Summer weekends are meant for sitting outside, spending time with friends and family and grilling something to satisfy hungry bellies, such as these chicken and shrimp skewers. No matter what kind of crowd you have, you can always count on the fact that guests of all ages will enjoy a meal served on a stick! Food on a stick is a win-win for both adults and kids and makes it super easy to customize based on dietary needs or taste preference.

This post is all about how to make chicken and shrimp skewers on the grill for a fun and light summer meal. These skewers can easily be customized to cater to vegan/vegetarian, gluten free and dairy free needs. If you’re looking for a recipe that’s on the lighter side, this one is an absolute must. Grilled food in the summer always hits the spot, but it can be easy to grill on the heavy side more often than not. Having a lighter option like these veggie chicken and shrimp skewers can help break up the unwanted heavy eating in the summer.

Preparing The Ingredients

Getting the grocery list together is always step one when making a summer meal with fresh produce. Here is everything you will need to make either the chicken or shrimp skewers.

For the kebabs, you will need:

Bamboo or metal skewers

3-4 chicken breasts (cut into 1 inch cubes)
20 medium easy peel shrimp (tails removed) – you can buy them frozen at most grocery stores
1 white onion

2 bell peppers green, red, yellow or orange (100% your preference on color)
1 pint cherry tomatoes
1 pineapple (cut into 1 inch cubes)

To make the chicken marinade, you will need:

1/2 cup pineapple juice
1/4 cup soy sauce (I like to use 1/3 less sodium)

1 tbsp honey dijon mustard
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1 1/2 tbsp minced garlic

For the shrimp sauce, you will need:

Juice of 1 lemon
1/2 cup butter melted

2 tsp dried parsley
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tbsp minced garlic

salt and pepper to taste

How to Make the Chicken Skewers

Wash and pat dry the chicken breasts. Cut into 1 inch cubes and add to a large ziplock bag.
In a small-medium bowl, make the marinade by combining the pineapple juice, soy sauce, brown sugar, honey dijon mustard and minced garlic. Once thoroughly combined, pour it over the chicken in the ziplock bag and seal it up. Place in the fridge to marinade for an hour or overnight.

Once the chicken has finished marinating in the fridge, assemble the kebabs by alternating between veggies, chicken and fruit (bell pepper, onion, chicken, pineapple, tomato).
Add the kebabs to a medium-high preheated grill and cook for 5-6 minutes on each side, continuing to rotate them until they’ve reached a total grilling time of 15-18 minutes.

How to Make the Shrimp Skewers

Wash and dry the shrimp and remove the tails if not already removed. If using frozen shrimp, rinse them under cool water and allow them to thaw for 20-25 minutes before moving on to the assembly steps.

Assemble the shrimp skewers by alternating between veggies, shrimp and fruit (bell pepper, onion, shrimp, pineapple, tomato). Be sure to pierce the shrimp in two places so they don’t fall off while grilling (take a close look at the pictures include in this post to see the best way to pierce them).
Preheat the grill to medium-high heat and cook the shrimp skewers for 5-6 minutes on each side until the perfect char marks develop.
While the shrimp kebabs are grilling, add the lemon juice, butter and garlic to a small saucepan and heat over medium heat until the butter is completely melted.

Once the shrimp kebabs are done grilling, lightly brush both sides of the skewers with the lemon sauce and serve immediately.

Customize It! There Are No Limits!

Make it gluten free

These chicken and shrimp skewers are already 99% gluten free. You will only need to change one ingredient. Use gluten free soy sauce instead of regular sauce and you’re all good to go!

You can find this Kikkoman Gluten Free Soy Sauce at Walmart. GF soy sauce honestly doesn’t taste any different than the regular stuff, but maybe that’s just me.

Make it meatless (vegan/vegetarian option)

Grilled veggies alone are amazing and can be served as a vegan/vegetarian option. If you or any guests will be having veggies only on their skewers, you can reserve some of the pineapple marinade prior to adding the rest to the chicken. This way, the veggies can be brushed with the marinade once they’ve almost finished cooking on the grill. To use the lemon sauce, you can opt for vegan butter and follow the same brushing method as before.

Another amazing meatless option I like is a combo of bread and tomatoes. You can cut french bread into one inch cubes and skewer them with cherry tomatoes and drizzle of olive oil and salt and pepper. Then, drizzle or dip them in this balsamic reduction and they become absolutely heavenly.

Mix n’ match

Opting for a little bit of everything is my style, which is why I’ve combined chicken skewers and shrimp skewers into one post. I enjoy having both at the same time but by no means do you have to do the same. Giving my guests a choice between chicken, shrimp or veggie skewers and the option to combine them if they’d like is just a personal preference of mine.

When it comes to assembling the skewers, it’s most common to alternate between veggies, meats and fruits. However, there isn’t a “kabob police” that will stop you from assembling them in the order you like. For example, sometimes I want more meat on my kabob than veggies so I will double stack the chicken before adding more veggies. Go crazy and assemble how you’d like!

Not a fan of pineapple?

I can’t say I understand, but I do respect it if you aren’t into pineapple. And, I have good news for you actually. You can still enjoy this recipe pineapple free! Here is what you need to do.

Omit the pineapple juice in the chicken marinade. Instead, use the juice of a whole lemon and keep the other ingredients the same.
Replace the pineapple chunks on the skewers with more veggies or meat!

Questions? I’ve Got Answers!

How do I keep the meats and veggies from falling off the skewers while grilling?

First word of advice is to cut each veggie/meat/fruit into a large enough chunk to pierce it with the skewer and not break. My second tip is to always start with either a bell pepper or a piece of meat at the bottom of your skewer to help hold the rest of the ingredients above it. Using an onion or tomato as the base ingredient might not be strong enough to hold the other ingredients in place. Tomatoes can become squishy and slide off the skewer easily, which is why it is best to sandwich them in between other ingredients. Lastly, make sure to skewer the shrimp in two different places (once through the tail and once through the meat of the head) to ensure these don’t fall off while grilling.

Do I have to grill these or can they be oven baked?

These can absolutely be oven baked instead! The benefit to using a grill is getting the charred finish on all sides of the skewers, but these can alternatively get baked in the oven. Here’s how to bake them in the oven.

In a 450º F preheated oven, bake the chicken skewers for 25-30 minutes in a single layer on an aluminum foil lined baking sheet. Make sure to flip each kabob about halfway through baking. Depending on how large your chicken cubes may be, they might have to bake for an additional 5-10 minutes.

Can I prepare these ahead of time?

Prepare, yes. Grill, no. I recommend preparing the chicken the night before or morning of if possible to allow the meat to marinade and soak up all the yummy flavors. You can also chop the peppers, onion, tomatoes and pineapple ahead of time so they are ready to go when you want to assemble. Also, if you plan on doing any prep the night before, the most useful step to knock out would be soaking your skewers in water overnight.

What can I serve with these skewers?

We like to serve them with a fresh salad and rolls. Other times, we will enjoy these over a bed of cilantro white rice! You can also turn these into tacos and serve with warm tortillas for guests to assemble themselves. Yum!

chicken and shrimp kabobs with pineapple

A Super Duper Important Step You Don’t Want To Miss

Soak. Your. Bamboo. Skewers. That’s it!

Bamboo skewers are prone to burn on the grill, so giving them a nice soak in water for at least 15 minutes prior to assembling and cooking on the grill will prevent that. I would recommend soaking them in water overnight if possible. If you’re using metal skewers you can ignore this super duper important step since it applies only to the wooden skewers.

what to serve with chicken and shrimp kabobs

Leave a comment below and let us know how your chicken and shrimp skewers turn out! What is your preferred ingredient assembly on these skewers?