Last Updated on August 14, 2023 by Carne Diem
Protein: 
Origin: Greek, European
Method: Grill or smoker
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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 of these Greek street foods 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 Tzatziki, and you have a perfect meal for wandering the streets of one of the World's oldest cities.
Making the Grilled Greek Souvlaki
Making the Chicken Souvlaki Marinade
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.
Cube the chicken breasts into bite size pieces. Mix with the marinade, and cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, or overnight.
Grilling Greek Chicken Souvlaki
After marinating the chicken, skewer the marinated Greek chicken onto skewers. If using wooden 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. We start by grilling the meat for a few minutes on each side over direct heat, before moving the skewers to indirect heat to finish cooking.
The chicken is done when the internal temp of the largest piece of chicken is 165 degrees as checked by in instant read thermometer.
Serve the Greek Chicken Soulvaki warm with the tzatziki sauce, warm pita bread and some Mediterranean quinoa. 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.
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📖 Recipe
Grilled Greek Chicken Souvlaki
Equipment
- Skewers
Ingredients
- 2 Pounds Chicken Breasts Cut into 1 inch cubes
Marinade
- 3 Tab Olive Oil
- 2 Tab Plain Greek Yogurt
- 2 Tab Red Wine Vinegar
- 4 Garlic Cloves minced, or 2 tablespoon Garlic Squeeze (see note)
- 2 tea Fresh Oregano chopped
- 1 tea Fresh Mint chopped
- ½ tea Salt
- ¼ tea Fresh Black Pepper
Instructions
- In a medium sized bowl combine all of the marinade ingredients, then add the chicken pieces.
- Cover and refrigerate overnight or for at least 4 hours.
- When ready to cook preheat grill to 350 degrees, set up for direct and indirect heat.
- Skewer the chicken pieces on wooden or metal skewers.
- Grill over direct heat for 3 minutes, then flip and cook an additional 3 minutes.
- Move to indirect heat and cook until the internal temp of the chicken is 165 degrees (about 5-10 minutes).
- Serve with tzatziki sauce and warm pita bread.
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