These Bacon-Wrapped Teriyaki Chicken Skewers are one of my favorite OG Our Best Bites recipes. This is one of my favorite fun foods, especially because you can serve it as an appetizer or as a meal. It’s a twist on Teriyaki chicken and you’re going to be pretty hard-pressed to find people, especially men, unimpressed by meat wrapped in meat and then grilled.
Ingredient Notes
- Metal or bamboo skewers – Remember bamboo skewers will need to soak for 30 minutes before grilling so they can handle the heat. I prefer metal skewers with handles. The handles stick out of the grill so they are easy to turn and handle.
- Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breast
- Bacon – Use thin-sliced bacon. Thick bacon will not stay wrapped around the chicken as well and won’t cook up as well.
- Pineapple Chunks – I just use canned pineapple chunks, but feel free to try fresh if you’d like.
- Teriyaki Sauce
- Soy Sauce (I prefer low sodium)
- Sugar
- Apple Cider Vinegar
- Fresh Garlic
- Dried Ginger
- Black Pepper
How to Make Bacon-Wrapped Teriyaki Chicken Skewers
- Make your teriyaki sauce by combining some soy sauce, sugar, apple cider vinegar, garlic, ginger, and black pepper. Reserve 1/4 cup of Teriyaki sauce and refrigerate until ready to use.
- Remove the bacon from the package and, while it’s still all stuck together, stretch it out a little (lengthwise). If you’re using center-cut bacon (and the “slab” is not as wide as regular bacon), just cut it in half. Otherwise, use kitchen shears to cut the slab into thirds. Place in a large pie plate or 9×13″ baking dish.
- Using kitchen shears, cut chicken into bite-sized pieces. You can gauge about how many pieces you’ll need by how many pieces of bacon you have–count the slices of bacon and multiply by 2 or 3 (depending on how many pieces you cut the bacon into) and then aim to cut about that many pieces of chicken. Add the chicken to the bacon, then add pineapple and cover in Teriyaki sauce. Cover and refrigerate for 8 hours or overnight.
- When ready to cook, wrap each piece of chicken in a piece of bacon and slide it onto the skewer. Top with a chunk of pineapple. Alternate bacon-wrapped meat with pineapple. Don’t pack your skewers too tightly or they won’t cook evenly. Aim for 4-5 pieces each of chicken and pineapple.
- Preheat grill to 375-400. When hot, place skewers on grill and baste with reserved Teriyaki sauce. Cook about 7 minutes and flip skewers. Baste again and cook another 7 minutes. If grilling appetizers, use a grill pan if necessary to prevent them from falling through the grates.
Storing and Other Tips
- Store leftover skewers in an airtight container in the fridge and consume within 3-4 days for best results.
- If making for appetizers, cut bamboo skewers in half and layer 2-3 pieces each of chicken and pineapple.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I make these ahead of time?
These skewers are delicious hot or cold. Feel free to cook them up and serve them chilled if necessary. For serving hot, they are best straight off the grill.
Could I use beef instead of chicken?
Absolutely. Sirloin chunks would be delicious here.
Bacon-Wrapped Teriyaki Chicken Skewers
These easy Bacon-Wrapped Teriyaki Chicken Skewers are a hit during grilling season. Perfect for a fun dinner or as an appetizer.
Servings people
Ingredients
Skewers
- 1-1 ½ pound boneless skinless chicken breasts or chicken thighs thighs trimmed of fat
- 1 12- ounce package bacon not thick-sliced; it’s too hard to wrap the chicken
- 1 16- ounce can pineapple chunks
Teriyaki Sauce
- ½ cup soy sauce low sodium if possible
- ½ cup sugar
- ¼ cup apple cider vinegar I like Braggs
- 1 clove garlic pressed or very finely minced
- ½ teaspoon ginger, ground or ½ tablespoons fresh
- 2-3 cracks freshly ground pepper
Instructions
Teriyaki Sauce
- In a medium bowl, whisk together soy sauce, sugar, vinegar, garlic, ginger, and black pepper. Reserve ¼ cup of Teriyaki sauce and refrigerate until ready to use.
Skewers
- Remove the bacon from the package and while it’s still all stuck together, stretch it out a little (lengthwise). If you’re using center-cut bacon (and the “slab” is not as wide as regular bacon), just cut it in half. Otherwise, use kitchen shears to cut the slab into thirds. Place in a large pie plate or 9×13″ baking dish.
- Using kitchen shears, cut chicken into bite-sized pieces. You can gauge about how many pieces you’ll need by how many pieces of bacon you have–count the slices of bacon and multiply by 2 or 3 (depending on how many pieces you cut the bacon into) and then aim to cut about that many pieces of chicken. Add the chicken to the bacon, then add pineapple and cover in Teriyaki sauce. Cover and refrigerate for 8 hours or overnight.
- When ready to cook, wrap each piece of chicken in a piece of bacon and skewer. Top with a chunk of pineapple. For appetizers, you can make these on toothpicks; for skewers, alternate bacon-wrapped meat with pineapple (3-4 per skewer).
- Preheat grill to 375-400°. When hot, place skewers on grill and baste with reserved Teriyaki sauce. Cook about 7 minutes and flip skewers. Baste again and cook another 7 minutes. If grilling appetizers, use a grill pan if necessary to prevent them from falling through the grates.
Notes
- Wondering what to serve on the side? Try Pineapple Cilantro Rice, Caramelized Green Beans, and Brazilian Lemonade for an amazing meal with tropical flair!
- The original recipe for our Teriyaki Sauce contains cornstarch. However, when making this for a marinade, it’s best to leave out the cornstarch. For your convenience, we’ve left out the cornstarch from this version of the recipe. If you’d like to make the Teriyaki sauce in the future, please refer to the original recipe.
- Store leftover skewers in an airtight container in the fridge and consume within 3-4 days for best results.
- If making for appetizers, cut bamboo skewers in half and layer 2-3 pieces each of chicken and pineapple.
Nutrition
Calories: 552kcal, Carbohydrates: 19g, Protein: 47g, Fat: 32g, Saturated Fat: 9g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 6g, Monounsaturated Fat: 12g, Trans Fat: 0.1g, Cholesterol: 167mg, Sodium: 2839mg, Potassium: 481mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 17g, Vitamin A: 168IU, Vitamin C: 7mg, Calcium: 30mg, Iron: 2mg
Calories: 552kcal
Cost: $10
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Questions & Reviews
How many skewers does this recipe make? I’m serving this for my son’s granduation party. There will be about 50 people there. Is this recipe enough for 50 people?
Thanks,
Bridget
It really depends on how big you make the skewers and how much other food you have available. But I really don’t think this would be enough for 50 people, even if you made them as appetizers. If you’re serving this as a main dish, I’d multiply it by 8-9.
I cannot tell you how excited I am that we have a propane grill now! I’m going to make EVERY grilling recipe you have on this site;)
Any chance this can be FROZEN ahead of time?
Sure! 🙂
Making these right now and have made them once before! They’re soo amazing! 🙂
These were SERIOUSLY delicious. Thank you!
another great recipe! just made these for dinner. my 3 yr old couldnt get enough. (i can NEVER get her to eat meat.) thank you.
This was an excellent recipe! They were a big hit . . . I’ll definitely make them again! THANK YOU!
I was having one of those, “Opps, it’s Sunday and I just invited a family over for dinner and I have nothing to make” moments. So I headed to this blog, (I always am inspired by it) saw this recipe, made my kabobs and marinated them during church. I didn’t have bacon, but had ham lunch meat instead and used half a slice per piece of chicken. It turned out so yummy! I baked them instead of grilling because the ham was a little delicate and I knew it would just fall off on the grill. I also made your cilantro/pineapple rice. Success in a pinch! Love it! Thanks ladies!
First time I made them following the directions and the flavor was great but my bacon wasn’t crispy so we tried it again a different way with much better results. I skewered the chicken and pineapple on separate skewers and put the pineapple ones on the grill after the chicken ones had cooked a while. Then I cut the bacon into 1″ pieces and cooked in a skillet. Drained the bacon then combined everything back together in the skillet when they were all cooked. Not as fun presentation-wise since they weren’t served on the skewers but it was so tasty!
Just wanted to let you know that I bought your cookbook a couple of weeks ago and have been trying several recipes each week (none have disappointed!) We had these the other night and they were another hit!! The fam went crazy over these. THANKS for sharing your talents and helping me improve my cooking skills! =)