A recipe for Greek yogurt marinated chicken skewers resulting in the most flavorful and tender grilled chicken! This easy grilled chicken recipe is made with Greek yogurt, Greek seasoning, fresh lemon, and garlic served with a spicy tzatziki sauce. *This Marinated Chicken Skewers with Spicy Tzatziki Sauce post is sponsored by Maple Hill Creamery. All opinions are always my own.
Today, I'm sharing a mouthwatering Mediterranean-inspired recipe for Marinated Chicken Skewers with Spicy Tzatziki Sauce made with Maple Hill Creamery plain Greek yogurt. Maple Hill Creamery is made up of over 70 family-owned farms across central NY. These farms all operate as a 100% grass-fed dairy system, with an emphasis on product quality, raising healthy cows, and environmental responsibility. When you taste their yogurt, you can tell a difference. Maple Hill Creamery's grass-fed dairy products are artisan quality. The family still creates and uses all of their own recipes. I love and fully support Maple Hill Creamery's mission to lead the way in creating a regenerative system of dairy farming that is best for the environment, the consumers (grass-fed dairy is full of vitamins, minerals, and healthy fat), the cows, and the farmers.
Maple Hill Creamery's yogurt is incredibly creamy and flavorful, made from whole organic milk. I had to eat a couple of spoonfuls while I was making this recipe. It's so good!! The rich and smooth texture makes it irresistible to pass up. They even carry a line of drinkable yogurt, which is great for kids. Also, don't be afraid of the fat here, whole milk dairy is actually good for you.
Yogurt-The Secret To Tender Grilled Chicken
Greek yogurt makes an excellent addition to marinades, resulting in very moist and tender chicken. Yogurt marinades are very effective in tenderizing due to the calcium and lactic acid that work beautifully together to break down proteins resulting in melt-in-your-mouth meat. Yogurt marinades create a flavorful textured crust around proteins from the caramelization of the proteins and sugars. It slowly tenderizes the meat, making it an ideal marinade for marinating the chicken overnight. I love marinating chicken the night before to save time when it comes to dinner prep. However, it still works great for a 2-4 hour marinade time.
Ingredients You'll Need
For the marinade:
- Chicken breasts- boneless and skinless
- Greek yogurt- plain, full-fat recommended
- Red wine vinegar
- Garlic- fresh cloves, minced
- Greek seasoning blend- Cavender's and McCormick made good ones
- Lemon- freshly juiced
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Salt and pepper to taste
How To Make A Yogurt Marinade For Chicken
This chicken marinade is so flavorful and simple to throw together. Add all of the ingredients into a medium-size bowl, whisk, then toss with the boneless chicken breast. Refrigerate in a sealed plastic bag, making sure to squeeze out all of the excess air. Allow the flavors to mingle for 2-3 hours.
Recipe Tip
Before assembling your chicken skewers, make sure that you soak wooden skewers in water for at least 30 minutes before adding the meat. This prevents them from burning on a hot grill.
How To Make Spicy Tzatziki Sauce
Tzatziki Ingredients:
- Greek yogurt
- Fresh garlic- minced
- Lemon juice-freshly squeezed
- Fresh dill-finely chopped
- English cucumber- peeled
- Sriracha seasoning- or red pepper flakes
- Salt and pepper- to taste
Note: You can use all grated cucumber in this tzatziki sauce, but I like to do half diced and half grated to have a nice contrast in texture. If you can't find the dried Sriracha seasoning, red pepper flakes and cayenne are a good substitution. It gives a little personality and kick to traditional tzatziki sauce.
Tzatziki Directions
While the chicken is marinating, prepare the tzatziki. Slice the peeled cucumber in half, lengthwise. Using a small spoon, remove all of the seeds from the center. Grate half the cucumber and place it into a medium-sized bowl. Finely dice the other half of the cucumber and add to the bowl. Mix in all other ingredients, cover, and refrigerate until the chicken is ready.
How To Grill Yogurt Marinated Chicken Skewers
Heat the grill to medium-high heat. While the grill is heating up, thread the chicken pieces onto skewers. Cook chicken skewers for about 10 minutes, turning several times and testing with a meat thermometer. Pull chicken off the grill as soon as it reads a safe 165 degrees F. internal temperature. Serve with spicy tzatziki sauce.
What To Serve With Chicken Skewers
The options are endless, but here are a few of my favorite sides to go with this Mediterranean-inspired dish.
- Lemon Orzo Pasta Salad
- Parmesan Grilled Asparagus- make the entire dinner on the grill. So easy!
- Roasted Potato Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette
- Caprese Salad
- Baked-Wrapped Green Beans- it's like veggie candy...so delicious!
- Greek salad with Homemade Greek Salad Dressing
- Fresh Zucchini Salad
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Yogurt Marinated Chicken Skewers with Spicy Tzatziki Sauce
Ingredients
- For the marinade:
- 1 lb chicken breasts boneless and skinless
- ½ cup Greek yogurt
- 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 tablespoon Greek seasoning blend
- 1 whole lemon juiced
- 4 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- ½ teaspoon salt
- pepper to taste
- For the spicy tzatziki:
- 1 cup Greek yogurt
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon fresh dill finely chopped
- 1 English cucumber peeled
- ¼-1/2 teaspoon dry Sriracha seasoning or red pepper flakes
- ½ teaspoon salt
- pepper to taste
Instructions
- Whisk all marinade ingredients together in a large bowl.
- Chop chicken into bite-size chunks and toss with marinade.
- Pour marinated chicken into a large sealable plastic bag and squeeze out all of the air.
- Refrigerate for 2-3 hours, or overnight for the best flavor.
- While chicken is marinating, prepare the tzatziki sauce.
- Slice the peeled cucumber in half, lengthwise.
- Using a small spoon, remove all of the seeds from the center.
- Grate half the cucumber and place into a medium-size bowl.
- Finely dice the other half of the cucumber and add to the bowl.
- Mix in all other ingredients, cover and refrigerate until chicken is ready.
- Heat grill to medium-high heat.
- While grill is heating-up, thread the chicken pieces onto skewers.
- Cook chicken skewers for about 10 minutes, turning several times and testing with a meat thermometer.
- Pull chicken off the grill as soon as it reads a safe 165 degrees F. internal temperature.
- Serve with spicy tzatziki sauce.
Notes
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Marianne
What goes into the greek seasoning? I cannot find a blend in my supermarket. Any ideas?
Amee Livingston
Hi Marianne! Penzeys spices makes a great one, but the ingredients are: salt, oregano, garlic, lemon peel, pepper and marjoram.