Mango and Lime Chicken Skewers

My family LOVE mango, so I like to work it into savoury dishes as much as possible. These Mango and Lime Chicken Skewers scream summer, and my kids literally scream for these each summer! The fruity notes partner well with the smokey paprika and garlic, and the char from the grill adds to the flavour bomb. You can also cook these chicken skewers in the AIR FRYER and they’ll still get lovely and charred.

We love to dip these in a super simple homemade Sriracha Mayo that is lovely and mild with a surprising sweetness about it. Even younger children will love it - mine do!

If you have a weaning baby or a toddler, you can share these skewers with them too! I detail how in my Adapting for your Family section.

The Stars of my Mango and Lime Chicken Skewers

The Chicken

I like to use whole chicken breasts and dice them myself so I can ensure they are all around 1 inch in size. You can use pre-diced chicken if you are short on time but you may need to cut very large chunks in half. Also, if find much of the chicken is cut into smaller than 1 inch cubes, it’s best to add those to a skewer together and pop that on the barbecue a little while after the rest so they don’t cook for as long and dry out.

You’ll want to marinade these chicken cubes for as long as possible, at least 1 hour and up to the night before to allow the flavours time to infuse.

The Marinade

We are going to pack this marinade with gorgeous flavours. To make it you will need a blender / stick blender or a food chopper that purées. 

The red chilli is optional, so you can choose whether to make it spicy or not, especially if you are eating with young children. You could even do two batches of the marinade for the chicken, making some spicy skewers and some not - just be sure to keep track of which is and isn’t spicy!

You’ll need a ripe mango or small pack of diced mango. If it’s not ripe enough you won’t get the same amount of flavour or juiciness from it. 

I like to use the juice from fresh limes but go ahead and use bottled lime juice for ease, and to save time. We are also going to add in smoked paprika, garlic and a little honey (or agave nectar).

The Sriracha Mayo

You couldn’t find a dip more perfect for these skewers, trust me! Even if you are eating them with rice, the Sriracha Mayo is a must. Plus, the kids will love it as it’s sweet and mild. You can buy Sriracha Mayo in the supermarket but I can’t guarantee it will be mild enough for younger children.

Prep Ahead

You can prep the marinade up to 2 days before use, just be sure to store it in an air-tight container in the fridge. The chicken can be added to the marinade up to 24 hours before you cook it, again cover and chill.

Ways to Cook my Mango & Lime Chicken Skewers

On the Barbecue

If you are used to grilling, cooking these will be a walk in the park. If not, let me give you some helpful barbecuing tips:

• Make sure you take the chicken out of the fridge 30 mins before putting them on the grill
• Oil the grill rack before you use it
• Don’t turn the kebabs until they have been on the grill for at least 3 minutes, otherwise you’ll probably find they’ll stick to it
• Baste the skewers around halfway, no later as you want to make sure those raw chicken juices are fully cooked. And be sure to discard any left over marinade. 
• Charcoal Barbecues: the coals are hot enough to add on the chicken skewers once there is a medium layer of ash coating them. 
• Gas & Electric Barbecues: you’ll want to barbecue on low with hood down in-between turning. Cook for roughly 12-15 minutes, turning 3-4 times. If using a smoker also, go for a sweet wood or fruity flavour. And for easier clean-up at the end, we always use these heat-proof mesh mats. They are much easier to clean than the metal barbecue grill rack. And you can reuse them several times.

In the Air-Fryer

To air-fry my Mango & Lime Chicken Skewers, you’ll need an air-fryer with a compartment that your skewers will fit into, like my model. Just try out a wooden skewer to test it first. If the skewer lays flat at the bottom of the draw, you can do it! You’ll prepare them in exactly the same way, soaking your wooden skewers first.

To air-fry, add a layer of chicken skewers to the bottom of your air fryer basket and then another layer, and another if need be. Air fry at 200ºc / 400ºf for 7 minutes, then turn all the skewers over. You might have to transfer the top layers to a plate, turn the bottom layer then add the rest back in turning them as you go. Then continue to cook them for another 5-7 minutes until a nice char develops on the outside and the chicken is cooked through on the inside.

In the Oven

If you prefer to cook the Mango & Lime Chicken Skewers in the oven, prepare them in the same way, soaking your wooden skewers first. You’ll first bake the skewers for 15 minutes, then finish them off under the grill or broiler to give them some charr.

Kids Cook Too

Younger children can get involved by helping to load up the blender and whizz up the marinade. If they wash their hands really well before and after, they could help you add the chicken and peppers to the skewers.

My Mango and Lime Chicken Skewers Pair Perfectly With…

Feed a Crowd

This recipe is easily doubled or trebbled for gatherings. Just make sure you have enough skewers to go round, and you’ll need to grill them in batches.

Storing my Mango and Lime Chicken Skewers

You can store leftovers in an air-tight container in the fridge for up to 3 days (day of cook + 2). They can also be frozen, just defrost for 24 hours in the fridge.

For more on safe food storage and reheating read here >

Diet Details

My Mango and Lime Chicken Skewers are gluten, dairy, egg and nut free. The Sriracha Mayo is gluten and nut free.

Adapting my Mango and Lime Chicken Skewers For Your Family

Eating together is beneficial for families of all ages and stages, for a multitude of reasons; nutritional, behavioural, psychological and for healthy family functioning. This section will show you how to tweak this Mango and Lime Chicken Skewers recipe for sharing with a weaning baby, toddler or a fussy eater, to help make it easier for you to eat together as a family.

Keeping Fussy Eaters Happy

They’re all different but my picky eater son loves these! The fruitiness from the mango and the flavour and char from the grill gives the chicken a whole different spin. They might prefer to eat straight off the skewer - let them! Give them a little of the dip to try also. The Sriracha mayo is super mild and sweet in flavour, they might love it.

See more from me on fussy eaters here >

Add-on’s for Adults

The marinade is also great with a heat kick. Just roughly chop and add a chilli pepper to your blender when you make the marinade. If you are eating with young kids or one’s not used to heat, then you can whizz the marinade up minus the chilli, remove some for the kid’s chicken and then add in some chilli (maybe not the whole one as you’ve removed some marinade) and whizz again. The challenge here will be to keep track of which are the kids and which are the adults! Using different types of skewers could be the way to do it. The other option is to make a hotter Sriracha (just add more) for the adults.

Making my Mango and Lime Chicken Skewers Baby & Toddler Friendly 

You’ll need to tweak the prep a little. For 6-12 months whizz up the mango lime marinade minus the salt, honey and chilli pepper if using, then remove a spoonful and add to a separate bowl to marinade baby’s chicken. Then add your salt, chilli pepper and honey to the blender and whizz again.  Make them a separate skewer. Once cooked shred their chicken. Add little one’s chicken to the marinade and toss. Make them a separate skewer, if using a wooden one you could mark the end with pen, otherwise keep track of which it is when grilling.

You don’t need to serve them the Sriracha Mayo, they won’t miss it!

How to Serve to Babies & Toddlers 

BABY-LED WEANING 

You can either simply finely shred their cooked chicken, or you can cut little one’s chicken and pepper (bell) differently so they can palm the chicken and pepper. You could slice some chicken breast finger-width size and add to the skewer vertically. Slice the pepper and add onto the skewer horizontally (see above picture).

Remove the chicken and pepper from the skewers and slice the chicken up into finger-width strips, you’ll get 2-3 out of each piece of chicken. The peppers can be served as they are.

SPOON FEEDING

If you grill these, in order to prepare for spoon feeding you’ll need to cut off any hardened charred outside.

6 months

Add some chicken and peppers to your stick blender pot or food chopper (if you have that one that purées) along with a little rice (if serving) and some warm boiled water. Whizz into a purée. 

7-9 months

Add some chicken, peppers and a little rice (if serving) to your food chopper along with a little low-salt chicken stock. Using short sharp pulses to finely chop, checking and adding a little more low-salt chicken stock to loosen if needed.

10-12 months

Add just the chicken and peppers to your food chopper pot. Gradually pulse, just a few times then check the consistency. It should lumpy with small chicken pieces (no big lumps). Once the consistency is right, empty it into their bowl and add some rice and stir it through. If it needs loosening, add a little warm low-salt chicken stock.

12 month + Transitioning Period

Shred the chicken pieces using forks and cut the pepper into small, pea-sized pieces. 

Toddlers

Chop the chicken and pepper into bite-size pieces.

I’ve also added these notes to the bottom of the recipe so you have them to hand when you come to cook.

For more info on how I keep my family meals baby & toddler friendly, read here >

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