Chicken Teriyaki Kabobs with Fried Rice

Happy Unofficial Kabob Week! You’re right, I completely made that up…but I’m celebrating it anyway.  The last thing I feel like doing in this summer heat is turning on my oven, so I wanted to share a few of my favorite grilled kabob dinners with you this week – starting with these Chicken Teriyaki Kabobs and Fried Rice!

One of the things I love most about this recipe is the Teriyaki Sauce. It’s made with pineapple juice and low sodium soy sauce for a healthier spin on a traditional favorite. But trust me, you’ll never miss the extra sugar and salt – this recipe is full of flavor!

Everything about this recipe is simple and straightforward, let’s get started!

Marinating the Chicken

Start by cutting boneless chicken breasts or thighs into 1″ pieces and throwing them in a quick marinade. You will notice this marinade doesn’t have any sugar in it. That’s because sugar and high heat grilling can cause the outside of meat to burn before the inside is cooked through. So instead of adding sugar into the initial marinade, I like to baste the kabobs with teriyaki sauce in the last few minutes of grilling. But we’ll get more into that later!

After the chicken has marinated in the fridge for a few hours, go ahead and thread the chicken onto skewers just before grilling. I prefer metal skewers when grilling kabobs for a few reasons.

First of all, metal skewers are reusable. So even though there is a little more cost associated up front with buying the skewers, you will never have to buy them again. Secondly, they don’t catch on fire while grilling or leave fragments of wood behind in the cooked food. But if you already have a stash of wooden skewers at home, don’t throw them out. Just be sure to soak them in water for about an hour before using to avoid flare-ups on the grill.

If you’re in the market for some metal skewers, these are the ones I like to use: https://www.amazon.com/Norpro-1934-Stainless-14-Inch-Skewers/dp/B002YFV90Y/ref=sr_1_5?dchild=1&keywords=metal+skewers&qid=1595786164&sr=8-5

Teriyaki Sauce

As I mentioned earlier, one of the things I love most about this sauce is that part of the sugar is subbed out for pineapple juice resulting in more flavor and less sugar. Win-win! I also substitute regular soy sauce for low-sodium soy sauce. I’ve never missed the extra salt or sugar in this recipe.

Grilling the Kabobs

Grilling the kabobs is pretty straight forward. Heat your grill to high heat and let the kabobs cook 5-10 minutes, until cooked through. Be sure to flip the kabobs halfway through to ensure they are evenly cooked. As I mentioned earlier, I also baste the chicken with some teriyaki sauce in the last few minutes of grilling. This step is done towards the end of cooking because sugar burns at high temperatures and that can lead to undercooked chicken and a burned exterior.

Whenever basting meat while grilling, it’s important to avoid cross contamination with the sauce and raw meat. So I like to pour a little of the marinade in a small bowl for basting the chicken while it cooks, and to leave the rest of the sauce untouched for passing at the table while serving dinner.

Fried Rice

Since I don’t thread any vegetables onto the skewers with the chicken, I like to serve these Chicken Teriyaki Kabobs over a bed a fried rice, with more teriyaki sauce spooned over the top.

Fried rice is one of those recipes that is so simple it almost doesn’t need a recipe, but here is a quick tutorial on how I make my favorite fried rice.

Start with 5 cups of cooked and cooled rice (recipe below on how to cook plain rice). I like to make a pot of rice in the morning while I marinate my chicken and put it all in the fridge together. This gives the chicken time to absorb flavor and the rice time to cool down for making the fried rice later on.

In a large nonstick skillet, fry two beaten eggs in a little vegetable oil.

Remove the egg from the pan and add a little more oil. To the shimmering oil, add the chopped green onions, frozen peas and carrots, and cooked rice. Cook over medium high heat until the veggies are soft and the rice is toasty.

Add back in the egg and the soy sauce.

Stir until all the veggies and soy sauce are well distributed throughout the rice. Add more soy sauce if needed.

Be sure to spoon the reserved teriyaki sauce over the rice and kabobs just before serving. Enjoy!!

Chicken Teriyaki Kabobs with Fried Rice

Marinade:

3 pounds boneless chicken breasts or thighs, cut into 1″ pieces
4 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce
3 tablespoons oil
1 tablespoon sesame oil

Teriyaki Sauce:

2/3 cup low sodium soy sauce
1 cup pineapple juice
8 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
4 teaspoons cornstarch

Fried Rice:

5 cups cooked and cooled rice* (measured after cooking, not before)
2 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
2 eggs, beaten
2 stalks green onion, sliced thin
1 cup frozen pease and carrots
2 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce

Directions

For the Chicken Kabobs:

Place the chicken pieces and marinade together in a gallon sized ziplock baggie and let marinade in the fridge for several hours. Remove chicken pieces from marinade and thread onto reusable metal skewers (or wood skewers that have been soaked for 60 minutes, to avoid flareups on the grill).

Heat grill to high and cook kabobs until cooked through to 165 F. This only takes 5-10 minutes on a really hot grill so don’t go too far. Pour a small amount of teriyaki sauce in a bowl for brushing over the kabobs in the last few minutes of cooking.

Please don’t baste the undercooked chicken with sauce from the same bowl you will be using for serving later on or it could contaminate the sauce and potentially lead to food poisoning.

For the Teriyaki Sauce:

Combine all ingredients in a small stock pot and bring to a boil over medium-low heat. Stir until thickened. Brush over kabobs in the last few minutes of grilling and save the rest for spooning over rice and chicken when serving.

For the Fried Rice:

Place 1 tablespoon of oil in the bottom of a large non-stick frying pan. Fry eggs. Remove eggs. Add 1 tablespoon of oil, the rice, frozen veggies, and green onion. Fry until everything is heated and cooked through. Add back in the egg and the 2 tablespoons of soy sauce.

*To cook rice on stovetop: Bring 2 cups of rice, 3 cups of water, and 1 1/2 teaspoons of kosher salt to a boil in a medium sized saucepan. Once boiling, turn heat down to simmer, and cover. Stir occasionally if needed. Cook about 20 minutes until rice is tender and fluffy.

Pass the Chicken Kabobs and Fried Rice with plenty of sauce for spooning over the top. Enjoy!!