Baked Chicken Kabobs
No grill at home? Try baking your chicken kabobs, instead! Kabobs are such a fun way to serve chicken and veggies and they taste great, too! You don’t need a grill because baked chicken kabobs in the oven are equally as delicious. The marinade keeps these chicken kabobs moist and flavorful. They’re naturally gluten-free and dairy-free.
If you ask me, kabobs are the epitome of summer. Chicken kabobs. Vegetable kabobs. Fruit kabobs. All on the grill! There’s nothing better! Well that is, unless you live in an apartment building in downtown Chicago and don’t own a grill…. Depressing.
Well, there’s no need to miss out, my apartment dwelling friends. Because I’ve figured out how to create tasty, flavorful chicken kabobs in the oven! These kabobs are so moist and delicious and the marinade gives it that extra oomph of flavor.
I’m a huge fan of marinading meats. It doesn’t take a lot of time to do – pretty much dump all of your marinade ingredients into a bowl or large sealable bag, toss your meat in and toss it around so the meat gets covered. Then let it do it’s thing in the refrigerator!
You can also add the vegetables to the marinade if you wish, but I typically don’t for my kabobs.
I LOVE using a colorful selection of bell peppers for this recipe because it just makes the baked chicken kabobs look so gorgeous. We eat with our eyes!
The bell peppers also get beautifully browned on the edges in the oven and I just love those crispy bits. YUM!
These kabobs come together very quickly with a bit of preparation ahead of time. The night before serving, soak your wooden skewers, marinade your chicken, and toss them in the refrigerator to let the flavors meld.
When you get home from work, all you have to do is bake in the oven! Serve with some quinoa, rice, or a nice side salad and you have the perfect weeknight dinner! They also preheat really well for lunches during the week!
Tips and Tricks for Making Baked Chicken Kabobs
Soak Your Wooden Skewers
Soak those wooden skewers! You want to make sure that the skewers don’t burn in the oven or dry out, so submerge your skewers in water overnight or at least a few hours if you’re short on time.
Marinate Your Chicken Kabobs
Marinate, baby! The flavor is all in the marinade. I always marinade my meat at least an hour, but preferably overnight in the refrigerator.
It’s an easy way to maximize flavor so it’s not to be skipped. If you are REALLY short on time and want to skip the marinade, consider making a sauce to put on your kabobs after they come out of the oven.
Just make sure to toss your kabobs in oil, salt and pepper before cooking.
How Long To Cook Chicken for Baked Chicken Kabobs
Keep an eye on your kabobs in the oven. You don’t want them to burn or dry out.
Chicken should be cooked to an internal temperature of 165F, which typically takes about 20-30 minutes in the oven at 450F.
However, depending on how big your pieces of chicken are, it could take more or less time. Be vigilant!
Use Aluminum Foil for Easy Cooking
Use aluminum foil to cover your baking sheet for easy clean up and so your kabobs don’t stick to the pan. I always spray my aluminum foil with cooking spray to ensure I can easily lift my kabobs off the pan after baking.
How to Make Baked Chicken Kabobs
Don’t let rainy weather or not having a grill get you down. You can make baked chicken kabobs with peppers and onions in the oven! The secret is in the marinade. They come out moist and flavorful every time!
You May Also Like…
- Baked Honey Lime Chicken Kabobs
- Mediterranean Chicken Bowls
- Mango Habanero Chicken Wings
- 5-ingredient Coconut Chicken
- Oven Roasted Whole Chicken
Baked Chicken Kabobs
Ingredients
- 3 lbs boneless skinless chicken breast or chicken thighs (cut into 1-inch pieces)
- 2 large yellow onions (cut into large chunks)
- 3 bell peppers (cut into large 1-inch pieces)
- ½ cup avocado oil (or olive oil)
- 4 tbsp. lemon juice
- 1 tbsp fresh flat leaf parsley (chopped)
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ tsp pepper
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- 12 wooden skewers (soaked in water overnight)
Instructions
- Soak 12 wooden skewers in water overnight so they don’t burn in the oven.
- In a medium sized bowl, whisk together avocado oil, lemon juice, parsley, salt, pepper and garlic powder.
- Place chicken cubes in a large gallon sized Ziploc bag. Pour marinade over the chicken and close the bag. With your hands, squish the chicken around to make sure it gets completely covered in the marinade. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour, but 4-6 hours being best.
- Preheat oven to 450F.
- Alternate the vegetables and chicken on the skewer, making about 12 skewers.
- Place on two baking sheets lined with aluminum foil.
- Bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes, flipping the skewers about half way through. Check to make sure the chicken is cooked all the way through. You may need to cook for an additional 5-10 minutes depending on the size of your chicken chunks.
Nutrition
**Note: This post was updated on April 10, 2018 with new photos and some additional tips and tricks I’ve learned from making this recipe over and over! I hope you enjoy!
I’m Megan
A gluten-free food blogger from Chicago and lover of all things food, showing you gluten-free can be easy and delicious, too. Let’s make gluten-free stress free together! Read more…
Looks Delish!
Thanks Sandra!
I have been craving kabobs for a while, but we don’t have a grill, so I made these last night. They are AMAZING. Just what I needed.
Thanks so much Melissa!! 🙂
Do you cover them while cooking or not?
Hi Ed – I do not cover them while cooking.
Thank you so much for this easy recipe. Glad to know that I don’t need a grill to enjoy my kabobs and they came out Fantastically Delicious!
Thank you for the clarification because I just wasn’t sure whether to cover them or not lol.
hey they look great I`ll try them this week and let you know. Hey I have a question, how did you calculate the calories? is that the calorie count for the whole meal or is per serving?
It’s the calorie count per kabob. Most of the calories are in the avocado oil which is used as a marinade so not all of that ends up being used, but it’s calculated as if it is. Hope that helps!
Hi! What kind of side dishes would go well with this dish?
Hi Kate! I usually serve this over a bed of rice or quinoa. It is also really great with a side salad, too!
Thanks for sharing, going to make this tonight!
I made these over the weekend and they were a hit! Thanks :o)
Thanks Emma! So glad you enjoyed! 🙂
What kind of marinade do you use?
Hi Kai! For these ones I don’t do a pre-marinade. I brush the kabobs with the oil, lemon, garlic, parsley, salt and pepper mixture. I do have some other chicken kabob recipes that use a marinade such as my Honey Lime Baked Chicken Kabobs if you’d like to try those! Hope this helps!
I dont see what it says to do with the advacado oil, garlic etc?
Hi Ashley, It’s in steps 2 and 3 of the recipe. Hope this helps!
I don’t have and avocado oil. Could I use regular olive oil.
Hi Bon – Yes, you can use regular olive oil. Enjoy!
I’ve got these all shish kabobed(?), and I’m just waiting till later to cook them! I can’t wait to try these! We’re having it over white rice, my mouth is already drooling,thanks for the idea of cooking these in the oven. I was craving some kabobs but there’s 3 inches of snow outside,so your my hero!
Ah yay!! This makes me so happy Dana! I hope you enjoyed! 🙂
Perfectly delicious!
Thanks Christy! I’m so glad you enjoyed the kabobs!
Megan, it looks perfect and tasty! Can’t wait to have this anytime of the day, love it!
Thanks Olga! Enjoy!
Can’t wait to try this receipe. Have you ever reheated the next day in the oven. Did they dry out ?
Hi Sarah! We have reheated them in the oven! Just wrap the kabobs in foil and then reheat low in the oven at 250F until the chicken is warmed through. I like the keep the temperature low so the chicken doesn’t dry out. Hope this helps!
You should post your “tips and tricks” you’ve learned in the past 3 years since you posted this so the pictures can actually match the recipe. 🙂
Hi Miranda, I’m confused. What about the pictures doesn’t match the recipe?
Why use skewers?i make these all the time but don’t bother w the skewers, they are for handling over the grill. Also Makes it easier to group ingredients by cooking time.
I don’t always use skewers when I make these. But I like to since it makes them easier to flip half way through the baking and it’s an easy way to distribute portions for serving. I also find it raises them up a bit on the baking sheet and gets those charred edges instead of sitting their own juices. Either way works.
Oh my God the marinade was OUT of this world good! And it is So simple so I really wasn’t expecting it! I used olive oil. And used the juice from 2 lemons (straining the seeds) because I didn’t feel like I needed to measure. It was perfect. Wow!
I read the recipe the night I wanted to use it so marinated for a very short amount of time as well as soaked my skewers for a very short amount of time and it was fine!
I only used one pack of chicken thighs so I think that was more like 1 and 1/2 pounds? I used half a very large onion (which I used most of) and probably could have used only 2 peppers but cut up 4 and had a lot of extra. IF I did this again, I would take the extra peppers I ended up with, cut up the other 1/2 of my onion, and would have just made extra veggie kabobs.
Omg, the chicken was outrageous and the veggies were sooo good!!!!! Mine were done (perfectly) in 18 minutes! Checked the temp and they were well above 165. The veggies were perfect too. So thanks for the tip!
Also, I shoved my extra long skewers really full and only got 4 very packed skewers. I ate 1 and a half, hubby too. They were just that good.
Thank you so much for such a great recipe!!!!!
Use red onions to offset the acid of the ?
Making these tonight but instead of putting them on skewers I’ll just going to bake them and serve it over rice
Perfect! My son and his fiance live there in a high rise! he is not GF but my husband and other son are. Thank you…Looking forward to looking through your recipes. we ahve been doing GF since 2002!