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The flavors of these Grilled Sesame Chicken Skewers are outstanding and you’ll be wanting this one on repeat for the rest of the summertime!!!
One of my favorite Asian-American dishes is sesame chicken. I love its bold sesame flavor along with its subtle sweetness. I love making it as a weeknight stir fry like I do here, but here, I’ve taken inspiration from the dish and turned it into a summer-time skewer!
I love serving my Grilled Sesame Chicken Skewers over this ginger-scallion scented rice (which is incredible) but if you want to keep things Whole30 compliant, you can serve it with some cauliflower rice, over a simple salad, or keep it simple with some roasted veggies!
Grilled Sesame Chicken Skewers
Ingredients
For the Sauce:
- 1/4 cup coconut aminos
- 2 tbsp ketchup I use Primal Kitchens
- 1 tbsp rice vinegar
- 1 tsp fish sauce
- 2 tsp toasted sesame oil
- 1/2 tsp tapioca starch
- 1/4 cup chicken broth
- 1 tbsp avocado oil
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tsp ginger, finely grated
- 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
For the Grilled Sesame Chicken Skewers:
- 6 [10-inch] wood skewers, pre-soaked
- 2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken thighs, excess fat trimmed and cut into 1 inch cubes
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 2 green onions, thinly sliced on the diagonal (green parts only) for serving
- 1/2 tsp toasted sesame seeds for serving
Instructions
For the Sauce:
- In a bowl, combine the coconut aminos, ketchup, rice vinegar, fish sauce, sesame oil, broth and tapioca startch. Whisk to combine and set aside.
- In a small sauce pan, over medium heat, add the avocado oil. Once hot, add garlic, ginger and red pepper flakes. Cook, stirring, for 2 minutes, being careful not to burn.
- Add the coconut aminos mixture to the sauce pan and stir to combine. Cook, simmering and stirring often, until the sauce thickens, about 4 minutes. Once the sauce has thickened, remove from the heat and set aside to cool.
For the Grilled Sesame Chicken Skewers:
- Cube and place the chicken in a bowl. Season with salt and pepper.
- Once the sauce has cooled, add 1/4 cup to the chicken and let marinade for at least one hour or all day in the fridge, reserving the remaining sauce for serving.
- Preheat grill to medium-high heat (about 400-450 degrees F). When grill is hot, place the skewers on the grill and cook for 7-8 minutes, flipping every 3-4 minutes, until chicken is cooked through and nice grill marks have formed.
- Place cooked chicken skewers on a tray. With the remaining sauce, brush the skewers on all sides.
- Serve alone or with rice. I served mine with my Ginger Scallion Rice (recipe follows). [To keep it Whole30, serve with veggies or cauliflower rice.] Garnish with green onions and sesame seeds. Enjoy!
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Ginger-Scallion Rice
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp avocado oil
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tsp peeled and finely grated ginger (about 1/2 inch knob ginger)
- 2/3 cup green onion, thinly sliced on the diagonal, white and light green parts only (about 4 green onions)
- 1 cup white jasmine rice
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1.5 cups chicken or vegetable broth (you can also use water)
- 1/4 cup thinly sliced green onions, green part only , for serving
Instructions
- Heat oil in a pot with a tight fitting lid over medium heat. Add the garlic, ginger and green onion and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes, until fragrant.
- Add the rice and cook, stirring, until lightly toasted and fragrant, about 4 minutes.
- Add the salt and the broth and stir to combine. Bring rice to a boil. Once boiling, reduce heat to a simmer. Cover with a tight fitting lid and let cook for 15 minutes. Remove from heat and keep covered for an additional 10 minutes. Remove lid and fluff rice with a fork.
- Stir in the remaining green onions and serve immediately.
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Simply wow. I made both recipes, the rice and chicken. The only thing I changed was I used chicken breast instead of thighs. I’m having to a void gluten and dairy for 6 weeks and find myself making many defined dish recipes. This one was AMAZING. I can’t wait to make it again. Even the rice was great. I was thinking how much better could it be than just cooking it in a rice cooker? Oh man it was so flavorful. I’m trying to make the things I can eat more flavorful and interesting to make up for having to avoid so much and this really hit the spot
I loved this recipe!! Easy to prepare and so delicious and only needs a 1 hour marinade time. My family likes this marinade so much, I will use it for chicken breasts on the grill too.
Delicious and simple recipe! Perfect for summer. Made on my cast iron inside vs a grill and it turned out great.
This is amazing! It will definitely be on the weekly summer menu!
Can I bake the chicken instead of grilling it?
We love kabobs and changing it up for these chicken skewers with grilled veggies did not disappoint! I had everything but the fresh ginger on hand so I just went without it. So easy and tasty! Thanks Alex.
This is one of our top 3 fav DD recipes! The rice is insane. Everything about the recipe is so smart and delish! Thanks Alex!!
So happy you love them. It’s one of my sneaky favorites, too!
I think this may be my favorite DD recipe now! Almost a way better version of the Benihana chicken. Nom nom. Thank you!
I finally caved and started cooking for myself and husband. This is week two of cooking dinner and he is OBSESSED! Thank you for these recipes. SO wonderful!
yay! so glad you caved and you are enjoying it!!! 🙂 Keep it up! xoxo
Can I substitute tamari for coconut aminos and in what ratio would you substitute? I love coconut aminos but have run out and am hoping I can substitute Tamari. Thank you in advance.
I’m SO excited to see the automatic recipe-conversion for serving size!!! I have painstakingly gone through all of my favorite DD recipes and converted them to 6 serving sizes. This will make prep so much faster!
yay!! So glad you like the upgrade.
We LOVE LOVE LOVE this recipe! My fiancé requests it every week, so it is now a staple meal in our household. 😋
it’s one of my faves!!!