Fun, easy and kid-friendly skewers with chicken and veggies that the little ones are going to love!
Kids often are all about presentation. Serving the same food in a different way can make them excited and eager to finish their meal. These chicken skewers offer a fun twist on chicken, and you can mix in a variety of vegetables to alternate with the meat, adding more flavor, nutrients, and goodness.
I'm using semi-pointed wooden sticks to avoid any accidents. Depending on your child's age, you can remove the meat and veggies from the skewer and offer them on a plate, or let them hold it by the ends and take bites.
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👩🏻🍳 Why you should try my recipe
- Fun: Kids love when you present food in different & fun ways.
- Suitable for babies when you remove the wooden stick.
- You could use different veggies depending on your kid's liking.
- Easy to pack for lunchboxes.
🥘 Ingredients
To make these fun kid-friendly chicken skewers, we are going to use chicken, olive oil, lemon juice, sweet paprika, garlic powder, oregano, ground black pepper and salt (skip for babies under 12 months).
- Chicken: I'm using boneless chicken thighs that I cut into chunks with a sharp knife. You could also use chicken breast.
- Spices: I'm using a mix of sweet paprika, garlic powder, ground black pepper and oregano to season the chicken and add more flavor. You could be playful and add more or less spices to your liking.
- Olive oil: Olive oil is my go-to for cooking but you could also use a vegetable oil of your choice.
- Salt: Skip this if you are making the skewers for babies under 12 months to keep their daily sodium intake low.
For assembling the skewers, I'm using bell pepper, onion slices and cherry tomatoes. You could use your favorite vegetables that are easy to put on a skewer. Some ideas are mushroom slices, zucchini or eggplant slices.
For full quantities and to print the recipe, see the recipe card below.
🔪 Step-by-step Instructions
So get your ingredients ready and let's get started!
01. In a bowl, I add the chicken chunks along with the olive oil, lemon juice and spices.
02. I thoroughly mix everything to ensure the ingredients are well combined and evenly coat the chicken pieces. The paprika should give it a light red color. Now, I let the chicken marinate, allowing it to absorb all the flavors.
03. While the meat is resting, I chop the vegetables I'm going to use for the skewers. I like to use onion slices that get sweet when baked, cherry tomatoes and peppers cut into big chunks.
04. To assemble the chicken skewers, I start with an onion slice, with curve up to support the meat. Then, I alternate between chicken, pepper, chicken, tomato, and chicken again, finishing with another onion slice. I'm using 6-inch skewers, which are easy for little ones to hold and slide the pieces off with their teeth or a fork.
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This bamboo skewers are the perfect size for kids. They are semi-pointed to avoid any accidents and we love to use them for fruit or meat kabobs.
Buy On Amazon05. It's time to move to the oven. I'm using a tray with a rack to ensure the chicken skewers develop a nice, even color and achieve a grilled-like flavor and look.
06. I pour half a cup of water into the bottom of the tray to minimize smoke from the dripping fat and juices. The chicken is fully cooked in about 35–40 minutes, with a beautiful brown color. If you have a thermometer, you can check that the internal temperature exceeds 165°F.
🍽 Serving suggestions
We usually serve these kid-friendly chicken skewers with some salad or veggies on the side. You could offer them with my healthy potato wedges or zucchini fries or simply steam some broccoli and carrot to serve them with the skewers.
If you are making the skewers for babies under 12 months, then leave out the salt from the ingredients when marinating the chicken.
🧰 Storage
This recipe yields about eight chicken skewers using 6-inch sticks. If you have leftovers, store them in an airtight container in the fridge and reheat thoroughly in the microwave or oven before serving.
💭 Pair it with ideas
Some of our favorite side dishes that go great with these chicken skewers are
❓ FAQ
Some vegetables that are easy to put on a stick for skewers are mushrooms, peppers, tomatoes, onion, zucchini and eggplant.
Yes, you can absolutely grill them instead of using the oven rack. Just ensure the chicken is fully cooked and soak the wooden skewers in water beforehand to prevent them from burning.
📋 Recipe
Kid-friendly Chicken Skewers
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 pound boneless chicken
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- ½ lemon
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- ¼ teaspoon sweet paprika
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- ½ teaspoon salt (NOT for babies under 12 months)
- 1 bell pepper
- ½ onion
- 8-10 cherry tomatoes
Instructions
- Cut the chicken into smaller chunks.
- In a bowl, add the chicken pieces, olive oil, juice from half a lemon and the spices.
- Mix everything well until the chicken is well coated. Cover with a cling film and rest in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 375℉ / 190℃.
- Cut the onion into 2 inch slices. Same with the bell pepper.
- Take a skewer and add an onion slice with the curved side up.
- Alternate chicken, pepper, chicken, tomato, chicken and finish with another onion slice.
- Continue with the remaining chicken and skewers. Place the skewers on an oven tray with a rack.
- Add half a cup of water to tray. Bake for 35–40 minutes, or until the chicken reaches internal temperature 165℉.
Video
Notes
- Some other vegetables you can use to alternate with the chicken are mushrooms, zucchini or eggplant.
- Other spices to go well with chicken are cumin powder, garam masala, Italian seasoning.
Nutrition
🥣 More to try
If you liked my kid-friendly chicken skewers recipe, you should try some of these recipes too:
Julia Droulia
My 6-year old loves these chicken skewers. Such a fun way to have her meat. If you tried and liked my recipe, leave me a comment and a rating here.