Why You’ll Love This this Greek Chicken Souvlaki
This Greek chicken souvlaki brings together tender, herb-marinated chicken with cool, creamy tzatziki sauce that’ll make your taste buds do a little happy dance.
The chicken gets incredibly juicy from that simple olive oil and oregano marinade, while the homemade tzatziki – with its garlicky cucumber goodness – provides the perfect cooling contrast.
Plus, you get to play with fire on the grill and watch those chicken skewers sizzle away, which honestly never gets old, even if you’re just standing there flipping meat like some sort of backyard warrior.
Ingredients List
Getting your hands on these ingredients is pretty straightforward, and most of them are probably hanging out in your kitchen already.
- 2 cups plain yogurt
- 1 cucumber, peeled, seeded, and grated
- 1 1/4 teaspoons salt
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- Fresh ground black pepper (to taste)
- 1/4 teaspoon dried dill
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 1/2 teaspoons lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon dried oregano
- 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut in 1 inch cubes (approx 1 1/3 lb)
- 4 pocketless pitas
- 6 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
- 1 small onion, cut into thin wedges
- 2 tomatoes, cut into thin wedges
- 1/3 cup pitted black olives, halved
Health-wise, this recipe has some pretty solid things going for it:
- Greek yogurt brings protein and probiotics to the party, which your gut will thank you for
- Olive oil delivers those heart-healthy fats that make nutritionists smile
- Fresh garlic and herbs pack antioxidants without adding any sneaky calories
- Lean chicken breast keeps the protein high while staying relatively low in saturated fat
- You can easily swap regular pitas for whole wheat ones if you want to boost the fiber content
Step by Step Directions
Making this Greek chicken souvlaki involves preparing the marinade, tzatziki sauce, and grilling everything to perfection.
- Prepare the marinade: In a glass bowl, combine olive oil, lemon juice, oregano, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper.
- Marinate the chicken: Add chicken cubes to the marinade, mix well, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least one hour.
- Start the tzatziki: Mix grated cucumber with 1 teaspoon salt in a glass bowl and set aside.
- Strain the yogurt: Line a large strainer with paper towels, place over a bowl, fill with yogurt, and refrigerate for 15 minutes.
- Preheat the grill: Get your grill ready for high heat cooking.
- Finish the tzatziki: Squeeze excess liquid from the cucumber, then mix with the strained yogurt, minced garlic, 1/8 teaspoon pepper, and dill; refrigerate until serving.
- Grill the chicken: Thread marinated chicken onto skewers and grill over high heat, turning once, for 5-6 minutes until cooked through.
- Grill the pitas: Butter both sides of the pitas and grill until golden, approximately 4 minutes total.
- Assemble and serve: Cut pitas into quarters, place on plates, top with onion wedges, tomato wedges, and chicken skewers; serve with tzatziki and black olives.
While this recipe uses standard kitchen equipment, having the right cooking equipment set can make the preparation process much more efficient and enjoyable.
Substitutions and Variations
- Spice it up: A pinch of red pepper flakes in the marinade, or some smoked paprika, because sometimes you want your chicken to have a little attitude.
- Make-ahead magic: The chicken can marinate for up to 24 hours, and honestly, it just gets better with time – like a good friendship or a vintage wine you found on sale.
Additional Things to Serve With This Dish
This souvlaki practically begs for some friends on the plate, because let’s be truthful, nobody wants to eat alone – even metaphorically speaking.
- Greek village salad (horiatiki) – tomatoes, cucumbers, red onion, feta, and olives tossed with olive oil and vinegar, because you need something invigorating to balance all that grilled goodness.
- Lemon roasted potatoes – cut them into wedges, toss with olive oil, lemon juice, oregano, and garlic, then roast until golden and crispy on the outside, fluffy on the inside.
- Warm pita bread or flatbread – beyond what’s already in the recipe, because there’s never enough bread when there’s tzatziki involved, and you know you’ll want to mop up every last bit.
- Greek-style rice pilaf – cooked with chicken broth, a bay leaf, and maybe some toasted orzo mixed in for texture.
- Grilled vegetables – zucchini, bell peppers, and red onion brushed with olive oil and herbs, because your grill is already hot and vegetables deserve some love too.
- Dolmades – those little stuffed grape leaves you can grab from the deli section, because sometimes you want to feel fancy without doing the work.
- A simple cucumber salad – thinly sliced cucumbers with red onion, dill, and a light vinaigrette, invigorating and crisp against the warm, seasoned chicken.
Cooking Tips & Tricks (Chef’s Notes)
Getting this souvlaki right comes down to a few key moves that’ll save you from the heartbreak of dry chicken and sad, soggy pitas.
- Don’t skip the marinating time – that hour minimum isn’t a suggestion, it’s chicken therapy, and rushing it means you’ll end up with bland cubes that taste like regret.
- Pat the chicken dry before threading – excess marinade on the grill equals flare-ups, and nobody wants their dinner tasting like charcoal instead of Mediterranean dreams.
- Soak your wooden skewers – at least 30 minutes in water, because there’s nothing quite like the panic of watching your skewers catch fire while your chicken is still raw in the middle.
- Make the tzatziki ahead – this sauce gets better as it sits, plus you’ll want to taste-test it approximately seventeen times, and that takes planning.
- Squeeze that cucumber like you mean it – watery tzatziki is the enemy of crispy pita, so really go at it with a kitchen towel or your clean hands until no more liquid comes out.
- Keep the grill hot but not scorching – medium-high heat gives you that perfect char without turning the outside into leather while the inside stays pink and suspicious.
- Let the chicken rest after grilling – just a few minutes, because even tough guys need a moment to collect themselves, and it helps the juices redistribute instead of running all over your cutting board.
- Warm everything before serving – cold pita is sad pita, and this dish shines when every component feels like it just came together for the party.
Nutritional Facts
This Greek chicken souvlaki delivers solid protein while keeping things relatively light, though the buttered pitas and olive oil marinade do add some calories to the mix.
- Calories per serving: Approximately 650-700 calories (serves 4)
- Protein powerhouse: Each serving packs about 40-45 grams of lean protein from the chicken and Greek yogurt
- Carbohydrates: Around 45-50 grams, primarily from the pita bread
- Fat content: 25-30 grams total, with healthy fats from olive oil and some saturated fat from butter
- Fiber: 3-4 grams from the vegetables and whole grain pita (if using)
- Sodium: Moderate to high at 800-1000mg, mainly from the salt in marinade and tzatziki
- Calcium boost: Greek yogurt and cucumber contribute significant calcium for bone health
- Vitamin C: Tomatoes and lemon juice provide immune-supporting vitamin C
- Probiotics: Plain yogurt in tzatziki supports digestive health
- Low sugar: Naturally low in added sugars, with only natural sugars from vegetables
- Healthy Mediterranean fats: Olive oil provides monounsaturated fats that support heart health
- Antioxidants: Oregano, garlic, and tomatoes deliver inflammation-fighting compounds
Fun “Did You Know?”
Beyond its impressive nutritional profile, chicken souvlaki carries fascinating stories that’ll make you appreciate this dish even more.
I’ve found that “souvlaki” comes from the Greek word “souvla,” meaning spit. Ancient Greeks actually cooked meat on spits over 4,000 years ago!
The dish gained popularity during the 1960s Greek economic boom when street vendors made it accessible to everyone.
Here’s something cool: traditional souvlaki uses wooden skewers from specific Greek trees that add subtle flavor.
In Greece, it’s considered the ultimate comfort food – locals eat it at 2 AM after nights out, making it their equivalent of late-night pizza.
