BBQ Chicken Bacon Pineapple Kabobs with tender meat, grilled pineapple and bacon slathered with your favorite BBQ sauce. Ultimate BBQ recipe for grilled chicken kabobs are perfect for your next cookout!
Make this fun, easy chicken kabob recipe for an insanely delicious meal or appetizer. These chicken pineapple kabobs are made easy and include all your favorite summer grilling flavors!
Simple Grilled Dinner Recipe
The kids are out of school in a matter of weeks and we have two subsequent days this week where it will be at least 80 degrees. You know what that means, right?! Summer is almost here! It’s a fun time of year and I always find myself craving those flavorful summer meals. I love everything about these BBQ Chicken Bacon Pineapple Kabobs- the tangy pineapple paired with the smoky bacon and tender chicken. The bacon gets crispy on the edges and tastes SO good. Slather it with your favorite BBQ sauce and dinner is served!
Cooking BBQ chicken kabobs on the grill
When making chicken kabobs, there are several things you can do to make them AMAZING! First, I like to lightly salt and pepper the uncooked chicken. You marinate these kabobs with some of the barbecue sauce to really get the flavors soaked in the chicken. Then, towards the end of the grilling process, you slather on even more barbecue sauce. If you put it all on initially, it will char more than you’d like, since barbecue sauce has a higher sugar content. A little char is delicious, but too much char just tastes burnt!
Why you’ll love Easy Chicken Bacon Kabobs
- Umm, hello, FLAVOR!! Bacon + Chicken + BBQ sauce + Pineapple= HEAVEN! Try it. You’ll love them!
- The recipe comes together fast! This dinner is super simple to pull together, the whole process took about 30 minutes (minus marinating time). Meaning you can have dinner on the table in no time!
- It won’t heat up the house. You make this recipe on the grill, outside and will not add any more heat to your house. Keep the oven off and enjoy the great outdoors while you create a delicious meal.
- It’s family friendly. What young child doesn’t enjoy bacon and BBQ sauce? This dish is a great one to use when you want to please adults, children, or even the pickiest of eaters.
BBQ Chicken Kabob recipe ingredients
Chicken: You will need 2 large boneless skinless chicken breasts, or 3 thighs, for the base of this dinner recipe.
Salt: Adding a few shakes of salt to the chicken and BBQ sauce to add a bit more flavor.
BBQ sauce: Grab a jar of your favorite BBQ sauce, you will need 1 ½ cups to marinade the chicken chunks in before grilling.
Bacon: Use 1 lb of bacon to give this dish even more amazing flavor and added protein.
Fresh pineapple: For more great taste, use fresh pineapple cut into small 1-2″ chunks depending on your preference. You can also use canned pineapple chunks to simplify this recipe even more.
How to make Grilled Chicken Pineapple Kabobs
Marinate
Start by combining the chicken pieces with 1 cup of the BBQ sauce in an airtight container or ziplocked bag and marinate for 2-3 hours. Also add a few pinches of salt to the marinade to help balance the flavors well. This step can be omitted if you’re pressed for time!
Cook bacon
Next, cut the bacon into 2 long pieces and microwave on a paper towel lined plate for 2-5 minutes, depending on the thickness of your bacon and how crispy you like it. Let the bacon cool slightly before assembling kabobs.
Prep
When you are ready to assemble the kabobs, pull out the chicken and slice into cubes that are about 2″ cubes. Also, chop the pineapple into small chunks as well.
Assemble
Proceed to use kabob skewers, then thread the chicken, bacon pieces and pineapple in a pattern. The larger pieces of pineapple are easier to skewer. Fold thin bacon pieces over in half and arrange next to the chicken, being careful to not put the bacon pieces too close to anything else, so that they have space to heat up properly to cook.
Grill
Get the BBQ heating up and then cook the kabobs until the chicken temperature reaches 155-160 degrees F. Before cooking is complete, slather the remaining 1/2 cup of BBQ sauce on the kabobs.
To know when your chicken reaches the right temperature, your best tool is going to be a meat thermometer. My all-time favorite meat thermometer is the Thermapen. It’s super fast and incredibly durable. Another great meat thermometer is the ThermoPop which is a more basic version that works just as well!
Remove the kabobs from the grill and cover them loosely with foil and let sit for 5-10 minutes before serving. Serve and enjoy!
BBQ CHICKEN KABOBS with BACON and PINEAPPLE
Ingredients
- 2 large chicken breasts cut into 1 1/2″ – 2″ chunks, salted lightly
- 1 ½ cups BBQ sauce
- 1 lb bacon cut into 1″- 1 1/2″ segments
- fresh pineapple cut into 2" chunks
Instructions
- Combine chicken pieces with 1 cup of the BBQ sauce and marinate for 2-3 hours. (This step can be omitted if you’re pressed for time!)
- Microwave bacon for 2-5 minutes, depending on the thickness of your bacon and how crispy you like it. Let bacon cool slightly.
- Using wooden skewers previously soaked in water for at least 1 hour (or metal skewers!) thread chicken, bacon pieces and pineapple in a pattern. The larger pieces of pineapple are easier to skewer. Fold thin bacon pieces over in half and arrange next to the chicken, being careful to not put the bacon pieces too close to anything else, so that they have space to heat up properly to cook.
- Grill kabobs until chicken reaches 155-160 degrees F. Slather remaining 1/2 cup of BBQ sauce on kabobs when they’re nearly cooked. Cover loosely with foil and let sit for 5-10 minutes before serving.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
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Tips for assembling chicken bacon kabobs
As you’re threading your kabobs with the chicken, bacon and pineapple, make sure that you don’t pack the ingredients on there too tightly. This is actually the case with most kabobs- you need to leave a bit of “breathing” room in between the pieces so that the heat of the grill can adequately cook each piece of food. This is especially true in this recipe, where you’re cooking bacon and chicken!
What can I serve with these chicken kabobs?
Serve these delicious BBQ Chicken Kabobs with Orange Cream Fruit Salad, Alfredo Potatoes and Garden Vegetable Caprese Salad! I love serving our main dish with these Easy 30-Minute Dinner Rolls too!
Best Kabob Skewers for kabobs
I’ve used wooden skewers before and they work well. Soaking them in water for an hour prior to loading them up with meat is helpful to prevent burning and splintering. I prefer to use stainless steel skewers now though as they’re easier to thread and remove the cooked meat.
Hungry for more? Try some more grilled chicken recipes!
- Easy Teriyaki Chicken Recipe
- Easy Chicken Fried Rice Recipe
- BBQ Chicken with Pineapple Salsa Recipe
- Easy Smoked Chicken Legs Recipe
- Grilled Chicken Salad Recipe
- Greek Chicken Souvlaki Recipe
- Honey Glazed Chicken Wings Recipe
- Sweet and Spicy Grilled Sticky Chicken Recipe
- Ranch Chicken Kabobs Recipe
- Cheesy Grilled Pineapple Chicken Recipe
- BLT Salad Recipe
- Grilled Spatchcock Chicken Recipe
BBQ Chicken Kabobs with tender chicken grilled with pineapple and bacon then slathered with your favorite BBQ sauce. These are the ultimate pineapple chicken kabobs and are perfect for your next cookout!
Kathryn Wakeford says
Won’t make this again. Just an average dish for a boatload of prep.
Jessica says
To each her own, Kathryn.
Margaret Biroschak says
We made your kebabs for a large party this weekend. What a hit! Everyone loved them, and asked for the recipe. It’s really fun to make something and have it turn out just the way it’s supposed to. Super recipe! MargieB.
Nellie says
Margaret – I’m so glad you enjoyed them!
Caran says
Think you could make these without the grill???
Alison says
I’m sure you could do them on an indoor griddle or George Foreman!
Gabe Bennett says
This has quickly become one of our favorite kebab recipes! Bit of prep work involved, but so worth it! In addition to salt (use coarse Kosher salt), I also like to season my chicken pieces (I use boneless, skinless chicken tenderloins cut into 3 equal pieces) with garlic powder (garlic is essential for good barbecue, IMO), onion powder and cracked black pepper for extra flavor, before marinating it in the barbecue sauce (Kraft Sweet Honey is a good one!). Also, be sure and use thick cut bacon, as it takes the heat of grilling better. My wife and I can practically eat our weight in these!
Nellie says
Gabe- so glad you love these kabobs as much as we do! Great ideas – yep, the more garlic, the better!
LaSHAWN Garcia says
I served the kanobs with a salad and it was a great hit everyone could not stop complementing on them nor could they stop eating them. Thank you for a new famfav.
Alison says
LaShawn, don’t you love being the hero of the house for making a recipe everyone loves? So glad you all enjoyed these!
Sara says
Made this tonight, and we were too cold to grill outside. Worked perfectly in the broiler!!
Renee Goerger says
Pineapple and chicken are a match made in heaven. These kabobs are my absolute favorites to make for outdoor entertaining!
Noelle says
Pineapple always makes recipes so much better! The flavors in this recipe were great
Rebecca says
I definitely recommend metal skewers. This was a hit when I made it in fall. I used wood skewers and they fell apart even with the soaking. I invested in a bunch of metal ones… We will be making this again this weekend for Mother’s Day!
Meagen Brosius says
These are so tasty! The whole family loved them, we will definitely be making them again.
Shiho says
Such a great recipe! Thank you.
Chuck Hess says
What is the secret to printing out your recipes?
Usually there is a tab that says print. I love your recipes but I would like to be able to print them out.
Jackie says
Can you not cook the bacon first and just cook on the skewer?
Jessica says
It takes longer to cook the bacon than it does to cook the chicken- so if you didn’t pre-cook the bacon somewhat, the chicken would be dried out and likely, the bacon raw in parts and burnt in other parts. 😉
Hollie says
These were amazing! The fresh pineapple juice marinated the chicken thighs I used so quickly that it made for an easy delicious Friday night meal!
Alison says
Thanks Hollie! Glad you enjoyed it!
Mary says
In general, how long do you grill these?
Jessica says
Mine grill for about 10-12 minutes.