Bang Bang Chicken Skewers is a quick, easy, and flavorful recipe made with seasoned cubed chicken brushed with homemade bang bang sauce, cooked in an air fryer. They make for a delicious appetizer or main course and can also be made in the oven! Once you taste how good the sauce is, you will want to make my Bang Bang Salmon, too!
Ingredients & Substitutions
Chicken: I prefer chicken breasts for the skewers. However, you could also use chicken thighs, but cooking times may vary. When cubing the chicken, try to get them as close in size as possible for even cooking.
Seasonings: To season the chicken, you will need paprika, garlic powder, kosher salt, and pepper.
Mayonnaise: The mayonnaise gives the sauce the creamy texture and richness that bang bang sauce is known for. If you don’t have any on hand, make your own!
Sweet Chili Sauce: Thai sweet chili sauce gives bang bang sauce its distinctive taste and contributes to its overall sweetness. If possible, make your own!
Sriracha: Sriracha gives the sauce a spicy kick with some heat. You can definitely add more (or use less), depending on how much heat you can handle!
Honey: Honey is used to balance out the flavors of the sauce. It adds a natural sweetness that helps to counteract the heat from the Sriracha and balances the tanginess of the Thai sweet chili sauce.
Wooden Skewers vs Metal Skewers
Both wooden and metal skewers can be used when making these bang bang chicken skewers, even in the air fryer. If using wooden skewers, be sure they are soaked in water for at least 30 minutes before using them. Soaking them in water prevents the skewers from charring during cooking. If using metal skewers, make sure they fit in the basket of your air fryer. If using wooden skewers, you can break them in half if you need to shorten them.
Can I Make Bang Bang Chicken Skewers Ahead Of Time?
Yes! You can get the seasoned chicken skewers assembled ahead of time as well as make the bang bang sauce in advance. Once you have the chicken on the skewers, you can store them in the refrigerator or freeze them before cooking. If stored in the refrigerator, they will last 2-3 days, covered. These can also be frozen ahead of time. To freeze, tightly wrap the chicken skewers; they will last in the freezer for up to 3 months. When ready to cook them, let the skewers thaw in the refrigerator overnight. The bang bang sauce can be mixed together and stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week.
Storing & Reheating Bang Bang Chicken Skewers
If you have any leftover chicken skewers, store the skewers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3-4 days. (If preferred, you can remove the chicken from the skewers when storing.) Reheat them in the oven, microwave, or in a skillet on the stovetop. Store the leftover reserved bang bang sauce in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Brush it over the reheated chicken.
Bang Bang Chicken Skewers
Ingredients
- wooden skewers, soaked in water for 30 minutes
Chicken
- 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch cubes
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
Bang Bang Sauce
- 1 ¼ cups (290 g) mayonnaise
- ⅔ cup Thai sweet chili sauce
- 2 teaspoons Sriracha, or more to taste
- 2 tablespoons honey
Instructions
- In a large bowl, combine the cubed chicken breasts, oil, paprika, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Toss to evenly coat the chicken.
- Working one skewer at a time, thread 4-5 chicken cubes onto each.
- In a small bowl, combine the mayonnaise, Thai sweet chili sauce, Sriracha, and honey. Mix well. This will make about 1 ¾ cups bang bang sauce.
- Pour half of the sauce into a separate bowl and set aside to use after the chicken has been cooked. Use the rest of the sauce to brush evenly over the chicken.
- Add the skewers to the basket of your air fryer in a single layer. (Depending on the size of the air fryer, you may have to work in batches.)
- Air fry* at 400°F for 11-12 minutes, flipping halfway. Chicken is fully cooked when it reaches an internal temperature of 165°F.
- Transfer the skewers to a plate and drizzle or brush with the reserved bang bang sauce. Serve immediately.
Video
Notes
- Preheat oven to 400°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Place the seasoned cubes of chicken onto the skewers, then onto the lined baking sheet. (Do not brush the chicken with bang bang sauce until after baking in the oven.)
- Cook the chicken skewers for 20-25 minutes, flipping halfway through, or until the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165°F.
- Remove from the oven. Brush with the bang bang sauce and serve.
- Thread the seasoned chicken onto the skewers. (Wait until after grilling to brush with the bang bang sauce.) Grill over medium-high heat for 8-10 minutes per side, or until the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165°F.
- Brush the grilled chicken with the bang bang sauce.
Did you make this recipe?
You can tag me at @iamhomesteader.
What the Test Kitchen had to say about this recipe:
Autumn
If you are looking for a simple dish that packs some serious flavor, this one is for you. Bang Bang sauce is one my favorites because it works well with everything. I usually make extra just to have for other recipes because it is just that good.
Elizabeth
I am a huge fan of bang bang sauce, so I knew I would love it on these chicken skewers. Well, I was right! Besides being delicious, they are super easy to put together and make! Winner, winner, chi…don't say it, don't say, CHICKEN DINNER (or appetizer)!
Rachael
Put this sauce on everything, it is amazing! The air fryer gets everything perfectly crisped on the outside and juicy on the inside. You can't go wrong with bang bang sauce, that's for sure!
Annabelle
So good! These are flavorful, juicy, and just delicious (not to mention they're pretty easy to make)!
Bella
Bang Bang sauce on meat is always a winner! It works so well with chicken in this recipe. Sort of sweet and sort of creamy! A great balance of flavors. These chicken skewers are so simple, especially in the air fryer.
Selena
So easy and SOOOO flavorful. I really like the bang bang sauce on these. Super easy to throw together!
Delicious! So easy to make and juicy. I do marinate the chicken in the source before cooking.
Sooooo delicious and it was a hit with my mom as well! I added some additional spices to the sauce because it was a bit too sweet for my liking, but that could have been the thai sweet chili sauce that I used. Very flavorful, definitely adding this to my rotation
LOVE! Cooked these on the grill. I didn’t have Sriracha so I used Gochujang paste. I made a couple of alterations as I always do to recipes. I put in extra garlic powder for more garlic flavor, I used regular paprika like it called for but also added in some smoked paprika which turned out to be a great idea! Added that little bit of extra smokiness and grill flavor combined. I heated up a little Gochujang and added it to the chicken cubes and tossed to coat with other ingredients. Also added Gochujang the Bang Bang sauce to taste for the heat part in place of Sriracha. So good! Last but not least, I brushed the Bang Bang sauce on the chicken skewers during the last few minutes on the grill. I brushed and turned them a couple of times until coated. Just like with BBQ sauce how you brush it on at the end so it doesn’t burn. This was the BEST idea as I believe the chicken was able to marry better with the sauce rather than brushing it on after grilling. These turned out perfectly!! Soo good!! I’ll be making these frequently. ❤️
I baked it instead, and it was very tasty! I like that some of the sauce is kept for serving so you get even more flavour than just baking it!
Just finished making these and they are super delicious. Not hard to put together and so happy I can freeze cause this will make a really great hurry up supper. Thanks
Q: I’ve been thinking about buying an air fryer because I’ve been flagging recipes like this one. What I don’t understand is the useful differences between 4qt, 5qt, 9qt and 10qt capacities. I live alone and cook for one.
I bought a cheap microwave a couple of years ago was has turned out to be too small for my plates–so I don’t want to make a similar mistake buying an air fryer.
Am I just going to be upset and frustrated with a 4-5qt, therefore should go bigger? Or is a 4-5qt capacity just fine cooking for one?
For example, looking over the nutrients of this recipe, I’d probably cut the ingredients in half to 8 skewers to feed myself, perhaps even to 4-6 skewers.
The recipe–and others on your site–look very flavorful, which is encouraging me to jump into buying the air fryer. Any brand recommendations would also be much appreciated. We just got our first snowfall in Minneapolis yesterday, so cold weather cooking has gratefully begun! Thanks–RJ
Can thighs be substituted in place of breast meat?
Sure
Can not use it as the nutritional info sucks, calories only, need more info
Hey Garrett! You seem fun. If nutritional information is important to you, I highly recommend using an independant app or website. You can pop the recipe in and get the information you need.
The Fitness pal app. has a place to put in recipes and calculate the nutritional values for you. I hope this helps.
If you’re that worried about every little macro then stick to lettuce
Really good. But don’t need so much bang bang sauce. I would cut it in half. Will definitely make this again.
The first part of the instructions say baste the chicken with 1/2 the bang bang sauce and then during the actual numbered instructions, it says don’t out the sauce on until after they are baked. Just wondering what to do!
Thanks
If you reread step #4 you’ll see exactly what to do.
Can you substitute something else for the honey and if so what?
Maple syrup or agave syrup would work well.
I’m gonna to trying good used for thanksgiving and Christmas 🎄
I can’t wait to try this recipe but will try with whole chicken thighs in air fryer!
Has anyone used greek yogurt in the place of Mayo ?
I have not made these yet, but plan to soon. I have a question, why can’t you put the sauce on when baking in the oven? The air fryer is essentially an oven using air. Thank you.
You use half the source before baking and half after. Step #4
That’s not what line 2 (under baking in the oven) says. It states “do not baste chicken with bang bang sauce until after baking in the oven.”
So, if one wants to bake it in the oven, do they brush w/half the sauce b4 baking, or not? I hope the instructions get updated if the above isn’t correct. Thank you.
I’m sorry, not really understanding the confusion? If you are following the oven instructions then you will want to wait to baste. When I tested these in the oven and basted BEFORE baking, the sauce burned and turned black. Which is why the instructions are written the way that they are.
Loved by the whole family, did the grilling option, I will say I made only 1/2 the amount of the sauce and it was still plenty.
This was delicious.
Was looking for the recipe for the twice baked shrimp boil potatoes that was also on this post they look fantastic. I always save your recipes to Pinterest.
Here you go:
https://iamhomesteader.com/shrimp-twice-baked-potato/
These were amazing, a big winner with my grandchildren. I will definitely be making them again. I had a lot of the bang bang sauce left and wondered how long the sauce will last in an airtight container, and do I need to keep it refrigerated?
Can they be put on the grill outside???
Yes! There instructions for that
If you don’t read the full instructions (like me!) and put the sauce on the chicken AND you plan to oven bake rather than air fry, just put the oven on broil the last 3-4 minutes. It still came out perfect!