Chicken Tikka Recipe

Chicken Tikka Kebabs in a richly spiced yogurt marinade. Grilled, barbecued or griddled to perfection, they make an easy, family-pleasing dinner!
Serve them simply with rice or chapati, or go all out with a big Indian buffet - I've got lots of ideas below!

A fantastic way to pep up chicken, pack it with flavour and ensure it's nice and juicy.
These skewers are a great option when you know you're going to be in a rush come dinner time. You can make up the kebabs ahead of time and keep them in the fridge till later. Then grill them about 10-15 minutes before you're ready to eat.

We love eating them on homemade Greek-style flatbreads with some garlic sauce and chopped coriander.

They're also a great way to jazz up the chicken in pretty much any chicken curry (we don't need to just stick to chicken tikka masala - you could add it to butter chicken, madras or jalfrezi too!).

How to make chicken tikka kebabs

Full recipe with detailed steps in the recipe card at the end of this post.

1. Place the chicken pieces into a bowl with yogurt, garlic, ginger, lemon juice, coriander, turmeric, cumin, paprika, chilli powder, cinnamon, salt and pepper.
2. Mix together, cover and marinate in the fridge for 2-3 hours.
3. Thread onto skewers, then brush with oil.
4. Cook on a griddle plate, under the grill (broiler) or on the barbecue for 8-10 minutes until cooked through.
5. Serve with a sprinkling of freshly chopped coriander.

Pro tips for perfect kebabs

Skewers:

You can use wooden or metal skewers.

Metal skewers can actually help the chicken to cook faster, as the metal heats up and helps to cook the meat from the inside. However they're HOT and they retain their heat for longer - so be careful not to burn yourself.

I like these flat skewers (<-affiliate link) as the chicken pieces don't spin around on them when you're trying to turn the kebabs over.

Wooden skewers can still be hot during cooking but they don't conduct heat within the chicken pieces and they don't retain their heat for as long. If you're using wooden skewers, soak them in water for an hour before using. This will help to prevent them from burning during cooking.

Even pieces:

Try to keep the size of the pieces of chicken even, with a little bit of space between each piece of chicken.
The chicken needs to be in contact with the griddle or BBQ all the time. If you have a mix of small and large pieces of chicken, the smaller pieces will end up being suspended above the grill (rather than in contact with it) and the chicken will be under-cooked.

Check the chicken!

Always check the chicken is cooked by slicing into a larger piece and ensuring it's piping hot and no longer pink in the middle. Check up and down the skewers to ensure the chicken looks evenly cooked throughout.

More fantastic Kebab recipes

• Mexican Chicken Kebabs
• Lamb Souvlaki Kebabs
• Chicken Satay Kebabs or my Beef Satay Skewers
• Thai Fish Cake Skewers
• Honey Garlic Chicken Skewers
• Lamb Koftas