Honey Garlic Chicken Skewers (Air Fryer Recipe) (2024)

If you typically reserve kabobs or skewers for summertime grilling, you’ll love our air fryer chicken skewer recipe! Pieces of juicy chicken are infused with honey garlic marinade, air-fried to perfection, and then coated with a sweet and sticky glaze just before serving. All served on a skewer for easy presentation and eating!

Whether you serve them as an appetizer or overtop of rice for an easy dinner, you’ll love having this chicken skewer recipe in your back pocket.

Like our lamb kabobs, these chicken skewers can be served with rice, over mashed potatoes, with romaine leaves, or on their own as an appetizer.

How to Make Honey Garlic Air Fryer Chicken Skewers

Ingredients

Process

1. In a mixing bowl, combine all sauce ingredients and whisk them together.
2. Transfer the chicken to a resealable plastic bag or airtight container.

3. Pour half the marinade over the chicken, tightly seal it, shake it up to mix it, and refrigerate it for at least 4 hours and up to 24 hours.
4. Pour the remaining marinade into a small pot and simmer for 5 to 7 minutes or until slightly reduced (Glaze will thicken as it cools). Remove from heat and set aside.

5. Once the chicken has marinated, pierce 7 to 8 pieces of chicken through each skewer. Repeat until all chicken has been used.
6. Lightly spray the air fryer basket with cooking spray and top it with skewers, leaving about a 1/2-inch space between each one (cook in batches to avoid overcrowding). Brush each skewer with glaze.

7. Air-fry chicken skewers at 400˚F for 8 minutes. Flip each skewer and brush with more glaze. Continue to air-fry for an additional 6 to 8 minutes or until the chicken has cooked through.
8. Remove skewers from the air fryer basket and brush with glaze once more.

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9. Transfer skewers to a serving dish, top with green onion, and serve.

Why Soak Wooden Skewers in Water?

Soaking your wooden skewers in water for at least thirty minutes is an essential step in making these chicken kabobs. This helps prevent the wood from burning or becoming too charred while the chicken cooks.

Not only would burnt wood be a safety hazard, but it can add an unpleasant flavor to the chicken. By soaking the skewers ahead of time, they’ll hold your chicken without catching fire or charring and affecting the flavor of the meat.

Variations

We love this recipe as is, but feel free to make these substitutions for a little variety!

Swap the meat. Instead of chicken thighs, you could use chicken breast or another type of meat altogether. Beef sirloin or ribeye, lamb, pork tenderloin, or turkey breast are all great options for these kabobs.

Make it spicy: Add a tablespoon of sriracha or chili paste to the marinade.

A citrus twist: add the zest and juice of a lemon or an orange.

BBQ: add a few tablespoons of your favorite BBQ sauce (or our sweet and range BBQ) to the marinade.

Make Ahead, Storing and Reheating Instructions

From start to finish, this recipe takes around four and a half hours (including marinade time), but there are plenty of things you can do ahead of time to make dinner as easy as possible.

Make Ahead

Mix the marinade and add the cubed chicken up to 24 hours before cooking. Not only does this make dinner easy, but it also helps add maximum flavor to every bite!

You can also make the glaze ahead of time and store it in the refrigerator until you’re ready to use it, or up to 3 days.

Storing

Store any leftover cooked chicken in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3-4 days.

Reheating

To reheat the chicken:

Microwave it, covered, on a plate for 30-60 seconds or until warmed.

Bake it in the oven at 350˚, covered, for 5-10 minutes or until warmed through.

In a pan on the stove over medium heat, add a small amount of oil to help keep the chicken from sticking. Add the chicken and saute for 3-5 minutes or until heated through, tossing occasionally.

In the air fryer, preheat the basket to 350˚, add the chicken, and cook for 3-5 minutes or until heated through.

What to Serve with Our Air Fryer Chicken Skewers

For a complete meal, try serving our air-fried honey garlic chicken skewers with:

• Steamed or fried rice
• Farro risotto
• Garlic bread
• Creamy baked cauliflower
• Greek salad
• Caprese salad
• Stewed lentils
• Corn salad

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