Greek chicken souvlaki is made from juicy chunks of chicken marinated in olive oil, lemon, garlic, and oregano, then grilled until the edges char. Serve it with warm pita, tomatoes, and tzatziki for a complete dinner in about 25 minutes once the chicken is marinated. And, the marinade needs just five ingredients you probably already have in your pantry!

 

We visited Greece a few years ago and my collection of Greek recipes has been growing at a steady clip since. I first tried souvlaki at a small neighborhood restaurant in Athens, and it has stayed with me ever since. The chicken was charred at the edges, juicy inside, and the flavors were bright and clean in a way that only a good marinade can produce. This recipe is my attempt to recreate that meal, and it comes very close.

What I Learned Testing Chicken Souvlaki

I tested this recipe several times to get it right and as close as I could to the souvlaki I ate in Greece. Here’s what made the difference:

Size matters: It really does matter that the chicken pieces are all the same size, give or take. Everything on a skewer gets the same amount of time over the heat, so a piece that’s smaller than the rest will dry out, and a piece that’s larger will still be underdone when the other chunks are ready.

Hot surface: Whether you grill souvlaki, cook it in a pan, or roast it in the oven, a hot surface makes all the difference. That’s how you get that beautiful char on each piece of chicken.

More marinating isn’t always better: An hour works and overnight is best; the lemon doesn’t need that much time to work its magic. Once you’ve submerged the chicken for about half a day, the chicken breast turns firm and a little chalky. If you want to marinate more than 12 hours ahead of time, switch to thighs.

Leave them alone once they’re down: Don’t move the skewers for the first few minutes on the grill. Every time you shift the meat you mess with the char that’s forming.

The Souvlaki Marinade

There are five ingredients, and each one has a job of its own. Olive oil carries the flavor and keeps the chicken from drying on the grill. Lemon juice brightens and tenderizes. Garlic and dried oregano are the key sources of flavor, and dried oregano genuinely works better than fresh here because it clings to the meat instead of burning off. Salt goes in the marinade rather than right before serving so it has time to fully season the chicken.

Use olive oil you would put it on a salad.

Greek cooks use this same combination of oil, lemon, and oregano constantly. If you want the pourable version for fish and grilled vegetables, try ladolemono, the Greek olive oil and lemon dressing. It’s worth keeping a bottle of ladolemono in the fridge if you’re a fan!

Chicken Breast or Thighs?

Both work, but they behave differently on the grill. Thighs are more forgiving as they stay juicy longer and are harder to overcook. Breast cooks faster and can dry out if you leave it on the heat too long, but for this recipe I actually prefer it. The chunks of breast hold their shape beautifully on the skewer, and the texture against the bold marinade is exactly right. Just keep a close eye on it and pull it off the heat as soon as it is cooked through.

How To Make Greek Chicken Souvlaki

Start by gathering all your ingredients.

Cut the chicken breast into one inch cubes. Even sizing matters here so everything cooks at the same rate. Mix the olive oil, lemon juice, salt, oregano, and minced garlic in a bowl, add the chicken, and toss well to coat. Cover and refrigerate for at least one hour or overnight.

Leave a small gap between the pieces. Chicken packed tight against itself steams instead of searing, which is the single most common reason homemade souvlaki comes out pale. If you are using wooden skewers, soak them in water for 30 minutes before grilling.

Then cook in whichever way suits you:

On the grill: Medium-high heat, five to eight minutes per side, until the chicken is golden with charred edges and reaches 165°F at the center.

In a grill pan: Heat the pan over medium-high until a drop of water skitters across it, then add the skewers and leave them alone for three to four minutes before turning. Work in batches. A crowded pan drops the temperature and you lose the char. Turn the skewers every three to four minutes to get complete char on all sides.

In the oven: Heat the oven to 425°F, arrange the skewers on a foil-lined sheet pan with space between them, and roast for 18 – 22 minutes, turning once halfway. Finish under the broiler for two to three minutes for color. The oven will not give you true grill char, but it gets closer than most people expect and it is the easiest way to cook a lot at once.

Place the cooked chicken skewers on a large plate with pita, tomatoes, onions, olives and tzatziki sauce and serve immediately.

Souvlaki, Kalamaki and Gyro

It’s worth knowing the difference between these three meats before you order food in Greece, because the words do not mean what most English-language recipes suggest.

In Athens and the south, if you ask for souvlaki you will usually be handed a pita wrap. The skewer itself is a kalamaki. Travel north to Thessaloniki and it flips: there, souvlaki is the skewer.

Gyro is a genuinely different dish. The meat is stacked on a vertical rotisserie and shaved off in strips as it cooks, never cubed and never skewered. Check out my easy chicken gyro recipe if you’re a gyro fan!

Also, be aware that the traditional meat for souvlaki in Greece and Cyprus is pork, not chicken. Chicken is commonly used now and widely sold, but pork is what you will mostly be handed at a souvlatzidiko. I have not developed a pork version (at least not yet!). What I can tell you is that pork shoulder has considerably more fat than chicken breast, which makes it far more forgiving on the grill and lets it take a longer marinade without losing texture.

What To Serve With Souvlaki

The classic setup is warm pita, sliced tomatoes, red onion, and a bowl of tzatziki, and it is classic for a reason. Soft homemade pita bread makes a real difference here, because supermarket pita tends to crack when you fold it around hot chicken.

For the sauce, creamy tzatziki sauce is probably what you’re looking for. Make it while the chicken marinates so the garlic has time to settle into the yogurt.

To make a full dinner rather than a wrap, serve the skewers over Greek lemon rice with a chopped salad alongside. You can also grill vegetables on the second rack of your oven while the chicken is grilling

Storage and Make Ahead

The marinade is the part worth planning around. Marinated raw chicken freezes well in a freezer-safe bag for up to a month, and it marinates as it thaws, so you can put dinner together from the freezer with no extra work. Just thaw overnight in the fridge.

Cooked souvlaki keeps in the fridge for 3 days. Reheat it briefly in a hot pan rather than the microwave, it heats evenly and crisps the edges.

Frequently Asked Questions

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