Bacon-Wrapped Teriyaki Chicken Skewers

These Bacon-Wrapped Teriyaki Chicken Skewers are one of my favorite OG Our Best Bites recipes. This is one of my favorite fun foods, especially because you can serve it as an appetizer or as a meal. It’s a twist on Teriyaki chicken and you’re going to be pretty hard-pressed to find people, especially men, unimpressed by meat wrapped in meat and then grilled.

bacon wrapped teriyaki chicken skewers from our best bites

Ingredient Notes

  • Metal or bamboo skewers – Remember bamboo skewers will need to soak for 30 minutes before grilling so they can handle the heat. I prefer metal skewers with handles. The handles stick out of the grill so they are easy to turn and handle.
  • Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breast
  • Bacon – Use thin-sliced bacon. Thick bacon will not stay wrapped around the chicken as well and won’t cook up as well.
  • Pineapple Chunks – I just use canned pineapple chunks, but feel free to try fresh if you’d like.
  • Teriyaki Sauce
    • Soy Sauce (I prefer low sodium)
    • Sugar
    • Apple Cider Vinegar
    • Fresh Garlic
    • Dried Ginger
    • Black Pepper

How to Make Bacon-Wrapped Teriyaki Chicken Skewers

  1. Make your teriyaki sauce by combining some soy sauce, sugar, apple cider vinegar, garlic, ginger, and black pepper. Reserve 1/4 cup of Teriyaki sauce and refrigerate until ready to use.
  2. Remove the bacon from the package and, while it’s still all stuck together, stretch it out a little (lengthwise). If you’re using center-cut bacon (and the “slab” is not as wide as regular bacon), just cut it in half. Otherwise, use kitchen shears to cut the slab into thirds. Place in a large pie plate or 9×13″ baking dish.
  3. Using kitchen shears, cut chicken into bite-sized pieces. You can gauge about how many pieces you’ll need by how many pieces of bacon you have–count the slices of bacon and multiply by 2 or 3 (depending on how many pieces you cut the bacon into) and then aim to cut about that many pieces of chicken. Add the chicken to the bacon, then add pineapple and cover in Teriyaki sauce. Cover and refrigerate for 8 hours or overnight.
  4. When ready to cook, wrap each piece of chicken in a piece of bacon and slide it onto the skewer. Top with a chunk of pineapple. Alternate bacon-wrapped meat with pineapple. Don’t pack your skewers too tightly or they won’t cook evenly. Aim for 4-5 pieces each of chicken and pineapple.
  5. Preheat grill to 375-400. When hot, place skewers on grill and baste with reserved Teriyaki sauce. Cook about 7 minutes and flip skewers. Baste again and cook another 7 minutes. If grilling appetizers, use a grill pan if necessary to prevent them from falling through the grates.
Wondering what to serve on the side? Try Pineapple Cilantro Rice, Caramelized Green Beans, and Brazilian Lemonade for an amazing meal with tropical flair!
bacon wrapped teriyaki chicken skewers from our best bites

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I make these ahead of time?

These skewers are delicious hot or cold. Feel free to cook them up and serve them chilled if necessary. For serving hot, they are best straight off the grill.

Could I use beef instead of chicken?

Absolutely. Sirloin chunks would be delicious here.

Bacon-Wrapped Teriyaki Chicken Skewers

5 from 21 votes
These easy Bacon-Wrapped Teriyaki Chicken Skewers are a hit during grilling season. Perfect for a fun dinner or as an appetizer.
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 14 minutes
Total Time 24 minutes
Servings4 people

Ingredients

Skewers

  • 1-1 ½ pound boneless skinless chicken breasts or chicken thighs thighs trimmed of fat
  • 1 12- ounce package bacon not thick-sliced; it’s too hard to wrap the chicken
  • 1 16- ounce can pineapple chunks

Teriyaki Sauce

  • ½ cup soy sauce low sodium if possible
  • ½ cup sugar
  • ¼ cup apple cider vinegar I like Braggs
  • 1 clove garlic pressed or very finely minced
  • ½ teaspoon ginger, ground or ½ tablespoons fresh
  • 2-3 cracks freshly ground pepper

Instructions

Teriyaki Sauce

  • In a medium bowl, whisk together soy sauce, sugar, vinegar, garlic, ginger, and black pepper. Reserve ¼ cup of Teriyaki sauce and refrigerate until ready to use.

Skewers

  • Remove the bacon from the package and while it’s still all stuck together, stretch it out a little (lengthwise). If you’re using center-cut bacon (and the “slab” is not as wide as regular bacon), just cut it in half. Otherwise, use kitchen shears to cut the slab into thirds. Place in a large pie plate or 9×13″ baking dish.
  • Using kitchen shears, cut chicken into bite-sized pieces. You can gauge about how many pieces you’ll need by how many pieces of bacon you have–count the slices of bacon and multiply by 2 or 3 (depending on how many pieces you cut the bacon into) and then aim to cut about that many pieces of chicken. Add the chicken to the bacon, then add pineapple and cover in Teriyaki sauce. Cover and refrigerate for 8 hours or overnight.
  • When ready to cook, wrap each piece of chicken in a piece of bacon and skewer. Top with a chunk of pineapple. For appetizers, you can make these on toothpicks; for skewers, alternate bacon-wrapped meat with pineapple (3-4 per skewer).
  • Preheat grill to 375-400°. When hot, place skewers on grill and baste with reserved Teriyaki sauce. Cook about 7 minutes and flip skewers. Baste again and cook another 7 minutes. If grilling appetizers, use a grill pan if necessary to prevent them from falling through the grates.

Notes

  • Wondering what to serve on the side? Try Pineapple Cilantro Rice, Caramelized Green Beans, and Brazilian Lemonade for an amazing meal with tropical flair!
  • The original recipe for our Teriyaki Sauce contains cornstarch. However, when making this for a marinade, it’s best to leave out the cornstarch. For your convenience, we’ve left out the cornstarch from this version of the recipe. If you’d like to make the Teriyaki sauce in the future, please refer to the original recipe.
  • Store leftover skewers in an airtight container in the fridge and consume within 3-4 days for best results.
  • If making for appetizers, cut bamboo skewers in half and layer 2-3 pieces each of chicken and pineapple.

Nutrition

Calories: 552kcal, Carbohydrates: 19g, Protein: 47g, Fat: 32g, Saturated Fat: 9g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 6g, Monounsaturated Fat: 12g, Trans Fat: 0.1g, Cholesterol: 167mg, Sodium: 2839mg, Potassium: 481mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 17g, Vitamin A: 168IU, Vitamin C: 7mg, Calcium: 30mg, Iron: 2mg
Course: Main Courses
Cuisine: BBQ
Keyword: Bacon-Wrapped Teriyaki Chicken Skewers
Calories: 552kcal
Author: Kate Jones
Cost: $10
Did You Make This Recipe?Snap a picture, and hashtag it #ourbestbites. We love to see your creations on our Instagram @ourbestbites!
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Meet The Author

Sara Wells

Sara Wells co-founded Our Best Bites in 2008. She is the author of three Bestselling Cook Books, Best Bites: 150 Family Favorite RecipesSavoring the Seasons with Our Best Bites, and 400 Calories or Less from Our Best Bites. Sara’s work has been featured in many local and national news outlets and publications such as Parenting MagazineBetter Homes & GardensFine CookingThe Rachel Ray Show and the New York Times.

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Questions & Reviews

  1. 5 stars
    Oh my gosh!! I want to eat this every day!!! I’d love for you to link up!

    polkadotsonparade.blogspot.com

  2. 5 stars
    Thanks so much for posting this!! We tried it tonight and my husband said it is now a favorite of his. I doubled the recipe, as we have 5 kids that love bacon and chicken. Of course, this made more than enough and Mike has lunch for tomorrow! LOVED, LOVED, LOVED this!!!!

  3. I’ve made these before, and now that it’s grilling weather, I’ve put them on the menu plan. I did them on toothpicks, marinating in a bag, and my pineapple turned all brown during the marinating. By the time all of the baking and marinating was done, everything was the same color. I’m wondering if I just used too much sauce?

  4. 5 stars
    These were AMAZING! I’m not really a fan of bacon (I know it’s a sin) but this was delicious!

  5. 5 stars
    I made these last night with the rice and they were SO yummy! The weather was nice and we broke out the grill- which made them amazing. Definitely a new favorite around this house. Plus the rice was so good!

  6. These were okay, but not as good as I was hoping. I don't have a grill so I baked mine, and I think they would have been much better grilled. After 20 minutes in a 400 degree oven, the bacon was not done, so I ended up leaving them in for an extra 10 minutes (and the bacon still didn't really get crispy at that point.) By then the chicken was pretty dried out, plus I think the pineapple made it mushy. Some of the chicken kind of just crumbled and turned to mush when I picked the skewers up with tongs. I will try them again if and when we get a grill.

    1. I had the same thing happen while baking them. The chicken that was closest to the bacon was pure mush! It was kinda gross! The inside of the chicken pieces were extremely dry. I LOVE this combination, so I will try it again, but on the grill instead.

      1. I don’t own a grill, but I’ve used my oven’s broiler like a grill many many times and it works great! It’s like grilling upside down! Preheat the broiler to high and place the skewers on a rack on cookie sheet. It’s how I make kabobs all the time. The cooking time will be similar to whatever grill times are in recipes. Enjoy!

  7. 5 stars
    I've had this recipe saved in my favorites on foodgawker for quite a while now and I finally made them last week. Soooo good! Well except for the part when I spilled the teriyaki sauce all down the front of myself when I was going back in to the house after putting them on the grill! Next time I''ll leave that part out.

    Thanks so much for the great recipes (this and all the others)!

  8. 5 stars
    I made this last night and they were so so good! My boyfriend was thrilled- I cook a lot of vegetarian food, so grilled meat wrapped around more meat made him pretty happy.

    I only marinated it for 30 minutes or so, and they still turned out great. Perfect summer dinner recipe!

  9. 5 stars
    I made these last week! Very yummy! Next time I just need to start them sooner so they can marinate longer.

  10. Mine are marinating in the refrigerator right now! Im anxious to see if my husband and kids will like them! They’re picky! I linked to this recipe, on my Menu Post this week! Thanks!

  11. I know I’ll be the envy of the neighborhood once the aromas from these babies start wafting – they sound fantastic!

  12. 5 stars
    Oh. My. Gosh. These are so good! I made them last night with the Pineapple Cilantro Rice and it was to die for good! If you haven’t made them, DO IT!

  13. I thought that chicken teriyaki skewers were good, but add bacon and pineapple and they get even better! Great idea!

  14. You can bet I’m bookmarking this one! This is fantastic, hubby loves teriaki and who wouldn’t love bacon wrapped chicken!!

  15. OK Sara, I know you are dreaming that it is snowing here in Boise because it would make your trip more meaningful, but it is not! It is gorgeous! We were there this time last year and I am having seirous withdrawls, enjoy!!! This recipe looks fantastic, I just went and bought my skewers. Yummy.

  16. I’m going to have to pull a ‘Rachel Rae’ here and say, “Yum-O!!!” Those look awesome!

  17. Kate! Move back to Utah immediately so I can be you official taste tester. It would be especially convenient if you moved next door, or somewhere in that vicinity. I always think how lucky your guys’ families are to get this yummy food after you’ve taken enough pictures.

  18. Susan, I haven’t, but I bet they’d be awesome. And if you don’t have a George Foreman but you DO have a panini press (like me), you could cook them in there as well. If you try it, let us know how they turn out!

  19. Mmmmm… This combines one of my favorite things (terriyaki chicken) with one of my husband’s favorites (BACON!). I agree about grilling them, now if we can just have some nice weather… notice my comment name – we’re from Oregon and are getting lots and lots of April showers!
    – Jennifer

  20. For years I have been poking those little critters through tiny toothpicks. Tell me why I didnt think to put them on skewers? What a great idea. I cant wait to try your recipe. I am sure it will be a welcome update to my old tried and true. Blessings to you all for what you do.

  21. These look so amazing! I am not a huge pineapple fan but I think I will have to make an exception for this, especially since there is bacon involved. YUM!

  22. These look so good! I don’t cook on a grill; yet (hey; I’m a new cook and haven’t graduated to a grill!). I’ll have to get my husband to help, or i’ll try them in the oven. Thanks for sharing!

  23. You’re right about the guys…any meat wrapped in meat (especially when one is bacon!) will be an instant hit. We are going to try these this weekend while we still have good weather!

  24. I was just wondering what to make for dinner tonight, and I think I found the answer when I saw this in my Reader. Thanks for the recipe — they look delicious!

  25. I LOVE your site and have tried (and loved) many of your recipes. But… I don’t usually leave comments. Sorry about that. I’m going to be better! 🙂

    These look SO good. I will definietly be trying this recipe.

  26. These look so good! I absolutely love the Teryaki sauce. I could eat it by the spoonfuls, well almost.
    This is a great meal for kids too. What kid doesn’t like eating food off a stick?!

  27. 5 stars
    Alooooha!!

    I just hopped on a public computer to check directions for an outing tomorrow and I had to stop by here real quick too!

    Can I just say that this is one of my most FAVORITE things in the whole world?? Everyone has to make these right now. Tonight. Don’t delay. And skip the oven and trek to the bbq even if it’s snowing outside. These are like little sticks of heaven. LOVE them!

    K- back to work on my tan. See y’all next week!

    -Sara