Grilled BBQ Chicken With Bacon and Pineapple

 

A note from Jessica: A few months ago, we had a “family girls weekend” (which was awesome), and for afternoon entertainment we did a glorified “show and tell.” We each shared how to do something. I was planning to talk about essential oils, but at the last minute, I gave a little talk on “How To Start A Blog.” Of everyone there, my sister Julie took this speech to heart…and started a blog! Julie is the best cook I know, so I am not surprised that her blog, The Domestic Contessa, is awesome. I told her she would soon pass me by in her expertise, and I’m sure she will. Today she’s sharing an amazing recipe for Grilled BBQ Chicken Skewers With Pineapple and Bacon. Um…YUM. Thanks for sharing, Julie!

Thank you Jessica for letting me guest post today and share this recipe with your readers!

My husband and I have so much in common. In a lot of ways, we are the same person. But… we also have a lot of differences which I think make us the perfect compliment for each other.

He is impulsive and hates to worry about details, while I tend to take my time and over-analyze everything. He likes to relax around the house on weekends, and I am always looking for a project. He likes to eat yummy food, and heaven knows I like to cook it! Most importantly, he’s an excellent griller and while I am awful at grilling, I can prep just about anything for him to throw on the grill.

One of our favorite grilling recipes is Grilled BBQ Chicken Skewers with Pineapple and Bacon. The bacon is sort of woven in between pieces of juicy pineapple and tender chicken with some bell pepper and red onions thrown in for good measure. So you end up with bacon flavor everywhere and sweet barbecue sauce coating each bite – I mean, there is no way this recipe can’t be a winner, right?!

So, I make the skewers and my husband grills them to perfection. These always turn out delicious!

To make these Grilled BBQ Chicken Skewers with Pineapple and Bacon you will need:

2 large chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch cubes

2 large bell peppers, cut into 1-inch pieces

1 red onion, cut into 1-inch pieces

1 cup fresh-cut pineapple chunks,

8 slices of bacon (I prefer the thick slices)

1 cup barbecue sauce, set aside 1/4 cup of so to brush on the skewers as they cook

salt & pepper

Here’s what you do:

Start by prepping all of your ingredients – chopping the bell peppers, onion, pineapple, and chicken into roughly 1-inch pieces. It’s quite a bit of chopping, so I like to cut-up the fresh pineapple the day before to save a little bit of time. Or you can totally buy the cut-up pieces at the store. I just wouldn’t try to substitute canned pineapple chunks, they fall apart too easily in the skewering grilling process.

Get all your ingredients organized and in one place for easy skewer assembly. I like to put all my ingredients on a big cutting board and line a rimmed baking sheet with foil (for easy cleanup).

 

I either use wooden skewers that I have soaked in water or metal skewers. Start by threading a little piece of onion on the skewer to hold the bacon in place, and then just alternate ingredients… onion – bacon – bell pepper – chicken – pineapple – onion – bacon… you get the idea:) You can do whatever order you want, just make sure that the bacon is wrapped throughout the skewer evenly. As it cooks it will impart some delicious flavor to the chicken and other ingredients.

I would have taken a picture as I was making these… but I have a paranoia about raw meat. Even though I washed my hands about 80 times while making these, I was still nervous about getting salmonella on my camera, so I decided to wait until after I had a few assembled to shoot a picture.

 

Sometimes, I marinate the chicken in the barbecue sauce a few hours before I assemble the skewers and sometimes I brush the assembled skewers with barbecue sauce before grilling. It’s totally up to you. Today, I drizzled the finished skewers with sauce and then brushed it into all the little crevices.

 

Another reason I love this recipe: you can make the skewers a few hours ahead of time and have them all ready to throw on the grill. I usually let mine hang out in the fridge for about 4 hours before grilling.

In our house, my husband (the excellent griller) takes it from here. The secret to the most delicious chicken skewers is cooking them quickly on a nice hot grill – this holds in the moisture and makes the meat tender. If you are using charcoal, you want cook over direct heat with the lid off over a layer of hot, gray coals. For a gas grill, you will high heat as well and the skewers will cook a little bit faster and more evenly if you try to keep the lid closed as much as possible. matter what method you use, you will want to brush the skewers with a little extra barbecue sauce while grilling to keep them moist and help them caramelize nicely. Be sure to rotate the skewers, cooking on all 4 sides, for about 2-3 minutes a side.

 

Remove from the grill and let the skewers rest for a few minutes before you enjoy. My favorite way to serve these skewers is with to combine a little bit of chopped up cilantro with sour cream and a splash of lime juice. It’s the perfect compliment;)

 

Hope you are able to take advantage of the gorgeous spring weather and do some grilling! And I hope you enjoy this recipe!

 

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