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Grilled Chipotle Chicken Skewers with Fresh Pineapple

Skewers with grilled chicken thighs and caramelized pineapple chunks, served
with a smoky chipotle sauce and a sprinkling of finely-sliced chives.
Serves: 20 (scale as desired)

Ingredients

For the Sauce:

  • 4 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce (with 2 Tbsp of the sauce, blended)
  • 1 cup crème fraiche
  • 2 Tbsp mayonnaise of choice
  • ¼ clove garlic (pasted or minced very finely)
  • Zest of 1 lime
  • Juice of ¼ lime
  • ¼ tsp white granulated sugar
  • ¼ tsp or a bit less ground garlic powder
  • A pinch of Kosher salt
  • A plastic piping bag or squeeze bottle (for serving)

For the Pineapple Chicken Skewers:

  • 20 four-inch wooden skewers
  • 24 oz boneless skinless Chicken thighs (brined overnight if possible)
  • 2.5 cups fresh pineapple (cut into bite-sized chunks to fit on skewers, 40 pieces)
  • 2 tsp ground chipotle pepper spice mix
  • 2 tsp ground oregano
  • ½ tsp garlic powder
  • ¼ tsp onion powder
  • ¼ tsp ground cumin
  • ¼ tsp ground cinnamon
  • 2 Tbsp sunflower seed oil or vegetable oil
  • 2 Tbsp fresh chives (finely-sliced, for serving)

Instructions 

For the Sauce:

  • Blend the chipotle peppers with the chipotle sauce, crème fraiche, prepared mayonnaise, and minced garlic.
  • Add the lime zest, lime juice, sugar, garlic powder, and add salt to taste.
  • Transfer the sauce to plastic piping bag or squeeze bottle, for serving later at the event, and chill in the fridge.

For the Pineapple Chicken Skewers:

  • Soak the skewers submerged in water for at least four hours prior to grilling.
  • Brine the chicken thighs overnight in your desired wet or dry brine (see above).
  • Cut the fresh pineapple into bite-sized chunks that will fit on skewers, or roughly 20 large-sized pieces.
  • Preheat your grill to 450˚F.
  • Drain the chicken thighs, unless you are dry brining. Pat the chicken dry with paper towels if using a wet-brine method, and make sure the chicken is dry.
  • Cut the chicken thighs into strips for the skewers, and transfer to a mixing bowl. coat in some ground chipotle pepper spice mix, ground oregano, garlic powder, onion powder, ground cumin, ground cinnamon, and some neutral oil
  • Prepare your chicken skewers with alternating pieces of marinated chicken and fresh pineapple.
  • Grill the chicken skewers until the chicken is cooked, or roughly ten minutes.
  • Top each skewer with a drizzle of the chipotle crème fraiche sauce that you prepared earlier in the squeeze bottle or piping bag, and top with some finely sliced fresh chives.

Notes

You might find brining the chicken thighs to be helpful, as it helps to retain
moisture.