Chicken skewers, kebabs, kebobs. Whatever you call this Honey Sriracha Chicken, and whether cooked on the stove or grilled on the barbecue, these are a guaranteed crowd pleaser that are SUPER easy to make with only 5 ingredients required for the marinade that’s also used as the glaze!
Sometimes I share recipes with very few ingredients, like my 5 ingredient Bacon Wrapped Pork Tenderloin, 5 ingredient Honey Garlic Salmon and 3 ingredient Shortbread Cookies. But I never force or recreate recipes to make them with less ingredients. They are just great as they are.
Like my mum’s homemade Teriyaki Sauce Marinade. A real Japanese recipe, it’s only got 3 ingredients (I get water for free!). And that’s the way it is supposed to be made.
The key is finding a combination of ingredients that come together to create magic. Amazing food that doesn’t taste flat, or like it is missing “something” when you taste it.
For these chicken skewers, it would have been easy to use just soy sauce, garlic and honey, and call this a “3 ingredient recipe”. But honestly? It’s a) too thin to create a good glaze and b) flat tasting. It needs an extra edge either in the marinade or I’d have to make a separate sauce.
I chose the easy route – give the marinade more oomph. And I feel there’s a pretty good glaze on these skewers, what do you think? 😉
So to create the extra layer of flavour and achieve that gorgeous glaze you can see in the photos, I added 2 more ingredients: dijon mustard (thickener & extra layers of flavour) and sriracha (for slight tang + mild spice).
Which is why I’ve ended up with 5 ingredients in this glaze instead of just 3. 🙂 Totally worth it!!
I’ve used sriracha in this recipe but honestly, you can barely taste the spice. I use it for a very mild spiciness but more for the tang.
It’s summer here in Sydney and these are PERFECT for a midweek grill out! And it’s really delicious used with beef, pork and fish too! – Nagi x
Chicken on sticks is always a good thing!
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Chicken Souvlaki (Greek)
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Yakitori (Japanese skewers) – on my mother’s Japanese cooking website, RecipeTin Japan!
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Honey Sriracha Chicken Skewers
Ingredients
- 1.5 lb / 750g lb / 750g chicken thigh fillets (Note 1)
Marinade Glaze
- 1/3 cup honey
- 2 tbsp Dijon mustard (Note 2)
- 4 tbsp soy sauce
- 2 garlic cloves , crushed
- 2 - 3 tbsp sriracha OR any other hot sauce (e.g. Frank's), adjust amount to your taste
- 1/4 tsp salt
To cook
- 1 1/2 tbsp oil (I used vegetable)
Instructions
- Cut the chicken into 2cm / 4/5" cubes.
- Mix Marinade ingredients together in a bowl until smooth.
- Transfer 4 tablespoons of the Marinade into a small bowl ("Reserved Marinade", to use for basting).
- Add chicken into the bowl with the remaining Marinade. Mix to coat and set aside for 20 minutes to marinade (up to overnight). (Note 3)
- Thread chicken onto skewers, discard marinade in the bowl. I used 14 small ones about 18cm/7" long, 4 pieces of chicken on each.
- Heat oil on a BBQ or skillet over medium heat. Place skewers on the BBQ and cook the first side for 2 1/2 minutes, then turn the skewers.
- Baste the COOKED side that is now facing up generously with the reserved Reserved Marinade. After 2 1/2 minutes, turn the skewers and quickly baste the other side generously with the Reserved Marinade. Turn immediately. Cook for just a few seconds, then transfer to a plate. (Note 4)
- Baste the skewers on the plate one more time with the Reserved Marinade, then serve.
- I served mine with Cilantro/Coriander Lime Rice (Note 5)
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
Had some pre diced chicken and was going to make skewers but after marinading decided to cook straight on the bbq. Caramelised wonderfully with the high heat and served on rice with a salad. This is one of my new fav chicken marinades by you.
I made these for lunch today. Absolute winner!
Absolutely juicy and delicious! My daughter loves them, and so do I!
I’m so glad they are a hit Natascha, thanks so much for letting me know!! N x
Made this in skillet and glazed it…seems like the chicken stewed on the glazed and ended up a bit more salty.. 🙁 any suggestion how to fix? Thank you!!!
Sorry you had issues here Tin, sounds like you need the heat to be a little higher to caramelise and to prevent it stewing. N x
Oh you were right! i lowered the heat cause i was cooking indoors and resulted to too much smoke! i did a makeshift dipping sauce of sriracha & lemon to counter the saltiness…it now had a fresh taste but managed to keep the sriracha kick! 🙂 thank you for the reply Nagi! appreciate it! 🙂
Was looking for a quick chicken dinner and stumbled across this recipe. In only 40 minutes we had dinner on the table. Chicken was so delicious! Thank you Nagi for yet another wonderful recipe 😋
Delicious! Didn’t cut up into pieces, just BBQ’d the boneless thighs and basted them. But held back some more of the marinade to use for my vegetable stir-fry.
Jasmine rice, stir-fry veggies topped with the thighs (chopped up) made for a perfect rice bowl dinner!
Loved the spiciness of this recipe. Will be making it again for sure!! Already thinking about it. 😃
That’s so great to hear Sandra! Thanks for letting me know! N xx
Hi Nagi, Megan here – TJ’s human.
Just wanted to let you know this recipe has been in high rotation on the human dinner menu for a little while. I have even added vegetables to the skewers to make it last longer (I know – shock/horror at the vegetables). The sauce is amazing. Though I struggle to have any left to pour over the meat once it is all cooked, as I am cooking on a weber bbq, I think some of the basting might get a little lost over the grill… though I could be cooking too much chicken – but that could never happen.
The rice is also so lovey. My mother is growing fresh herbs on the balcony and they are forever going right into that rice… as well as her lime tree is coming in handy.
I was just scouring your site for another chicken recipe and this one came up in my sights again… so I thought I would leave a quick note.
As I have said before, the humans in this house thank you for your recipes.
Ba ha ha – I love it, TJ’s human!!! I guess I’m Dozer’s human – I mean, let’s face it, he runs this household!! So glad you like this Megan, thanks so much for letting me know!!
I cheated and just marinated whole thigh pieces but the sauce was delicious!! My husband wants me to next try it on wings.
Ooooh….YES! This will be SO CRAZY DELICIOUS with wings!!! 🙂
I need these in my life Nagi! They look incredible – as do all your recipes. Putting it on the list for another Nagi recipe to try! 🙂 xx
Aww, thanks Jessica!! 🙂
Hi Nagi! I found your blog just recently but have already tried four recipes. I made this chicken tonight and it turned out really good. I have a toddler who doesn’t eat spicy food so I cut sriracha down to one tbsp. I also added a handful of chopped cilantro and marinated overnight. I simmered the leftover sauce and it was amazing! My toddler says “Mommy I want you to make this many times.” That’s my cue to add it to the rotation. Thank you so much for sharing!
PS. We also added Salisbury Steak and Crunchy baked tenders on rotation (I added grated parmigiano to the egg batter). No more Chick Fil A for us 🙂
YAY!!! I’m extra super happy hearing that your toddler enjoyed these too!! PS I know Chick Fil A isn’t the healthiest….but I like, I like! I can’t help it!!
You really do work magic with just a few ingredients, Nagi! We have a foot of snow on the ground and now you have me wanting to fire up the BBQ…Happy New Year, sweet friend!
Happy New Year to you too Marissa!!! I can’t wait to read about your travels! 😉
I loved this! Cooked it for visitors and , as usual for Nagi’s recipes, it turned out exactly as it should on the first time I cooked it. I love the way I can replicate any recipe that takes my fancy – and most of them do.
I’m so glad you liked it Linda!! Thank you SO MUCH for letting me know!! 🙂
Happy New Year Nagi!! These skewers look so perfect for the holidays – I have been struggling with marinades at the bach we are staying at as they don’t have a food processor (never realised I was so reliant on it haha!) so love that it isn’t necessary here. Definitely saving to try this summer, thank you!
I’m the other way – I hardly EVER use my food processor for marinades! Ha ha!! Our recipes are a great mix! 🙂
Looks like another winner, Nagi! I make something similar That uses ginger and lime, no mustard (from Once Upon a Chef). Love that it’s only five ingredients; my other glazed chicken kebabs require dirtying a mini food processor or blender! Wishing you a terrific 2016. I’m looking forward to making more of your recipes and sharing more of mine!
Hi Marlene!! Happy 2016 to you too!! Popping over to see what you’ve been UP TO!!
Not much yet, I’m afraid! I have a post going up today and should have one or two more this week. I have a a few at different stages but got sidetracked with guests and such. I have a question or two I’ll be sending you via email. Hey, I’m making the wonderful garlic shrimp again tonight for Rebecca and Brian; it’s their last night here and my son-in-law loves shrimp and garlic.
Happy new year, Ms N!!!
Oh my YUM!!! These skewers look so good! We have just organised a catch up with some friends on Australia Day and I think these will feature on the menu.
And I’ve licked my screen. Your fault entirely.
Ooh, I’m getting excited thinking about all the recipes I want to share for Australia Day!!! I can’t decide what to do – Asian style BBQ recipes??? Fall apart ribs that are finished on the BBQ?? Eek! I can’t decide!!!
RIBS!!! Definitely ribs! I love love love love love ribs! Yum!
PS Do you get the cheap pork ribs from Eastwood too?? The ones that are shorter than the standard American ribs at butchers, taste just as good just shorter pieces and cost half the price!!
Yeah, totally shouting bad words at me as I looked at him, for a second, stunned and confused as to why he was shouting at me. All because I changed my mind about how many steaks I wanted, and reduced my order from 4 massive steaks to 3 massive steaks. So I calmly said “OK, so I’ll leave that and buy my meat from another store. Thank you.” and walked out, as he kept shouting bad words at me. Apparently, that was deemed “customer choosing is not allowed” – I’m not allowed to choose how much meat I needed, or something like it. Anyway, he’s lost my business for good.
I know which butcher you’re talking about. I always seem to park in front of it when I drop by to buy my roast duck. A new fish shop and butcher have opened further down that road, just past where Bing Lee used to be. As I haven’t bought from any of them, I can’t tell you if they are any good.
What a shocker!! Woah!!! Lost a customer for good – TWO because I’m never going there again either!
To be honest, I have not bought any meat from any of the Eastwood butchers for a long time – mainly because I’m scared of driving into Eastwood and being stuck in the car for 1,000 hours trying to find a parking space! I used to buy a lot of my “cheap” meat from the Chinese butcher in Macquarie Centre, but I will never go back again after he verbally abused me just before Christmas – and this was after I’d waited patiently with 2 restless kids for 10 minutes, waiting to be served. (I was so calm as I left, and he kept yelling at me, which made a few other customers leave the store too. Silly man.)
Which Eastwood butcher is your favourite? I think I might have to give meat shopping at Eastwood another go.
He abused you?? What the???
I must admit I haven’t been to Eastwood for ages! I have to go soon 🙂 I like the one that is next to the seafood shop.
DONE!!! I have plenty of rib recipes!!! 🙂
Hi Nagi! I call this good food! I agree, never cut down the ingredients to make it a “5 item” recipe! So many people think that is a good thing and it’s not – it takes what it takes to make a good dish! Wishing you much happiness and prosperity in 2016 my friend!
I know!! I’m totally with you Dorothy 🙂 As you say, it takes what it takes to make a good dish, and on the other extreme, there isn’t a need to fancy things up with lots of extra things if the base food is great as it is!! 🙂
Thank you for being so wonderful and supportive Dorothy. I really can’t say this enough – it always makes me smile when I see a message from you and inevitably laugh too!!! You are an absolute gem 🙂 N x
These skewers look delicious!
Thanks so much hun!! 🙂
Love this combination of ingredients. I think the dijon in there just fills in all the dots. Happy New Year Nagi
Thank you Tania! Means a great deal to me when The Expert approves!! 🙂
Happy New Year Nagi. Finding your blog was definite plus in 2015 ?
I will be making your chicken skewers very soon – it is definitely bbq weather in Qld.
Hi Ann! Happy New Year to you too!! I’m so glad you “found” me! 🙂 Thank you so much for your kind words and the thoughtful messages you leave for me, it makes my day!! 🙂
It’s a good thing I bought a huge bottle of Sriracha sauce yesterday. This recipe is definitely on the roster for the coming back. Now that we are enjoying summer weather we need more fresh, fast food. Yummy!! And I’m definitely happy that in 2015 I found you and you’ve made a great impact on my life!! Thank you and Happy New Year!!
I’m so glad we found each other too!!! Happy New Year!!! I can’t wait to see what 2016 brings 🙂