Marinating the chicken in Greek yogurt.
Ready for the best chicken shish kabobs of your life? This chicken with Greek yogurt marinade is to die for! One of my best chicken recipes! I absolutely adore Mediterranean food! Along with Mexican, its one of my favorites! One day, I had this idea of marinating chicken in Greek yogurt and came up with this Mediterranean chicken kabob recipe. As it turns out, it’s already a thing and for good reason. It’s absolutely delicious! But what makes this recipe better than other recipes? Fresh herbs and lemon zest! But the fresh dill tops this recipe off, you can also use fresh parsley.
Have you ever had chicken with Greek yogurt marinade? It is unbelievably amazing! So lets get started! Remove any fat from the boneless chicken thighs and cut cup into even size pieces. About an inch and a half should do.
Marinade ingredients
- Plain Greek yogurt
- Garlic cloves (or garlic powder)
- Fresh dill
- Lemon juice fresh
- Ginger powder
- Coriander
- Smoked paprika
- Dried oregano
- Cumin
- Onion powder
- Red pepper flakes
- Nutmeg
- Cloves
- Cinnamon
- Black pepper
Add all of the dry ingredients to the bowl first and mix together well. Add in the Greek yogurt, garlic cloves, lemon juice and fresh dill, stir until mixture is well combine. Lastly, toss in the chicken and mix until all the chicken is coated and cover. You want to marinade the chicken for at least 4 to 24 hours. The longer it marinades, the better it will taste and it will also get super tender.
Cooking the marinated Mediterranean chicken kabobs.
I think the best way to cook these delicious kabobs, is on the grill with lump charcoal. It adds such a great and slightly smoky flavor to the chicken. . Of course if you only have a gas grill, this will obviously work as well. Try not to cook over a high open flame, otherwise the yogurt will burn. So lets get to it! Fire up your grill, while it is getting hot, place the marinated chicken pieces onto wooden skewers or metal skewers. Try not to squish them to close together or you will get an uneven cook. Place these onto the grill right after you start cooking the rice. Your mouth should be drooling right now because you are about to have the best Mediterranean chicken kabobs of your life!
Now lets get to cooking these delicious Greek yogurt marinated Mediterranean chicken kabobs! Cook for 12 to 15 minutes or until internal temp reads 165 degrees, turning every 3 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.
Let’s start the Greek flavored rice!
Rinse the basmati rice until the water runs clear. In a large bowl, add in all the spices, 4 cups of water and the better than chicken bouillon paste. Stir until the paste has dissolved. Heat a large non stick skillet over medium high heat. Add the rice to the skillet and stir toasting the rice for just a minute. Add the broth in and stir again. Cover with a lid and bring to a boil. Once at a boil, turn the heat to the lowest heat setting. Cook rice for 15 minutes and turn the heat off. Let the rice sit covered while you cook the chicken. You should have a perfect loose rice when you are ready to serve. Layer the rice onto a plate, top with chicken kabobs. Garnish with fresh dill and a lemon wedge. Want more Mediterranean recipes? check out my Vegan Greek quinoa bowl!
What else can I serve with my Mediterranean chicken kabobs?
I love to serve this delicious dinner with some fresh cherry tomatoes, red onion, Kalamata olives, feta cheese and English cucumbers. The reason I choose English cucumbers over regular ones, the skin is not as tough on English cucumbers. English cucumbers are also not covered in wax like on regular cucumbers. Also, I personally think they have a better flavor to them. If you want some sauces added with this dish, I made homemade tzatziki sauce and hummus. Then I also served with some pita bread. So what is in tzatziki sauce? It is so simple to make! So many Mediterranean flavors makes this the best Mediterranean chicken kabobs recipe of all time.
- 1 cup Greek plain yogurt
- 2 tbsp fresh dill, copped
- 1/4 cup English cucumber, pealed and diced small
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
- 1/2 ginger powder
- 1 tsp salt
Mix all those ingredients into a bowl and set aside. You can make this sauce the night before and it will be that much better the next day!
Another thing I love to dip the Mediterranean chicken kabobs in is hummus! I love the classic hummus for this recipe made by Sabra. I also use it to dunk my pita bread into. They have a really great roasted pine nut hummus as well. If you don’t know what hummus is, its a mixture between garbanzo beans (chick peas) and tahini sauce, and of course a mixture of herbs and spices. It is absolutely delicious!
Now, wasn’t that chicken with Greek yogurt marinade absolutely amazing? This recipe is great for a large crowd and will surly have them coming back for more. Enjoy!
Tips
If you want the best flavor out of your chicken, if you have a vacuum sealer, seal the chicken in a bag. When sucking the air out of a vacuum seal bag, it forces the marinade into the chicken. Using this method, marinating the chicken for 10 minutes would be equivalent to an hour of marinating in a bowl.
I personally prefer wood skewers just for the simple fact that they do not get hot like the metal.
Mediterranean chicken kabobs FAQ
Do I have to use chicken thighs for this recipe?
Absolutely not. I have done this recipe with boneless skinless chicken breasts as well and it is just as delicious. I do believe thighs are the better choice here though because there is less of a risk of the chicken drying out. Thighs also have more flavor than breast.
What if I do not have an outdoor grill?
No problem! You can easily sear these in a cast iron skillet, an indoor grill pan, or any pan over medium-high heat for 12 to 15 minutes or bake in the oven on a baking sheet at 400 degrees f for 12 to 15 minutes.
Mediterranean chicken kabobs
Ingredients
Chicken
- 3 1/2 pounds chicken thighs cut the same size
- 1 1/2 cups plain greek yogurt
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 1/4 cup fresh dill chopped
- 1 tbsp lemon juice fresh
- 1/2 tsp ginger powder
- 1/2 tsp coriander
- 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp oregano
- 1/2 tsp cumin
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
- 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
- 4 cloves grinded
- 1/4 tsp cinnamon
Rice
- 2 cups basmati rice
- 4 cups water
- 4 tsp better than chicken bouillon paste
- 2 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp turmeric
- 2 tsp oregano
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp pepper fresh ground
Garnish
- 1 lemon sliced
- 1 tbsp fresh dill chopped
Instructions
Chicken
- Cut the chicken into equal size pieces, about 1 1/2 inch in size. Set aside.
- Add dry ingredients into a large bowl and mix well. Add in yogurt, lemon juice, garlic and dill and mix until everyrhing is incorporated.
- Next, add the chicken in with the greek yogurt marinade and toss until all the chicken is coated.
- Cover and place into the fridge for 24 hours.
- Place each piece of chicken onto a wood skewer. Do not pack the skewers to tight.
- Using a charcoal or gas grill, cook the chicken kabobs for 12 to 15 minutes turning every few minutes. Remove from heat, and set aside. Start cooking the chicken right after you start the rice.
Rice
- Rinse the rice until the water runs clear.
- In a large bowl, add in all the dry ingredients except the rice. Add 4 cups of water and better than chicken bouillon and stir until the bouillion paste has disloved.
- Heat a large non stick skillet over medium high heat. Add in rice and stir. Toast for just a minute. Pour in the water, stir and cover with a lid.
- Bring to a boil. Once broth mixture is boiling, turn heat all the way down to low. Simmer for 15 minutes. Turn heat completley off and let rice sit covered for 12 to 15 minutes while your chicken cooks. You will get a perfect loose rice.
- Fluff with a fork and serve with the chicken kabobs. Enjoy!
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