The Best Chicken Souvlaki
Prep
25m
Cook
12m
Total
37m
Bigly says
Sit. Pour yourself a coffee. We're doing this right. We are talking about chicken souvlaki — the greatest skewered meat in the recorded history of skewered meats. And there have been a lot of skewered meats, more than you know. The Greeks were skewering meat over fire BEFORE there were forks. Think about that. They didn't even have FORKS yet and they were already grilling skewers like absolute professionals. That's CULTURE. That's tradition. That's what real cooking looks like. I respect it tremendously.
Most people, when they make chicken souvlaki, get one thing wrong — they marinate for twenty minutes and think they've done something. Twenty minutes! Twenty minutes is a coffee break. Twenty minutes is a phone call with your dentist. Twenty minutes is NOTHING. You need TIME. Lemon and olive oil and garlic and oregano and red wine vinegar SITTING on that chicken for at least four hours, maybe overnight, working it, breaking it down, making it tender. A friend of mine, an old Greek woman from Astoria — her name is Eleni and she could grill a chicken with her eyes closed in a power outage — she once cornered me at a wedding and made me promise to marinate overnight. She made me PROMISE. So now I promise you. Overnight. Hand on heart.
And the OTHER thing — the tzatziki. Tzatziki is not a garnish. It's not optional. It's not a 'side sauce.' It's a co-star. The Robin to your Batman. The second-in-command. Any recipe that gives you souvlaki without a real tzatziki is committing a CRIME against Greek cuisine and frankly against humanity. Cucumber, Greek yogurt, garlic, dill, lemon, salt. That's the move. Some chefs will tell you sour cream is fine. SOUR CREAM. Listen to me. It's not fine. Hands down.
Ingredients
- 2 lbboneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1.5-inch chunks(thighs, folks — chicken breast on a skewer is a sad mistake we don't make here)
- 1/4 cupfresh lemon juice
- 1/3 cup, plus more for brushingolive oil
- 6 clovesgarlic, minced
- 2 tbspred wine vinegar
- 2 tbspdried oregano(Greek oregano if you can find it)
- 1.5 tspkosher salt
- 1 tspblack pepper
- 1 lemonlemon zest
- 1.5 cupsGreek yogurt (full-fat)(for the tzatziki — full-fat or do not bother)
- 1, for the tzatzikiEnglish cucumber
- 1 clovegarlic, grated (for tzatziki)
- 2 tbspfresh dill, chopped
- 1 tbsplemon juice (for tzatziki)
- 4-6warm pita breads
- 2ripe tomatoes, sliced
- 1/2red onion, thinly sliced
- 1/4 cup, choppedfresh flat-leaf parsley (to garnish)
Steps
- 1
Whisk lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, red wine vinegar, oregano, salt, pepper, and lemon zest in a large bowl. Add the chicken and toss to coat. Cover and refrigerate at least 4 hours, ideally overnight.
- 2
Make the tzatziki: grate the cucumber on the large holes of a box grater. Place in a clean kitchen towel and squeeze hard to remove as much liquid as possible — this is non-negotiable for thick tzatziki.
- 3
In a bowl, stir together the squeezed cucumber, Greek yogurt, grated garlic, dill, lemon juice, and a generous pinch of salt. Cover and refrigerate at least 30 minutes for the flavors to come together.
- 4
If using wooden skewers, soak them in water for at least 20 minutes. Thread the marinated chicken onto skewers, leaving a small gap between pieces (this helps each chunk char).
- 5
Heat a grill or grill pan to medium-high (about 450 F). Brush the grates with oil.
- 6
Grill the skewers 3-4 minutes per side, turning to get color on all four sides, until the chicken is charred in spots and reaches 165 F internal. Total cook time is 10-12 minutes.
- 7
Transfer skewers to a platter and let rest 5 minutes — they keep cooking, and the juices redistribute.
- 8
Warm the pitas on the grill for 30 seconds per side until soft and lightly toasted.
- 9
Serve the souvlaki skewers with warm pita, a generous bowl of tzatziki, sliced tomatoes, red onion, and a sprinkle of fresh parsley. Build wraps or eat off the skewer with pita on the side.
One more thing
That's souvlaki. That's the real deal. Charred chicken, cool tzatziki, warm pita, ripe tomatoes — five thousand years of Mediterranean civilization on one plate, in one wrap, and you didn't have to fly anywhere to get it. You made it. In your kitchen. With your hands. The Greeks would be PROUD. They would. They'd come over for dinner if they could. Eleni would approve. She'd nod once. That's the highest praise she gives. Believe me.
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Substitutions, what to serve it with, why other chefs are wrong about it. He's got opinions.
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