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These Chipotle Pineapple Bang Bang Chicken Skewers are a new warm weather go-to. We just love these! Chicken seasoned with spicy chipotle chilies, tamari, ginger, and honey. Add chunks of pineapple to each skewer for a tropical island flare. Serve these chicken skewers with spicy, tangy, creamy restaurant-style bang bang sauce, it never disappoints. Add extra limes and green onions, plus a bowl of coconut or cilantro rice (or cook up some baked french fries). Such a yummy family meal!
To me, Memorial Day is the official kick-off for grilling season. Burgers, chicken, steaks, and sweet corn will be on rotation from now until mid-September when the brisk fall air sweeps in to stay.
Honestly, I’m not the biggest “griller”. We live in a chillier environment, so our summer nights are a little too cold to stand outside and grill. I usually just use my trusty grill pan any time I want the flavor of something from the grill. Works like a charm!
Ingredients
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Tomato paste
- Tamari/soy sauce
- Honey
- Chopped pickled ginger
- Chipotle chilis in adobo
- Sweet or smoked paprika
- Fresh thyme
- Kosher salt and black pepper
- Chicken breasts or thighs
- Fresh pineapple chunks
- Green onions and basil
Bang Bang Sauce
- Mayo
- Sweet Thai chili sauce
- Tamari/ soy sauce
- Small clove garlic
- Lime zest
- Chopped pickled ginger
But of course, I know the rest of you all love a delicious grilled summer dinner. Coming from the Midwest, where summertime is very hot and humid, I totally get it! This year I’m looking forward to sharing some of the dishes I used to make from our summers spent in Cleveland.
We certainly adored making chicken skewers! Something about chicken on a stick is just better, you know?
I’ve always enjoyed adding pineapple to anything grilled. So when I had this idea, I made it almost immediately. It is such a delicious flavor combination!
Here are the details
Step 1: Make the Chipotle marinade
This is a very simple mix of extra virgin olive oil, tomato paste, tamari (or use soy sauce), honey, ginger, chipotle, and fresh thyme. To streamline the process of the marinade I whipped everything together in a blender, so it was ready in seconds.
Next, take the chicken and cut it into 1 or 2-inch cubes. Add the chicken to a bowl and toss with the marinade. At this point, and if time allows, you can refrigerate the chicken for a day or two before grilling. It will develop an even more intense flavor the longer it sits.
Step 2: Thread the chicken and pineapple onto skewers
Now the fun part. Take the chipotle-seasoned chicken and the chunks of pineapple and thread them one after another onto metal or wooden skewers.
I layer/thread 1 piece of chicken, then 1 pineapple chunk. If you want more pineapple, do 1 chicken piece, then 2 pineapple chunks.
Heat your grill and cook each skewer until light grill marks appear.
Step 3: Make the bang bang sauce
Mix mayo in a bowl with Thai chili sauce tamari, garlic, and lime zest. You can add a pinch of salt and pepper or even more chili flakes too!
This is one of my favorite sauces! The sweet Thai chile sauce is the secret to the deliciousness.
To Sum it all up!
The chicken is spicy and just a smidge smoky, but at the same time a little sweet too. It’s such a wonderful marriage of flavors.
The sauce is creamy and tangy with a touch of heat. Putting everything together turns into the most delicious grilled chicken dinner. Serve with rice and you’ll have a complete meal with so much (really) good flavor!
Looking for more recipes? Here are a few to try:
Coconut Chicken Fingers with Bang Bang Sauce
Baked Crunchy Hot Honey Chicken
Sheet Pan Honey Garlic Chicken and Feta Potatoes
Sheet Pan Buffalo Chicken Pizza
Buffalo Cauliflower with Spicy Tahini Ranch
Lastly, if you make these Chipotle Pineapple Bang Bang Chicken Skewers, be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
These Chipotle Pineapple Bang Bang Chicken Skewers:
Servings: 6
Calories Per Serving: 435 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Watch the How-To Reel
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 3 tablespoons tomato paste
- 2 tablespoons tamari/soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 tablespoon chopped pickled ginger
- 1-3 chipotle chiles in adobo
- 1 1/2 teaspoons sweet or smoked paprika
- 1 tablespoon fresh thyme
- kosher salt and black pepper
- 1 1/2 pounds chicken breasts or thighs, cut into bite-size chunks
- 3 cups fresh pineapple chunks
- green onions and basil, for serving
Bang Bang sauce
- 1/2 cup mayo
- 1/3 cup sweet Thai chili sauce
- 2 tablespoons tamari/soy sauce
- 1 small clove garlic grated
- 2 teaspoons lime zest
- 1 tablespoon chopped pickled ginger
Instructions
- 1. In a blender, blend the olive oil, tomato paste, tamari/soy sauce, honey, ginger, chipotle, paprika, thyme, salt, and pepper until the chilies are chopped. 2. Mix the chicken and chipotle sauce in a bowl. Take the skewers and thread the chicken with the pineapple chunks.3. Set your grill, grill pan, or skillet to medium-high heat. Grill the skewers until lightly charred and cooked through, turning them occasionally throughout cooking, about 10 to 12 minutes total. 4. To make the sauce: combine all ingredients in a bowl.5. Serve the chicken and pineapple with limes, green onions, and bang bang sauce for dipping. Add extra chili sauce mixed with a couple tablespoons of ketchup for a little double-dip action. Enjoy!
This post was originally published on May 31, 2023
um miss Tieghan, you went OFF with this recipe. Thanks girl!!
Lol thanks so much Liz!! Glad you enjoyed the recipe:) xT
I made these last night and they were absolutely amazing. I could tell when I was making them they were going to be good. I cut up the chicken and marinated them in the chipotle sauce for a few hours before putting them on skewers with the pineapple.
5+ stars.
Hi Orla,
Fantastic!!🥗🌮 I appreciate you making this recipe and your comment, so glad to hear that it turned out well for you! xx
I made this last night and my family LOVED it. I substituted bell peppers for the pinapple and couldn’t find pickled ginger so that was left out but it was still excellent. It was a good way to give basic chicken breast, which in my opinion don’t have much flavor, an great kick. The marinade would be good on steak kebabs too.
Hi Michele,
Happy Monday!! Love to hear that this recipe turned out well for you, thanks so much for making it! xT
Really good, with or without the sauce. I cut the chicken the same size as the pineapple chunks (purchased already cut and VERY ripe large chunks), grilled about 10 minutes and me and my guests ate every last bite. YUM! and so very easy and can make ahead of time so you can socialize. I served with a salad but it really would benefit from a rice side.
Do you think I could substitute tofu for the chicken?
Hi Charvi,
Totally, I don’t see why that wouldn’t work for you! Please let me know if you give this recipe a try, I hope you love it! xT
Hi Marilyn,
Wonderful!! I am so glad to hear that this recipe turned out well for you, thanks for trying it! Have a great week! xT
This recipe is delicious! So much flavor. I found one chipotle chili was enough. Added a little Sriracha to the Bang Bang sauce as we like spice. Served with brown rice. Added the Bang Bang sauce to the rice with the green onions. An absolute make again.
Hi Darcy,
Happy Monday!! Love to hear that this recipe turned out well for you, thanks so much for making it! xT
Made this delicious recipe and we loved it. Thank you
Hey Gina,
Happy Sunday!! So glad to hear you enjoyed this recipe, thanks a lot for making it and your review! xT
The chicken and pineapple turned out great. Good flavor, and even better with some char from the grill. The sauce is good, but the skewers have so much flavor they were great without it too.
Hi Annelise,
Thanks so much for trying this recipe!! So glad to hear it was enjoyed:) Have a great week! xT
Really yummy
Thanks so much Susan!! So glad to hear this recipe was enjoyed! xT
This is one of the best chicken dishes I have ever made! What an explosion of flavor! Honestly, though I made the bang bang sauce, we didn’t use it. The chicken was perfect as-is. I did let it marinade in a ziplock bag for a few hours before grilling, and I added thick red onion slices to the skewers.
Hi Lesley,
Happy Sunday!! So glad to hear you enjoyed this recipe, thanks a lot for making it and your review! xT
Is there a substitute fir the pickled ginger? Can I use minced ginger or powder?
Hi Susan,
You could use fresh ginger, I would just significantly reduce the measurements for that:) Let me know how this recipe turns out for you, I hope you love it! xT
This was absolutely fantastic! I made some veggie kabobs also and served over rice with the bang bang sauce. We were so full, but couldn’t stop eating! Another HBH winner!
Hi Stella,
Thanks so much!! I love to hear that this recipe turned out well for you and I appreciate you making it! Have a great weekend:)
This was amazing! I did not have pineapple so I made bowls with jasmine rice, sauted green beans, the sauce and chicken YUM
Hey Kelly,
Thanks so much!! I love to hear that this recipe was delish and I appreciate you making it! xT
This recipe is very good; reminding me to get some skewers and use some of the pineapples we purchased when next we make a chicken dinner similar to this one reminding me to get some skewers and to use some of the pineapples we purchased when next we make a chicken dinner similar to this one, I hope. A tea that would go well with this meal would be a light chamomile tea or one of the many herbal teas available for this time of year. Thank you for sharing.
Thanks so much! Let me know if you give this recipe a try, I hope it’s delish! xT
This looks so good, I can’t wait to try it on the grill ASAP! I already know that bang bang sauce is bangin because I made your coconut oven fried chicken tenders with bang bang sauce and omg the sauce was amazing!! I used Panda Express brand for the sweet Tai chili sauce ingredient.
Thanks so much Jackie!! I hope this recipe turns out well for you, please let me know if you give it a try! xT
This recipe needs a section to separate the chicken from the sauce
I was thinking the same when it said “for the sauce combine all the ingredients”. I think she meant combine the rest of the ingredients after the chicken listed!
Hi there,
I separated the sauce ingredients:) Please see the new ingredient list! xx
Im thinking same, assume everything from Mayo down is for sauce?
Hi Tiffany,
I adjusted the ingredient list to make the sauce ingredients more clear:)
Thanks Deanna!! I added the separation to the ingredient list:) Let me know if you give this recipe a try!