Grilled Chicken Souvlaki- Greek Chicken Skewers

Last Updated on January 26, 2024 by Carne Diem

Protein:

Origin: Greek, European

Method: Grill or smoker

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Greek chicken souvlaki kebobs are a tasty and easy recipe to make on your BBQ grill or smoker. These juicy Greek chicken skewers are made with cubed chicken breast flavored with Greek spices and a souvlaki yogurt marinade.

Over the years, my family and I have been fortunate enough to spend a fair amount of time in Europe.  A few years ago my wife and I spent some time in Athens. It did not take long for us to fall in love with the city, the culture, and the food.  One of our more memorable meals was dining beneath the Acropolis, trying a multitude of Greek specialties. 

In Greece, and especially the busy streets of Athens, you do not have to look hard to find local venders serving up an array of grilled meats. The most famous classic Greek street food is probably traditional Greek Souvlaki.  Everything about this marinated chicken kabob screams Greek cuisine, and it is a fairly simple dish to make.  Served with warm pita, and some cool creamy tzatziki sauce, and you have a perfect meal for wandering the streets of one of the World's oldest cities.

Making the Grilled Greek Souvlaki

To make Greek souvlaki at home, you will just to need make a simple yogurt marinade for the boneless skinless chicken breasts, then skewer the chicken and grill. Outside of the marinating time, the chicken souvlaki skewers can be ready in under 20 minutes.

Making the Greek Chicken Marinade for Souvlaki

The marinade includes only a handful of ingredients. To make the souvlaki marinade you will need olive oil, red wine vinegar, garlic, Greek yogurt and some fresh herbs. Simply combine the Greek Souvlaki marinade ingredients in a bowl and mix to combine.

We highly recommend making the souvlaki marinade with fresh herbs. Fresh mint and oregano really do wonders for the marinated grilled chicken.

Cube the chicken breasts into bite size pieces. Mix the pieces of chicken with the marinade, and cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, or overnight.

Grilling Greek Chicken Souvlaki

After marinating the chicken, remove the marinated chicken pieces and carefully place onto skewers. If using wooden or bamboo skewers, soak them for a few minutes first to prevent them from burning. After the marinated Greek chicken is skewered, it is time to fire up the grill.

We like to heat the grill to 350 degrees and set up both direct and indirect cooking zones. While we feel the grilled Greek chicken is best on on outdoor grill, they can certainly be made inside on a grill pan as well.  Start by grilling the souvlaki chicken for a few minutes on each side over direct heat, before moving the skewers to indirect heat to finish cooking. We cooked these Greek chicken skewers on a Big Green Egg, but the come out great on other grills as well.

The chicken is done when the internal temp of the largest piece of chicken is 165 degrees as checked by in instant read thermometer.

What to serve with Greek Chicken Skewers

Serve the Greek Chicken Souvlaki warm with the tzatziki sauce, warm pita bread and some Mediterranean quinoa. If you like spice, you can serve the chicken skewers with some fiery shatta sauce. For more great Greek inspired recipes, be sure to try our Smoked Jalapeno-Cilantro Hummus, Smoked Moussaka, Greek Grilled Shrimp with Basil-Orange Orzo or Grilled Feta and Orzo Stuffed Branzino.

We doubt you will have any, but any leftover chicken skewers can be frozen for a later date, though the tzatziki sauce is best if consumed within 3 days.  Be sure to store any leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

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