Coconut Lime Chicken Skewers

These marinated and grilled Coconut Lime Chicken Skewers are full of Thai flavors! Serve them over cilantro coconut rice for an easy and delicious dinner. 

My disappointment in the number of pumpkin recipes I’m seeing on Pinterest continues. It’s like this every year and it’s beyond annoying. I’m continuing with my “summer forever” mentality and sharing another grilled chicken skewer recipe with you. Today’s flavor is Thai inspired and I know you’ll love these Coconut Lime Chicken Skewers!

I know that marinating meat takes extra time, but in my opinion it’s the best way to add a ton of flavor to your protein along with tenderizing it. Chicken breasts, which are what I used for this recipe, are notorious for drying out on the grill. However, marinating them will grant you some forgiveness. For tips on how to grill chicken breasts check out my recipe for Grilled Rosemary Chicken Salad with Honey Mustard Dressing. 

The marinade for this chicken has a ton of flavor in it without a ton of ingredients. Coconut milk, lime juice, red curry paste, fresh ginger, garlic and cilantro are all you need. The coconut milk is great for tenderizing the chicken while the remaining ingredients pack in all that Thai flavor. There’s a lot of coconut milk to choose from out there, so if you lost and need guidance picking one out, read this blog post on canned coconut milk.

Can I Use Lite Coconut Milk?

If you don’t want to use full fat coconut milk you can use a lite version, but I find that the full fat has more flavor and creaminess than the lite. As a rule of thumb, that’s typically the case with any full fat versus reduced or fat free products. I realize though that everyone’s needs and tastes are different, so do what’s best for you.

Once the chicken has marinated for at least an hour or up to overnight, all you need to do is skewers the meat and grill it. Chicken skewers cook fast depending on how big your chunks of chicken are. For me, it usually takes about 3-4 minutes per side and they’re done. 

Now that the skewers are ready, let’s talk about the coconut rice that you should definitely make to have with them. This rice is based off of the rice I made for these Jerk Chicken Bowls with Pineapple Black Bean Salsa. The only changes I made were to omit the coconut oil, used Jasmine rice instead of brown rice and added lime zest and juice. Either version is delicious, feel free to use whichever one you prefer.

What Vegetable Side Dish or Salad Can I Serve with This?

You probably noticed a lack of vegetables in this recipe, which isn’t something I usually do. You could of course add some to the chicken skewers. I recommend onion, zucchini, bell peppers or even pineapple. If you keep the skewers as I made them, then here are some sides and salads that would be great to serve on the side.

1. Thai Noodle Salad with Cashew Carrot Ginger Sauce. Omit making the rice if you plan to serve this.
2. Crunch Thai Cucumber Salad
3. Asian Cucumber Sesame Salad
4. Asian Coleslaw

More Chicken Skewers

Greek Lemon Chicken Skewers

Jerk Chicken Skewers with Mango Habañero Sauce

Hawaiian Chicken Skewers with Cilantro Coconut Rice

Coconut Lime Chicken Skewers

Yield: 4-5 servings

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 40 minutes

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Ingredients

Coconut Lime Chicken Skewers

• 1 1/4 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 cup coconut milk
• 1 lime
• 2 teaspoon red curry paste
• 1 clove of garlic
• 1 teaspoon grated ginger
• 1/4 cup chopped cilantro

Coconut Rice

• 1 cup uncooked rice
• 1 cup coconut milk
• 1 cup water
• 1 green onion
• 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
• 1 lime

Instructions

1. Combine all of the ingredients for the chicken marinade in a bowl or freezer bag. Add in the chunks of chicken and massage the marinade into the chicken. Cover the bowl or seal the bag and refrigerate for at least an hour or overnight.
2. Preheat grill to medium-high heat and oil the grates. Thread the chicken onto metal or wooden (soak overnight if using wooden) skewers. Place the chicken skewers onto the grill and cook for approximately 3-4 minutes depending on the size of your chunks then flip them over and grill another 3-4 minutes or until cooked through.
3. While the chicken is grilling make the rice. Add the rice, coconut milk, water, green onion, cilantro, salt and pepper to a medium sized saucepan. Stir together. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat to simmer and cover with a lid. Cook the rice for 15 minutes. Remove from the heat leaving the lid on and let it steam for 10 minutes. Add in the lime zest and juice and fluff with a fork.
4. Serve the chicken skewers with the rice and garnish with cilantro and a drizzle of sriracha if desired.

Notes

I like to drizzle the chicken skewers with sriracha for extra spice and flavor.

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 5 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 502 Total Fat: 22g Saturated Fat: 14g Trans Fat: 0g Unsaturated Fat: 5g Cholesterol: 96mg Sodium: 145mg Carbohydrates: 38g Net Carbohydrates: 0g Fiber: 1g Sugar: 1g Sugar Alcohols: 0g Protein: 40g