How to make PERFECT JUICY Chicken Kebabs

oh that was juicy if anyone ever tells you you can't make juicy chicken kebabs at home send them this video because i've got an amazing technique that will give you perfect chicken kebabs and it only takes 25 to 30 minutes [Music] so there are three variables you need to consider when making chicken kebabs that directly affect how juicy it is what cut off chicken you're using what you'll marinade it with and the method you'll use for cooking each of these directly affects how flavorful how juicy and how quick your chicken is so choose whatever works for you the first point you need to consider is the cut of chicken most people prefer chicken breasts and while they do work in chicken kebabs they can be a bit difficult to cook that's because they have very little internal fat so if you slightly overcook them you'll end up with dry kebabs they are however great for getting even portions and if you have a thermometer like this you can get around the overcooking issue chicken thighs on the other hand are a lot more convenient their fat content ensures they stay juicy and even if they are slightly overcooked they'll be nice and moist i always use chicken thighs when making chicken kebabs at home mainly because i can just throw them in the oven and no matter what they'll be juicy the second point is how you'll marinate your meat in the middle east we have two common marinade bases one is minced onion and the other is yoghurt the reason we use these is because they are able to tenderize meat and they help the flavors of the marinade penetrate deeper i'll suggest that if you are on a strict schedule use both of them together to speed up the marinade process the longer you marinate these the more flavor and juice your chicken will have but even 10 to 30 minutes will work amazingly on the chicken third we've got the method of cooking i think the child flavor is essential for it to be called the kebab a good charcoal or gas grill will do wonders but you can still get a decent kebab in your home kitchen the simplest way is to use a pan set to a super high heat and that should char your chicken but i find the direct contact with the pan makes the exterior a little dry my preferred method is to grill or broil the kebabs in my home oven the first way to do this is to skewer the meat and suspend it across the tray while broiling this cooks the kebab using the direct heat of the broiler while avoiding the contact heat you'd get from the chicken sitting on a tray this also stops the chicken from sitting in a load of its own juices which practically makes it impossible to char this technique will take about 13 minutes but the faster method takes only 10 minutes and produces better results for this you'll replace the skewers with a wire rack for the chicken to sit on this will also stop the chicken from sitting in its juices and will prevent most of the direct heat transfer you get from a pan and with the larger surface area you'll also get even better charring than the skewers with those factors in mind here's a few recipes i like to use for juicy weeknight kebabs the first is a marinade for iranian juja kebab which is made with saffron and lime saffron is the world's most expensive spice but luckily a tiny amount goes a long way and you can get small amounts for a fair price grind a pinch of saffron or about 24 threads in a pestilent motor with a quarter of a teaspoon of salt once that has completely turned into a powder pour in one to two tablespoons of boiling water and mix until you are left with a golden mixture like this now in a bowl add two tablespoons of yogurt one teaspoon of salt half a teaspoon of pepper and a quarter of turmeric add in the zest of a whole lime followed by two tablespoons of olive oil and the juice of the lime pour in the saffron water from earlier then add 1 clove of minced garlic now all you need to do is thoroughly mix this together until you are left with a smooth marinade like this we're now going to add a sliced onion and this in theory should help with the marination but i think the juice of an onion would be better if you're doing this in a rush finally i'll add in 500 grams of prepared chicken thighs or breasts i'm preparing the thighs by trimming the excess fat then because they were medium sized i split them into three pieces along the naturally occurring seams for smaller thighs like these i sliced them directly in half and these are the perfect size pieces for chicken and kebabs i mix these with the marinade and when they were evenly coated i let them hang out in the fridge for a short while to marinade of course if you are on a time budget give these at least 10 minutes to marinate on your kitchen counter but a few hours or an overnight marinade will do wonders for these kebabs i'm serving the kebabs with some persian restaurant style rice and if you start this before making the marinade you'll have the whole dish done in half an hour thoroughly wash two cups of basmati rice then add to a pot with two tablespoons of oil fry the rice in the oil for about two minutes until shiny then add in one and a half teaspoons of salt pour in enough water to submerge the rice by one centimeter then bring to a boil on high heat once it has boiled cover the pot and let it boil on medium high for about two to three minutes or until the water has dropped below the surface of the rice now turn the heat to low and let this steam for 20 minutes while it's steaming make some more saffron liquid to color and flavor the rice when the rice is done steaming use a fork to fluff it up and let it steam with the lid off for another minute take about a cup of the rice and mix it with the golden saffron liquid then you can add this back to your rice and mix also as is personally i find this rice super addictive and when paired with the chicken it is the perfect side dish for this juja kebab i'm using the skewer method first you'll need an oven tray or baking dish and the deeper this is the better you'll also need some skewers and usually these round metal or wooden ones are what you'll find i would recommend picking up some flat skewers like these if you plan on making kebabs often because they don't spin in the meat when rotating finally ensure you find skewers that can sit across your entire tray as you want to avoid the meat touching the tray as much as possible now remove the onions from the chicken then load it onto your skewers folding each piece of chicken in half before skewering once you've filled your skewers add a second one through the chicken and this will give us some extra control versus a single round skewer one last thing to do is to make sure your chicken isn't all bunched up the pieces can touch but try not to squish them together otherwise they'll take longer to cook finally i also added another skewer with some thick slices of tomato this tray went into my oven sitting right underneath the broiler set to high and after 10 minutes it came out looking like this now obviously my tray isn't really deep enough for this method but it still had a great amount of char and was well cooked i flipped the chicken then put the tray back into the oven for three more minutes and then it emerged perfectly grilled like this you've got some good char on the chicken and is absolutely dripping in juice which to me is the sign of a perfect kebab plate this up with the persian rice and i doubt anyone will believe how quick this was to make the next recipe is more of a generic marinade technique and this is the one i use when i have no time to prepare at all place a chopped onion into a blender or food processor with two cloves of garlic and two tablespoons of olive oil blend this together until you're left with a delicious onion smoothie now you can add whatever spices you want to flavor the chicken and i went with some sumac oregano a leopard pepper and black pepper and of course one teaspoon of salt to make this even more convenient i place my chicken in a ziploc bag poured the marinade in then massage this into the chicken until it was well coated if i know i'll be having a busy week i'll make this on the weekend then freeze the marinated chicken until the day before it's needed now i'm not the biggest fan of this cooking technique but you can cook these in a pan with a small amount of oil any marinade still on the chicken at this point will probably burn and char like this but honestly it doesn't taste burnt it just tastes of cooked onion and spices the other recipe i wanted to show you is this turkish style grilled chicken which is super quick to make put an onion into a blender or food processor process it into a fine paste then squeeze in a sieve or cheesecloth so all you are left with is the onions juices this is the most concentrated way to marinate with onion and if you were to combine this with yogurt it would be super effective so combine the onion juice with two tablespoons of yogurt then add one teaspoon of salt 1 teaspoon of black pepper and half a teaspoon of cumin now add a tablespoon each of red pepper paste and tomato paste but if you don't have the pepper paste just double the tomato finally add a quarter cup of olive oil and 2 cloves of minced garlic then mix this together until you've got a smooth marinade i added in 500 grams of chicken thighs then mixed it until every single thigh was thoroughly coated like the first kebab let this sit for at least 10 minutes but a few hours in the fridge will take this to the next level this time i decided to show you my lazy grilling technique for which i placed a wire rack over an oven tray i brushed this with some vegetable oil to stop the chicken from sticking then i just laid the chicken pieces on there leaving small gaps and it was ready to go into the oven because the pieces are spread out they cook quicker and so after eight minutes they came out looking like this i flipped them over then they went back in for another two to three minutes and when they came out they were looking perfectly charred to serve alongside this i took some plain flatbeds and made an oily spice rub using aleppo pepper paprika sumac and oregano now i brush this onto the bread before toasting it for a few minutes if you want the version of this that isn't almost burnt check out this video where i show you how to make it as well as the perfect yogurt and cucumber dip i also made a quick takeaway style garlic sauce by microwaving a garlic clove for 20 seconds to remove the raw garlic flavor then i combine it with two tablespoons of mayonnaise two tablespoons of yogurt and a quarter teaspoon each of salt oregano and mint finally i added a tablespoon of lemon juice and then mix this together into a quick garlic sauce i plated this with a simple red onion parsley and sumac salad and this plate right here is the weeknight dish of dreams this is one of my go-to quick meals and with how little work it requires i'm sure you'll be making this all the time i can guarantee you you've never had homemade chicken kebabs this juicy they are just oozing with flavor and you need to go try them right away now click here to see my other favorite way of grilling chicken [Music]

Channel: Middle Eats

Views: 805,814

Keywords: Chicken Kebab, Chicken Kebab Recipe, Chicken Kebabs, Middle Eats, homemade kebab, homemade kebab chicken, iranian chicken kebab, iranian kebab, joojeh kabab, kebab at home, kebab in oven, middle eastern cuisine, middle eastern food, middle eastern kebab marinade, middle eastern kebab recipe, middle eastern kebabs, turkish chicken kebab recipe, turkish kebab chicken, turkish kebab in oven, turkish kebab recipe chicken

Id: re-c54S6--o

Length: 8min 53sec (533 seconds)

Published: Sun Nov 14 2021