🇮🇳 Indian
Chicken Tikka Skewers
⏱ 35 min (plus 1 hr marinate)
🍞 ~6g
🍽 4 servings
⭐ 5/5
⚠️ Estimates only — not medical advice. Carb counts vary by brand and portion. Always verify with your endo or CDCES.
🌍 Cultural note
Chicken tikka is the iconic clay-oven snack from Punjab — bite-sized, smoky, and traditionally served before the main meal at family gatherings. In our house we skip the rice entirely and just pile these onto plates with cool cucumber-mint chutney. Pure protein joy.
Why this recipe is T1D-friendly
- Almost zero carbs — the marinade is yogurt + spices, no sugar, no breading
- Predictable insulin needs because it's straight protein + fat
- The cucumber-mint chutney adds flavor with negligible carb impact
Ingredients
- 1.5 lbs boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1-inch cubes (0g)
- 1 cup plain Greek yogurt (full-fat works best) (8g total for whole batch — 2g/serving)
- 2 tbsp lemon juice (1g)
- 1 tbsp grated ginger (1g)
- 4 cloves garlic, minced (2g)
- 2 tsp garam masala (1g)
- 1 tsp ground cumin (0g)
- 1 tsp smoked paprika (for that tandoor color) (0g)
- 1 tsp turmeric (0g)
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1 tbsp neutral oil
For cucumber-mint chutney
- 1 cup Greek yogurt (8g total — 2g/serving)
- ½ cup fresh mint leaves (0g)
- ½ cup fresh cilantro (0g)
- ½ small cucumber, grated and squeezed dry (2g)
- 1 small green chili (optional — skip for spice-shy kids)
- Pinch of salt and squeeze of lemon
Directions
- Whisk yogurt, lemon juice, ginger, garlic, garam masala, cumin, paprika, turmeric, salt, and oil in a big bowl. Add chicken cubes and toss until every piece is coated. Cover and marinate at least 1 hour (overnight is even better).
- Soak wooden skewers in water for 20 minutes (or use metal). Thread 5-6 chicken cubes onto each skewer, leaving a little space between pieces so they char nicely.
- Heat a grill, grill pan, or oven broiler to high. Cook skewers 4-5 minutes per side until edges are blackened and chicken hits 165°F inside.
- Blend all chutney ingredients in a food processor until mostly smooth but with little flecks of green.
- Plate skewers with a generous puddle of chutney. Serve with cucumber slices and a wedge of lemon.
Dash's kid tips 🐆
- Dash says: let the kids thread their own skewers — they take ownership of dinner and (usually) eat more of what they built themselves
- For super-shy palates, cut the garam masala in half the first time and serve extra chutney on the side for dunking
- Leftovers chopped up are amazing in a low-carb wrap the next day for lunch