Chicken souvlaki with tzatziki, pita and a tomato and cucumber salad. Photo: Allrecipes

Chicken Souvlaki With Homemade Tzatziki: A Greek Grill House Favourite

by · Greek City Times

Chicken souvlaki brings the taste of a Greek grill house home, with garlicky marinated skewers and a cool, homemade tzatziki on the side.

Chicken souvlaki with tzatziki, pita and a tomato and cucumber salad. Photo: Allrecipes

What is chicken souvlaki?

Souvlaki is the Greek name for small pieces of meat grilled on a skewer. In Athens, however, many people order the same skewer as kalamaki, which means “little reed”, according to Wikipedia.

Pork is still the usual choice in Greece and Cyprus. Even so, chicken souvlaki has become a standard order at most grill houses, because the lean meat soaks up lemon, garlic and oregano so well.

In Greek tavernas, the skewers arrive either wrapped in pita or as a full plate with fried potatoes, salad and a dip. Prices have climbed, too, and Greek City Times reported in May that this “people’s food” is turning into a luxury in Greece.

Read more: Baked Quince: An Easy Greek Dessert With Cinnamon, Cloves and Port

So making chicken souvlaki at home is a smart, simple way to enjoy the classic for less.

Ingredients for six serves

This version comes from Tanya Petkos Schroeder, who shared it on Allrecipes. It is one of the site’s most popular Greek recipes, with 4.7 out of 5 from 507 ratings and 341 reviews.

Allrecipes also notes that the marinade works just as well with pork. For the kalamaki, you need:

  • 60 ml (¼ US cup) olive oil
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 2 US tablespoons (30 ml) lemon juice
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 680 g (1½ pounds) skinless, boneless chicken breast, cut into bite-sized pieces
  • 6 wooden skewers, or as many as needed

Then, for the tzatziki that goes with the chicken souvlaki, you need:

  • 1 tub (about 170 g, or 6 ounces) plain Greek-style yoghurt
  • ½ cucumber, peeled, seeded and grated
  • 1 US tablespoon (15 ml) olive oil
  • 2 teaspoons white vinegar
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • salt, just a pinch

A US tablespoon holds 15 ml, while an Australian one holds 20 ml, so measure the liquids in millilitres. Each serve has about 268 calories and 26 g of protein, according to Allrecipes.

How to make chicken souvlaki

This chicken souvlaki needs 15 minutes of preparation and about 15 minutes on the grill. Add two hours of marinating, and the total time comes to roughly two and a half hours.

  1. First, combine the olive oil, garlic, lemon juice, oregano and salt in a large zip-lock bag.
  2. Next, add the chicken, coat it well, press out the air and seal the bag. Marinate it in the fridge for 2 hours.
  3. In the meantime, mix the yoghurt, cucumber, olive oil, vinegar, garlic and salt in a bowl. Chill the sauce for 1 to 2 hours so the flavours blend.
  4. Before you light the grill, soak the wooden skewers in cold water for about 15 minutes.
  5. Then heat a barbecue to medium-high and lightly oil the grill plate.
  6. Thread the chicken onto the skewers and throw away any leftover marinade.
  7. Grill the marinated skewers for 7 to 8 minutes a side, turning often, until browned and cooked through.
  8. Finally, serve the chicken souvlaki hot, with the tzatziki on the side.

A meat thermometer takes the guesswork out of the last step. Food Standards Australia New Zealand recommends cooking all poultry to at least 75°C in the centre.

Also, squeeze the grated cucumber in a clean tea towel before you stir it in. That keeps the tzatziki thick, as many reviewers advise.

Tips from home cooks

With 939 home cooks saying they have made it, this chicken souvlaki has plenty of tested tweaks. In the most helpful review, LYNNINMA marinated the chicken for about five hours and called that perfect.

She also swapped the vinegar in the sauce for lemon juice and added dried dill. Her verdict on the pita sandwiches she made: “Completely yummy!”

Several cooks also went further. Sophia Belay marinated the chicken overnight, but she used lemon zest instead of juice, because she worried the acid would toughen the breast meat.

Avery preferred chicken thighs, since they carry more flavour and forgive a few extra minutes on the heat. Similarly, BrewCrew left the kalamaki in the marinade for almost 24 hours before grilling it over charcoal.

No barbecue? Evelyn DeLong cooks hers in an air fryer, and wrote: “The whole family loves this dish!” Lesliefs, by comparison, baked the chicken at about 175°C for 30 minutes and made a vegan tzatziki with almond yoghurt.

What to serve on the side

For a souvlaki night, start with warm pita, sliced tomato, red onion and plenty of lemon wedges. Many reviewers wrap the chicken souvlaki in pita with those same vegetables for an easy dinner.

If you want a fuller spread, compare this recipe with our lamb recipe from 25 October or the pork tenderloin version. In addition, a classic Greek tzatziki from our recipe archive makes a thicker, garlic-forward dip.

Instead of tzatziki, you can also spoon a sharp ladolemono dressing over the hot skewers. Tzatziki is a yoghurt sauce with cucumber and garlic, but every family has its own balance.

Heather K adds that the marinated chicken freezes well for camping trips. The full chicken souvlaki recipe, with step-by-step photos, is on the original Allrecipes page.

Source: Allrecipes

Stay connected to Greek City Times for Free on Google News
Click NOW
Stay updated with the latest news from Greece and around the world on greekcitytimes.com.
Contact our newsroom to share your updates, stories, photos, or videos. Follow GCT on WhatsApp, Google News and Apple News.

Related coverage

Advertising