Chicken Souvlaki

Autumn is definitely here and winter threatened to stay earlier this week with our first snowfall. Warm temps returned, the snow melted overnight and we’ve had a bright and sunny weekend.

If there’s an opportunity to grill, I embrace it. Greeks do not eat souvlaki all the time but we are known for putting practically anything on a stick.

The most common is pork and a close second is chicken. I like using thigh as it is more flavourful and hard to overcook. If you insist on using breast meat, that’s fine but my souvlaki will be juicier!

Chicken Souvlaki

(serves 4)

Approx 1 kg. boneless, skinless chicken thigh (or breast)
1 medium onion, grated
3 cloves of garlic, minced
3 tsp. salt
1 tsp. black pepper
1/4 cup vegetable (or canola) oil
1 Tbsp. dried Greek oregano
wooden skewers (soaked overnight)

Garnishes

Ladolemono

Tzatziki sauce

1. Cut your chicken into uniform pieces.
2. In a large bowl, add your remaining marinade ingredients along with the chicken pieces and toss to mix and coat all the meat. Place in the fridge for at least 5 hours and for best results, overnight.
3. Place your wooden skewers in a shallow baking dish that’s filled with water. Allow the wooden skewers to soak overnight (so they don’t disintegrate when grilling).
4. The next day, a couple of hours before you are going to grill your souvlaki, allow the chicken to come to room temperature and then start skewering your meat (it’s easier when your meat’s at room temperature).
5. Pre-heat your gas grill (or prepare your charcoal grill) and when you have a medium-high heat, grill your souvlakia for 3-4 minutes a side and then keep warm until all the souvlaki are cooked.
6. Squeeze fresh lemon juice on your souvlakia with a sprinkle of fine sea salt and dried Greek oregano or Ladolemono sauce.
7. Serve with some pita bread and my no-fail fries.

© 2020, Peter Minaki. All rights reserved.