Greek Chicken Souvlaki | Hilda’s Kitchen Blog
This Greek Chicken Souvlaki Pita recipe is easy, authentic, and so delicious! The simple chicken souvlaki marinade makes these chicken skewers flavorful and tender. I like to serve souvlaki with yogurt sauce and homemade pita bread!
I just love Greek food, don’t you? Greek dishes are not only mouth-watering, they share many similarities with my beloved Assyrian food. From spanakopita triangles to gyros, and dolmades, there’s something for everyone to love!
One popular Greek fast food is souvlaki (suflaki / suvlaki). If you’ve never heard of souvlaki, not to worry. With this easy recipe and detailed instructions, you’ll learn how to prepare chicken souvlaki that would make any yaya proud!
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🍗 What is Greek Souvlaki?
In Greek, “Souvlaki” means “meat on skewers.” Similar to Persian Joojeh Kabab and lamb shish kabobs, this Greek version is marinated in lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, and herbs.
Souvlaki is usually served in pita pockets along with tomatoes, onions, and Tzatziki sauce. However, you can also serve souvlaki with vermicelli rice or dill rice.
Although this souvlaki recipe is prepared with chicken, you can also make lamb, beef, and pork souvlaki. The result is succulent and tender cubed meat with an irresistible lemony flavor!
🧐 Why This Recipe Works
- Souvlaki is amazingly delicious and easy to prepare!
- You can do the prep work ahead of time, then grill the skewered meat in right around 7 minutes.
- Leftover chicken can be sliced and added to a Greek cucumber salad for a quick, nutritious lunch.
- The souvlaki marinade used in this recipe can also be used to make beef, pork, or lamb souvlaki!
🛒 What You Need For This Recipe
🔖 Ingredients & Substitutions
- Chicken: This recipe calls for boneless skinless chicken breasts but boneless, skinless chicken thighs would be even juicier!
- Oil: I prefer extra virgin olive oil, however, you can substitute avocado oil.
- Lemon: Use freshly squeezed lemon juice. In a pinch, you can substitute bottled lemon juice.
- Seasoning: Sea salt or kosher salt and black pepper. You can also add paprika or a pinch of cayenne pepper.
- Herbs: Fresh or dried oregano, or an equal amount of marjoram and oregano.
- Garlic: A few fresh cloves of garlic. If you need to, you can substitute 1 teaspoon garlic powder.
🥙 How To Make This Recipe
Step 1: Begin by cubing boneless and skinless chicken breast or thighs into about 1 ½ to 2″ pieces. Next, add chicken to a gallon-sized plastic ziplock bag.
Pro Tip: Slicing the chicken while it’s semi-frozen is easier than when it’s fully defrosted.
Prepare Chicken Souvlaki Marinade
Step 2: To make the souvlaki marinade, whisk olive oil, freshly squeezed lemon juice, crushed garlic cloves, salt, black pepper, and oregano in a small bowl or a measuring cup.
Step 3: Pour the marinade over the chicken and let the air out of the bag. Work the marinade into the chicken flesh, then allow to marinate for a few hours.
Step 4: Thread marinated chicken cubes onto wooden or metal skewers. I had enough chicken for 4 skewers with 9 bite-sized pieces on each.
Pro Tip: If using wooden skewers, soak them for at least 30 minutes ahead of time. This will keep the skewers from burning.
Grilling Instructions
Step 5: Preheat grill then brush grates with oil to prevent the chicken skewers from sticking. Baste and grill chicken skewers over medium high heat for 3-½ minutes per side or until the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165℉.
🍽 Serving Suggestions
You may be wondering what to serve with this Greek chicken souvlaki recipe. Below you’ll find plenty of options, including what type of bread, sauce, and toppings to use!
Bread Options
Greek souvlaki is usually served with pita bread or za’atar bread, but it can also be served as a wrap in lavash bread.
Traditional Chicken Souvlaki Pita Toppings
What you add to your chicken Souvlaki pita is up to you, but as you’d expect, I do have some suggestions. Sliced tomatoes and red onion are a must. However, you can take your chicken souvlaki pita to the next level by adding french fries, crumbled feta cheese, chopped parsley, and kalamata olives.
Sauce Options
The traditional sauce served with souvlaki is Tzatziki sauce, which is prepared with Greek yogurt, cucumber, garlic, and dill. However, it also pairs well with this yogurt sauce for chicken, garlic tahini sauce, and Lebanese garlic sauce (Toum).
Side Dish Ideas
Wondering what to serve on the side? Easy! Greek cucumber salad, Tabouli, or this zesty quinoa salad pair well with Greek chicken skewers. Another great option is this authentic Lebanese hummus.
What to Serve For Dessert
What can follow a wonderful Greek meal? A rich and decadent dessert, of course! You can’t go wrong with Galaktoboureko, Kadayif, or Baklawa. All three can be prepared ahead of time.
🤷🏻♀️ Recipe FAQs
Gyro is prepared with a blend of ground meat, herbs and spices formed in the shape of a cone and roasted on a rotating spit. Souvlaki, on the other hand, refers to grilled, skewered cubes of marinated meat. It can be prepared with chicken, beef, pork, or lamb.
Souvlaki is succulent cubed meat that’s grilled to perfection. Because it’s marinated in lemon juice, olive oil, oregano, and garlic, it has an irresistible lemony flavor.
👩🏼🍳 Pro Tips
- Make sure to use warm pita bread, which is more pliable. You can heat the pita bread over the flame on your stove or in a hot cast iron skillet.
- To add even more lemony flavor, you can include lemon zest in your marinade.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days.
- Souvlaki can also be prepared on a grill pan or under a broiler.
- To prepare souvlaki in an air fryer, air fry the skewers for 13-15 minutes at 400 degrees, flipping ½ way through.
If you enjoy this Greek chicken souvlaki recipe, be sure to check out these other related recipes!
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📖 Recipe
Greek Chicken Souvlaki
This Greek chicken souvlaki recipe is easy to prepare and so flavorful! The skewered chicken is grilled for 7 minutes, and served in pita pockets!
Servings: 4 skewers
Calories: 392kcal
Instructions
Prepare Chicken Souvlaki Marinade
-
To make the souvlaki marinade, whisk olive oil, freshly squeezed lemon juice, crushed garlic cloves, salt, black pepper, and oregano in a small bowl or a measuring cup.
-
Pour the marinade over the chicken and let the air out of the bag. Work the marinade into the chicken flesh, then allow to marinate for a few hours.
-
Thread marinated chicken cubes onto wooden or metal skewers. I had enough chicken for 4 skewers with 9 bite-sized pieces on each.
Notes
- Slicing the chicken while it’s semi-frozen is easier than when it’s fully defrosted.
- If using wooden skewers, soak them for at least 30 minutes ahead of time. This will keep the skewers from burning.
- Make sure to use warm pita bread, which is more pliable. You can heat the pita bread over the flame on your stove or in a hot cast iron skillet.
- To add even more lemony flavor, you can include lemon zest in your marinade.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days.
- Souvlaki can also be prepared on a grill pan or under a broiler.
- To prepare souvlaki in an air fryer, air fry the skewers for 13-15 minutes at 400 degrees, flipping ½ way through.
Nutrition
Serving: 1skewer | Calories: 392kcal | Carbohydrates: 4g | Protein: 49g | Fat: 20g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Cholesterol: 145mg | Sodium: 1137mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g
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