Grilled Chicken Skewers with Veggies
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Like a bright and cheerful summer afternoon, these Grilled Chicken Skewers with Veggies are a quick and easy dinner for the next time you go camping.
When the sun is out and the days are long, it’s easy to lose track of the day. One moment you’re relaxing in a hammock, drinking a cold one and minding your own business. And the next, you’re being told it’s 6:45 pm, everyone’s hungry, and what’s the plan for dinner, anyway? It’s times like these when having a low-effort meal standing by would be real, real nice.
This is exactly the type of scenario where Present You will really thank Past You for prepping these veggie and chicken skewers the day before. It wasn’t even that difficult! All it took was chopping up some veggies, slicing a few chicken thighs, and tossing everything into a resealable container or bag with the marinade.
Now Present You just has to retrieve the marinated chicken from the cooler, skewer up the ingredients, and toss them on the grill grate of the campfire. With some deft delegation skills, you might even get a few more minutes back in the hammock before it’s time to eat.
So on those lazy days of summer, when the most pressing item on the day’s agenda is to keep things mellow, making these veggie chicken kebabs ahead of time can pay out big dividends.
How to make grilled chicken skewers
First things first, make the marinade. We like a simple, herb-forward marinade using fresh parsley and basil, fresh lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, and salt. You can play around with the ingredients if you like, adding other citrus like orange and lime, or swapping out the herbs with things like rosemary, cilantro, or oregano depending on the vibe you’re aiming for.
You can make the marinade at home before your trip: in that case, store it in a sealed container until the day you’re going to grill the chicken (marinating the chicken too long in lemon juice can make the texture a bit mushy).
Up to two hours (and at least 30 minutes) before you want to grill, chop up the chicken into bite-sized pieces and add it to the marinade. In the meantime, you can get your campfire going so you’ll have embers to grill over.
Once the chicken has had a chance to pick up all that great flavor, thread them onto skewers along with your vegetables. Our favorite veggies for grilled kabobs are mushrooms, cherry tomatoes, any kind of onion, zucchini, yellow squash, and bell peppers. In this case, we went with mushrooms, tomatoes, and green onions, but feel free to get creative!
Pro Tip: While it looks pretty in photos (guilty as charged!), putting all your different veggies and chicken on the same skewer means everything cooks imperfectly. By the time your chicken is done, something else would have burned. Keep like ingredients on the same skewers and pull them off as things are properly cooked.
Grill the skewers over medium-high to high heat, turning occasionally so they cook evenly until the chicken and veggies are cooked through – about 10 minutes total.
Essential equipment
↠ Flat Metal Skewers: Flat skewers will allow you to turn the kabobs for even cooking without the annoyance of the ingredients spinning around.
↠ Chimney Starter: This collapsible portable chimney can get your coal going in minutes without the use of noxious smelling lighter fluid.
↠ Heat-resistant Gloves: The metal skewers will be hot when you go to pull them off the campfire, so we recommend using a pair of heat resistant gloves (or a pair of metal tongs).
More campfire recipes you’ll enjoy
↠ Cilantro and Lime Grilled Chicken Tacos
↠ Grilled Buffalo Wings
↠ Campfire Grilled Fish Tacos
↠ 15 Skewer Recipes to Make Over Your Campfire
Grilled Chicken & Veggie Skewers
Ingredients
For the Marinade
- ¼ cup olive oil
- ¼ cup chopped basil
- ¼ cup chopped parsley
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 lemon, juiced
- 1 teaspoon salt
To Build the Skewers
- ½ lb chicken (boneless, skinless thighs work best), cut into 1 inch pieces
- 8 oz whole mushrooms, stems removed
- 8 oz cherry tomatoes
- 2-3 green onions, cut into 1 inch pieces
Instructions
- Combine the ingredients for the marinade in a large bowl or ziplock bag. Add the chicken pieces and thoroughly coat. Cover the bowl or seal the bag and marinate for at least 30 minutes, up to two hours
- Fire up your grill or get your campfire going. You’ll be cooking the kebabs over medium-high to high heat.
- Build the kabobs by threading the chicken and vegetables onto your skewers.
- Grill the kabobs over medium-high to high heat, turning occasionally so they cook evenly until the chicken is cooked through - about 10 minutes total.
- Remove from the grill and enjoy!
I’m very impressed. Good food made easy!![5 stars](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODdhAQABAPAAAP///wAAACwAAAAAAQABAEACAkQBADs=)
This is hands down my favorite recipe to prepare when I’m making a dinner party in a hurry. I haven’t had a single guest tell me they didn’t like it. I’ve been making this recipe for about 3 years now and I’ve perfected it to a t. Quick, easy, delicious and a total people pleaser. I am in love. ????
Thank you so much! We’re so happy to hear this recipe has been a part of so many of your get-togethers. Honestly, bringing people together through food is the whole reason we cook.
This Recipe is simple and very useful. Thanks![5 stars](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODdhAQABAPAAAP///wAAACwAAAAAAQABAEACAkQBADs=)
Love this recipe – it gets requested by our friends when we camp together and is a huge step up from our typical dried pasta meals. Thanks for making me look fancy!![5 stars](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODdhAQABAPAAAP///wAAACwAAAAAAQABAEACAkQBADs=)