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 looks fantastic, I would love to try with chicken breasts. I am allergic to dairy, any substitution rec’s for the yogurt? I was thinking mayo but not sure how mayo would fare in the oven :/ Thanks!! Looks delish!
Hmm, I don’t really know what you could use in place of the yogurt because it’s one of the major flavor elements here, so anything else will change the flavor a lot. I think the closest thing would be sour cream, but I don’t know how good it would turn out.
Speaking as someone with an allergy/intolerance since I was 13 (most people it’s their whole life, but not mine!), yogurt, especially Greek, is something my body seems to tolerate more easily than say… cheese or ice cream.
I would love to make this using thin sliced boneless chicken breasts– do you think this would work? If so, how should I adjust my cooking time?
I think that should work, although I don’t know how long to cook it because I haven’t tried it (and I can’t see the size/thickness of the pieces). But in general, boneless and thin cut will cook MUCH faster than bone-in, not cut thin pieces.
Made this tonight & it was excellent! I used boneless skinless chicken breasts and baked for 1 hour. The chicken was full of flavor and juicy! Thanks for the great recipe.
Do you use all the zest from the lemon. Like zest the whole thing?
Yep, zest from the whole lemon, but juice from half of it.
I made this in the oven today and it was delicious! Can’t wait to try this grilled. Thanks!
This looks delicious. Do you think it would work well in the crockpot?
No, I don’t think this one would be very good in the crock pot because there would be too much moisture. The skin would get slimy and the marinade would get soupy.
does anyone know if the uncooked marinated chicken can be kept in the freezer? if so, how long could it last?
1/2 teaspoon of salt for 4 pounds of meat sounds a bit low .. is the salt measurement correct ?
Well, that’s the amount that worked for me, but salt is very subjective. :) And remember, this is bone-in meat, so the actual meat part is less.
i loooooved it , amazing recipe and so easy, am in the process now cant wait till i finished it
curious if this would be good grilled? Could I use boneless pieces? thanks!
I think this recipe would do very well on the grill and yes, it will also do well with boneless pieces. :)
i love this recipe so much. we make it at least once a month. I have recently started weight watchers and was wondering if anyone could help me with my points. I would consider a serving 1 thigh or 2 drumsticks of chicken. would you consider this to be around 4 points??? any feedback would be great!
Use your receipt builder. I LOVE it!!! If you put all the ingredients in, it will give you a point value based on ingredients. Good luck!!
I’m doing Weight Watchers too and put it in my points finder using chicken drumsticks… it came out to 9 pts a serving. :-)
Actually i have a question.. I can’t set temperature in my oven..there are only low, high, medium written.. so to do this recipe how should i set the temperature to preheat and cook. please help me.. I just love the recipe
Hmm, I guess I would try medium?
Nasira
I think if your purchase a oven thermometer that would solve any temperature problems that may come up. I use one all the time my oven runs hot.
I thought this recipe was terrible. I really wanted to love it, but I hated it….
I can’t leave anything alone, so I used sour cream instead of yoghurt (no carbs) added juice from 1 1/2 lemons, fresh basil, Greek seasoning, fresh baby silver beet and topped with lots of fresh grated Parmesan. I cubed 2 chicken breasts and marinated. Baked at 190C for 30 minutes
Sour cream still has carbs, there will be lactose (sugar) from the dairy, but it is low. About 3g per 100g of sour cream
Sorry you didn’t like it, but having said that there is a difference between a terrible recipe and something that is just not to your taste
I was just wondering if we can keep the chicken in the fridge longer to marinate, would it be better?
Yes, it probably would be a bit tastier.
I was just wondering, how long can i keep it in the fridge? can it be longer than 3o minutes?
Yes, some people have commented that they’ve marinated for 8 hrs as it turned out well.