Looking for something new or just an old Greek favorite? Let’s make this Chicken Souvlaki that carries more than just ancient times merit.

Greeks had beef with each other for centuries until they fought their way into unification and expansion from the Mediterranean to India under Alexander the Great.

This period has later became known as the height of Greek influence in Europe and its culture spread across the continent through science, art, ideas or cuisine.

Souvlaki is a dish that consists of pieces of meat pierced onto a skewer. Since “souvla” being the original word for “skewer” in Greek, “souvlaki” means something similar along the lines of skewered meat.

Although, all Greece is united behind the dish and happily munch away on pieces of pork, chicken, beef or lamb roasted on wooden stick with herbs and spices, they haven’t managed to come together when naming it.

While the North thinks about the issue with more practicality the South seems to prefer a somewhat abstract approach and decided to call the dish “kalamaki” that literally means “small reed”.

Luckily, this war of words hasn’t poured over the country’s borders yet so we don’t have to mess our Greek culinary adventures with unresolved cultural differences and simply go with souvlaki whenever we feel like having something Greek on our table.

Ingredients

2 lb / 1kg Chicken
2 tablespoon / 30ml Olive oil
1 piece / 45ml Lemon’s juice
1 clove / 3g Garlic
2 teaspoons / 10g Salt
2 tablespoons / 4g Oregano (dried)
1 teaspoon / 2g Cumin (ground)
1 teaspoon / 2g Coriander (ground)
1 teaspoon / 2g Paprika
Pita bread or Try Naan on keto
Tzatziki sauce

Kitchen utensils

Kitchen thermometer (highly recommended)

How to make Chicken Souvlaki

Cut the chicken into 1 – 1½” / 2 – 3 cm pieces.
Place them into a large bowl and sprinkle the oil, lemon’s juice, garlic, salt, oregano, cumin, coriander and paprika on top. Keep in mind that freshly ground spices always taste better.
Mix everything well together then let the flavors develop in the fridge for at least 30 minutes or preferably overnight.
Thread the meat onto the skewers.
Snap the wooden skewers to the size of the pan, we use.
Heat some oil in a pan to medium to high then sear the meat until the bottom gets golden brown, about 5 minutes.
Repeat on all sides, about 5 minutes each.
Poulty is safe to eat once it’s inside temperature registers 165°F / 74°C on a kitchen thermometer. Lack of kitchen thermometer cut a cut a big chunk of meat to check for done-ness. Low heat will ensure meat is done once seared but it will dry the meat out. Too high temperature will sear the outside too quickly while leave the inside raw. Fix the undercooked meat by lowering the temperature for the next batch and try to save the meat by covering it while cooked, until the inside is done. Using a lid will prevent heat escaping from the pan and cooks the meat faster. A kitchen thermometer comes very handy with this type of meat.
Repeat with the remaining meat. Serve with tzatziki and pita bread. Making tzatziki sauce is easy that can be done while preparing the meat but homemade pita bread, although incredibly delicious, needs a bit more time.