Twelve ingredients and forty minutes for eight skewers. Everything is tossed in one bowl with the same seasoning, then threaded alternately.
Nothing is brushed on at the end. There is no sauce and no glaze in this recipe — the gloss on the finished skewers is the juices and the two tablespoons of oil they were tossed in.
Why This Recipe Works
- Soaking wooden skewers stops them scorching under a broiler.
- Tossing everything in one bowl gives the vegetables the same seasoning as the chicken.
- A rack over a sheet pan lets air reach the undersides rather than letting them sit in juices.
- Baking to nearly cooked leaves a margin for the broiler without overshooting the temperature.
- Two to four minutes under the broiler is enough for char marks and not enough to dry inch-and-a-half chunks.
Ingredient Notes
- Four vegetables
- Red and yellow bell pepper, white onion and zucchini, all in chunks. All four are visible on the finished skewers and none is optional.
- Chicken in 1 1/2-inch chunks
- A pound and a half. Large chunks on purpose — they survive two to four minutes under a broiler without drying.
- Paprika, garlic powder, oregano
- The whole seasoning, and it goes on before threading rather than being brushed on later.
- No sauce or glaze
- There is none in this recipe. The gloss on the finished skewers is juices and the two tablespoons of olive oil.
How to Make It
Oven on, skewers soaked
Heat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. If using wooden skewers, soak them in water for 20 minutes.
One bowl, one seasoning
Toss chicken, peppers, onion, and zucchini with olive oil, paprika, garlic powder, oregano, salt, and pepper.
Thread eight, onto a rack
Thread chicken and vegetables alternately onto 8 skewers and place on a rack over a sheet pan.
Bake to nearly cooked
Bake 14 to 16 minutes, turning once, until chicken is nearly cooked.
Broil for the char, to 165F
Broil 2 to 4 minutes, watching closely, until dark char marks form and chicken reaches 165 degrees Fahrenheit.
Parsley, and nothing else
Finish with parsley. Do not add sauce or glaze.
One Skewer, Threaded
The yield is eight skewers across four servings, so two skewers is a portion. Everything below goes onto one of them, and the word the recipe uses for the order is ALTERNATELY.
What goes into one skewer
The skewer itself - soaked
One of 8. If wooden, soaked in water for 20 minutes first. That instruction exists because of the broiler at the end: a dry wooden skewer two inches under a grill element scorches, and this recipe deliberately puts one there.
The chicken - large chunks
An eighth of 1 1/2 lb of breast cut into 1 1/2-INCH chunks. Large on purpose: a small cube would be dry by the time it had taken char marks, and these have to survive two to four minutes of direct heat after fourteen to sixteen in the oven.
Four vegetables, threaded between
Chunks of red bell pepper, yellow bell pepper and white onion, and thick half-moons of zucchini, threaded ALTERNATELY with the chicken. All four are part of the skewer - this is not chicken with a garnish of vegetables, it is a skewer built from five things.
One seasoning, on everything
A share of 2 tbsp olive oil, 1 tsp paprika, 1 tsp garlic powder, 1/2 tsp dried oregano, 3/4 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper, tossed through chicken and vegetables together in one bowl before threading. Seasoned before assembly rather than brushed on after, which is why nothing needs basting later.
A rack over a sheet pan
Not a flat tray. The rack lets air reach the underside of every skewer, so the parts facing down brown instead of sitting and stewing in the juices that collect below.
Baked 14 to 16 minutes at 425F turning once until NEARLY cooked, then broiled 2 to 4 minutes until dark char marks form and the chicken reaches 165F - the broiler being a finish, not the cooking. Finished with 2 tbsp of parsley and nothing else: the recipe's last words are do not add sauce or glaze.
Success Tips
- Soak wooden skewers; the broiler is what would otherwise burn them.
- Use a rack so the undersides brown rather than steam.
- Stand at the oven for the broiler minutes — the window between charred and burnt is short.
Serving Ideas
Four servings, two skewers each, in a pale dish — the chicken chunks and their alternating red and yellow pepper, onion and zucchini dark-charred at the edges, glossy with juices and scattered with parsley.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I skip the broiler?
The dark char marks are part of what these skewers look like, and a plain bake does not make them. Two to four minutes at the end is what does.
Does the broiler finish the cooking?
No. It is a finishing step for colour. The chicken is baked to nearly cooked first and must reach 165 degrees Fahrenheit by the end.
Should I brush a glaze on?
No — step 6 rules out sauce and glaze. These are seasoned before threading and finished with parsley only.
