This recipe for Greek chicken souvlaki is skewers of tender chicken breast marinated in lemon, garlic and herbs, then grilled to perfection and served with a creamy yogurt sauce.
These chicken souvlaki kabobs are a taste of the Mediterranean right in your own kitchen. You can grill or broil these Greek chicken skewers for a simple yet healthy meal. Souvlaki is one of my favorite way to enjoy grilled meat on a skewer along with grilled shrimp skewers, Hawaiian chicken kabobs and shish kabobs.
One of my ongoing challenges as a mom and as a cook is coming up with dinner recipes that all three of my children will eat. I’ve learned through trial and error that if I skewer meat on a stick, the fun factor alone makes it much more likely that the girls will be willing to try it. This chicken souvlaki was no exception – everyone happily devoured their “chicken on a stick.”
You can enjoy this souvlaki with homemade hummus, tzatziki sauce or make a whole Mediterranean mezze platter!
Chicken Souvlaki Ingredients
When you make this chicken souvlaki you will need for the skewers boneless, skinless chicken breast, lemon juice, olive oil, dried oregano, salt, black pepper and garlic cloves. For the yogurt sauce you will need plain Greek yogurt, sour cream, cucumber and fresh parsley or dill. To make cucumber tomato relish you will need cucumber, tomato, lemon juice, olive oil, parsley, salt and pepper.
How Do You Make Chicken Souvlaki?
To make this chicken souvlaki recipe start by cutting boneless, skinless chicken breasts into chunks. Next make a marinade in a large bowl by whisking together minced garlic, lemon juice, olive oil, oregano, water, salt and pepper. Place the chicken in the marinade and let it soak up the flavor between 10 minutes and 1 hour. Thread the marinated chicken on skewers and place the skewers on a hot grill. Cook the chicken until done.
For the yogurt sauce, simply mix together plain Greek yogurt, sour cream, minced cucumber, parsley, salt and pepper in a bowl. To make the relish place minced cucumber and minced tomato in a bowl and stir in lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper. Enjoy the hot chicken skewers with the yogurt sauce and relish!
Tips For The Perfect Chicken Souvlaki
- If you have difficulty cutting your chicken, you can place it in a freezer for 20-30 minutes to firm up the chicken.
- It’s important to only marinate the chicken for a short period of time, less than an hour is ideal. If the chicken sits too long in the marinade the acid from the lemon juice could make it tough.
- You can use wooden skewers or metal skewers for this recipe. If you use wooden skewers you can soak them in water for 20 minutes to keep them from burning.
- While I like cooking chicken souvlaki on a grill, you can cook it on a grill pan or even on a sheet pan under a broiler in an oven.
- There are two types of dried oregano typically sold at the store, Mexican oregano and Mediterranean oregano. You want the Mediterranean oregano for this dish.
Quick Tip
Cut your chicken with a sharp knife into 1 inch square chunks. You want similar sized pieces of chicken so they cook in the same amount of time.
Recipe FAQs
Chicken souvlaki is a Greek dish that’s made with marinated and grilled chicken and sometimes vegetables. People thread souvlaki onto skewers and grill or broil them. People often served it with pita bread and Mediterranean sauces.
People season souvlaki with lemon, olive oil, garlic, dried oregano, salt and pepper. Sometimes souvlaki seasoning can include other herbs and spices like parsley and paprika.
Gyros and souvlaki are both popular meat dishes, typically served with pita bread. The main difference between the two is that gyros are made with ground meat, and souvlaki is made with chunks of chicken, pork, or beef.
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Flavor Variations
While this chicken souvlaki is delicious, you can change up the recipe to suit your own taste.
- Meat: Feel free to use chicken thigh meat, beef or lamb for this recipe.
- Veggies: You can make these skewers with some veggies like cherry tomatoes, red onions, zucchini or bell peppers.
- Spicy: For a spicier chicken, try adding a little hot sauce or red pepper flakes to your marinade.
I pair my Greek chicken souvlaki and sauces with hummus, marinated olives and flatbread for a Mediterranean dinner that the whole family will love. In fact, I ended up making this twice in one week because it was such a hit. I can’t argue with that kind of success!
More Greek Inspired Dishes
Chicken Souvlaki Video
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Chicken Souvlaki
Ingredients
For the chicken skewers:
- 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breast cut into 1 inch chunks
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 garlic cloves minced
For the yogurt sauce:
- 1 cup plain Greek yogurt
- 1/2 cup sour cream (or an additional 1/2 cup of greek yogurt if you prefer)
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1/2 cup minced cucumber (I prefer the small persian cucumbers)
- 1/4 cup minced fresh parsley or dill
For the tomato cucumber relish:
- 3/4 cup minced cucumber
- 3/4 cup minced seeded tomato
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 tablespoons minced parsley
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- For the chicken skewers: Combine the lemon juice, olive oil, oregano, salt, pepper and garlic, along with 1 tablespoon of water, in a bowl.
- Add the chicken pieces and toss to coat. Marinate for at least 10 minutes or up to 1 hour.
- Heat a grill or grill pan over medium or preheat the broiler.
- Remove the chicken from the marinade and thread the chicken pieces onto 4 skewers.
- If grilling, place the chicken on the grill and cook for 5 minutes on each side or until chicken is cooked through.
- For broiling, broil for 8-10 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.
- While the chicken is cooking make the sauces.
- For the yogurt sauce: Mix together the Greek yogurt, sour cream, cucumber and parsley. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Refrigerate until ready for use, or for up to 1 day.
- For the relish: Combine the tomato, cucumber and parsley in a bowl. Stir in the lemon juice and olive oil.
- Season to taste with salt and pepper. Refrigerate until ready for use, or for up to 1 day.
- Serve the chicken skewers with the yogurt sauce and cucumber relish, as well as flatbread, hummus and olives if desired.
Notes
- Cut your chicken with a sharp knife into 1 inch square chunks. You want similar sized pieces of chicken so they cook in the same amount of time.
- It’s important to only marinate the chicken for a short period of time, less than an hour is ideal. If the chicken sits too long in the marinade the acid from the lemon juice could make it tough.
- While I like cooking chicken souvlaki on a grill, you can cook it on a grill pan or even on a sheet pan under a broiler in an oven.
Loved this recipe so much. Everyone devoured it. Great flavor, easy to make, easy to customize. Definitely putting this on my summer rotation dinner list. Thanks for sharing. Also… I love your blogs name!
-Maggie
This was a great recipe! The marinade was very tasty and a hit with my family.
Wow this is one of my favorite recipes! I used this marinade on lamb chops for the first time last night and it was amazing. Thank you!
That looks amazing! I’ll add it to my recipes to make ASAP! I love Hummus ans I make my own Naan so this is perfect. Not to mention healthy and no doubt delicious!
Thankyou for this amazing recipe. We would buy store bought marinated souvlaki until my daughter suggested I search the internet for a good recipe. Yours came up in the first few. I tried out just the chicken and it was a hit. I must have made it at least 20 times and still make it regularly! Instead of making it on skewers, I cook it in a pot and add a few jalapenos without seeds to give it a little kick. I make the cucumber/ tomato salad and the yogurt dressing on the odd occasion and they turn out great too.
This recipe rocks! I have made it several times and my family loves it. I add a little garlic to the yougurt sauce, and some yogurt to the marinade. The yogurt gives the chicken some tangy zest on when grilled
I used to work at Greek restaurant while going to school and forgot the recipe as it has been 20 + yrs. My kids and wife said this one beats any Greek restaurants we been to.
Thank you.
This was easy to make, had simple ingredients and our family really liked it! Thanks!
Awesome. 5*****.
Made all three for a BBQ for friends and was a major hit. Prepped the Chicken souvlaki several hours ahead and the cuc sauce. Got accolades from the tzaziki officionado as best he’d ever tasted! Huge success w flatbread, garden salad out of my greenhouse and the neighbours loaded potato salad.
Perfect for a hot summer evening meal. Thanks
It’s the middle of the night and now I’m hungry!! This looks delicious and love that it’s easy to make and kid friendly. Can’t wait to make it for my family sometime next week 🙂
This post on grilled chicken souvlaki brought me back to my youth! There is a Greek restaurant my family and I would frequent and my dad had this platter often. It was near our hometown, and It’s still there today.
I like that it’s served with a creamy yogurt sauce. This would be perfect for a weekend family gathering!
This looks delicious. I’m on a vegetarian diet now, do you think I could switch the chicken cubes with grilled tofu?
Yes that would work!
My family would really enjoy this. I do not consume meat but do enjoy Greek cuisine!
That looks so freaking yummy! It also seems pretty healthy, so it would be nice to throw in occasionally for my diet Thanks!
This looks fantastic. I am adding this to my meal plan asap! I love chicken souvlaki.
This looks spectacular. I am going to have to try this out as soon as possible. I am a huge fan of Chicken Souvlaki..
I am hand clapping because i love Mediterranean food! Unfortunately I have given up eating me at in my diet two weeks ago, It may not be forever but as of currently I wont be able to indulge in this unless I remove the chicken completely out but it does look good!
I used to work at a Greek restaurant and it was so important to know what its all this stuff. Souvlakis are amazing!!!
My husband loves Greek food. I need to make these for him for dinner
I’m going on vacay to Greece next week so I’m excited to try this there! Your version looks so pretty and flavorful!
xoxo
Annie