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Juicy, tender, and perfectly charred, these grilled chicken kabobs are bursting with flavor from lemon, garlic, and Middle Eastern spices.
One of my go-to chicken recipes for summer cookouts, these grilled chicken kabobs are wonderful over a bed of rice pilaf or on top of a salad. A yogurt-based marinade gives the chicken incredible flavor and helps keep it moist as it cooks on the grill.
The only time-consuming part of the recipe is threading the meat and onions onto skewers. If you’re short on time, you can grill the chicken pieces whole (the red onions can also be sliced into large wedges and placed directly 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!
“Served with the rice pilaf…better than going to a restaurant.”
What You’ll Need to Make Grilled Chicken Kabobs
- Plain Whole Milk Greek Yogurt: Forms the base of the marinade, tenderizes the chicken, and keeps it juicy, while it also helps the seasonings cling to each piece.
- Extra-Virgin Olive Oil: Helps distribute the seasonings and encourages browning on the grill.
- Spices: Paprika, ground cumin, ground cinnamon and crushed red pepper flakes give the kabobs their warm, Middle Eastern flavor. Reduce the red pepper flakes to ½ teaspoon for less heat.
- Lemon Zest and Juice: Add brightness and tang to the marinade. You’ll need one lemon for both.
- Garlic: Five cloves give the marinade plenty of garlic flavor.
- Boneless Skinless Chicken Thighs: Chicken thighs are perfect here because they stay juicy, are forgiving on the grill, and hold up better to the yogurt-and-lemon marinade than boneless breasts. Cut them into evenly sized pieces so they cook at the same rate.
- Red Onion: Softens and chars around the edges as the chicken cooks. Cut it into chunks large enough to thread onto the skewers.
- Jump to the printable recipe for precise measurements
How To Make Grilled Chicken Kabobs
Make the marinade: In a bowl, whisk together the yogurt, olive oil, paprika, cumin, cinnamon, red pepper flakes, lemon zest and juice, salt, pepper, and garlic until well combined.
Prep the chicken thighs: 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.
Assemble and marinate the kabobs: Thread the chicken and red onion onto skewers, alternating between the two and leaving a little room between the pieces so they cook evenly. Arrange the kabobs on a foil-lined baking sheet and brush the marinade generously over the chicken, turning to coat all sides. Cover and refrigerate for at least 8 hours or overnight.
Grill and serve: Grill the kabobs, turning occasionally, until the chicken is nicely browned and cooked through. If they stick when you try to turn them, give them another minute rather than forcing them off the grates; once the chicken has browned properly, it should release much more easily. Serve and enjoy!
Chicken Kabob Video Tutorial
Grilled Chicken Kabobs (Middle Eastern-Style)
Ingredients
- 1 cup plain whole milk Greek yogurt
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 teaspoons paprika
- ½ teaspoon cumin
- â…› teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (reduce to ½ teaspoon for less heat)
- Zest of one lemon
- 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice, from one lemon
- 1¾ teaspoons salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 5 cloves garlic, minced
- 2½ to 3 lb boneless skinless chicken thighs, trimmed of excess fat and cut into 1½-in/4-cm pieces (see note)
- 1 large red onion, cut into 1-in (2.5-cm) 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 cleanup. 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.
- 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; if necessary, use a metal BBQ spatula to scrape underneath the kabobs and release them.)
- Transfer the kabobs to a platter and serve.
Notes
Nutrition Information
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.
See more recipes:
Make-Ahead and Storage Tips
Make-Ahead: The chicken kabobs can be assembled and marinated up to 24 hours in advance. Keep them covered in the refrigerator until ready to grill.
Freezing: You can freeze the uncooked chicken in the marinade for up to 3 months. Place the chicken and marinade in a freezer-safe bag, press out the excess air, and freeze. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator, then thread the chicken and onions onto skewers and grill as directed. The yogurt marinade may look slightly separated after thawing, but that’s normal.
Storage: Store leftover cooked chicken in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
Reheating: Warm the chicken in a 325°F oven, covered with foil, until heated through. Avoid overheating, which can dry out the chicken.
What to Serve with Chicken Kabobs
To round out your spread, serve these kabobs with creamy hummus, tzatziki, or a garlicky tahini sauce for dipping. For something fresh, add a Greek salad, tabbouleh, or a crisp fattoush salad. Grilled or roasted vegetables are another delicious addition to the meal.
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Hi! If meal prepping, should chicken be marinated for 8hrs before freezing or can it go straight to freezer after mixed with marinade?? Thanks
Hi Lana, it can go straight into the freezer after being added to the marinade. 😊
Great recipe!! I made with chicken breast so I feel that chicken texture was a bit more broken down than I prefer. Is less marination time or less lemon juice if I still want to retain a little more texture. If you have the answer without me going the trial and error method… would be great. Thanks
Hi Lana, Glad you liked it! I suggest chicken thighs with this recipe as the lemon juice won’t impact the texture. If you’d really like to stick with chicken breasts, I’d omit the lemon juice.
Absolutely delicious! Wish I had more left over! Thanks for your consistenly great recipes.
Omg WOW!
I made this the other night and it was Soo delicious. I ended up using chicken breasts and it was still very flavorful, and yummy. I grilled the chicken on my charcoal Weber grill. With some added hardwood, this added a smokey flavor.
My poor kids, I should have halved the chili flakes. More for me and the wife !
Thanks !
I made these with chicken , marinating for two hours, and they were perfect.
I made these with chicken *breast*….
Oh my word! This is an amazing meal. We made the skewers along with the linked rice pilaf (minus nuts and fruit because of allergies) and the Greek salad. So many textures and flavors. Thank you for the amazing recipes!
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.
What temp setting did you bake it for?
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!