Chicken Souvlaki With Tzatziki Sauce and Greek Salad Recipe

With a double-duty marinade, it's easy to pull together this Mediterranean feast at home.

By
Yvonne Ruperti
A photo of Yvonne Ruperti, a contributing writer at Serious Eats.
Yvonne Ruperti
Yvonne Ruperti is a food writer, recipe developer, former bakery owner, and cookbook author. She is also an adjust professor of baking at the Culinary Institute of America in Singapore.
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Updated January 13, 2023
Skewers served with salad, pita, and tzatziki sauce

Serious Eats / Julia Estrada

Why This Recipe Works

  • A simple vinaigrette works double-duty as both the marinade for the chicken and dressing for the salad.
  • If you don't have an outdoor barbecue, a grill pan on the stovetop does the trick.

Souvlaki is an awesome Greek dish that comes from the Greek word souvla, meaning "skewer." It's made up of succulent char-grilled skewers of fish or meat such as lamb, beef, or chicken and is served with a garlicky yogurt tzatziki sauce, pitas, and a tomato and onion garnish. Greece is still on my list of places to visit, but I have sunk my teeth into the versions served up at festivals, diners, and amazing Greek fast food joints in...would you have guessed Melbourne? (Australia happens to boast the largest population of Greek expats.)

Chicken souvlaki is a prime example ofMediterranean cookingthat's fresh, healthy, and (most importantly!) loaded with flavor. It's also easy to pull off at home whether you've got an outdoor grill or not. (I have to shell out $20 to rent the barbecue area at my place, so I pulled out my handy grill pan for this recipe.) While there are a few steps to the dinner, almost all of the work can be done while the chicken marinates. All you have to do at the end is quickly cook up the chicken and serve.

After researching some recipes, I loved the idea fromReal Simpleof whisking up one base vinaigrette that could be incorporated into both the chicken and the salad. I did the same here. Before skewering, chunks of boneless, skinless chicken breast are marinated in a garlic, zingy lemon, puckery red vinegar, and fresh oregano dressing (a rest of about two hours really gets the flavor in). Later, a reserved portion of the vinaigrette (don't mix the two!) gets tossed into the crisp red onion, tomato, cucumber, Kalamata olive, and feta salad just before serving. I'm too lazy to salt the cucumbers or tomatoes for the fresh salad, but I always salt the cukes for the tzatziki sauce. Salting draws excess liquid out of the cucumber, which keeps the yogurt sauce thick and flavorful, not watery. I also highly recommend using only Greek yogurt. Its thick consistency is incomparable to the regular stuff. And don't forget its richness belies the fat content—Greek yogurt is often found low-fat or fat-free.

How to eat souvlaki? If you order it out, everything is piled up in the pita, to be eaten out of hand. For me, that equates to a slobbery mess that no one wants to see, so I end up pulling out the fork and knife. Of course, to dive into everything separately is a fine way to go as well, as the salad is definitely hearty enough to be a side dish.

August 2012

Recipe Details

Chicken Souvlaki With Tzatziki Sauce and Greek Salad Recipe

Active45 mins
Total2 hrs 45 mins
服务4 to 6 servings

With a double-duty marinade, it's easy to pull together this Mediterranean feast at home.

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For the Chicken:

  • 5tablespoonsfresh juice from about 3 lemons

  • 4tablespoonsred wine vinegar

  • 4tablespoonsolive oil

  • 2tablespoons choppedfresh oregano leaves

  • 2teaspoonskosher salt

  • 1/2teaspoonground black pepper

  • 2poundsskinless boneless chicken breast, trimmed of excess fat and cut into 1-inch pieces

  • 4mediumcloves garlic, grated (about 4 teaspoons)

For the Tzatziki Sauce:

  • 1mediumcucumber, peeled, seeded, cut into 1/4-inch cubes (see notes)

  • 1/2teaspoonsalt

  • 1mediumclove garlic, grated (about 1 teaspoon)

  • 1cupGreek yogurt(see notes)

  • 1tablespoon choppedfresh dill

For the Salad:

  • 2tablespoonsolive oil

  • 6smalltomatoes, cut into wedges

  • 2smallred onions, sliced thin

  • 1mediumcucumber, seeded and sliced into thin half moons

  • 3/4cuppitted Kalamata olives

  • 6盎司crumbledfeta

  • 1/4cupchopped parsley

  • 6pitas

Directions

  1. In a medium bowl, whisk lemon juice, vinegar, olive oil, oregano, salt, and black pepper. Place chicken cubes in a separate medium bowl. Mix in grated garlic and 7 tablespoons of dressing. Toss chicken to coat evenly, cover, and refrigerate to marinate for about 2 hours, tossing occasionally. Set remaining dressing aside for salad.

    柠檬汁、醋、橄榄油、牛至、盐、一个d black pepper whisked together in a medium bowl, and chicken evenly coated in grated garlic and dressing in a medium bowl

    Serious Eats / Julia Estrada

  2. While the chicken marinates, make the tzatziki sauce: Place cubed cucumbers in a strainer set over a bowl. Toss with 1/2 teaspoon salt and let sit to drain, about 30 minutes. Gently pat cucumbers dry with paper towel, place in small bowl, and mix with garlic, yogurt, and dill. Season to taste with salt. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

    Cucumbers inside a strainer set over a bowl, and cucumbers mixed with garlic, yogurt, and dill inside a small bowl

    Serious Eats / Julia Estrada

  3. Skewer chicken pieces on 8 to 12 skewers. Discard used marinade. Heat grill or grill pan over medium-high heat. Place chicken skewers on grill (or cook in batches on grill pan) until well browned and internal temperature registers 155°F (68°C) on an instant-read thermometer, turning evenly to cook on all sides, about 5 minutes total. (Adjust temperature of grill if necessary.) Remove chicken to a serving platter and let rest 3 minutes. Meanwhile, briefly grill pitas and keep warm.

    Chicken pieces skewered on a plate and browned and evenly cooked on all sides on grill pan

    Serious Eats / Julia Estrada

  4. Just before serving, prepare the salad: Whisk olive oil into reserved chicken marinade. Add tomatoes, onions, cucumber, olives, feta, and parsley. Season with salt and pepper.

    Olive oil whisked into reserved chicken marinade inside a bowl, with tomatoes, onions, cucumber, olives, feta, and parsley added, and seasoned with salt and pepper

    Serious Eats / Julia Estrada

  5. Serve skewers with salad, pita, and tzatziki sauce. Remove chicken from skewers to stuff into pitas with sauce and salad.

    Chicken pieces stuffed with sauce and salad inside stacked pita halves on a plate

    Serious Eats / Julia Estrada

Special Equipment

Grillorgrill pan, skewers,fine-mesh strainer,instant-read thermometer

Notes

Don't skip the cucumber salting step and use Greek yogurt for a thick and creamy tzatziki sauce. If Greek yogurt is unavailable, let regular yogurt drain in a fine-mesh strainer lined with cheesecloth set over a bowl or the sink until thick and creamy, about 1 hour.

Once you've marinated the chicken, discard the marinade. Whether using an outdoor grill or grill pan, brush the grates or pan lightly with vegetable oil before cooking chicken.

Nutrition Facts(per serving)
723 Calories
26g Fat
57克 Carbs
64g Protein
×
Nutrition Facts
Servings: 4 to 6
Amount per serving
Calories 723
% Daily Value*
Total Fat26g 33%
Saturated Fat 8g 39%
Cholesterol156mg 52%
Sodium1313mg 57%
Total Carbohydrate57克 21%
Dietary Fiber 4g 15%
Total Sugars 8g
Protein64g
Vitamin C 23mg 116%
Calcium 321mg 25%
Iron 5mg 29%
Potassium 939mg 20%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)