This Greek Chicken Souvlaki recipe features flavorful grilled chicken skewers loaded with Greek flavors of oregano and lemon. Think of juicy and tender pieces of chicken breast meat, brined, and lightly marinated, with grilled pieces of vegetables (onions + peppers) threaded in between!
Chicken Souvlaki is a popular Greek food because it's truly scrumptious!
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It's also one of the best ways to cook flavorful chicken on your BBQ or grill pan! Especially if you have people coming over.
People might refer to them as chicken Kebobs (because of similar dishes in Eastern countries) but in Greece, we call them Souvlaki.
What Is Chicken Souvlaki?
Chicken Souvlaki is chicken skewers. The skewers can be either wooden or metal. As for the chicken meat, it can be either boneless, skinless, chicken breast or chicken thigh.
Traditional Greek Souvlaki that's served in Greek Tavernas are usually larger, individual sized made with chicken breast threaded on metal skewers with pieces of vegetables in between (what we're making in this recipe).
Moreover, Chicken Souvlaki that's served in Greek grill houses is usually smaller in size, threaded on wooden skewers without vegetables, and sometimes made with boneless chicken thigh meat.
These Souvlakis are either served as a portion of 2-3 or unthreaded individually inside pita wraps with Tzatziki and other ingredients.
The Marinade
Chicken Souvlaki marinade is simple without many herbs and spices. The main seasoning for Souvlaki is dried oregano. In this recipe, we also use onion powder and paprika. You can also add some garlic powder as well if you like.
How To Make Juicy and Tender Souvlaki
To make real tender chicken Souvlaki the secret is brine! Brining the meat softens it and keeps it moist while it cooks. Especially when making chicken breast souvlaki since it's a drier piece of meat. To make the brine just mix fine sea salt and water.
Another thing that yields juicy Souvlaki is cooking it properly as mentioned below.
How To Cook Chicken Souvlaki
- Heat your grill or grill pan very well until smokey hot.
- Cook the Souvlaki on moderate heat. This means medium-high on the stovetop with a grill pan or medium heat on a cast iron grill pan and gas BBQ.
- Allow the chicken skewers to brown before turning them.
- Turn and cook on every side (again without turning too soon).
- Remove from the heat and allow to rest for 2-3 minutes.
Recipe Tips
- Leave the chicken at room temperature for 30 minutes then brine at room temperature for another 30 minutes. The less cold the chicken is the juicier and more tender it will be. Because there won't be a sudden shift in temperature when grilling to tighten the meat.
- Let the chicken marinate for a few minutes while you heat the grill or for a couple of hours or overnight. I like a lighter flavor on grilled chicken Souvlaki so I only marinate for a few minutes. You can also add a teaspoon of garlic powder to the marinade if you like a stronger flavor.
- Cook on a moderate heat for tender meat. After the meat gets browned you can lower the temperature a bit more.
- Don't turn the skewers too soon. Wait for at least 5 minutes before turning.
- Rest for 2-3 minutes and then drizzle with plenty of Ladolemono dressing while the meat is still hot to absorb it better.
- Be generous with the dried oregano, we love it! Sprinkle plenty on top while serving. And if you can, use Greek oregano.
Serve With
Top With: Ladolemono! In Greece, grilled meat is almost always served with Ladolemono. If you follow my blog and recipes you are probably already familiar with it. It's a lemon and olive oil dressing. Made of 1 part fresh lemon juice and 2 parts extra virgin olive oil.
Add Some Sides: Tzatziki is almost a must with the second-best dip option Greek Tirokafteri (spicy feta cheese dip). A Greek Salad is always welcome to accompany grilled meat dishes like this one.
Or a quick side salad (like the one in the pictures) with shredded lettuce, sliced tomatoes, onions, and cucumbers. You can drizzle it with the Ladolemon dressing and top it with extra ingredients like slices of bell pepper, Kalamata olives, capers, and fresh chopped herbs like dill or mint.
Don't forget the Pita Bread! You can make your own Homemade Pita Bread if you want. Maybe even try my healthier and easier Pita Bread With Greek Yogurt. Or skip the Pita bread and grill a few slices of sourdough bread. Serve the grilled bread Greek-style, drizzled with olive oil, dried oregano, and some sea salt (in Greece we add coarse sea salt here).
Other Greek Sides: Greek Fries With Feta, Oven Baked Feta Stuffed Peppers, Greek Potato Salad With Garlic, Lemon, and Fresh Herbs.
FAQS
- Q: What does souvlaki mean?
- A: Souvlaki means skewer in Greek. So there's Chicken Souvlaki (Kotopoulo Souvlaki), Pork Souvlaki (Hirino Souvlaki), Lamb Souvlaki (Arnisio Souvlaki), and Beef Souvlaki (Mosharisio Souvlaki) the first two being the most common.
- Q: What's the difference between chicken Gyros and Chicken Souvlaki?
- A: Chicken Gyros is made of thin slices of marinated chicken meat, threaded on a large vertical skewer that sits on a rotating rotisserie. To cut and serve Gyros the outer cooked and crisp layer of meat is cut and the meat comes off in shredded pieces. Then the rotisserie keeps spinning to roast the next (inner) layer of meat. On the other hand, Chicken souvlaki is small cubed pieces of meat threaded on skewers and grilled on a bbq, (traditionally on charcoal) a glass grill, or a griddle.
- Q: What's the difference between Greek Kebab and Souvlaki
- A: Greek Kebab is made by threading a whole piece of ground meat (mixed with spices) instead of pieces of meat.
- Q: Is Chicken Souvlaki healthy?
- A: Yes! This Chicken Souvlaki is healthy because it's made with a lean piece of meat and when served with a side salad and some Tzatziki it's a healthy, nutritious, and protein-packed meal.
- Q: How many calories are in Chicken Souvlaki?
- A: A Grilled Chicken Souvlaki drizzled with Ladolemono dressing is 407 kcal, if you skip the Ladolemono it's 283 kcal.
- Q: How can I cook chicken Souvlaki in the oven?
- A: Use the oven's grill or broil function. Heat on the highest. Place the chicken Souvlaki on a lined sheet pan with parchment paper or aluminum foil. Alternatively, you can use a roasting pan with a rack. Cooking time will be more or less as mentioned in the recipe below. If using the broil function turn the Souvlaki on each side. On the other hand, if using the oven's grill function turn once or twice.
Recipe
Chicken Souvlaki Skewers
Ingredients
For The Chicken Skewers:
- 670 grams (1.4 pounds) boneless skinless chicken breasts left at room temperature for 30 minutes
- 1 green bell pepper cut into 3 cm (1¼-inch) square pieces
- 1 sweet red pepper cut into 3 cm (1¼-inch) square pieces
- 1 red onion cut into 3 cm (1¼-inch) square pieces
For The Brine:
- 70 grams (2.4 ounces) fine sea salt
- 700 ml water
For The Instant Marinade:
- olive oil
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon paprika
- freshly ground pepper
For The Ladolemono Dressing:
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
To Serve With:
- pita bread
- ½ batch Tzatziki see how to make it here
- lettuce, sliced tomatoes, cucumbers, and onions or a Greek salad
- dried oregano to sprinkle on top
- lemon
Instructions
- Make the brine. Add salt and water to a mixing bowl and stir until salt is fully dissolved.
- Brine the chicken. Submerge the chicken breasts in the brine. Leave the bowl with the chicken at room temperature for 30 minutes.
- Remove the chicken from the brine and drain. Pat dry with paper towels and cut into 4 cm (1½-inch) cubes.
- Add chicken, dried oregano, onion powder, paprika, freshly ground pepper, and a generous drizzle of olive oil to a mixing bowl and toss to combine.
- Marinate. Let chicken marinate at room temperature until the grill gets heated. Alternatively, cover the bowl and place it in the fridge for a couple of hours or overnight. Make sure to remove from the fridge 30-45 minutes before cooking.
- Heat a grill pan or griddle over medium-high heat or a gas grill over moderate heat. Brush lightly with oil.
- Thread the meat on the skewers alternately with a piece of vegetable (green, red pepper, and onion).
- Grill for about 5-6 minutes on each side. Turn the Souvlaki to grill on all sides until the internal temperature registers 166°F / 74°C on an instant-read thermometer. See Notes Below.
- Make the Ladolemono. Let the skewers rest on a plate while you prepare the Ladolemono. In a small bowl whisk to combine the lemon juice and extra virgin olive oil.
- Drizzle Ladolemono over the skewers and then sprinkle with some dried oregano.
- Serve with preferred sides and enjoy!
This is legit the best Chicken Souvlaki I've had!
Hi Bill, it's slightly higher temperature just to be sure that the meat is cooked also in the center where the skewer is. If you use metal skewers you can cook until it reads 165 °F. Because metal unlike wood transfers heat better inside.