Fire up the grill for these Honey, Thyme Chicken, Halloumi Cheese and Peach Kabobs: a sweet-and-savoury summer dinner that comes together in just 30 minutes. Juicy chunks of chicken thigh are paired with caramelized peaches, smoky red onion, and cubes of salty halloumi cheese for a meal that feels special enough for guests but easy enough for a weeknight.
The magic is in the simple honey-thyme dressing: canola oil, fresh lemon juice, liquid honey, thyme, salt, and pepper. Whisk it together, brush it over the skewers, then reserve the rest for drizzling at the table. Canola oil’s neutral flavour and high smoke point make it especially well suited to grilling, while its unsaturated fats make it a versatile choice for everyday cooking.
One smart trick in this recipe: thread the chicken, peaches, onion, and halloumi onto separate skewers. That helps each ingredient cook at its own pace and makes it easier to manage food safety on the grill. The chicken, peach, and onion skewers go on first; the halloumi joins during the final couple of minutes, just long enough to soften and develop those irresistible golden grill marks.
Peaches are a wonderful way to bring seasonal produce to the grill. Canadian peaches are generally available from mid-July to mid-September, with Ontario’s Niagara region and British Columbia’s Okanagan Valley among the key growing areas. Choose firm peaches so they hold their shape over the heat, then let the grill concentrate their natural sweetness.
Serve the kabobs hot off the grill with a green salad, and use any extra dressing as a bright vinaigrette. Finish with a scatter of toasted slivered almonds for crunch. Whether you’re hosting a backyard barbecue or looking for a fresh chicken dinner idea, these kabobs deliver big flavour with minimal fuss.
Recipe developed by Carol Harrison.
Honey, Thyme Chicken, Halloumi Cheese and Peach Kabobs
Ingredients
Dressing
- 1/2 cup canola oil
- 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
- 1/4 cup liquid honey
- 1 Tbsp finely chopped fresh thyme
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
Kabobs
- 16 wooden skewers, soaked in water for 1 hour before using
- 8 boneless, skinless chicken thighs cut into 1 inch cubes
- 1 red onion, quartered, segments separated
- 4 firm peaches, pitted and each cut into 8 chunks
- 1 piece of Halloumi cheese, about 8 oz. cut into 16 cubes (about 1/2 inch each)
- 1/3 cup slivered toasted almonds
Instructions
- Dressing: In a small bowl, whisk together oil, lemon juice, honey, thyme, salt and pepper. Set aside. You can make the dressing ahead of time, cover and refrigerate for up to 1 week.
- Kebobs: Skewer chicken, onion, peaches and cheese on separate skewers to ensure even cooking and prevent cross-contamination. Allow 4 skewers for each food item. Coat skewers with 1/4 cup (60 mL) of dressing, reserving the rest in a separate bowl. Use a separate brush for coating chicken. Assembled skewers can be made ahead, covered and refrigerated for up to 1 day.
- Preheat greased grill to medium-high heat. Grill chicken, peach and onion skewers until cooked through, turning every 3 minutes, about 12 minutes total. Time may vary depending on ripeness of peaches. At 10 minutes of cooking chicken, peaches and onions, add cheese skewers to grill. Cook until cheese skewers just start to melt, turning once, after 1–2 minutes.
- Drizzle all prepared skewers with reserved dressing that was set aside. Save extra dressing for any greens being served. Garnish plates with slivered almonds.
There’s nothing sweeter than eating a fresh, juicy peach in the summer months. The added benefit is that peaches are low in calories, fat and sodium and contain important nutrients our bodies need to maintain a healthy lifestyle such as fibre, vitamin A, niacin and potassium. They are also a very good source of vitamin C.
Peaches may be the most widely grown stone fruit in Canada, but did you know they originated in China? To start, a farmer must plant a peach tree. After two to three years, the tree will start to bear fruit. Peaches are self-pollinating so they don’t need to be pollinated by insects. Ontario produces 82 percent of the national peach and nectarine crops in Canada. These crops aren’t immune from attack however. In Ontario, plum pox virus wiped out almost 400,000 peach and nectarine trees in the early 2000s.
Vineland Research and Innovation Centre has been collaborating with the University of Guelph, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and the Ontario Tender Fruit Growers to find new varieties of peaches. The new varieties are adapted to the Canadian climate, are disease tolerant, showcase better flesh colouring, texture and flavour.
This means Canadians can look forward to even sweeter peaches in the future while growers benefit by planting what consumers are interested in buying. The new varieties also mean Canadians can enjoy the fruit in early July instead of having to wait until later in the summer.
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