Chicken Souvlaki with Tzatziki
One of our family traditions are Sunday night barbecues when family and friends drop by for dinner and a visit. Everyone looks forward to this weekly event.
Sometimes coming up with a different menu for the barbecues can be a challenge. Last week we decided it would be Greek night so my daughter-in-law and I made Chicken Souvlaki with Tzatziki Dip.
We love Greece and Greek food. We’ve been trying different recipes to replicate the souvlaki and tzatziki we enjoy whenever we’re in Greece.
This weekend we made Tzatziki exactly how the owner of The Music Cafe in Myknos, one of our favorite cafes in Greece, taught us. It was delicious.
I decided to try my hand at creating a new recipe for the souvlaki. I marinated the chicken overnight in yogurt and spices, it turned out tender, juicy, and delicious! The yogurt keeps the chicken tender and juicy and fresh dill gives them the extra yum!
Tzatziki is a yogurt dip or sauce. It can be served with fresh crusty baguettes for dipping, and used as a sauce over the chicken. Either way it’s delicious.
Both the Tzatziki and Souvlaki are easy to make. The chicken should be marinated over night or for at least 3 hours, the longer it marinates in the fridge the tastier and tender it will be when grilled. The Tzatziki can be make ahead of time and chilled in the fridge until ready to serve.
Both dishes will now be permanent additions to our Sunday night barbecues. Here are the recipes, perhaps you can try them out this coming Memorial Day. Both recipes can be doubled or tripled for larger gatherings.
Chicken Souvlaki
Makes 9-10 kebobs
Ingredients:
2 lbs. thawed chicken tenderloins – if the pieces are too large you may have to cut them in half lengthwise to make strips no larger than 2″ wide.
1 cup WHOLE milk plain Greek yogurt. Be sure it’s whole milk, the fat free or 2% won’t work.
1 tbls. minced garlic
2 tbls. olive oil
1 tsp. dried or fresh oregano – crushed or minced
1/2 tsp dried or fresh rosemary – crushed or minced
1 tbls. fresh dill – finely chopped
Juice of 1/2 lemon
Salt & Pepper to taste
Directions:
Mix all the ingredients in a bowl.
Add chicken strips; mix well making sure the chicken is well coated in the yogurt mixture.
Cover with plastic wrap and marinate at least 3 hours or overnight in the fridge. It’s a good idea to stir the chicken several time while it’s marinating to ensure all pieces are coated with the yogurt mixture.
Place the marinated chicken on skewers – two pieces fit nicely on 12″ skewers.
Grill on medium heat until chicken is well cooked. About 5-6 minutes on each side. Don’t over cook the chicken, it will become dry and hard.
Serve immediately with Tzatziki, and whatever side dishes you prefer.
Tzatziki
Makes 2 cups
Ingredients:
2 medium cucumbers
2 cups WHOLE milk yogurt
1 tbls. olive oil
1 tbls. minced garlic
2 tbls. fresh minced dill
Juice of 1/2 lemon
Salt to taste
Directions:
1. Peal cucumber, cut in half lengthwise, and scoop out the middle part including the seeds.
2. Finely grate cucumber in to a mixing bowl.
3. Squeeze out as much liquid as possible from the grated cucumber, discard liquid and keep the grated cucumber.
4. Add yogurt to cucumber and mix well.
5. Add olive oil, garlic, and dill to the mixture and mix well.
6. Remove lemon seeds and squeeze lemon juice into the mixture and mix well.
7. Add salt to taste.
Chill until ready to serve. Can be served as sauce for the Chicken Tzatziki or as a dip with crusty fresh bread or pita chips. If serving as a dip portion into small bowls and drizzle with olive oil before serving.
- 2 lbs. chicken tenderloins thawed - if the pieces are too large you may have to cut them in half lengthwise to make strips no larger than 2" wide.
- 1 cup Whole Milk plain Greek yogurt. Be sure it's whole milk, the fat free or 2% won't work.
- 1 tbls. minced garlic
- 2 tbls. olive oil
- 2 tsp. dried or fresh oregano crushed or minced
- 1/2 tsp. dried or fresh rosemary crushed or minced
- 1 tbls. fresh dill finely chopped
- 1/2 pc. Juice of lemon
- Salt & pepper to taste
- 2 pc. Tzatziki: medium cucumbers
- 2 cups milk yogurt WHOLE
- 1 tbls. olive oil
- 1 tbls. garlic minced
- 2 tbls. dill fresh minced
- 1/2 pc. Juice of lemon
- salt to taste
- Mix all the ingredients in a bowl.
- Add chicken strips; mix well making sure the chicken is well coated in the yogurt mixture.
- Cover with plastic wrap and marinate at least 3 hours or overnight in the fridge. It's a good idea to stir the chicken several time while it's marinating to ensure all pieces are coated with the yogurt mixture.
- Place the marinated chicken on skewers - two pieces fit nicely on 12" skewers.
- Grill on medium heat until chicken is well cooked. About 5-6 minutes on each side. Don't over cook the chicken, it will become dry and hard.
- Serve immediately with Tzatziki, and whatever side dishes you prefer.
- Peal cucumber, cut in half lengthwise, and scoop out the middle part including the seeds.
- Finely grate cucumber in to a mixing bowl.
- Squeeze out as much liquid as possible from the grated cucumber, discard liquid and keep the grated cucumber.
- Add yogurt to cucumber and mix well.
- Add olive oil, garlic, and dill to the mixture and mix well.
- Remove lemon seeds and squeeze lemon juice into the mixture and mix well.
- Add salt to taste.
- Chill until ready to serve.
Tzatziki can be served as sauce for the Chicken Souvlaki or as a dip with crusty fresh bread or pita chips. If serving as a dip portion into small bowls and drizzle with olive oil before serving.
