The Greeks are mad about Chicken Souvlaki. As am I. And after you’ve tried it, you will be too!
Simple to make, loaded with classic Greek flavours: chicken marinated in lemon, garlic and dried oregano then threaded onto skewers. Served with a homemade Tzatziki, all bundled up in pita bread. Or in my case, a simple homemade flatbread that’s made without yeast!
Chicken Souvlaki
“Just make something quick and easy,” I told myself sternly. “Your To Do List is out of control at the moment. You don’t have time to blog something that will take too long.”
So I flicked through my “MUST BLOG SOON!” list to choose something that would be quick to make and picked this Chicken Souvlaki.
Got the chicken marinating, then sat down at my Mac to get on with my other tasks. But I couldn’t concentrate.
I had an itch. Not literally. Figuratively speaking. “I should make the flatbreads to go with the Chicken Souvlaki,” I thought. “It will save me a trip to the store to get pita bread.”
So I jumped up to make my Easy Soft Flatbreads – made without yeast that comes out lovely and soft so it’s perfect for using as a wrap.
I wrapped up the flatbreads to keep them warm and settled back down at my Mac. Clicked on “Create New Post” and stared at a blank screen. I couldn’t write. I had another tingling feeling of dissatisfaction. “I really should make a Greek Salad to go with this. I need more salads on my site. Plus it will look lovely and bright in the photo.”
So I jumped in the car and dashed out to get olives and feta for the Greek salad. It didn’t occur to me for a second that I had just made flatbreads to avoid going to the store.
Dashed home and chopped up the Greek Salad.
And while I was chopping up the Greek Salad, I had yet another thought. “I usually serve Lemon Rice with my Greek dishes. Wouldn’t it be nice to share that with everyone? It’s so fresh and yummy.”
Yes I did. I made Lemon Rice too.
So here you have it. This “quick Chicken Souvlaki” recipe that I intended to do has ended up being a complete Greek feast menu. *Eye roll*
This is so typical of me. I tend to get a little over-excited when I get ideas into my head.
And while it meant that my “quick little recipe” ended up evolving into a looooong cook/shoot/clean day, boy was it worth it. Because really, look at that spread. It was totally worth working late into the evening to do everything I was supposed to do during the day to be able to share this with you.
And the homeless guy at the dog park was rather appreciative too. 😉 – Nagi x
And to rehash – here’s what I made for the Greek menu
-
This chicken souvlaki recipe
-
Lemon Rice (pictured with Garlic Prawns/Shrimp)
And – more chicken on sticks!
-
Thai Chicken Satay with Peanut Sauce – also Indonesian Satay
-
Yakitori (Japanese skewers) – on my mother’s Japanese cooking website, RecipeTin Japan!
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Chicken Souvlaki with Tzatziki
Ingredients
Marinade
- 1.5 lb / 750 g chicken thigh fillets (or breast), cut into 1"/2.5cm pieces
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1/4 cup lemon juice
- 3 garlic cloves , minced
- 2 tbsp dried oregano
- 1/2 - 3/4 tsp salt
- Black pepper
To Cook / Serve
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- Flatbreads / wraps / pita bread
- Lettuce
- Tomato slices
Tzatziki
- 2 Lebanese cucumbers (to make about ½ cup grated cucumber after squeezing out juice)
- 1 1/4 cups / 300 g plain Greek yoghurt
- 2 tsp white wine vinegar (or red wine or apple cider vinegar)
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1/2 garlic clove , minced
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil (or more if you want richer)
- 1/2 tsp salt
- Black pepper
Instructions
- Place chicken and Marinade into a bowl and set aside to marinate for at least 3 hours to overnight.
- Thread chicken onto 8 skewers.
- Heat oil in a large skillet over high heat (or BBQ). Cook skewers for 3 minutes on each side, or until cooked through.
- Serve Chicken Souvlaki with tzatziki, flatbreads (make your own!), lettuce and tomato slices.
Tzatziki
- Cut the cucumber in half lengthwise. Use a teaspoon to scrape the watery seeds out. Coarsely grate the cucumber using a box grater. Then wrap in paper towels or a tea towel and squeeze to remove excess liquid.
- Place cucumber in a bowl. Add remaining ingredients then mix to combine. Set aside for at least 20 minutes for the flavours to meld.
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
LIFE OF DOZER
Look who’s in his usual position…..
EMMA says
seriously delicious. We serve it once a week and my fussy boys can’t get enough! The marinade makes all the difference
Shuma says
Hello Nagi !! I really appreciate your marinades and visit your website for new ideas ( especially for chicken menues ).
I actually want to try oven baked sckewers and it seems to me thats the sckewers in this recipe were oven baked when i saw it 4 years ago.. i still remember the photos with them covered with foil. I am sure it is your recipe ( i don’t accually visit plenty of websites to get confused)
Maybe was ot an other recipe and if not how would you make your oven baked chicken sckewers ??
Thanks for inspiering us!!
Andy Fleischman says
When making tzatziki, squeeze the cuke juice into a tall glass and add ice and club soda for a refreshing drink.
Jodi says
I have made the chicken many times before but never the tzatziki until tonight
My mistake cause the tzatziki is as amazing as the chicken
Flatbread was great too
Made Greek Salad to make this a delicious hot weather feast
Nagi says
I’m so happy you enjoyed it Jodi! N x
Kim Bambrough says
Very very tasty dish, you could really taste the greek flavours. Easy peasy to make. I made your flatbreads and tzatziki recipe-i added some chopped mint- so delicious, made our salad a wow! Will i make it again? Absolutely!!
Laura says
This is literally the best thing I’ve ever eaten! I pair it with onion & garlic dip and a few olives/cucumber slices and chuck it all in a home made flatbread. I guarantee this will become a new favourite once you try it!
Nagi says
Sounds perfect Laura!! N x
Justine says
Really tasty recipe that was a huge hit with the whole family – even my very hard to please 6 year old!
Nagi says
Wahoo, thats awesome to hear Justine!
Dawn says
Hi Nagi! What steps should we follow to bake this in the oven instead? Thank you!
Nagi says
Hi Dawn! For this, I would crank the oven up real high, say 250C/480F or as high as it will go. Then I think about 15 minutes will be more than sufficient and you should get some nice colour!
Terri Anderson says
I made this again today, but used pork neck, that a Greek friend recommended. It was delicious. I previously made it with chicken which is amazing also. Nagi, I love your blog, I love to cook, you have given me so much inspiration and everything has turned out exactly as planned. My daughter and I have made so many of your recipes together, let me tell you, you’re a life saver. I honestly thought she’d inherited my mother’s awful cooking gene, now she’s enjoying cooking, it works and I’m so happy watching her learn that cooking is fun and can be quick – or slow. We are working our way through your collection and we are making some of your finger food for her 18th, the wonton wrapper recipes look fantastic. Thank you
Evi says
Hello Nagi.Even though I come from Greece and I have tasted them many times I believe they will be delicious when I make them.
Nagi says
Oooh I feel the pressure! 😉
Jennifer says
I made this tonight, along with your flatbread recipe, and everything was delicious! I’ve never made homemade tzatziki before and I love this recipe. I foresee this being a regular meal this summer! Thanks!
Laura Roberts says
I loved this recipe!! Your recipes are always amazing. Thank you again!! BTW..I made the salad and rice in the links. They were all yummy!!
Nagi says
That’s great to hear Laura! So glad you enjoyed it! N x
Julie says
I just made this for the first time and the pita breads too and it was absolutely fantastic I can’t thankyou enough. We were addicted to this meal on our honeymoon in Zante and this recipe is so incredibly close to that and the best I’ve made yet. Thankyou again.
Nagi says
That’s great to hear Julie! Thanks for taking the time to leave your feedback! N x ❤️
ELF says
We made this yesterday. It was an eat some/freeze some kind of day. It was so tasty and definitely on high rotation for our “we’re going kayaking” menu. Just grab a bag of prepped chicken and faltbreads and salad and go. We made it easier on our storage mode to marinade the chicken thighs in whole pieces then thinly slice with the salad.
Thank you Nagi Love your work
Nagi says
I LOVE HEARING THAT!!! One of my best friends is a mad kayaker, I am showing her this message!! 😂
Melanie says
Thank you so much for this recipe! I made all of it today, tripling the recipe to feed two big teenaged boys, and I got so many accolades!
Dee says
Hi Nagi,
Can’t wait to make these with the Chicken and Salad.
Quick question – would these also work as pizza bases?
Many thanks!
Dee
Nagi says
Hi Dee! I am going to test that myself this week – I got asked this question multiple times on the pizza recipe I just posted on Friday! 🙂 N x
Dee says
Sorry Nagi, just realised I accidentally posted my question here. So sorry!!
Many thanks for your quick reply 😊
Dee says
Oops! Obviously I was asking if the flatbread would work as pizza bases!! 😂
Dalia says
I’ve made this many times now but have finally decided to comment to say thank you! This is one of my fave meals and my husband is getting sick of eating it so often but I can’t get enough! And I love the flatbread recipie too because the husband is gluten free. They were so easy and tasty! Seriously, love love love. Now, to peruse your other recipies….
Nagi says
That’s so wonderful to hear Dalia! Thanks for letting me know – N xx
Colleen Lutes says
This is another keeper, Nagi! Very tasty and so easy to make. Served it with a side of tabbouleh, and it was heaven. Thanks!
Nagi says
Hi praise!!! Thanks so much for the feedback Colleen, so glad you enjoyed it! N xx
Cleopatra Jones says
OMG, Nagi
Please put a warning label on these recipes. You can not release that much deliciousness into the Universe without warning people. 🙂
Nagi says
BA HA HA!!!! You just made my morning ☺️
Leslie says
This was dinner tonight.
I put the ingredients together last week and, as you suggested, into the freezer the bag went.
It was yummy! I added some chopped red onion and fresh jalapeno, finely diced, to the tomato and lettuce and it was better than take out!