Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Bacon Ranch Chicken Skewers – Perfect for Tailgating and/or Vampire Staking

These bacon ranch chicken skewers were intended to star at your next football tailgate cookout, but since these are made with sharp, wooden sticks, they could be used to inflict the true death to smaller, slow-moving vampires at your Halloween party as well.

Regardless of your party’s theme, these tasty chicken skewers are easy, interesting, and incredibly adaptable. As I sometimes do when showing a new technique, I’ve kept this recipe ultra-simple, and only used ranch dressing and hot pepper as my marinade.

I was hoping that as you watched, your mind would be racing with ideas on how to make this already delicious meat-on-a-stick even more amazing. This is the kind of thing you could do a different version for every game of the season, and still not run out of ideas!

The part I hope you follow exactly is how to weave the bacon over the chicken. Using this method, you really get two kind of bacon. The exposed bacon gets beautifully caramelized and crisp, while the meat next to the chicken stays soft and fatty, more like a thin slice of pork belly.

Speaking of thin slices, don’t use extra-thick slab bacon for this. It will not cook before the chicken is overdone. I actually like to use the thinner, extra-lean bacon, as it has just the right about of fat to flavor and moisturize, without starting a raging fire on the grill. Anyway, next time you’re planning a game day tailgate buffet, I hope you give these a try. Enjoy!



Ingredients for 12 Bacon Ranch Chicken Skewers:
12 bamboo skewers
4 large (8-10 oz) boneless skinless chicken breasts
1/3 cup ranch dressing
1 tsp hot chili paste or any spicy condiment
12 strips bacon
24 pieces of red onion
salt and pepper to taste
extra ranch dressing to dip

View the complete recipe

34 comments:

Natasha Honore said...

Hi im deaf i want to know if i can bake instead of grill it looks good n simple

Christopher said...

I had a hard time finding this video. It was ob-skewer.
Thanks John, this one is a must for the next poker game.

Pantalone said...

I might even throw some hickory or mesquite (or even oak) chips on the fire and see how it tastes.

Also, I might marinade the chicken in one of Soy Vay's products instead of the ranch dressing to see what happens.

(... even though the Cal Bears can't hold on to the football to save their lives these days.)

Tipsy said...

so tasty looking skewers!
what are the ingredients of the side dish? is that avocado?

Hollis K. Lee said...

Such a simple recipe with fantastic results.

I will serve these this weekend.

Hollis K. Lee said...

Such an amazing simple recipe with fantastic results. I am going to prepare these this weekend.

jeff v said...

What the heck is a skyerrr??

jk-thanks Chef John! I will be making these for sure!

Anonymous said...

Skioors

russian hill said...

Chef John,
Can we do this in the broiler instead? I'm afraid we have no grill.
Thanks!

Chef John said...

Sure you can! But you'll have to figure out the time. Should be about the same under a hot broiler.

Chefsy Grammer said...

As good as they look, I will never be able to make these. I cannot bring myself to watch the video again and subject my soul to the expression "scure" any more.

Chris said...

Are you a member of the PBRCSA? (Professional Bacon Ranch Chicken Skewers Association)

I loved that line in the video, hilarious. Great appetizer, Chef.

Hawkdoc said...

I made these tonight -- beautiful fall day in Iowa (we don't have many left before it gets cold), so I figured that we had better take advantage of it. I grilled some Johnsonville brats just for good measure, but nobody ate them. Perfect amount of spice from the Sambal, nice smokiness from the bacon, accentuated by the smoke from the grill. Thanks for another perfect recipe!

Anonymous said...

What were the side vegetables? They looked great as well!

Southern Sweetheart said...

I would love to know what you did for that side dish! I'm going to try this recipe tomorrow. I'll try to copy the side, but you tend to have a secret here and there. :) Keep up the awesome videos! You inspire me to cook every time I watch! Thank you for working so hard for us!

Lillian (My Recipe Journey) said...

I love all your cooking videos! Your voice is very calming! Keep posting these informative cooking videos! Thank you! By the way...when are you going to get a cooking show on t.v.?

Chef John said...

It was just avocado and cherry tomatoes. :)

Carolyn™ said...

I just love your recipes. Will try this one camping next week. At last I have found ranch dressing in the shops.

Anonymous said...

Made these for the New Year. They were great!! It is ok to add a little more chili paste if you want it to have more of a bite. I can't wait to make them again!

Darnnell J said...

I make these at almost every get together I have with friends and they are always trying to figure them out. Chef John Make me look to good some time lol

Chicken Marinade said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Mr. Webster said...

Really nice recipe. You've made dinner time a whole lot more fun chef John. I am going to put more onion in it, they tasted really good with everything. Chicken was juicy and nice flavor. Used sambal chili with the ranch. Good good good.

Melissa M. said...

Hi Chef: can you share that avocado salad recipe? (my apologies if I missed it somewhere else on the site)

Anonymous said...

Hi, Chef John. Can Caesar salad dressing be substituted for the ranch? My daughter hates ranch and I don't want to try it with the Caesar dressing without your go-ahead! Thank you!!

Chef John said...

Yes!! You don't need my permission to sub! ;)

Vincent said...

I was invited over at a friend's barbecue the other day, he served something similar to this. Instead of chicken breasts he used cubes of salt-pepper-nutmeg-paprika rubbed pork tenderloin (I'm guessing on the spices, it's what I think I tasted). "Crucification of Pig" he called it, as the second piece of tenderloin was three times the length of the others.

Us being Slayer fans, we ate them up-side down.

Chef John said...

Rock on!! ;) thanks!

Aryanna said...

Hi chef John, don't have a grill, would this work well in the oven?

Chef John said...

Yes, use the broiler on high!

GC said...

Not a fan of ranch dressing, whats a good substitute I can use?

Annabelle Lee said...

I made this tonight and it was absolutely delicious! I popped them in the oven for 25 minutes at 350 F and added 5 more minutes at 400 F.

macchiato said...

This recipe was delicious I added pineapple chunks since I love pineapples. I cooked it in the oven instead since I don't have a grill and then finished it up on broiler. Husband and I loved it will make for next football game. Also I will probably add more hot sauces I like a kick to my chicken. Thanks for all the great recipes.

Unknown said...

I added jalapeño slices between chicken and bacon for a little more kick. .. awesome

Thomas Sterling Wyatt said...

Can I use the marinade for grilling whole or half breasts instead of skewered cubes?