Mexican Dry Rub Grilled Chicken Skewers

With just a little bit of prep, and by using mostly pantry ingredients, Mexican Dry Rub Grilled Chicken Skewers are seasoned perfectly and are quite delicious! Use boneless, skinless chicken thighs to make this main super quick and easy. Also, control the spice level and don’t skip the spritz of fresh lime juice!

Mexican Dry Rub Grilled Chicken Skewers are packed with familiar and loved Mexican-inspired flavours. Super easy and fast to prepare, it’s the dry rub mixture that makes all the difference to the overall finished flavour of these chicken bites on a stick. There’s chili, cumin, garlic, and even cayenne pepper! A little spritz of fresh lime juice right over the top before digging in is the way to go – it just can’t be beaten!

FOOD ON STICKS

If there’s one thing that I can never get enough of, it’s food on sticks. What is it about food on sticks that appeals so greatly to the masses? Think of any carnival or summer fair you’ve been to. Now, think about all of those lineups of hungry people at those brightly coloured food trucks. How many of those food trucks serve food on sticks?

Is it a cleanliness issue? Do we love food on sticks because it eliminates the need for us to get our hands dirty? I can certainly see the appeal at a fair or a festival. (We all know there are so many germs on those rides!) Pulling food off of the stick with our teeth certainly helps to keep the germs on our hands from spreading to our food.

PRIMITIVE MAN

I think it goes a little deeper than that. Preparing food on sticks is primitive really. Many, many years ago, before the invention of skillets and grills, meat was mainly cooked on sticks over an open fire. In many cases. that skewered rabbit or chicken was passed around the fire and every family member took a bite to help fill their bellies.

But, we’ve come a long way since mankind needed to cook meat that way. So, why the appeal still? Personally, I think it has continued to maintain its popularity simply because it’s fun. I can remember being a kid and eating those battered hot dogs on a stick and dipping it into ketchup or mustard. It was such a change from the everyday fork and knife routine that I’m not sure if the battered hot dog was as good as it seemed at all or if it was just that it was on a stick!

METAL VS WOODEN SKEWERS

When it comes to thinking about preparing a main such as chicken, pork, tofu, or even seafood, grilling on skewers helps to lower the cooking time. If you use metal skewers, the metal gets hot and helps to cook the inside of the meat, while the outside chars – both of those things together help to lock in moisture, which can easily escape down through the grill if you’re not careful.

I tend to use wooden skewers when cooking meat simply because I cannot seem to source any short metal skewers. I have metal skewers, but they’re quite long and I use them only when grilling vegetables. When grilling vegetables, it’s easy to remove them from the skewer and pile them into a serving bowl. They still look fine; they still have those lovely grill marks; and, of course, they taste great.

Meat, on the other hand, does not have the same appeal when you remove it from the skewer and serve it in a bowl. Leaving the meat on the skewer is a better look for grilled meat. For some reason – even though it still tastes great – it does not look so good when you remove it from the skewer. So, use shorter skewers and serve the meat just like that. Everyone loves to bite or pull the meat from a skewer.

If you’re preparing these Mexican Dry Rub Grilled Chicken Skewers on a grill pan on your stovetop, you can probably skip the part in the recipe card below that tells you to soak the wooden skewers. These chicken skewers don’t take very long at all and will cook quite quickly, so there’s very little risk of a wooden skewer getting scorched or catching on fire.

Preparing these chicken skewers on an outdoor grill though might result in burned skewers. Be sure to soak them if that’s how you plan to grill the chicken. The reason is simple – chicken thighs have some fat on them and on an outdoor flame grill, that fat is going to melt down into the fire. The fire will shoot up and will burn your skewers. It just does not look as presentable with a black stick of charcoal sticking out of your chicken!

MAKE IT MILD OR SPICY

Before you get to the recipe, I wanted to mention that you can increase the heat level in this recipe to suit your personal tastes. To keep the flavour mild, I added only 1/4 teaspoon of cayenne pepper. You certainly add more if you want more heat.

INGREDIENTS NEEDED TO PREPARE THIS RECIPE

The following is a list of the ingredients needed to prepare this recipe. For exact amounts and measurements, refer to the printable recipe card located near the bottom of this post.

THE DRY RUB:

• Sugar – You will need just a little bit of sugar to balance out the strength of the other ingredients in the rub. The sugar will also help with caramelization and charring.
• Chili Powder – Different brands of chili powder have different heat levels. Use one that you know and trust.
• Cumin
• Onion Powder
• Paprika – There are three types of paprika – sweet, smoked, and hot. For this recipe, use sweet or smoked.
• Garlic Powder – Use garlic powder and not granulated garlic. There’s a big difference in the taste!
• Cayenne Pepper – This is optional, but if you don’t mind a little bit of heat, you can always add more if you want. I like a bit, but not extreme.
• Salt 

INGREDIENTS FOR THE CHICKEN:

• Chicken – For best results, use boneless skinless chicken thighs. Lay the chicken flat and cut it into one inch pieces.
• Cooking Oil – Use a light-tasting oil like vegetable, canola, or peanut oil.
• Lime
• Parsley

HOW TO MAKE MEXICAN DRY RUB GRILLED CHICKEN SKEWERS

If you are using wooden skewers, place the skewers into a flat baking dish and cover them with water.  Allow the wooden skewers to soak while you prep the recipe.  If you’re using metal skewers, you do not need to pre-soak. In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the sugar, chili powder, cumin, onion powder, paprika, garlic powder, salt, and cayenne.  Set aside.

In a larger bowl, add the chicken and the dry rub mixture. Toss well to coat.  Rest the chicken in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. Skewer the chicken pieces onto the skewers being careful not to place them on too tightly.  Push the pieces together so that they are touching and flush with each other, but not tight.

While you are skewering the chicken, preheat an indoor grill pan or an outdoor grill to medium heat.  Use a pastry brush to brush the grill with some of the cooking oil. Place the prepared chicken skewers onto the grill pan. Leave about half an inch between each skewer.  Grill for 3-4 minutes per side.  Once done, remove from the grill and garnish with chopped parsley. Serve immediately with lime wedges.

SERVING SUGGESTIONS

When it comes to my Mexican Dry Rub Grilled Chicken Skewers, you cannot go wrong with going all out with a fully inspired Mexican meal. I would suggest serving some cooling sides, like this Mexican Street Corn Pasta Salad – especially if you increased the spice level with extra cayenne in the chicken dry rub! If you want something less carb-laden, you could try my Mexican Corn and Black Bean Salad. It’s made with sour cream, so it will be nice and cool as well.

Rice is good with just about anything, and, whenever I have chicken, I tend to want rice as well. You could most certainly go the plain route with some steamed white rice and just keep it simple, or you can try my Mexican One Pot Instant Rice. I love this stuff! It’s absolutely delicious!

Coleslaw is also quite good with spicy Mexican-inspired chicken. Whenever I think of spicy chicken, I always think of coleslaw. Now, if you were to serve coleslaw with this chicken, I have a few options for you. You can keep up the spiciness with my Jalapeno Buttermilk Ranch Coleslaw, or you could go with a more mild option, like this Homestyle Cream Coleslaw. Either way, it’s going to be a very delicious meal!