Brazilian-Style Chicken Skewers
⏱ 30 min prep · 🍳 15 min · 🍽 4
Brazilian-style chicken skewers live and die by the marinade — dark beer, garlic, and warm spice need real time to work into the meat, so budget at least two hours and ideally overnight. That makes this one of those dinners where the actual work happens the night before: get the chicken thighs into the marinade after the kids are in bed, and grilling night itself is just threading skewers and lighting the grill.
Thighs beat breast here, not just for flavor — they hold up through a long soak and stay juicy over direct heat, which matters when you're also managing a grill, a salad, and someone asking when dinner's ready. Mushrooms threaded on the same skewers soak up marinade and add texture between the chicken pieces.
Serve alongside a mango, avocado, and tomato salad for something bright against the spiced chicken. Put "marinate the chicken" on tomorrow's list today, rather than trying to improvise it an hour before the grill's lit.
Ingredients
- 6.000 stk kyllinglår
- 8.000 stk sopp
- 200.000 ml mørkt øl
- 1.000 dl olivenolje
- 10.000 ml paprikapulver
- 30.000 ml sukker
- 2.000 stk hvitløk
- 2.000 stk løk
- 1.000 stk sitronsaft
- 2.000 stk laurbærblader
- 2.000 stk avokado
- 1200.000 g tomat
- 0.500 stk mango, i terninger
- 1.000 stk limesaft
- 30.000 ml fersk koriander, hakket
- 2.000 ss krydder (diverse)
- 1.000 stk romainesalat
Instructions
Del kyllinglårene i ledd og fjern overflødig fett. Legg i en bolle og sett i kjøleskap.
Bland alle marinadeingrediensene. Tilsett kylling, sørg for at alle bitene er dekket, og sett i kjøleskap minimum 2 timer (gjerne natten over).
Halvér soppene. Tre kylling og sopp vekselvis på spyd (bruk to spyd per porsjon for stabilitet). La det være mellomrom mellom bitene. Spar resten av marinaden til pensling.
Bland salatingrediensene; smak til med salt og pepper. Anrett på salatblader.
Grill spydene på middels varme i 10-15 minutter til de er gjennomstekte (sjekk med kniv for klar kjøttsaft). Snu ofte og pensle med spart marinade.
Server grillspydene ved siden av tomat- og avokadosalaten.
This is a good one to keep in rotation for the weekend someone brings a plus-one you weren't expecting — since everything's portioned by the skewer, you just thread a few more and stretch the marinade, no recalculating a whole tray. Threading chicken and mushrooms onto skewers is also genuinely good kitchen work to hand off to school-age kids: no knife required, and most of them get a kick out of building "their own" skewer for the grill. Stick to blunt-tipped metal skewers and it's safe enough for younger kids to help under supervision too — which buys you ten quiet minutes at the counter while the grill heats up.
FAQ
How long does the chicken need to marinate before grilling?
Budget at least two hours, but the marinade earns its keep with a longer soak — 8 to 12 hours in the fridge is the sweet spot. The beer and spices need time to work into the thighs and tenderize the meat, so it's worth setting it up the night before a grilling day. Anything under two hours will still taste good, just milder — fine if you're pressed for time.
Can I use chicken breast instead of thighs?
It works fine — cut the pieces a bit larger than you would with thigh meat and watch the grill time closely, since breast is often done in 8-10 minutes. Thighs carry more fat and can take a few extra minutes on the grill without drying out, which makes them the easier choice when several people, including kids, are flipping skewers at once. Mark the breast skewers with a spare skewer end so you know which ones come off first.
Do I have to use beer in the marinade, or is there a non-alcoholic option?
Swap the dark beer for a non-alcoholic dark beer, or use chicken stock with a splash of dark soy or a spoon of molasses for the same deep color and flavor. Without beer the marinade is a touch milder, so bump up the garlic and spice to compensate. It's an easy swap to make every time, regardless of who's eating off the platter.
How do I store leftovers, and can I freeze the marinated chicken raw?
Grilled chicken keeps for two days in a sealed container in the fridge and works well diced into a wrap or tossed through a salad the next day. Raw chicken in the marinade freezes fine in a freezer bag — thaw it in the fridge overnight before threading and grilling. Grilled meat tends to dry out if you freeze it after cooking, so it's better to freeze it raw and grill fresh.
The marinade is too strong for the kids — how do I adjust it?
Pull a few chicken pieces out before you pour the rest of the marinade over, and let those sit in olive oil, a squeeze of lemon, and a light pinch of spice instead. Rinse off most of the marinade right before grilling if the flavor's still too much for younger palates. Serve the mango, avocado, and tomato in separate bowls rather than tossed together, so everyone can build their own plate.
Do the skewers need to be metal, or can I use wooden ones?
Either works. Soak wooden skewers in water for at least 30 minutes before grilling so they don't scorch or splinter when you turn them. Metal skewers conduct a little heat into the meat for more even cooking and can be reused all summer. Running two skewers through each portion, parallel to each other, makes it much easier to flip the whole thing in one motion without the chicken and mushrooms spinning loose.