These ‘Oven Baked Chicken Kabobs with Chimichurri Sauce’ are an easy appetizer for any party! Drizzled with a fresh homemade chimichurri sauce, they are healthy, easy and, because I used an oven, super convenient!
How To Cook Chicken Kabobs In The Oven
If you have never made chicken ‘shish kabobs’ using your oven, you have to try it! It is easier and more convenient than firing up the grill especially when the weather isn’t cooperating!
Another huge benefit to using an oven is that your chicken will cook EVENLY as opposed to having some burnt pieces and some under cooked like when using a grill.
Oven baked appetizers are always better! It minimizes stress because of how much food you can heat (or warm) at once, plus it wont leave you smelling like a smokey grill!
I also love how these oven baked chicken kabobs can be heated in large batches! So if you’re planning on having more than 10 people, I would use TWO sheet pans and double or triple the recipe. This means plenty of appetizers in minimal time with minimal cleanup! A win for all!
If you prefer grilled kabobs, here is another recipe you may love! My Ginger Chicken Satay Skewers.
How Long To Cook Chicken Kabobs In The Oven
Depending how big you cut your chicken, the time could vary. If you stick to my recipe and cut them like I did, your chicken will turn out juicy and not dry!
Another important tip that will affect cooking time is how many chicken cubes you skewer. If you squeeze too many onto one skewer, they may not cook evenly. So make sure you don’t skewer them tightly! Add them one at a time so that each chicken cube are JUST touching each other.
*Aim for cubes of chicken that are about 1 1/2″ on all sides.
How To Cut Chicken Into Cubes For Kabobs
This is important!!*
You need to purchase the RIGHT chicken before we talk about cutting your chicken. So the first question is:
“What kind of chicken do I buy?”
You want THICK chicken breasts! The thicker the better! This way it is easy to cut them up into cubes. Stay away from the ‘thinly sliced’ breasts or “cutlets” that are sold.
Once you have your chicken cut into 1″ to 1.5″ slices. Then cut each slice again into the same size resulting in perfect 1″ to 1.5″ cubes.
*Don’t be afraid to trim off any excess you find that is keeping your chicken from being nice and ‘square’. (You can save any excess chicken for a salad or soup.)
(Below is a simple video that shows how to trim and cut a chicken cutlet.) Keep in mind, you want to cut yours into cubes.
Helpful Kabob Cooking Tips!
- Bake on the TOP rack!
- Since these mini chicken kabobs are cut smaller in size, they will cook fast! And in order to get any color on them, you will need to place them higher in the oven so the heat browns the top of each kabob nicely.
- Choose your skewers wisely!
- If using wooden skewers, soak them in water for at least an hour to prevent burning. The longer you soak, the better. Personally, I prefer the metal skewers because they don’t burn and they look fancier! Also, you can reuse them!
- Trap the moisture!
- If you want to make these ahead of time and keep them warm until guests arrive, you can do so easily in the oven. Just make sure you keep your oven on the ‘WARM’ setting which is about 200-250 degrees F. Then just keep the kabobs on your baking sheet OR on a heatproof serving dish covered in tinfoil. This will help to keep the moisture in!!
Chimichurri Sauce
What is a ‘chimichurri’ sauce?
A Chimichurri sauce is an Argentinian sauce made of fresh herbs, garlic, oil, and vinegar that is pureed and typically drizzled on top of grilled meats. Even though these kabobs are not grilled, it works just as well drizzled over top!
There are many different variations of the sauce so feel free to change it up as you please. I love that the sauce does not require cooking. All you need is a food processor to blend the ingredients up! It takes less than 5 MINUTES to make and can be made a few days ahead of time! Plus the color of it is gorgeous on chicken!
What To Serve With Your Kabobs
Here are some foods to serve alongside or WITH these skewers!
- Potato Wedges
- Potato Salads
- Pasta Salads
- Pita Bread (my favorite)
- French Fries
- Mashed Potatoes
- Rice
Other Dipping Sauce Options:
- Tzatziki Sauce
- Hummus
- BBQ
- Aiolis
- Honey Musard
Since I am Greek, I am a souvlaki LOVER! That means I have a love for anything dipped in tzatziki especially chicken kabobs! Tzatziki is so refreshing and adds some tang to any meat dish. Here is my easy homemade tzatziki recipe if you’re interested instead of using the chimichurri sauce.
Other Skewer Ideas
Making skewers and kabobs are a lot of fun! Mostly because of how versatile they can be. As long it is “skewer-able” throw it on!
Other than chicken, you can use beef, pork, shrimp, vegetables or my favorite, lamb!
Check out these 18 kebob recipes by HuffPost if your looking for something other than chicken!
I like that these chicken kabobs are oven-baked, Aleka! I could never keep small pieces from falling between the grates, especially vegetables. I love chimichurri sauce over any meat, but I also prefer tzatziki sauce. Thanks for this easy idea and all the tips on preparing it. Pinning, of course!
Thanks so much Jas!! Oven baked are definitely the way to go!
Haley Seymour
These look fab! I love kabob recipes because they are so easy! I’ve always been intimidated by chimichurri sauce though - this recipe makes it look so easy!
Thanks Haley! This was actually my second time making the sauce and it surprises me how easy it is every time! 🙂
Chelsey
These Baked Chicken Kabobs look so good! We don’t have a grill (even though I can’t wait for the day that we finally do!) so these are perfect for our family! Oh, and that chimichurri sauce looks phenomenal. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks Chelsey! I hope you get a chance to bake these babies up! 🙂