The Best Ever Grilled Chicken Recipe with Tzatziki



Posted: Friday, January 28, 2011

by Anne Edwards

This Greek inspired moist, juicy grilled chicken recipe is a wonderful addition to a Mediterranean meal as it is so easy to make. Depending on the occasion, it can be served as a starter or can make a wonderfully satisfying main course served with a big Greek salad, Tzatziki and good crusty bread. Alternatively slice the grilled chicken, add some salad, drizzle with Tzatziki and wrap in grilled Greek "Yiros" bread to make a healthy quick weekend or weeknight lunch or dinner.

The most traditional way of cooking this dish is to skewer pieces of marinated chicken onto metal skewers and cook them over hot charcoal. That is by far the yummiest way I have tried this recipe! However, as char-grilling is not always practical I have often grilled whole pieces of marinated chicken in a griddle pan on the stove top, or in the summer we grill it outside on the barbeque.

Tzatziki is basically a cucumber, yoghurt and garlic sauce, which is just wonderful with this grilled chicken recipe. You can either use boneless chicken thigh fillets or chicken breast fillets, which are of course much quicker to cook.

I like to use Greek oregano for this recipe as it has a completely different flavour to Italian oregano, and therefore is more authentic. Greek oregano comes dried in bunches with the stalks still intact, and can be purchased at most good continental delicatessens. Obviously if you can't find the Greek herb, then by all means use the Italian version, it will still taste great. Just as a side note, dried oregano is preferred to the fresh herb as drying it brings out more flavour.

Here's what you will need for the Grilled Chicken:

4 Chicken breast fillets

1 Tblsp dried Greek Oregano

4 Tblsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Juice of 1 large Lemon

Sea Salt

Black Pepper

Marinate the Chicken breasts with the Olive Oil, dried Oregano, EV Olive Oil, Lemon Juice, Sea Salt and Black Pepper for at least an hour. Two or three hours of marinating is even better.

This is how to make the Tzatziki Sauce:

In a bowl mix together;

250g plain Yoghurt

Approx. 4 inches of Grated Cucumber

1-2 cloves crushed Garlic

2 Tblsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil

The juice of half a Lemon

Sea Salt

Black Pepper

A note about the Yoghurt: You can use Greek Style Yoghurt which is made from Cow's milk and has a thick consistency or you can use a plain Sheep's milk Yoghurt, which is also usually quite thick. If you can't find either of these, and the yoghurt you are using is a bit runny, simply place a piece of clean white cheesecloth over a colander (strainer) and drain the yoghurt until it is of a thicker consistency.

A note about the Cucumber: I usually use either a small Lebanese Cucumber or a piece of one of those long telegraph' cucumbers. Both of these have soft edible skins, so I grate it with skin on. If you only have access to old fashioned thick-skinned cucumbers, by all means use them, just peel them before grating. Once you have grated the cucumber, squeeze out any excess liquid and add to the Yoghurt mixture.

This grilled chicken recipe serves 4 people.
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