I’m pretty sure when the song “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year” was written they were talking about the holiday season, but for me, the most wonderful time of the year is right now. Playoff hockey. Yes, I’m completely obsessed. Since the playoffs started last week, it’s been all hockey, all the time in our house. There was over 12 hours of coverage on Sunday, and when it was over, I still hadn’t had my fill. Sure, there’s some extra excitement since my team is in the playoff race, but even if they weren’t, I’d still be tuning in to every game. The intensity, the pace, the rivalries – it’s must see tv for sure. Don’t worry, it’s not going to turn into hockey central over here for the next 2 months, I’m just so darn excited, I couldn’t help myself today 🙂
Hockey doesn’t really have anything to do with this chicken, aside from the fact that these kebabs are a quick and easy meal I can get on the table on weeknights so I won’t miss a second of my favorite game. The chicken is coated with a fragrant (thanks to the rosemary) spice rub that’s a little bit sweet and a little bit spicy then threaded onto kebabs and thrown on the grill. They only need about 15 minutes to cook through and develop a little char on the outsides. The dipping sauce is super simple with just three ingredients and totally worth making – its sweetness is the perfect complement to the spice in the chicken. I couldn’t get Shane to try the sauce after he saw the jar of orange marmalade I was using to make it, and I had a ton of leftovers so I’ll probably halve the sauce next time. Shane raved about the kebabs even without the sauce – they’re a definite repeat here. I just love the easy clean-up that comes along with grilling too. If only we could grill year-round, I’d be washing a lot less dishes around here!
Grilled Rosemary Chicken Kebabs with Sweet and Sour Orange Dipping Sauce
barely adapted from Fine Cooking
2 teaspoons minced fresh rosemary, divided
1 teaspoon dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 1/4 lb boneless, skinless chicken thighs, trimmed of excess fat and cut into 1-inch cubes
1/2 cup orange marmalade
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
Combine 1 1/2 teaspoons of the rosemary, the brown sugar, salt, pepper and red pepper flakes in a small bowl. Place the chicken in a medium bowl, and drizzle the oil over it, tossing to coat. Top the chicken with the spice mixture and toss until the chicken is evenly coated.
To make the dipping sauce: Combine the remaining 1/2 teaspoon of rosemary, the marmalade and the rice vinegar in a small saucepan. Set over low heat and stir just until the mixture is heated through. Cover and remove from the heat.
Preheat your grill to medium-high heat (400-450 F). Oil the grates lightly (I use the tongs to hold a paper towel that’s been dipped in oil and rub it over the grates). While the grill is heating, thread the chicken cubes onto skewers (we used metal ones, but if you’re going with wood skewers, you might want to soak them in cold water beforehand).
Place the kebabs on the grill and cook, giving them a quarter turn every 3 minutes or so, until they are slightly charred on all sides and cooked through, about 12-15 minutes total. Transfer the kebabs to a platter and let them rest for about 5 minutes. Serve with the warm dipping sauce.
We are big Hockey fans too! We watch every game and pick a favorite to cheer for. Our team is in it too, but I doubt that they have the staying power this year! We are obsessed! These chicken kabobs look delish and I can’t wait to try them!
I love everything about these, and they make me excited for fresh herbs!!
This sounds wonderful. I love anything with orange. Can’t wait to try it.
The most wonderful time of the year is definitely college football season. I love spring as a season the best, but fall for food and sitting on the couch! Totally love the dipping sauce for these kebabs.
This chicken was spectacular! I’m all for having it a lot more often.
I -love- this time of year. That Pens/Flyers game was something else. B&G are getting kind of annoyed that we have hockey on all the time; we did have to take a break last night to watch Dancing with the Stars. =)
With all the warm wheather these kebabs sound very good, and the dipping sauce looks delicious!
I think rosemary is my favorite herb to pair with chicken. This is perfect, Tracey. And that sauce sounds so unique. I bet it’s very refreshing with the citrus!
Wow! This sounds so delicious! I love rosemary and orange together.
Thanks for sharing!
this looks so good! my carpool and i were just talking about hockey playoffs in the car today..i didn’t even know it was playoff time lol, woops! these look so delicious, tracey! i’d take 2 kebabs, please!
These look so good! I love orange flavoring…
I LOVE chicken kebabs! Yours look perfect, Tracey. Very flavorful and nicely cooked… love the dipping sauce accompaniment, too. I’ll have to try that!
I love that you are such a big sports fan. I’m a fan of chicken kebabs and I’m happy to find another recipe to try that I know we will love. Good luck to the Bruins!
I’ll disagree with you about the most wonderful time of the year (which for me is summer, summer, summer–the hotter the better!), but I’ll definitely be in your camp for your chicken kebabs. They look ans sound delicious.
I so wish I had paid attention when my husband showed me how to use the grill! I want these for dinner TONIGHT, especially with that dipping sauce. YUM!
This looks so amazing! I wish I knew how to work the grill do I could make these but I guess the pan on the stove will have to do.
I love watching hockey only for the fights. The fights are definitely the best part of the ge 😀
This looks like an easy and glorious dish to make for a crowd. Thanks for sharing. I’m all over those PB&J bars too!!!
Oh, I’m so happy grilling season is upon us! These kebabs look wonderful, Tracey!!!
These look DELISH! I will make them right before I say GO REDWINGS!! 😉 Seriously, they look different and fast and yummy. Thanks!
Drool!!! This is right at my alley. Thanks for posting. I need to dust of my BBQ.
We made some kebabs with an apricot preserves several months ago that were awesome. These sound pretty similar. Enjoy your hockey! Wish I knew more about the sport!
Its been a while since I’ve watched hockey but I used to all the time! I was fortunate enough to know people like Craig Conroy and Eric Cole when they were college students and followed them in their pro careers! Your kebabs look awesome!
Love this! A perfect summer meal.
Kebabs to me scream summer and I love the dipping sauce you have paired with these!
I don’t eat chicken very often but that looks soooo good. This time of year everyone breaks out the bbq. Too bad mine is tucked away in storage. 🙁
Sounds like a great marinade for the chicken. Love grilling weather!
Those look so good! I like kabobs, but usually don’t want to mess around with cutting up the chicken and threading it on the skewers.
Hubs loves rosemary. We are always looking for new ways to prepare chicken. Now that the grill is open for business we’ll have to try this!
We just made this for dinner tonight and loved it! It had so much flavor! We cut back quit a bit on the red pepper flakes, just for personal taste and I was glad we did–it was plenty hot for us. We also added some zucchini and mushrooms on the kebabs and it was a nice touch. Great recipe!
the kabob marinade was excellent – didn’t cause charring since there was no sweet stuff in it. I burned my marmalade dip 🙁 and had no more marmalade so I made this dip… super yummy honey lime dip:
http://www.yummly.com/recipe/Honey—Lime-Dipping-Sauce-Food_com-155603
I also served an amazing mango rice salad from this site:
http://www.freshmangos.com/
and we did grilled veggies too!
Thanks for the recipe!
Wow. I like chicken. I love kebabs. I absolutely love rosemary. All these things together… hmmmmmm!!!
OK. I just made these and couldn’t wait to comment. I didn’t make them as kebabs — just cut up the chicken pieces and grilled them on my grill pan on the stove along with onions, zucchini, and mushrooms. These are fantastic! So juicy and flavorful. I’m often really skeptical about grilled chicken because it often tastes flavorless, but these came out wonderful. Made the accompanying sauce with apricot preserves instead of orange marmalade and it’s really good, but the chicken can definitely stand alone. Can’t wait to try it in a pita as a leftover. Thanks for the recipe!
Oh! And wanted to add that I think the fresh rosemary makes this dish. I almost used dried, but I’m so happy I didn’t. 🙂
I make these often too, serve them with brown rice and grilled asparagus. Yum!
Hello. I really love kebabs, perfect with some rice and asparagus or some mango salad on the side. This would be perfect for a patio party on the weekend.