Chicken souvlaki with tzatziki recipe - Pamela Salzman Skip to content

Chicken souvlaki with tzatziki recipe

Chicken Souvlaki | Pamela Salzman

I thought since I am vacationing in the Mediterranean with my family for three weeks, I would post some new recipes that complemented my travels.  When I return (if I ever return!), I will definitely write up my itinerary and any do’s and don’t’s which I learned that might be helpful for your planning purposes.

chicken souvlaki collage

If you’ve hung around this blog long enough, you’ve read that Mediterranean food is my favorite.  It’s my comfort zone.  It’s exactly the way I like to eat – fresh, seasonal, organic food, mostly veggies, legumes and whole grains, olive oil, more fish than meat, a little sheep or goat cheese and yogurt,.  Mediterranean cuisine is also considered to be among the most healthful in the world.  More importantly, I think the food is just downright delicious, but simple.  Of course in order for simple food to taste amazing, each ingredient has to be the best.

Tzatziki

This is where sometimes we have trouble duplicating something we’ve eaten, even if we have the exact recipe.  For example, there’s no secret Greek salad recipe.  I have made and eaten a lot of them in my life, some forgettable and some outstanding.  It just comes down to the ingredients that were used.

Kebabs on the grill

Chicken Souvlaki is an easy, light dinner I can pull together quickly and one that I know everyone will eat.  It’s basically a grilled, marinated chicken and veggie kabob, which I love to serve with a very tasty cucumber-yogurt sauce called Tzatziki.   My family likes to eat it with grilled pita bread (which is literally store-bought pita that I put on the grill just to get a few char marks) or garlic rice.  You can also serve the kabob over a Greek salad which would make for a great light summer dinner.

Chicken Souvlaki | Pamela Salzman

Check out my recent Instagram and facebook pictures from Greece and Turkey.  We will be finishing off our trip next week in Venice and then Lake Garda, so expect some Italian recipes soon!

Chicken Souvlaki | Pamela Salzman 

 

5.0 from 1 reviews
Chicken Souvlaki with Tzatziki
Author: 
Serves: makes 6 12-inch skewers*
 
Ingredients
  • 1 ½ teaspoons finely grated lemon zest
  • 3 Tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice, divided
  • 2 medium cloves of garlic, finely grated, divided
  • 1 ½ teaspoons dried oregano
  • 1 ½ teaspoons dried thyme
  • 2 Tablespoons unrefined, cold-pressed extra-virgin olive oil
  • Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 ¼ pounds boneless-skinless chicken breast halves, cut into 2-inch cubes
  • 2 Persian cucumbers, chopped or coarsely grated (personal preference)
  • 1 cup full fat Greek yogurt (Straus makes a great organic one)
  • ½ Tablespoon white wine vinegar
  • 1 Tablespoon finely chopped fresh mint or dill (optional)
  • 8 small plum tomatoes, halved (or large ones quartered)
  • ½ small red onion, cut into 2-inch pieces
  • 6 whole-wheat pitas (optional)
Instructions
  1. Whisk together lemon zest, 1 ½ Tablespoons lemon juice, 1 grated clove of garlic, oregano, thyme, 1 Tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon olive oil, and ½ teaspoon salt in a medium bowl. Add the chicken, and toss to coat. Marinate at room temperature for 45 minutes or refrigerated, covered, for up to 6 hours.
  2. Meanwhile make the tzatziki sauce: Stir together the remaining lemon juice and garlic, the cucumber, yogurt, vinegar, herbs (if using) and ½ teaspoon salt. Refrigerate, covered, until ready to serve.
  3. Heat the grill to medium-high. Thread the chicken, tomatoes, and onion onto 6 skewers. Brush with remaining 2 teaspoons olive oil, and season with pepper.
  4. Grill skewers, turning, until browned on all sides and cooked through, about 8 minutes. Grill pitas until charred, about 2 minutes per side.
  5. Serve skewers with charred pitas and tzatziki sauce.
Notes
*Not all skewers are the same size.  This recipe would probably make 8 9 ½-inch bamboo skewers.

 

 

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Comments

10 Comments

  1. Made this tonight- my family loved it! Paired it with a Greek salad, roasted cauliflower, and pearl couscous. Thanks for yet another delicious, crowd pleasing meal.

    • What a great meal! I love everything you put together. Thanks for sharing 🙂

  2. pamela! this is insanely delicious! we made it for dinner tonight along with your california greek salad. we all over-ate. even the baby. even picky sadie. it was divine! this is one of my favorite recipes yet! thank you!! xo

    • Perfect with Greek salad! Thanks, S!

  3. I made this chicken souvlaki last night and it was AMAZING. Moist, flavorful, easy to make and delicious. Oh, and I just put the skewers under the broiler for about 3 minutes a side. No grill to clean up afterward. Thank you Pamela for an awesome dinner idea yet again.

  4. Made this again tonight (thanks for the reminder!) added bell peppers for the kids. Key was to grill the pita bread/ Naan bread. Delicious and very Summery!!

  5. Hello my loved one! I want to say that this article is amazing,
    nice written and come with almost all important infos.
    I’d like to see more posts like this .

    my blog; easy party food recipes (Katrin)


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I come from a large Italian-American family with 28 first cousins (on one side of the family!) where sit-down holiday dinners for 85 people are the norm (how, you might ask – organization! But more on that later …).

Some of my fondest memories are of simple family gatherings, both large and small, with long tables of bowls and platters piled high, the laughter of my cousins echoing and the comfort of tradition warming my soul.

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