This recipe was inspired by my love for bang bang sauce. It’s creamy with just the right amount of heat and pairs perfectly with chicken. And skewers make serving this meal a breeze! Simply slide those juicy chunks off the skewer and enjoy with a healthy dollop of bang bang sauce and this super fresh avocado cucumber salad.
Looking for More Recipes Like This?
Then try out our Thai Chicken Skewers! They use chicken tenders, making the skewering process super easy! And the dipping sauce is out of this world good.
Key Ingredients & Substitutions
- Chicken breasts: You could easily use chicken thighs here, but I just think chicken breasts are easier to skewer thanks to their uniform shape and texture.
- Mayo: This is the base of your bang bang sauce, but could easily be replaced with plain Greek yogurt or sour cream.
- Thai Sweet Chili Sauce: I absolutely love this stuff and you’ll find it in a bunch of my recipes! It adds a touch of sweetness while still providing a kick of heat from the garlic. Sub with some sriracha plus some honey.
- Chili Garlic Sauce: Love this one too, but if you don’t have it sambal oelek plus some minced garlic will do the trick.
- Rice: We love speeding things up with our instant pot jasmine rice, which includes directions for white and brown rice. You could really swap this for your grain of choice. Coconut quinoa would be a fun way to add more protein!
- Avocado Cucumber Salad: We love this flavor combo with the bang bang sauce and chicken, but use the salsa that you love best here.
How To Make Grilled Bang Bang Chicken Skewers
Start by making your bang bang sauce and avocado cucumber salad and store them in the fridge until you’re ready for dinner.
Soak Your Skewers
If using wooden skewers, be sure to soak them for about 30 minutes prior to grilling. This ensures that they don’t get burnt during the grilling process. Metal skewers will work here too.
Cube up your chicken and let it sit in the soy sauce marinade for 15-20 minutes. Then skewer your chicken.
Grill up those skewers!
Assemble them over a bed of rice and then add a generous helping of the avocado cucumber salad and bang bang sauce.
What To Serve With Bang Bang Chicken Skewers
I mean, I’m biased, but our avocado cucumber salad is spot on for this recipe. But if those flavors just aren’t your cup of tea, try this with the citrus salsa from our our buttery grilled scallops recipe. Or plain avocado, mango, green onions, edamame, or any other fresh veg will work too.
Recipe FAQs and Tips
- Why do they call it bang bang sauce? This sauce comes from a traditional Chinese street food dish that requires “banging” the chicken as a way to tenderize it.
- Can you make these without skewers? Yup! The chicken chunks can be baked in the oven at 375 for 15-20 minutes or until the internal temp is 165 degrees F. You could also pan fry these if that’s easier.
- What else can you use bang bang sauce on? Oh, I’m so glad you asked, because it’s too good to only use here. We love it on our bang bang shrimp tacos, bang bang salmon rice bowl, and our bang bang chicken bowls.
- Are bang bang chicken skewers spicy? They can be depending on the amount of chili garlic sauce that you use. Scale it up or down depending on your spice preference.
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Grilled Bang Bang Chicken Skewers Recipe
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Marinate Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
- Category: Dinner/Entree
- Method: Grill
- Cuisine: American
Description
These Grilled Bang Bang Chicken Skewers are super simple to make and perfect for an easy weeknight dinner that is full of flavor!
Ingredients
Chicken + Marinade:
- 4 medium boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 1/2 cup soy sauce
- kosher salt and ground black pepper
Bang Bang Sauce:
- 1 cup mayonnaise
- 2 tablespoons Thai sweet chili sauce
- 1 teaspoon chili garlic sauce
Avocado Cucumber Salad:
- 2 medium avocados, diced
- 1 1/2 cups English cucumbers, diced
- 1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
- 1/4 cup red onion, diced
- 2 tablespoons lime juice
- pinch of kosher salt
Serving Suggestion:
- 4 cups cooked rice of your choice
- lime wedges
Tools:
- wooden skewers or metal skewers
Instructions
- Marinate Chicken: Cut chicken breasts into large chunks and place in a large bowl with the soy sauce to marinate for 15-30 minutes.
- Optional Soak for Skewers: If using wooden skewers, be sure to soak them in water for about 30 minutes before cooking.
- Make Sauce: Put all of the Bang Bang Sauce ingredients in a small bowl and mix to combine. Set aside.
- Make Salad: Add all the Avocado Cucumber Salad ingredients to a separate bowl; toss to combine. Set aside.
- Skewer Chicken: Gradually remove one piece of marinated chicken at a time from the marinade and place it on a skewer. Continue adding chicken pieces to a skewer until it is mostly filled. They can be touching but not too over-crowded. Continue this process until all of the chicken has been added to the skewers.
- Grill Chicken: Bring the grill to a medium-high heat and make sure the grill grates are clean. Spray with non-stick cooking spray and cook the chicken skewers over direct heat for about 4-5 minutes on each side. Cook until they reach an internal temperature of 165 degrees F at the thickest part (use a meat thermometer). Remove and let rest for 5-10 minutes.
- Serve: Enjoy a chicken skewer with some of the avocado cucumber salad on rice and a drizzle of bang bang sauce on top!
Notes
- Chicken: option to swap out the chicken breasts for boneless, skinless chicken thighs. You may need to buy more than 4, since they are typically a smaller size.
- No Grill? No problem, simply use a grill pan on the stovetop or cook the chicken bites in a large skillet.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 6 oz
- Calories: 599
- Sugar: 3.3 g
- Sodium: 1033.4 mg
- Fat: 40.2 g
- Carbohydrates: 50.9 g
- Fiber: 5.9 g
- Protein: 11.2 g
- Cholesterol: 29.2 mg
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