Middle Eastern-Style Grilled Chicken Kabobs
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You’ll make these flavorful chicken kabobs all summer long.
One of my go-to chicken recipes for summer cookouts, these Middle-Eastern style grilled chicken kabobs are wonderful over a bed of rice pilaf or served with a Greek salad. The chicken is marinated in yogurt, olive oil, lemon, garlic and spices, and then grilled over an open flame until juicy and golden brown. The only time-consuming part of the recipe is threading the meat and onions onto skewers. Short on time? Skip the skewers and grill the chicken pieces whole, and slice the red onions into large wedges and pop them right on the grill. A word to the wise: make more than you think you’ll need. The first time I made these chicken kabobs for a crowd, I actually ran out of food!
What You’ll Need to Make grilled Chicken Kabobs
I’ve specified boneless skinless chicken thighs for this recipe; they’re juicier and more flavorful than boneless skinless chicken breasts, and they also hold up better when using an acidic marinade; yogurt or lemon-based marinades can make boneless skinless chicken breasts leathery. Chicken thighs are also much easier to cook without drying out. (If you’d like to experiment with other chicken thigh recipes, BBQ-spiced chicken thighs and char siu chicken are both huge crowd pleasers.)
Step-by-Step Instructions
Step 1: Make the Marinade
In a medium bowl, combine the yogurt, olive oil, paprika, cumin, cinnamon, red pepper flakes, lemon zest, lemon juice, salt, pepper and garlic.
Stir to combine.
Step 2: Prep the Chicken and Thread onto Skewers
Trim the chicken of any excess fat and gristle. Don’t worry about getting every last bit of fat; most of it will melt off on the grill. Then cut the meat into bite-size pieces. I think it’s easiest to use kitchen shears as opposed to a knife.
Thread the chicken pieces onto skewers alternating with the red onions. Metal skewers are ideal as they won’t catch fire on the grill. If using wooden skewers, soak them in water for 30 minutes first so they’re slower to char on the grill.
Step 3: Marinate the Chicken
Place the kabobs on a baking sheet lined with foil, and then brush the marinade all over the meat, coating well. Cover and let the kabobs sit in the fridge for at least 8 hours or overnight.
Step 4: Grill the Kabobs
Preheat the grill to medium-high heat, grease well, and then grill the kabobs until golden brown.
Serve and enjoy!
Chicken Kabob Video Tutorial
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Middle Eastern-Style Grilled Chicken Kabobs
You’ll make these flavorful chicken kabobs all summer long.
Ingredients
- 1 cup plain whole milk Greek yogurt
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 teaspoons paprika
- ½ teaspoon cumin
- ⅛ teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (reduce to ½ teaspoon for less heat)
- Zest from one lemon
- 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice, from one lemon
- 1¾ teaspoons salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 5 garlic cloves, minced
- 2½ to 3 pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs, trimmed of excess fat and cut into 1½-inch pieces (see note)
- 1 large red onion, cut into 1-inch chunks
- Vegetable oil, for greasing the grill
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, combine the yogurt, olive oil, paprika, cumin, cinnamon, red pepper flakes, lemon zest, lemon juice, salt, pepper and garlic.
- Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil for easy clean up. Thread the chicken onto metal skewers, folding if the pieces are long and thin, alternating with the red onions. Be sure not to cram the skewers. (Note: You'll need between 6-8 skewers.) Place the kabobs on the prepared baking sheet. Brush the marinade all over the meat, coating well. Cover and refrigerate at least eight hours or overnight.
- Preheat the grill to medium-high heat. To grease the grill, lightly dip a wad of paper towels in vegetable oil and, using tongs, carefully rub over the grates several times until glossy and coated. Grill the chicken kabobs until golden brown and cooked through, turning the skewers occasionally, 13 to 15 minutes. (The yogurt marinade makes these kabobs prone to sticking to the grill grates; if necessary, use a metal BBQ spatula to scrape underneath the kabobs and release them.) Transfer the kabobs to a platter and serve.
- Note: I've specified boneless skinless chicken thighs for this recipe; they're juicier and more flavorful than chicken breasts, and they work better in this type of yogurt and lemon-based marinade. They're also much easier to cook without drying out.
Pair with
Nutrition Information
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- Per serving (6 servings)
- Calories: 350
- Fat: 15g
- Saturated fat: 3g
- Carbohydrates: 6g
- Sugar: 3g
- Fiber: 1g
- Protein: 41g
- Sodium: 871mg
- Cholesterol: 186mg
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
Gluten-Free Adaptable Note
To the best of my knowledge, all of the ingredients used in this recipe are gluten-free or widely available in gluten-free versions. There is hidden gluten in many foods; if you're following a gluten-free diet or cooking for someone with gluten allergies, always read the labels of your ingredients to verify that they are gluten-free.
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Comments
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I made this and put it on my salad, one of the best salads I’ve ever had. I didn’t have time to marinate the chicken thighs, just added the ingredients (less yogurt though since I didn’t want it to be too wet since it didn’t marinate), baked for 25 minutes, broiled for 5 minutes, and voila! Very good! I’m sure it would be even better when I let the flavors meld more.
I’ve made this numerous times and it is always a success. I have turned leftovers into a salad with a fresh batch of the yogurt dressing (to prevent cross contamination). I have also used chicken breasts and fat-free yogurt (marinated for just a few hours) which was also successful.
One question is whether you have any wine suggestions.
Thanks
Hi Julie, So glad you like the recipe! I think these would be nice with a sauvignon blanc or a rosé.
hi Jen!! I love all your recipes – haven’t tried this one but will. IDEA –When you recommend marinating for a few hours, it would be AWESOME if you added that at the top in that summary (active time=x minutes, marinating=x hours, etc) Someway to represent it quickly so for those worknights when I’m searching for recipes, I can quickly filter through to the ones that are quicker. (of course I can read through all the steps to find it, but that just takes longer)
KEEP UP THE AWESOME WORK!!! I buy every cookbook you have!!!
Hi Barrie, Thanks for your nice words about the recipes — so glad you like them! While not all of my recipes have this (and I’m in the process of updating them when I encounter them), You’ll see that with this one, there’s the prep time, cook time, and total time which includes the marinating time. Hope that clarifies (and if you happen to come across other recipes that are lacking it, please let me know). 😊
I made these for a family beach vacation, tripled the recipe, assembled kebabs with marinade at home, froze 3 gallon bags’ worth. Minus the onions, which I didn’t think would freeze well. Thawed in fridge at beach, grilled, they were amazing! Family crushed them. Have made several times since to accolades.
Fantastic recipe, so delicious! Paired with the rice pilaf recipe and the Greek salad, everyone asked for all 3 recipes!
This was excellent! I served it at a casual dinner party and everybody raved about it. I broiled it and it came out perfect
Absolutely fantastic dish. Guests could not get enough. Praise throughout the meal. “The flavors!”
Tip: follow the instructions. I wasn’t sure that the marinade would work as well if I coated my skewers as opposed to marinating the chicken in a big bowl. MUCH harder to thread hunks of thigh meat that are dripping with marinade. Trust Jen.
I loved these Kebabs. Cooked them on a Weber Go Anywhere Charcoal BBQ Grill. Guests absolutely loved them. I used less Chilli..1/4 Tsp (I’ll increase the amount next time).I also made the Rice Pilaf to serve with the Kebabs. Thank you for this very tasty recipe, it will be a BBQ staple !. Australia.
Has anyone tried this on a griddle? I have done some kabobs that way, but don’t know if the yogurt will handle the direct contact. Regardless, this recipe sounds amazing and it is happening soon.
Hi Lori, I’ll let others weigh in if they’ve used a griddle, but I’d suggest using the broiler instead. Put your broiler on high and cook it for about the same time as indicated in the recipe – and you’ll need to turn them occasionally just as you would on a grill so that they brown evenly. Hope you enjoy!
The lemon doesn’t cook the meat or turn it to mush as is so often warned again when marinating for longer that four hours?
Hi Steve, using lemon juice with boneless chicken breasts can cause it to be leathery and tough, but that’s not the case with dark meat. Hope you enjoy if you make the kabobs!
This recipe is just fabulous. The only change I made was one tsp. each smoked and regular paprika. Used chicken thighs and the kebabs were so moist and tender.
This was so delicious! I made it as written though only marinated for abut 5 hours and it was perfect. Great recipe that I would be very happy to serve to summer guests!
I’ve made this 3 times now, it’s fantastic! Such a unique flavor. Wow!
I made this for my family last night. It was so easy, yet so delicious. Thank you 🙏
My whole family loves this. We use mayonnaise instead of the yogurt and olive oil (we don’t mix meat and dairy) and the chicken is flavorful, tender and so juicy! A staple in our house