Kabobs are my new favorite food this summer and I have been trying a few new recipes out on our family, as we kick off another season of great grilling. The marinated shrimp kabobs are my kid’s new favorite seafood dish, but these Rosemary Ranch Chicken Kabobs are my new favorite summer dish and I can’t wait to make them again.
The rosemary and ranch add such a wonderful depth of flavor to the chicken and these come off the grill so juicy! For this dish, I not only marinated some chicken in a container, but I also marinated some red peppers in a separate container so that I could do a few vegetable kabobs as a side dish. Could you marinate them together safely? A lot of people do, but I wanted my vegetables nice and crisp and I wanted my chicken to be fully cooked so I opted for two separate kabobs instead of pairing them together. The red peppers were ready to come off the grill in six minutes, while the chicken still needed another six to be fully cooked so it seemed like a good idea to separate them!
I have become a huge fan of those disposable containers for marinating foods because they are so easy to transport out to our grill and are easy to stack, especially if you are headed out for a picnic. It may also be because I have had a few too many leaky bags in my fridge so I find these to be a great option for me! These freezer containers plus our handy dandy meat thermometer have made grilling out practically foolproof and have streamlined our grilling effortlessly.
I love to stick these, marinade and all, in the freezer and prep a few different marinades in one afternoon. Most marinades have similar base ingredients (dressings, olive oil, vinegars, salt, pepper, seasonings, Worcestershire sauce, etc..) and it is so much easier to do this all at once rather than getting them out each time. What a time saver!
If you actually have any meat leftover (which is debatable in our house), I love to put these on top of a salad the next day. The chicken is still surprisingly juicy even after being zapped in the microwave and it has been a wonderful way to spice up my daily salads for lunch!
Rosemary Ranch Chicken Kabobs (Courtesy of AllRecipes)
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup ranch dressing
3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon minced fresh rosemary (If you haven’t planted rosemary yet like me, 1 teaspoon of the dried stuff works great!)
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon white vinegar
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper, or to taste
1 tablespoon white sugar, or to taste (optional)
5 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves – cut into 1 inch cubes
In a medium bowl, stir together the olive oil, ranch dressing, Worcestershire sauce, rosemary, salt, lemon juice, white vinegar, pepper, and sugar. Let stand for 5 minutes. Place chicken in the bowl, and stir to coat with the marinade. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Preheat the grill for medium-high heat. Thread chicken onto skewers and discard marinade. Lightly oil the grill grate. Grill skewers for 8 to 12 minutes, or until the chicken is no longer pink in the center, and the juices run clear.
For an easy way to get the grill and patio equipment ready for summer, be sure to visit our Gearing Up for Summer article!
Do you freeze marinades or have a time-saving strategy for grilling? Please share here!