2-5 minutes per side.
- Serve with the remaining honey chipotle sauce for dipping!
Tip: Soak wooden skewers in water before using to help prevent them from charring.
Option: Add 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce to the sauce.
Option: Replace the honey with maple syrup.
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Just hit my RSS feed – gonna make this tonight. I’ll marinate it for 4 hours and report back. I’m also gonna split it – 1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar and 1 Tbsp lime juice. Reminder: green caps at Aldi’s are lime juice, and I haven’t found a place with a cheaper cost per oz yet than buying the big 32oz bottles there for ~$2. Great for making limeade to go with this dinner.
Enjoy!
Could I bake or broil this if I don’t have a grill? If so at what temperature and for how long? Thanks!
Yes you can! Bake them at 450F for about 20 minutes (cook time will depend on how small/large the chicken pieces are) and then switch to broil for 1-2 minutes at the end to get a bit of charring. Enjoy!
Is that Cilantro or Parsley on top of the chicken?
I normally use cilantro but parsley is also nice. Enjoy!
Wow these look amazing!
I’m a big fan of honey chipotle on chicken. I like how you added the soy sauce and cider vinegar.
I love these on a skewer so you can pick them up and eat them clean as finger food.
I used the sauce on salmon. Very tasty. Also sautéed shrimp in the sauce. It was good too.
This was so good! I only marinated for 20 minutes but it was still very flavorful. Grilled on my stovetop. Next time I think we’ll make tacos, have a slaw and lime cream with it. Yum!
Made these yummy chicken skewers tonight for dinner and we all loved them. Husband told me to “put this recipe into the regular rotation.” Probably the best chicken we’ve ever made on the grill. Thanks so much for sharing this recipe.
Could these be grilled ahead of time and kept warm in the oven? I made them last night and they were delicious. I’d like to serve them for Father’s Day, but wish to have everything prepped ahead.
You can do that! I would not want to keep them warm in the oven for a long time as they will dry out. Enjoy!
What do you serve this with usually?
I like to serve this with summer staples such as salads, potato salads, pasta salads, etc.!
Made these tonight with coleslaw and yellow rice, delicious! I did double it because I just knew it would be a hit and it was!
These were so good! I marinated them a little over 24 hours but added a bit extra honey since I was serving them to my 5 1/2 year-old. The extra sauce brushed on at the end/dipping was really good and I just skipped adding it to my sons food since it was a bit smoky. I’ll definitely make them again. I might even keep the thighs whole next time and just grill them that way but the sauce was quite addictive.
Hello,
Curious as if most used the apple cider vinegar or the lime juice?
It sounds great & I’m trying today!
Thanks for sharing!!
No salt?
The soy sauce contains plenty of salt! Enjoy!
okay so do you do anything to the chipotle peppers in adobo? I had measured them from the can and threw them into the processor but this was SO SPICY. Am I supposed to slice or remove them?! feel like a half a pepper would be enough, idk I feel like I’m going something wrong.
I take the chilies right from the can and place them in the sauce. I have noticed that some brands can be hotter than others… You can control the heat by using less chilies. I have updated the recipe adding a note about the heat!
Made these for dinner last night using chicken breasts. Good flavor, super easy to prepare and less than 10 minutes on the grill. We like spicy food so when I make them in the future I’ll use 1/2 cup of chipotles to increase the heat.
Amazing recipe! This was my first time using chipotle chillies and it goes with chicken so well. It also helps that this recipe is super simple so can do on a weeknight too!
Just wondering if I could marinate them over night then make the skewers, and freeze the skewers for a week until my party? Would that mess up the marinade?
That will work! Just thaw them out completely before grilling!