Little Chef

Never, and we mean never, throw away that liquid gold after you finish that jar of your favorite pickles. Use it as the best chicken marinade and make these juicy Chicken Pickle Skewers. 😉 Ingredients Skewer: 1 (24 ounce) jar dill pickle chips 1 tablespoon packed light brown sugar 1 3/4 teaspoons kosher salt, divided 1 pound skinless, boneless chicken thighs, excess fat trimmed, cut into 2-inch pieces 4 teaspoons olive oil 1 1/2 teaspoons ranch dressing mix Sauce: 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided 1 garlic clove, minced 1/4 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth 1 tablespoon ranch dressing mix 2 teaspoons chopped fresh dill, plus more for garnish 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt For skewers, open pickle jar and transfer pickles to a small bowl using a fork, leaving pickle juice in the jar. Set aside. In the jar with pickle juice, add brown sugar and 1 teaspoon salt; whisk until dissolved. Add chicken to the jar, making sure all pieces are submerged. Cover and refrigerate for at least 3 hours or up to 12 hours. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil. Remove chicken pieces from pickle juice; discard juice. Thread 1 chicken piece followed by 3 pickle chips onto an 8-inch skewer; repeat layers once, then finish with a third chicken piece. Continue threading remaining chicken and pickles onto skewers as needed; reserve any extra pickles for another use. Place skewers on the prepared baking sheet; pat dry using paper towels. Evenly brush skewers with oil. Sprinkle chicken pieces evenly with ranch dressing mix and remaining 3/4 teaspoon salt. Heat a grill pan over medium-high heat until water sprinkled on immediately sizzles. Grill skewers, pressing down on chicken as needed, just until marks form on two sides, about 1 minute per side. Return skewers to baking sheet. Bake in the preheated oven until an instant-read thermometer inserted in the thickest part of the chicken registers at least 165 degrees F (74 degrees C), 7 to 12 minutes. 📸: Nicole #chickenrecipes #skewers #pickles #pickleweek #easydinner

We know pickle juice makes for a good chicken brine, but let's go one step further and serve this pairing on a stick. Remove the pickles from the brine, but don't toss them. Simply add in brown sugar and a little salt and stir that to dissolve. Add pieces of boneless, skinless chicken thighs right to the brine in the jar and let it go for at least a few hours. Then thread that chicken onto skewers with those pickle slices from earlier and get the grill or grill pan fired up. Dry off the skewers, brush them with a little oil and season them with ranch seasoning and salt. I'm just searing the grill flavor in and getting some color before finishing them off in a 400 degree oven for about 12 minutes. While that happens, whip up an easy garlic ranch sauce by melting butter and garlic together. Then stir in more ranch, remove it from the heat and whisk in fresh dill, a little chicken broth and a little more butter. Generously drizzle this over the chicken and prepare yourself for the best chicken kebab you've ever tasted. That might be one of the most flavorful, tender, juiciest bites of chicken I've ever had.