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Greek Chicken

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A yogurt marinated chicken that’s beautifully tenderized and infused with terrific garlic and oregano flavours! If you’re new to the magical powers of yogurt marinades, this baked Greek Chicken is going to convert you for life!  Brought to you in partnership with Farmers Union Greek Style Yogurt.

Baked Greek Chicken on a plate with Greek Salad and Lemon Potatoes

Welcome to GREEK WEEK! Every now and then, I like to do themed menus where I share all the recipes for a feast, and this week it’s all about the bright fresh flavours of the Mediterranean. Think – lemons, oregano, yogurt, lemons and plenty of garlic!

Greek Week - Greek Feast Menu | RecipeTin Eats

Are you ready to see what I’ve got in store for you for Greek Week?? Here you go….

Greek Dinner Feast with Greek Marinated Chicken, Greek Salad, Tzatziki and Greek Lemon Roasted Potatoes

GREEK MENU

  • Greek Chicken – Garlicky lemony oregano flavours infused right through the chicken from a flavour loaded Greek chicken marinade;
  • Greek Salad – the juicy tomatoes, fresh cucumbers, that red wine vinegar dressing and the pops of feta!
  • Tzatziki – for dipping and dolloping (recipe in Notes of Greek chicken) Coming Thursday;
  • Greek Lemon Roasted Potatoes – crispy, lemony potatoes. It’s your dream come true! Coming Friday; or
  • Lemon Potato Salad (pictured in first photo)– terrific alternative to mayo based Potato Salads. Bonus: No need to peel the potatoes.

And for dessert….

Greek BUTTLOVER!!!! 

Oops, I mean Baklava. Butt-lover / Baklava. Same thing. 😂 Coming your way on Friday…. (Psst It does take time to assemble but you’re going to be amazed how straightforward it is!!)

Greek Baklava for Greek Feast

SECRET WEAPON: YOGURT GREEK CHICKEN MARINADE

I first introduced readers to the magical powers of yogurt marinades with Greek Chicken Gyros. I bleated* over and over again about how the yogurt marinade is so awesome, I use it even when I’m not making Gyros. (*Honestly, there is no other way to describe the way I harped on about it other than to say I was bleating.)

Yogurt is a brilliant marinade. The Greeks know it, Middle Easterners have embraced it, the Persians love it, the Indians live by it (Butter Chicken, Tikka Masala, Biryani!).

What’s so good about it? Well, it tenderises quickly and more evenly than liquids with harsher acidity like lemon juice and vinegar, and is also a fabulous flavour carrier, injecting herbs and spices into the flesh.

This is the yogurt I use, and have always used for as long as I can remember – Farmers Union Greek Style Yogurt. It would be rare to find my fridge without a tub of this. More likely you’d see two: current in use + a restock.

Farmers Union Greek Yogurt

Chicken in a bowl with a Greek Yogurt Marinade

There’s enough flavour in the Greek Chicken Marinade such that you don’t need to marinate for a full 24 hours to get the benefit of the tenderising and flavour injection. Overnight is definitely recommended but if you really need to rush it, even 3 hours is enough. Just do extra basting!

I’ve baked this chicken because I’ve used bone in, skin on chicken thighs and drumsticks here. I love how the skin goes crispy, and any cut of meat with the bone is extra juicy.

But this is one of those recipes that is truly terrific with any cut of chicken. Especially breast – because it adds juiciness and flavour. I’ve popped directions and cook times in the recipe notes.

Go forth and enjoy! Back Wednesday for the next instalment in this weeks’ Greek Feast – Greek Lemon Roasted Potatoes! – Nagi x

MORE GREAT YOGURT MARINADES

– Greek Chicken Gyros
– Lamb Shawarma – flavour loaded fall apart lamb!
– Doner Kebab (homemade version of post-pub midnight kebab run…)
– Butter Chicken
– Tikka Masala
– Chicken Biryani

 

Baked Greek Chicken on a tray, fresh out of the oven

WATCH HOW TO MAKE IT

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Greek Chicken

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4.98 from 37 votes
Recipe video above. Yogurt is a magical marinade! This chicken is golden on the outside, beautifully tenderised on the inside and infused with terrific garlic-oregano flavours. Serve this with a Greek Salad and flatbread - or see in post for a full Greek Feast menu! Marinade time: Overnight, min 3 hrs.
Prep Time:8 minutes
Cook Time:50 minutes
Total Time:58 minutes
Servings:4 - 5 people
Hover over "Servings" value to reveal recipe scaler
Author:Nagi
Course:Mains
Cuisine:Greek
Keyword:Greek Chicken, Greek Chicken Marinade
Baked Greek Chicken on a tray, fresh out of the oven

Ingredients

  • 1.25 kg / 2.5 lb drumsticks and chicken thighs , bone in skin on (Note 1)

Marinade:

  • 6 garlic cloves , minced (~ 2 tbsp)
  • 2 tbsp white wine vinegar (or red wine or apple cider vinegar)
  • 1/2 cup / 125 ml lemon juice
  • 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 3/4 cup Greek yogurt (I use Farmers Union)
  • 1 1/2 tbsp dried oregano
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp black pepper

Serving (optional):

  • Plain Greek yogurt or Tzatziki
  • Fresh oregano leaves (optional)

Instructions

  • Mix Marinade ingredients in a large bowl.
  • Add chicken and coat well. Marinade for 24 hours (3 hours minimum).
  • Preheat oven to 180C.350F.
  • Line a tray with foil (trust me), place rack on tray (optional).
  • Place chicken on rack (reserve marinade), skin side up. Bake 30 minutes,
  • Remove from oven. Brush with marinade - do not flip.
  • Return to oven for 20 minutes or until golden and a bit crispy. Give it a spray of olive oil just before it's done if you want an extra crispy, shiny coat.
  • Rest for a few minutes before serving. Juicy and tasty enough to serve plain but extra great with tzatziki or even some plain yogurt.

Recipe Notes:

1. This recipe will also work great with wings (same cook time and temp), breast (bash with fist to 2cm / 4/5" even thickness, cook 20 minutes at 200C/390F), skinless boneless thigh (20 minutes at 200C / 390F), basting at about 15 minutes.
If using boneless thighs or breast, I would actually recommend cooking on the stove instead! Medium high, breast for 3 minutes on each side, thigh 4 minutes on each side.
2. MAKE AHEAD: Place chicken in marinade, then pop straight into the freezer. Defrost 24 hours in the fridge - during this time it will marinade. Cooked chicken can be refrigerated for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 3 months, but fresh is always best!
3. Based on the marinade from Greek Chicken Gyros.
4. Use Tzatziki recipe in this Greek Chicken Gyros.
5. Nutrition is overstated because it takes into account all the marinade. I have no way of guessing how much of the marinade actually ends up in the chicken.
Nutrition Facts
Greek Chicken
Amount Per Serving
Calories 442 Calories from Fat 243
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 27g 42%
Saturated Fat 6g 30%
Cholesterol 195mg 65%
Sodium 818mg 34%
Potassium 516mg 15%
Total Carbohydrates 5g 2%
Sugars 2g
Protein 41g 82%
Vitamin A 2.4%
Vitamin C 16%
Calcium 7.9%
Iron 7.8%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Nutrition

Calories: 442kcalCarbohydrates: 5g (2%)Protein: 41g (82%)Fat: 27g (42%)Saturated Fat: 6g (30%)Cholesterol: 195mg (65%)Sodium: 818mg (34%)Potassium: 516mg (15%)Sugar: 2gVitamin A: 2.4%Vitamin C: 16%Calcium: 7.9%Iron: 7.8%
Did you make this recipe?I love hearing how you went with my recipes! Tag me on Instagram at @RecipeTinEats or leave me a comment & rating below.

LIFE OF DOZER

Getting right in there to make sure it’s sparkling clean before I pop it into the recycling bin!

Dozer the golden retriever dog licking yoghurt container clean

Today’s recipe is brought to you courtesy of Farmers Union. I’ve used their Greek style natural yoghurt for as long as I can remember. So it was a no brainer when they asked if I’d create a recipe for them!!

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219 Comments

  1. This recipe sounds amazing. Would it be terrible if I used regular plain yogourt. Apologies if this question insults your culinary standards.☺️

    Reply

  2. Hello. Great recipe. Ive tried before but today only have boneless thighs and wanted to confirm the total cooking time. I see the notes. It says 20 minutes. Is that total time? And thank you for your amazing recipes. I keep going back to this site for all things delicious!!!!!

    Reply

  3. I loved the Greek yogurt marinated chicken, and all the variations for skinless. I listened to you and did the full 24 hours. Perfect!

    Reply

  6. Love your website and recipes! It’s my go to for classic dishes and for some new food adventures. I love the new colour scheme of the website and it’s overall look. I just wish the header remained fixed so I don’t have to scroll all the way back up or all the way down in order to go back to the home page or select another category quickly.

    Reply

  7. I can’t even remember how I found your site, around six months ago. But how deliciously simple your recipes are and never short on taste.
    Thank you Nagi!

    Reply

  10. Beautiful layout and easy to navigate, thank you for bring Christmas early! 🙂 I love the photography and the featured photo is a great mix up close ups and whole. You are so talented and how you manage to make brown food look so mouth watering is amazing!

    Some glitches – I went to “By Category” and clicked on “Only Quick & Easy” and it came up “No results found” with the spinning loop. It works if I click a specific category (All Categories -> Soups -> Only Quick and Easy) and on other categories like “All Recipes” but the pages won’t advance if I click on the specific page number or “next page”.

    No matter for now as I have ALL my favorite recipes from you pinned and printed 😀

    Thank you for all your hardwork! I love that you feature recipes from all backgrounds and consider your readers all over the globe (substitutions, measurements, etc.) and your recipes are truly enjoyed here in Los Angeles by my family and myself.

    Reply

    • Hi Anita, thanks so much for the feedback!! I’ll look into that glitch! I’m so glad you’re enjoying all my recipes, I truly enjoy hearing what people think of them ❤️

      Reply

  12. This Greek marinade chicken is a definite keeper! Will be making this frequently. Made a triple batch to serve four, and had NO leftovers (poor me..).

    Reply

  14. I am an ardent follower and I find the presentation, clear cooking methods and most of all the lovely savoury dishes that are displayed (Yum Yum). The website is a credit to the recipetineats team. We’ll done keep up the good work. Really Appreciated.

    Reply
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