Need something easy and flavorful to throw on the grill this weekend? This Greek Marinated Chicken is it.
The marinade for this chicken (similar to what I used for this Chicken Shawarma ) takes just a few minutes to stir together and creates an absolute explosion of flavor. It’s incredible. I only marinated my chicken in this magical mix for 30 minutes, but the flavor was still loud and clear. Once marinated, you can grill the chicken outdoors over a gas or charcoal flame, or (if you don’t have a grill) you can bake it in the oven. Either way, you’ll get a super flavorful and moist end product.
I served this Greek Marinated Chicken with my Lemony Cucumber and Couscous Salad, which was the perfect cold summer side, and incorporated both starches and vegetables into the meal. Two birds with one stone!
Greek Marinated Chicken
Greek Marinated Chicken
Servings 8 piecesIngredients
- 1 cup plain yogurt ($0.63)
- 2 Tbsp olive oil ($0.32)
- 4 cloves garlic, minced ($0.32)
- 1/2 Tbsp dried oregano ($0.08)
- 1 medium lemon ($0.49)
- 1/2 tsp salt ($0.02)
- freshly cracked pepper ($0.05)
- 1/4 bunch fresh parsley ($0.20)
- 3 1/2 to 4 lbs chicken pieces ($6.86)
Instructions
- To make the marinade, combine the yogurt, olive oil, minced garlic, oregano, salt, and some freshly cracked pepper in a bowl. Use a fine holed cheese grater or a zester to scrape the thin layer of yellow zest from the lemon skin into the bowl. Also add the juice from half of the lemon (about 1-2 Tbsp). Stir until the ingredients are well combined. Roughly chop a big handful, or about 1/4 bunch, of parsley and stir it into the marinade.
- Add the chicken pieces and marinade to a gallon sized zip top bag. Remove as much air as possible, close the bag tightly, and massage the bag to mix the contents and make sure the chicken is well coated. Refrigerate the bag for 30 minutes.
- After marinating for 30 minutes, either cook the chicken on a grill OR preheat the oven to 375 degrees in preparation to bake the chicken.
- To bake the chicken, place the chicken pieces in a large casserole dish (9×13). Bake the chicken in the preheated 375 degree oven for 45-60 minutes, or until golden brown on top.
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Notes
Nutrition
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Step by Step Photos for Greek Marinated Chicken
First prepare the marinade. Combine the yogurt, olive oil, oregano, minced garlic, salt, and some freshly cracked pepper in a bowl. Add the zest from one lemon and the juice from about half of it (1-2 Tbsp). Stir these ingredients until well combined.
Add a handful, or about 1/4 bunch, of roughly chopped parsley. This is your finished marinade (or a REALLY awesome dip!).
I used about 3.75 pounds of chicken pieces (drumsticks and thighs). You could easily half this Greek Marinated Chicken recipe, if needed.
Add the chicken pieces and the marinade to a large, gallon-sized zip top bag and mix it around to make sure the chicken is well coated. Refrigerate the bag for 30 minutes.
After marinating, you can either grill the chicken or bake it. I don’t have an outdoor grill, so I decided to bake it. Place the chicken pieces in a large casserole dish. I ended up pouring the extra marinade over top, but later realized that this just made it take longer to brown, so I don’t suggest doing so. There is plenty of flavor in the marinade that you won’t need to add the extra.
Bake the chicken in a preheated 375 degree oven for 45-60 minutes, or until it is golden brown. It will smell SO good! Now eat!
I served this Greek Marinated Chicken with my Lemony Cucumber and Couscous salad and it was PERFECT! :D
This might be a dumb question but I do not cover it with tin foil?
It’s not a dumb question. :) Don’t cover it with foil because that will hold in the steam and prevent any sort of browning (the chicken will basically steam and be milky, eww).
Love love love this! I cant stress my love for this recipe. In one week I have used it twice. Last evening I used it on a whole chicken (i just cut it in half). I marinated the chicken for about 45 minutes, baked it and it came out superb!!
You’re a genius. It was extremely delicious and so easy to made :)
I am using Greek Yogurt that has Honey in it. Will that work?
It’s hard to say without testing it out.
Can i cook it in the store too???? My oven dont work..
I have been eyeing this recipe for weeks and I’m going to go for it tonight. I don’t have parsley but I have cilantro can I use that instead?
Well, cilantro has a drastically different flavor than parsley, but if you’re a cilantro fan it will probably be tasty! :)
ive made this about five times always subbing cilantro for parsley and its awesome.
This is probably a dumb question, but can you over marinate it? It would be way easier for me if I could marinate it a few hours before I cook it, but I don’t want anything to go wrong!!
I think a few hours should be fine. From what I’ve read, if you marinate meat too long in an acidic marinade it can cause it to get mushy, but I think that’s more like if you marinate for a day (it happens much faster with fish, though). A few people have commented that they marinated overnight or all day and it turned out well.
Thank you! I made this 1x so far and marinated for half an hour. I made 2x the sauce and only used half to bake it in and kept the other half to put on it after it had cooked. IT. WAS. AMAZING. I’m making it again for dinner tonight and I’ll marinate it for a little longer bc it will make it easier for me but I’m going to increase marinate time slowly so I don’t mess it up. This recipe is definately a keeper. My husband and 2.5 year old both loved it!!
I only cook for myself, so I often mix up a half-batch of this recipe, then cook it one piece at a time over three or four nights, leaving the remaining pieces to continue marinating in between. Let me tell you–it’s even more delicious after marinating for a couple days!
Great tip, thank you!!
Has anyone tried this as a crockpot recipe?
It’s important to cook this recipe in the dry heat of an oven, which allows the skin to crisp up and brown. In a crockpot, I think it would turn out soggy…
I am putting this recipe on my meal planner this week to try. I am excited to try it!!! We have a baby coming and I am looking for recipes that I can freeze. Can this recipe be prepared ahead of time and then frozen?
I’m really not sure how this one would fare after being frozen. I’m not sure how the yogurt would hold up.
This recipe was so incredibly delicious. I used greek yogurt, and added just a touch of water to thin it out a bit, but left the rest of the recipe unaltered— Delicious! Before I marinated the chicken, I tasted the marinade and I’m convinced it would be a delicious dip with some pita! Love love love… Thanks Beth!
My husband and I really loved this recipe. I had boneless chicken thighs left from another recipe. I used greek yogurt because I had it on hand since I had just made tzatziki sauce. Cook time was about 50 minutes, but then I broiled them for a few minutes to get a bit of crispy skin. I paired it with wild rice and drizzled a little tzatkiki sauce on top. We will definitely make these again. Thanks for this blog, it has really helped us waste less food and stick to a budget.
I am interested in trying this recipe tonight. My only hang up is that I don’t have plain yogurt on hand and was wondering if cottage cheese would make a good substitute?
No, unfortunately cottage cheese will not work for this recipe. You really need the acidic yogurt to make it work.
This was fantastic! I served it with the lemon couscous and it really was a perfect pair. Thanks so much for posting such delicious recipes!
This looks SO delicious. I have a pork tenderloin marinading in this right now – I am excited to see how it turns out!!
Beth – I just made this for an early dinner (only marinated for 30 min!) and all I can say is WOW! I used chicken drumsticks and the flavor was packed in there with every bite! I did not have parsley so I used some dill I had lying around and it still came out wonderfully. I will be making this again for my Greek mother and I know she’ll love it more than her traditional Greek chicken recipe.
Beth – would using different cuts of chicken work? I used a chicken breast, but the chicken turned a little dry and didnt brown much. I am new to cooking, but are you able to interchange meats/cuts like this?
Love the lime flavor! Thanks.
You will need to adjust the cooking time a little depending on the cut and whether it is boneless or bone-in. Boneless tends to cook faster. If you’re having trouble with it browning, you can try putting it under the broiler for two to three minutes. That’s very similar to putting it on the grill and usually browns very quickly. :)
Thank you so much!
If you remember – what is the texture of chicken after you baked it? I noted that it just had the texture of a regular breast, no creamy/thick coating of the yogurt. Maybe I didnt drizzle enough marinade on top of the marinaded chicken. I also left the chicken to thaw in the marinade, so maybe it got a little watery and less thick that way.
Hmm, I don’t remember specifically, but yes, thawing in the marinade will definitely make it more watery. :) You can even try drying off the chicken after it thaws with a paper towel to help the marinade stick.