How to cook chicken kebab: the best marinades and all the subtleties of the process

The meat will be tender, juicy, tasty and fragrant.

How to cook meat

Chicken drumsticks, thighs and wings are perfect for barbecue. The breast is also used, but it comes out a little drier than the rest of the bird.

Choose good quality chicken. Meat does not have to smell unpleasant, be sticky and covered with blood (the internal environment of the body) or mucus. When pressed, the hole in the pulp quickly flattens out.

The thighs, legs and wings can be thrown in their entirety. This is especially convenient if you cook shish kebab on a grill. The breast must be cut into pieces with sides of 4–5 cm. Whether to remove skin and bones from the chicken or not is a matter of taste.

If you want to chop the legs coarsely, you will still have to get rid of the bones.

How to marinate chicken

The marinade will make the kebab the most fragrant and tasty. Only 30 minutes will be enough for young meat, and at least a couple of hours for old meat.

There is no need for very long preparation of chicken. Although, if necessary, any meat can be marinated all night (that is, in the dark) or even during the day in a cold place.

All ingredients in these recipes are for 2 kilograms of meat.

1. Kefir marinade

Meat marinated in it will be especially tender.

Ingredients

500 g onions;
2-3 cloves of garlic - optional;
3 tablespoons vegetable oil;
salt - to taste;
seasoning for chicken - to taste;
500 ml kefir of any fat content;
1 bunch of parsley.

Manufacturing

Chop the onion into rings and chop the garlic. Add vegetables, oil, salt, seasoning, drink and coarsely chopped parsley to the chicken and stir. Before placing the meat on the fire, remove the herbs from it.

2. Soy-ginger marinade

This recipe will give the meat a pleasant spice.

Ingredients

5–6 cloves of garlic;
a piece of fresh ginger about 5 cm in size;
150 ml soy sauce.

Manufacturing

Chop the garlic and peeled ginger with a knife or blender. Add soy sauce and meat to them and stir.

3. Honey mustard marinade

The kebab will have a special sweetish taste and golden brown crust.

Ingredients

3–4 tablespoons of honey;
2 tablespoons mustard;
4 tablespoons of vegetable oil;
salt - to taste;
ground paprika - to taste;
ground coriander - to taste;
2 onions.

Manufacturing

Combine honey, mustard, oil, salt, paprika and coriander. Add the chopped onion and chicken and stir thoroughly.

4. Lemon marinade

The kebab will acquire a catchy smell and slight sourness.

Ingredients

800 g onions;
salt - to taste;
mixture of peppers - to taste;
3-4 lemons.

Manufacturing

Add onion rings, salt, pepper and lemon juice to the meat and stir well.

5. Kiwi marinade

The sour fruit will make the meat very tender and juicy.

Ingredients

500 g onions;
4–5 kiwis;
salt - to taste;
ground black pepper - to taste.

Manufacturing

You cannot leave the meat in this composition forever, otherwise it will become very soft. Marinate the chicken for no more than 1-2 hours. Or add kiwi to the meat no earlier than 1-2 hours before frying.

Grind the onion and kiwi in a blender. Add salt, pepper and chicken to them and stir. You can add other seasonings to your taste.

A few more suitable marinades

7 barbecue marinades that will make any meat tastier

How to fry chicken kebab

It is more convenient to cook large parts of poultry on a wire rack, and the cut meat can be threaded onto skewers. Do not place the pieces very close to each other, otherwise they will not be fried.

When the coals in the grill burn out and are covered with snow-white ash, you can lay out the meat. During the first 3–5 minutes you need to turn it frequently. Then do this for any 2-3 minutes.

The cooking time for kebab depends on the size of the meat pieces. The chopped flesh can be removed after 10-15 minutes, and large parts will fry for 5-8 minutes longer.

Check the readiness of the kebab by cutting it with a knife. If the juice runs clear, it’s time to remove the meat from the heat. An uncooked piece will have red liquid. Don’t overcook the kebab: it’s easy to dry out the chicken.

Chicken skewers

Almost everything about the usefulness of chicken meat is clear, and the list of all its advantages could go on forever. And properly prepared chicken kebab can be considered the healthiest and lowest-calorie version of kebab. All that remains is to choose the right meat, properly marinate it and fry it over coals, and “Culinary Eden” is ready to share with you the secrets and recipes for making this dish.

To prepare a delicious chicken kebab, choose chilled, not frozen meat - it should have a pleasant smell and a soft pink color interspersed with pale yellow fat. If you still had to use frozen meat, it must be defrosted evenly on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator, but under no circumstances in the microwave or in warm water, because this may cause the meat to lose its softness. As for the age of the bird, it is best if they are young chickens - in this case, with a minimum of manipulations, you will get a tender and juicy kebab. Chickens suitable for barbecue weigh, on average, from 800 g to 1.2 kg, they have a round flexible breast and a tender cream-colored skin. You should avoid buying old birds, because such meat requires a long heat treatment.

To make kebab, you can use any part of the chicken - breasts, wings, legs, drumsticks, and from time to time even the back. With all this, it should be borne in mind that fillet kebab may turn out to be a little dry, but this problem can be solved by using the right marinade and sufficient marinating time for the meat. Perhaps the tastiest and most juicy kebab comes from chicken thighs, and yet a real master can create a culinary masterpiece from all parts of a chicken carcass. If you plan to cook shish kebab on a grid, a more suitable option in this case is to chop the chicken carcass into portions. A tip to note - even if you do not plan to eat chicken skin, it is best to cook shish kebab with it, because the skin gives the meat some of the fat and protects the chicken meat from drying out. In this case, you should carefully watch the kebab, because it is this skin that can treacherously burn.

Read also: Nettle soup recipe

Tender chicken meat perfectly absorbs the smells of marinade, herbs and spices, so the versatility of this type of meat allows you to combine with it virtually any marinade and a wide variety of seasonings. In this matter, the final word remains only with your taste preferences. Some people like the usual marinade based on mayonnaise, some like meat “with pepper,” and others like exotic versions of marinades with soy sauce and tropical fruits. Whatever you choose, rest assured, chicken meat will endure anything. In this regard, it can be considered an impeccable basis for culinary tests and the realization of gastronomic fantasies. The main thing is to make sure that your chicken marinates for enough time so that all the flavors and ingredients have time to be absorbed into the meat. Marinating chicken usually requires an average of 2 to 4 hours, but the longer the meat is in the marinade, the softer it will be in the end. If you like to marinate meat in vinegar, keep in mind that only vinegars with a natural base are suitable for chicken, for example, wine or apple - table vinegar will make a hard “sole” out of a tender chicken. Still, it’s best to replace the vinegar with lemon juice. A separate piece of advice regarding chicken breast - to prepare it, choose richer marinades, because this part of the meat itself is dry.

If there are good coals, chicken kebab is fried for about 15-20 minutes. Because chicken meat cooks very quickly, turn the kebab over every 3-5 minutes. And, in the end, remember that starchy foods such as potatoes served with kebab interfere with the normal digestion of meat, so it is best to eat kebab with fresh herbs, cucumbers, tomatoes, bell peppers, cabbage, onions and green beans. Now let's check out the recipes.

Chicken kebab marinated in mayonnaise and mustard

Ingredients:
200 g mayonnaise,
4 tablespoons mustard,
1 tablespoon ground turmeric,
salt and ground dark pepper to taste,
1.5 kg chicken meat.

Preparation:
Mix all the ingredients of the marinade in a bowl to obtain a homogeneous mixture. Lightly coat chicken meat with the marinade you purchased and marinate in the refrigerator for 3 to 8 hours.

Chicken kebab in kefir-garlic marinade with onions

Ingredients:
400 ml kefir,
5-6 cloves of garlic,
2 onions,
2 teaspoons of khmeli-suneli,
1 1/2 teaspoons of salt,
2 kg of chicken.

Preparation:
Pour the drink into a large bowl. Add garlic passed through a press, onion cut into half rings, salt and spices. Mix. Place the cooked chicken in a bowl and mix well with your hands to evenly coat the chicken with the marinade. Place the covered bowl in the refrigerator to marinate for 4-5 hours, then fry the kebab.

Chicken kebab in lemon-mustard marinade

Ingredients:
1/2 cup lemon juice,
3 tablespoons mustard,
3 cloves garlic,
80 g sugar or 2 tablespoons honey,
6 tablespoons vegetable or olive oil,
1 1/2 teaspoons salt,
ground dark pepper to taste,
1 kg of chicken meat.

Preparation:
Pass the garlic through a press and mix with lemon juice, mustard, sugar, salt and black pepper. Pour in the oil and beat until smooth. Place the chicken meat in a bowl, mix thoroughly with your hands, cover with a lid and put in the refrigerator for 3-4 hours or overnight (that is, in the dark) , after which you can start making kebab.

Chicken kebab in grapefruit marinade

Ingredients:
1/3 cup of freshly squeezed grapefruit juice,
the remaining pulp from the squeezed grapefruit,
2 tablespoons of soy sauce,
2 cloves of garlic,
500 g of chicken meat.

Preparation:
In a bowl, mix grapefruit juice, grapefruit pulp, soy sauce and chopped garlic. Marinate the chicken in the acquired consistency for several hours, then cook the kebab.

Oriental chicken shish kebab

Ingredients:
150 ml soy sauce,
1-2 teaspoons honey,
3 cloves garlic,
1 teaspoon grated ginger,
1 teaspoon vegetable oil,
1/2 teaspoon pepper consistency,
1 kg chicken meat.

Preparation:
Wash the chicken meat under cool water and pat dry with a cardboard towel, then cut into pieces. Chop or press the garlic and mix with the remaining ingredients for the marinade in a large bowl. Place the chicken in a bowl and toss to coat, making sure all pieces of meat are moderately coated with the marinade. Cover the bowl and refrigerate for several hours or overnight (that is, in the dark) . Fry the kebab until golden brown. If desired, the finished kebab can be sprinkled with sesame seeds.

Shish kebab of chicken marinated in yogurt

Ingredients:
6-7 tablespoons regular yogurt,
4 tablespoons vegetable or olive oil,
3 tablespoons lemon juice,
2 teaspoons chicken seasoning,
1 teaspoon ground chili pepper,
salt and ground dark pepper to taste,
500 g chicken meat .

Preparation:
Mix all the ingredients for the marinade in a bowl. Place the chopped chicken into a bowl and mix well. Cover the bowl and marinate in the refrigerator for 4 hours or overnight (that is, after dark) . Thread the chicken onto skewers alternately with the onions and fry.

Chicken kebab in tomato marinade

Ingredients:
3 tablespoons of tomato paste or 5 tablespoons of ketchup,
2 onions,
3 cloves of garlic,
2 teaspoons of dried thyme,
2 teaspoons of dried oregano,
1 teaspoon of ground coriander,
1 teaspoon of ground nutmeg,
100 ml lemon juice,
80 ml vegetable oil,
1/2 teaspoon salt,
700-800 g chicken meat.

Chicken kebab: 7 of the most delicious marinades for chicken to keep the meat soft

Properly cooked chicken meat in the grill comes out quite appetizing and tasty. This is due to the fact that this meat is very easy to cook and you can easily create a fragrant and juicy kebab from it. Naturally, if you approach the preparation of shish kebab with intelligence and choose a suitable marinade for soaking it, the result will be an awesome dish for any holiday or feast.

For grilling on charcoal, the legs and fillets of the carcass are most often used. They have a soft structure and marinate quickly, although chicken meat actually does not have a fat layer and therefore it is rather dry. The same cannot be said about pork kebab. This is precisely why you should cook it correctly so that you get a juicy and appetizing kebab.

Now I’ll tell you how to cook chicken kebab with the most delicious marinade so that the meat comes out soft, you can also go and look at remarkable recipes for beef marinade.

How to prepare marinade for chicken kebab with vinegar

Ingredients:

Chicken fillet – 1 kg
onions - 2 heads
vinegar 9% - 1 tablespoon
salt and dark ground pepper - to taste.

Manufacturing method:

We wash the chicken fillet in water, then cut it into medium pieces and put it in a pan.

Add one tablespoon of vinegar to them, salt and pepper to taste and mix thoroughly.

Next, peel and cut the onion into rings, place it on top of the meat and shake the pan a little.

Then cover it with a tight lid and put it in the refrigerator for one hour, so that the meat can stand and soak in all the ingredients added to it.

A very tasty kefir marinade

Ingredients:

Chicken legs – 2 kg
drink – 500 ml
onion - 1 k
seasoning for chicken - 2 tbsp. l
parsley - 1 bunch
salt - 1 teaspoon.

Manufacturing method:

Add seasoning for chicken to half a liter of kefir, to your taste; basil or savory are perfect, because they mix very well with meat. Add a teaspoon of salt there. Chop the parsley with your hands, peel and cut the onions into rounds, and put it all in the drink. Then we carefully mix everything, while squeezing a little juice out of the contents.

Then we put all the legs here, mix and press. Cover with a lid and leave for 3-4 hours in a cool place.

Shashlik marinade with mayonnaise

Ingredients:

Chicken legs – 2 kg
onions - 3-5 heads
mayonnaise - 100-150 ml
dill greens - 1 bunch
salt and dark ground pepper - to taste.

Manufacturing method:

We wash the chicken legs in water, then dry them with a cardboard towel and place them in a bowl. Salt and pepper to taste.

Next, add mayonnaise and mix well with your hands.

If you are going to bake shish kebab on skewers, then it is better to cut the onion into round pieces so that it can be placed between pieces of meat. And if it is on a grid, then it can be chopped arbitrarily.

Now all that remains is to add the onion cut into rings or half rings and finely chopped dill and mix everything again.

Marinade for shish kebab with soy sauce and ketchup

Ingredients:

Chicken wings – 1 kg
onions - 3 heads
soy sauce - 100-130 ml
ketchup - 100 ml
salt and pepper - to taste.

Manufacturing method:

We wash the wings in running water, dry them with a cardboard towel and place them in a suitable bowl.

We clean it, then chop the onion into thin rings and put it in the meat. We put a little salt, you don’t have to add it, since there is enough of it in soy sauce, but that’s in my opinion, and of course pepper to taste. Next add soy sauce and ketchup.

Mix everything thoroughly with your hands, cover with a lid and put it in a cold space to marinate for 1-1.5 hours. Then the meat is ready and can be fried over coals and baked in the oven.

Beer marinade for chicken kebab

Ingredients:

Chicken ham – 7 kg
light beer - 1 liter
lemon - 1 pc.
onions - 5 pcs
mayonnaise - 250 gr
seasoning - 2 tbsp. l
salt and ground dark pepper - to taste.

Manufacturing method:

According to this recipe, the chicken comes out special, warm and very fragrant. So let's get started!

The hams, as described above in previous recipes, must first be washed, then dried and cut into medium pieces. Place them in a bowl, salt and pepper to taste and add beer and mayonnaise. Mix thoroughly so that the chicken absorbs the taste of the marinade.

Next, cut the onion into rings and put it in a basin, squeeze out all the juice from the lemon there, and then cut it into pieces and add it too. At the very end, add the seasoning, mix everything with your hands and leave for 2-3 hours.

It is not recommended to leave the chicken kebab to marinate for more than the specified time, as it may become soggy and not be tasty.

Chicken marinade with honey and mustard

Ingredients:

Chicken legs – 1 kg
mustard - 2 tbsp. l
honey - 1 tbsp. l
salt and pepper - to taste.

Manufacturing method:

Place the washed chicken legs in a large, deep bowl, then add mustard, honey and salt and pepper to taste. Now we carefully mix everything with our hands so that any leg is soaked.

And cover with some suitable lid or cling film. Place in the refrigerator for one hour. Then the chicken can be placed on a baking sheet and baked in the oven, or placed on a grid and cooked over coals.

Marinade for shish kebab with kiwi (video)

Very tasty, tender, juicy and original - this is how you can describe this rather ordinary chicken with kiwi recipe in just a few words! It's simple and easy to prepare, but the finished dish is like something from a restaurant!

How to cook chicken kebab without it being hard as a sole

Chicken kebab is even cheaper than pork kebab, but if made correctly, it is no different from it. The taste, juiciness and softness of chicken directly depend on the frying technology, the choice of marinade and several other aspects, without which you will end up with a dry rubber kebab.

Meat temperature

In the process of preparing barbecue, chicken pieces must be soaked in advance in a marinade, for example, mayonnaise, sour cream, kefir, mineral water with added salt and spices.

From spices you can take dried garlic, rosemary, paprika, pieces of bay leaf, onion rings. Place the marinated chicken in the refrigerator for 2-3 hours, and then remove it 1 hour before the start of cooking - this is a fundamental step in preparing the meat.

By the time of frying, the chicken pieces will have reached room temperature, allowing them to cook moderately. All that remains is to shake off the remaining marinade, herbs and spices so that they do not burn and spoil the taste of the kebab.

How to skewer

It is necessary to string thighs, wings and breast, cut into pieces, so that on one skewer there are pieces of approximately the same size. This way the meat will be moderately fried and it will not happen that some of it remains raw and the rest burns. For the legs, roasting on a grid is suitable.

Before stringing, it is better to cut the thighs along the bone, remove it, cut the fillet in half and string it in parts. You can also cut the legs, removing their bones and skin, which quickly burns. It’s best to cut the breast into 4-5 cm pieces so that it doesn’t dry out, but is still perfectly fried.

Separate reddish and white meat

If the kebab is made from chicken fillet, separated from the bone, also from the breast, then before heating it is important to sort all the pieces. Reddish meat from the legs, thighs and white meat from the breast must be placed on different skewers or on separate grids.

Snow-white meat cooks faster. If you overstay it on the grill because of undercooked reddish pieces, it will simply dry out.

Vegetables are good for you

Adding vegetables to the skewers will complement the taste of the chicken kebab, so you shouldn’t abuse them. Pieces of zucchini, slices of reddish onion, tomato rings will not only add color to the chicken, but also give it additional taste and make it brighter.

There is no need to create gaps between the pieces of chicken and vegetables, otherwise the warm pulp of tomatoes, zucchini or onions will burn. Instead of a pleasant taste, charred vegetables will give the meat a burning taste and spoil its smell.

The sauce will add juiciness

In order for the kebab to come out juicy (especially if it is made from snow-white meat), it is necessary to grease it before heating it. Barbecue sauce or glaze, which is usually made with mustard, honey or soy sauce, is suitable for this.

The best frosting is a mixture of 1 tbsp. honey, 2 tbsp. wine vinegar and 1.5 tsp. sweet paprika. This sauce will create a wonderful golden crust on the kebab and retain all the juice inside.

How to fry

First, you need to properly prepare the coals. The easiest way is to buy ready-made ones in bags, fill the grill with them to the middle, add lighter fluid, set fire and wait until light ash appears.

If you heat the barbecue with wood, then birch and oak logs, as well as cherry and apple tree branches, are suitable. They also need to be burned until the coals are covered with snow-white ash.

There should be approximately 20 cm between the coals and the edge of the grill. This is the best distance. After placing the skewers with meat on the grill, you do not need to constantly turn them. Wait until the meat is browned on one side, and then fry on the other.

If a fire suddenly breaks out on the coals, sprinkle them with water or lightly sprinkle them with salt. The heat should be uniform over the entire area of the grill. Check it with your hand by holding it at the level of the skewers for some time.

Manufacturing time is 5-7 minutes on each side, in other words, only a quarter of an hour for small pieces, and 5-8 minutes longer for the largest ones.

Determining readiness

The finished kebab has a golden color on the outside, and the skin, if it is not removed, may burn in a few places.

To literally make sure that the kebab is ready, pierce the meat with a sharp knife to the middle, and if it was cooked on the bones, then near them. The juice should flow clear, without a pink tint. If there is no hint of blood (the internal environment of the body, formed by liquid connective tissue. Consists of plasma and formed elements: leukocyte cells and post-cellular structures: erythrocytes and platelets) , then the kebab is one hundred percent ready.

When fried, chicken meat actually decreases in size by half, because a lot of water comes out of it, even if everything is done according to the rules. When calculating portions for a certain number of people, this fact must be taken into account and take twice as much chicken.