Air Fryer Lemon Butter Chicken Skewers

close up overhead shot of hand holding lemon butter chicken skewer

Print Recipe

These Lemon Butter Chicken Skewers are juicy, flavoursome and so simple to make!

Prep Time15

Cook Time15

Marinating Time30

Total Time1

Course: Dinner, Main Course

Cuisine: Greek

Servings: skewers

Author: Chris Collins

Cost: £3 / $4

Equipment

Sharp Knife & Chopping Board
Medium Sized Mixing Bowl & Whisk (for marinade)
4x 20cm / 8" Skewers (see notes)
Air Fryer
Small Mixing Bowl & Brush (for butter)

Ingredients

Chicken

zest of a Lemon (typically ~1 tsp)
2 tbsp Lemon Juice
1 tbsp Mayonnaise (see notes)
1 tbsp Olive Oil
2 large cloves of Garlic, finely grated
1 1/2 tsp Dried Oregano
3/4 tsp EACH: Paprika, Salt
1/2 tsp Black Pepper
640g / 1.4lb boneless skinless Chicken Thighs, sliced into bite-sized pieces

Butter

75g / 5 tbsp Butter, softened
1 tbsp very finely diced Fresh Parsley
2 tsp Lemon Juice (see notes)
1/4 tsp EACH: Paprika, Black Pepper
1/8 tsp Salt, or to taste

Instructions

In a medium-sized mixing bowl whisk together the marinade ingredients then stir in the chicken until evenly coated. Cover and leave to marinate for 30 minutes (I keep it at room temp if the chicken is just out of the fridge).
Thread the chicken onto 4 skewers, ensuring you leave a gap at both ends. Make sure the pieces are nice and compact so they stay nice and juicy. Place in the air fryer and brush over any leftover marinade left in the bowl (thoroughly wash the brush after). Cook for 13 minutes at 200C/400F. Meanwhile, combine all of the butter ingredients in a small mixing bowl.
After 13 minutes, flip the skewers (I find this easiest with tongs) and brush over around 1/4 of the butter (just eyeball it). Cook for another minute, then flip them again and brush over another 1/4 of the butter. Cook again for a final minute, or until lightly charred and cooked right through the centre (internal temp should reach at least 165F/74C).
Remove the skewers and if your air fryer was clean before starting, brush over any melted butter in the base, then liberally brush over the remaining lemon butter (don't waste any flavour!). If you want them more lemony then just squeeze over a little more lemon juice.

Video

Notes

a) Lemon Zest - When zesting the lemon make sure you don't use any of the pith (white part) as this is bitter. Just the bright yellow skin.

b) Lemon Juice - As per the recipe, these are more on the subtle side of lemon, just to be safe. Feel free to squeeze over more lemon juice at the end!

c) Mayonnaise - This helps bind the marinade and also tenderises the chicken a little. It doesn't make the chicken taste 'mayonnaisey' at all. If you don't have mayo just use plain yoghurt or just sub with oil.

d) Marinating Time - The marinade is very acidic, so you don't want to marinate the chicken for too long otherwise it'll turn rubbery, especially because the chicken is diced into small pieces. I find 30 minutes is fine, which I do at room temp. You'll want to marinate in the fridge if you're going over 30 minutes, but I'd recommend stopping at 60 minutes.

e) Serving - I served with orzo and asparagus. For the orzo, I just cooked until al dente, then drained and tossed it with butter, parmesan and some starchy pasta water. Almost like an orzo alfredo! It doesn't have to be crazy flavoursome as it will soak in some of the lemony butter. The parmesan did go really nicely though.

f) Calories - Per skewer.

Nutrition