Apple Cider Chicken Skewers
Juicy chicken bites glazed with sweet-tangy apple cider reduction—the taste of autumn on a stick
- 1.5 lbboneless skinless chicken thighs(cut into 1-inch cubes)
- 1 cupapple cider
- 2 tbspapple cider vinegar
- 2 tbspmaple syrup
- 1 tbspDijon mustard
- 2 clovesgarlic(minced)
- 1 tspfresh sage(minced)
- 0.5 tspsalt
- 0.25 tspblack pepper
- 1 tbspolive oil
Marinate chicken up to 24 hours. Make glaze ahead and rewarm. Cook skewers just before serving.
- 1Whisk together apple cider, vinegar, maple syrup, mustard, garlic, sage, salt, and pepper
- 2Reserve half the mixture for glaze
- 3Marinate chicken in remaining mixture for at least 1 hour or overnight
- 4Simmer reserved mixture until reduced by half to make glaze, about 10 minutes
- 5Thread chicken onto soaked wooden skewers
- 6Heat olive oil in grill pan or skillet over medium-high heat
- 7Cook skewers 4-5 minutes per side until cooked through
- 8Brush with glaze during last minute of cooking
- 9Serve warm with extra glaze for dipping
Use chicken thighs for juicier results than breast. Reduce glaze until it coats the back of a spoon. Double the glaze recipe for extra dipping sauce.
Apple cider has been central to American autumn culture since the colonial period, when English settlers established orchards throughout New England beginning in the early 17th century. John Chapman — better known as Johnny Appleseed — traveled the American frontier from the 1790s through the 1840s planting apple orchards across Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, primarily to produce cider apples rather than eating apples; in colonial and early American households, hard cider was often safer to drink than water. By the 18th and 19th centuries, the New England and Mid-Atlantic apple harvest was one of the year's most anticipated seasonal events, and apple pressing was a community gathering. American apple production peaks in autumn when varieties like Honeycrisp, Cortland, and McIntosh ripen, and fresh-pressed cider from that harvest is the most aromatic and flavorful of the year. Reducing apple cider into a glaze concentrates its natural sugars and malic acid, creating an ingredient with deep apple character that caramelizes on meat with gentle heat. Sage (Salvia officinalis), native to the Mediterranean and cultivated since Roman times, has been the defining herbal companion to pork in European cooking for centuries — particularly in English and American autumn cooking, where it appears in stuffings, sausages, and glazes throughout the harvest season.