Some recipes are just instant winners and this chicken skewer recipe is one of them. Tender chicken, marinaded with sweet cinnamon and floral thyme, with some background peppery heat; it is an unusual combination but one that works so perfectly. You can cook these in the frying pan or an outdoor grill making these chicken skewers perfect all year round!
When I say these are a winner recipe I mean it. Yesterday I cooked up 12 skewers, I thought that would be plenty for the boys and I to eat and still leave 3 skewers for Stew's lunch. Hmmmm, what is it they say about the best made plans, or do I mean never work with animals or children....whichever you go with, they certainly had my boys in mind!
If you look very closely at the photo below you'll notice there are only 11 skewers. I lost one before I even got my camera onto the tripod! I nearly lost a second but luckily Mr 8 hadn't taken a bite of his so I managed to snaffle it back!
Once I had finished taking photos, they were there ready to feast. Mr 5 ate an additional five of these skewers and I am pretty sure if Mr 8 and I had been a bit slower at eating, he would have eaten more!!!!
We ate them as a snack with some carrot batons, but these are great for dinner with a bean salad or some buttery couscous. Or treat the kids and serve them with fries and a salad. I think if I served these with a plate of fries and a lettuce and cucumber salad, Mr 5 would be ecstatic. He loves lettuce! (Oh and fries but that is far more 'normal' )
Or serve them up as finger food at your next party. Heads up, it is a fortnight until Grand Finals Weekend. Did you need me to tell you that?
They are great for entertaining as they can be made the day before and then just cooked on the day. Did I mention they are quick to cook? My tenders today were pretty thin so they were cooked in 6 minutes. The thicker tenders can take as long as 8 minutes.....yes that long!
In the recipe I have written to marinade them overnight in a ziplock bag then skewer them just before you cook them, but if you want to be super prepared then you can skewer them in advance. But instead of using a ziplock bag I would marinade them in a baking dish or something similar. It is just too easy to poke a hole in a bag, not notice and then have the raw chickeny cinnamony juice leak out all over your meat drawer. I don't know anyone who has done that 😳 but I imagine it is very easy to do!
One last point, cinnamon is a wonder food! It has so many healthy benefits. You can read all about them in this post.
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Cinnamon and Thyme Chicken Skewers
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon raw sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 2 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
- ¼ teaspoon white pepper
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 garlic clove
- 500 g chicken tenders or chicken breasts you have cut up yourself
- 12 wooden skewers (soaked in water to prevent burning)
- Fresh thyme or parsley (for garnish)
Instructions
- Add the sugar, salt, cinnamon, thyme leaves, white pepper and olive oil into a large zip lock bag.
- Crush the clove of garlic and add it to the bag.
- Squish everything about until it is well mixed.
- Place the chicken tenders into the bag and massage them with the marinade.
- Leave to marinade for at least an hour, but preferably overnight.
- When you are ready to cook, remove the chicken from the bag and thread onto the skewers. (see notes)
- Get a large frying pan or griddle pan, super hot and add the skewers to the pan. Turn the heat to medium and allow them to cook for 4 minutes before turning them and giving them a further 3-4 minutes until cooked through.
- Serve with a sprinkling of fresh thyme or parsley.
- If you want to serve these with some buttery couscous then you can get my recipe here.
Sara | Belly Rumbles says
What more of a recommendation can you have for a recipe when your kids are quickly scoffing them down before you can even snap a pic!
Claire McEwen says
Exactly Sara. I think it was the hint of sweetness that they loved. It is an unusual combination but one that we loved.
Jo says
Oohh.. Can you omit or reduce the sugar? Or use half the amount but with brown sugar?
Claire McEwen says
Hi Jo,
I have never made it without the sugar, so I can't say for definite but I am sure it would still taste good. I use raw sugar in mine, but I think half the amount but with a deep flavoured brown sugar would be a good substitute.
I would say don't use honey, I tried that and it all tasted far too much like cough syrup!
If you do try it with no/reduced sugar I would love for you to come back and comment. I am sure plenty of readers would be really interested to hear how it worked.
Thank you so much for stopping by and your question x
Katalina @ Peas and Peonies says
oh God the flavor of these chicken skewers must be out of this world, I love it!
Claire McEwen says
Thank you Katalina. My boys love the sweetness the cinnamon adds 🙂
Kristi @ My SF Kitchen says
This flavor combination sounds incredible!
Claire McEwen says
Thank you Kristi, it is one of my boys favourite combos 🙂
Sarah James @ Tales From The Kitchen Shed says
Your chicken skewers look delicious, I love the idea of cinnamon and thyme. Thanks for sharing 🙂
Claire McEwen says
Thank you Sarah Jane.
It is a bit unusual but it does just work.
Thank you for stopping by 🙂