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    Home » Recipes » Main Dishes » Chicken

    BBQ Chicken Kebabs with a Spicy Bacon Rub

    Published by Melissa on June 8, 2012 | Updated June 10, 2022 | 36 Comments

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    BBQ Chicken Kebabs with a Spicy Bacon Rub

    Slathering on a spicy bacon rub before grilling chicken kebabs not only gives them a wonderful smokey flavor, it also keeps the chicken moist and tender. 

    Cook’s Illustrated sent me an email with a link to their Barbecued Chicken Kebabs recipe. What’s unique about their recipe is it’s smeared with spicy bacon paste before grilling.

    BBQ-Chicken-Kebabs-with-a-Spicy-Bacon-Rub-collage-Barbara-Bakes

    The flavor of these kebabs was fantastic. Cook’s recommended using chicken thighs, but chicken breasts would have been much easier to cube and put on skewers.

    I changed up the spices because I don’t like paprika. Also, Cook’s made their own barbecue sauce, but I took the easy way out and just used my favorite BBQ sauce. If you like to grill chicken, give this one a try.

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    BBQ Chicken Kebabs with a Spicy Bacon Rub

    Prep Time45 mins
    Cook Time10 mins
    Total Time55 mins
    Course: Chicken
    Keyword: Chicken, cooking, food, recipe
    Servings: 10 -12 kebabs
    Author: Barbara Schieving
    Prevent your screen from going to sleep

    Ingredients

    • 3 lbs. boneless skinless chicken breasts or thighs, cut into 1-inch cubes
    • 1 tablespoon kosher salt
    • 1 tablespoon chili powder
    • 1 tablespoon lemon pepper
    • 2 tablespoons sugar
    • 3 slices bacon uncooked, cut into ½-inch pieces
    • ½ cup of your favorite BBQ sauce
    • 10-12 12- inch metal skewers

    Instructions

    • In a large Ziploc bag, mix chicken and salt and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or up to 1 hour.
    • Heat grill to high. While grill heats, pat chicken dry with paper towels.
    • Pulse bacon in food processor until it forms a smooth paste, about 30 to 45 seconds, scraping down bowl occasionally.
    • In a small bowl, mix together chili powder, lemon pepper and sugar. Add spices to bacon paste and mix well.
    • Using your hands, coat chicken with spicy bacon paste. Thread chicken onto skewers.
    • Place kebabs on grill and cook turning occasionally, until well browned on all sides, about 10 minutes. During the last few minutes of cooking, brush kebabs with BBQ sauce and continue to cook until brown in spots and instant-read thermometer inserted in center of meat registers 160 degrees for breasts and 175 degrees for thighs.
    • Remove kebabs from grill and let rest for 5 minutes. Serve with additional BBQ sauce if desired.

    Notes

    Adapted from Cook's Illustrated

    More BBQ recipes you might like:

    Orange Teriyaki Chicken Kabobs, Barbara Bakes
    Spicy Grilled Pork Tenderloin, Barbara Bakes
    The Secret to Grilled Babyback Spare Ribs, Foodie Crush
    Lemon Herb BBQ Chicken, Picky Palate
    Grillin’ Recipe Contest Winners, The Pioneer Woman Cooks

    BBQ-chicken-kabobs- collage -Barbara-Bakes

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    About Melissa & Barbara

    As of June 2022 Melissa Griffiths now is the one adding recipes. So think of it as Barbara Bakes, and Melissa too! Melissa and Barbara have been blogging friends for over 10 years and when Barbara was ready to retire and spend more time with her family, Melissa took over the site. Read more...

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      Recipe Rating




    1. matt schneider

      January 31, 2014 at 8:24 pm

      Thanks for this great looking recipe. I love the idea of making a bacon paste and using it as part of the rub. I can only imagine the possibilities that you could do with a bacon rub. I bet it would be good with pork too.

      Reply
    2. Adrienne @ Whole New Mom

      January 14, 2014 at 11:31 am

      YUM! Pinning! Found this on Ahalogy!

      Reply
    3. tonya

      March 22, 2013 at 7:39 am

      I tried this last night on turkey thighs in the oven. I put some under the skin and on the out side. was delish!! however i found it sticky and hard to get to coat. I thought i could be thin down some any ideas?

      Reply
      • Barbara Schieving

        March 22, 2013 at 7:54 am

        Hi Tonya – what a great idea to add flavor to turkey thighs. The bacon rub shouldn’t be sticky. You don’t add the BBQ sauce to the rub. The bacon rub can be difficult to spread, but just make sure the bacon forms a paste and then use your fingers to spread it. I guess if you wanted to thin out the rub just a bit, you could try adding a tablespoon of chicken broth and pulse it in with the bacon in the food processor. Thanks for the question!

        Reply
    4. Courtney G.

      March 21, 2013 at 7:25 pm

      I made this tonight. Very delicious. It was snowing so I did bake it. Great recipe. Not very spicy, perfect for whole family!

      Reply
      • Barbara Schieving

        March 21, 2013 at 8:28 pm

        Thanks Courtney for letting me know you enjoyed them!

        Reply
    5. Aggie

      June 26, 2012 at 10:51 am

      Wow, a bacon rub! I bet these were a hit! They look great!

      Reply
    6. Chung-Ah | Damn Delicious

      June 12, 2012 at 11:14 pm

      Oh man you had me at “spicy bacon rub.”

      Reply
    7. sally @ sally's baking addiction

      June 12, 2012 at 3:23 pm

      I think I found my next BBQ recipe – this looks amazing Barbara. Bacon rub sounds incredible!

      Reply
    8. Susan

      June 11, 2012 at 3:14 pm

      This do sound amazing – especially with that bacon rub! They look grilled to perfection too.

      Reply
    9. Tracey

      June 11, 2012 at 12:50 pm

      Oooh, I adore this recipe! It’s such a great trick with the bacon.

      Reply
    10. kelley {mountain mama cooks}

      June 11, 2012 at 7:30 am

      Be still my bacon beating heart, these are genius!!!! Can’t wait to try these!

      Reply
    11. Baker Street

      June 10, 2012 at 9:11 pm

      WOW! A bacon rub sounds fantastic! Surely must have added a great flavor to the kebabs!

      Reply
    12. Jamie

      June 10, 2012 at 9:10 am

      Wowee do these look good! And bacon really adds fabulous flavor to any barbecue sauce. Now I only wish I had a barbecue.

      Reply
    13. My Inner Chick

      June 10, 2012 at 12:19 am

      OMggggggg, you had me on Bacon, Honey. WOwwwww.

      Reply
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