Impress your family and friends with these scrumptious grilled Honey BBQ Beer Chicken Skewers! 🍯🍗🍺 A simple marinade transforms chicken into tender, juicy bites that are sticky, sweet, smoky, and savory! PERFECT for casual summer dinners and backyard barbecues. Everyone loves this EASY chicken recipe!
Easy Honey BBQ Beer Chicken Recipe
- Honey beer BBQ chicken skewers are a perfect balance of sweet, smoky, and tangy flavors. The honey adds a caramelized sweetness, while the beer brings a rich depth that enhances the bold barbecue sauce. Keep reading below if you’re wondering about using beer and if there are any alternatives.
- Grilled to perfection, each bite is tender, flavorful, and packed with a wonderfully sticky, charred glaze.
- I love making these easy grilled chicken skewers for Memorial Day, Father’s Day, 4th of July, Labor Day – and anytime I’m craving a high protein meal!
- Want to make whole chicken breasts rather than skewers? You sure can! Keeping the chicken whole rather than in pieces on skewers will increase your cooking time to about 5-8 minutes per side, dependent on the exact thickness of your chicken and how hot your grill is running. My Grilled Honey Chipotle Chicken recipe is a good one to consult if you want to make whole chicken breasts or thighs.
- No outdoor grill, no problem! You can use this same marinade to prepare baked chicken breasts. Bake in a large casserole dish at 400F for about 20 minutes, or until chicken reaches 165F.
Key Ingredients in BBQ Honey Chicken
- BBQ sauce – I use Sweet Baby Ray’s or something from Trader Joe’s that catches my eye. Use your favorite brand of BBQ sauce or your own homemade BBQ sauce.
- Beer – Use any type of beer that you would drink! Remember that cooking the beer will intensify the flavor. This recipe is versatile enough to accommodate any beer flavor including Blue Moon, apple ales, or dark ales like Guinness. You can taste a hint of rich beer flavor but it is not overwhelming and the contrast of honey is a nice compliment to that flavor. Don’t want to use beer? Use non-alcoholic beer! I have a great recipe for Honey BBQ Grilled Chicken Tenders that is similar, but does not use beer. Or try apple cider or ginger ale if you don’t mind a sweeter flavor profile; or use reduced-sodium beef broth for a more savory option.
- Honey (or sub with maple syrup), sweet chili sauce, minced garlic, Dijon mustard, salt, smoked paprika (or regular paprika), black pepper.
- Boneless-skinless chicken breast – You could also use boneless-skinless chicken thighs. Dice into 2-inch pieces.
- Cilantro and lime juice, for garnishing – Other fresh herbs such as basil, parsley, mint, or thyme also work well and so do lemon wedges rather than lime wedges.
Note: Scroll down to the recipe card section of the post for the ingredients with amounts included and for more complete directions.
How To Make Honey Barbecue Beer Chicken Skewers
See the recipe card below for step-by-step process photos.
- Marinate: To a large bowl, mix all the ingredients together (except the cilantro and lime), remove and reserve 1/2 cup to be used later for basting. Add the chicken, toss to coat, cover, and marinate in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour, up to 8 hours.
- Skewer: Preheat your outdoor gas grill (or indoor grill pan on your stove) and while it’s preheating, thread 5-7 pieces of chicken onto each skewer. If using wooded skewers soak them in water for 30 minutes before threading the chicken.
- Grill: Place the chicken skewers on the grill or indoor grill pan, and turn them every 2-3 minutes for about 8-10 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through to an internal temperature of 165 degrees F as measured with a digital instant-read thermometer or meat thermometer.
- Baste and Serve: Baste the chicken kabobs with the reserved marinade and let it rest before garnishing with fresh cilantro and lime juice!
- Storage: Extra chicken leftovers will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
what to serve with Barbecue chicken
Favorite summery sides like baked beans, grilled corn, Parmesan Ranch roasted potatoes, or pasta salads are all great with these easy chicken skewers.
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Honey BBQ Beer Chicken Skewers
Impress your family and friends with these scrumptious skewers!🍯🍗🍺 A simple marinade transforms chicken into tender, juicy bites that are sticky, sweet, smoky, and savory! PERFECT for casual summer dinners and backyard barbecues. Outdoor grilling, indoor grill pan, and oven-baking options provided.
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups BBQ sauce + more for dipping if desired
- 12- ounces beer, (bottle or can, any type; use apple cider or ginger ale as a sweeter beer substitute or reduced sodium beef broth as a more savory substitute)
- 3 tablespoons honey
- 2 tablespoons sweet chili sauce, (chili garlic sauce or another chili sauce may be substituted)
- 3 to 5 cloves garlic, finely minced
- 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard, grainy brown mustard or your favorite mustard may be substituted
- 1 ½ teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika, regular paprika may be substituted
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts, diced into 2-inch pieces (boneless skinless chicken thighs may be substituted; you can also leave the chicken whole rather than making skewers)
- fresh cilantro, finely minced; optional for garnishing (or try fresh basil, parsley, mint, etc.)
- lime wedges; optional for serving, or lemon wedges
Instructions
- Marinade – To a large bowl, add the bbq sauces, beer, honey, sweet chili sauce, garlic, mustard, salt, smoked paprika, pepper, and whisk to combine. Remove and reserve 1/2 cup of the marinade.Add the diced chicken to the large bowl of marinade, toss well to combine, cover tightly with plastic wrap, and refrigerate to marinate for at least 1 hour, or up to 8 hours.
- Preheat your grill to medium-high or your grill pan over medium-high heat on the stove. If you're going to bake the chicken, transfer the chicken pieces to a greased 9×13-inch baking dish or sheet pan lined with foil (discard the marinade in the bowl), and bake uncovered in a 400F preheated oven for about 20 minutes, or until the chicken is done. Keep an eye on it to prevent burning and toss and flip once midway through baking.
- Skewer – While your grill is preheating, thread 5-7pieces of chicken onto each skewer. Tip – If using wooded skewers soak them in hot water for 30 minutes before threading the chicken.
- Grill – Place the chicken skewers on the grill or grill pan, and turn them every 2-3 minutes, for about 8-10 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through with an internal temperature of 165°F. Chicken will probably cook faster on an outdoor grill than on a grill pan.Flipping/Sticking Tip – If the chicken is sticking and doesn't want to flip, give in another 1-2 minutes. When protein is closer to being done, it will flip/release easier than when it's raw.Cooking Tips – Because all grills vary, temperatures vary, the thickness of the chicken varies, etc. grill your chicken for as long as necessary, until it's done. The minutes per side are just estimates, but you need to watch your chicken, not the clock.
- Baste and Rest – Remove the chicken from the grill or grill pan and baste them with the reserved marinade. Allow the chicken to rest for 5-10 minutes to lock in the juices before optionally garnishing with cilantro or other fresh herbs; sprinkle red pepper flakes for more heat, and/or add salt and pepper to taste, and serve with lime/lemon wedges, and any additional reserved marinade or bbq sauce.
Notes
Nutrition Stats: Not every drop of the marinade will be used and that’s where a large portion of the calories/fat are coming from (bbq sauce, beer, honey) so in a practical sense, the caloric and fat consumption will be less than indicated.
Storage: Leftovers will keep airtight in the fridge for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months. Reheat in the microwave for about 30 seconds, or as desired.
Nutrition
Serving: 1skewer, Calories: 222cal, Carbohydrates: 26g, Protein: 20g, Fat: 3g, Saturated Fat: 1g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.4g, Monounsaturated Fat: 1g, Trans Fat: 0.01g, Cholesterol: 58mg, Sodium: 943mg, Potassium: 463mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 21g, Vitamin A: 225IU, Vitamin C: 2mg, Calcium: 25mg, Iron: 1mg
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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