Our Greek chicken marinade with yogurt ensures juicy, tender and flavorful chicken Use this simple Mediterranean-inspired marinade recipe for chicken breasts or chicken thighs.
I’ve used this Greek marinade a lot lately, but it works with other proteins as well, and it makes an incredibly tasty chicken lemon chicken marinadewe use fresh lemon juice, but also add some extra ingredients like Greek yogurt, balsamic vinegar, dill, and oregano to really enhance the Mediterranean flavors.I love this chicken for a chicken caesar salad or to add to my favorite Greek salad.
This marinade was originally intended for chicken (breast or thigh), but it’s great for marinating pork, tofu, shrimp, and fish (although shrimp and fish take much less time.) See ours for more marinade recipes Sesame Ginger Prawn Marinade or is this incredible? steak marinade.
Main ingredients:
- Yogurt. I like to use plain Greek yogurt in this chicken marinade. It thickens the marinade and helps it stick to the chicken, making it incredibly juicy. Low-fat or whole milk yogurt works best. Make mine easy tzatziki sauce!
- Lemon juice and balsamic vinegar. I love fresh lemon juice mixed with balsamic vinegar. They make our chicken taste great and help tenderize it. We don’t use too much because it can toughen up our chicken, but just enough to really make sure our chicken is done. the chicken tastes great.
- Garlic. Fresh garlic is a must, I use two minced cloves, but you can also finely grate them.
- Dill and oregano. I love the combination of fresh fennel (the dry stuff too!) and dried oregano in this marinade. They create an amazing Mediterranean flavor. Feel free to use a Greek spice mix on hand instead.
- honey A touch of honey balances the acidity of the lemon and vinegar and helps brown the chicken nicely when cooked. I like to start my chicken in the grill pan to get those dark brown grill marks, then finish it off in the oven If you have chicken, honey will give you a nice blush.
How to make our Greek Chicken Marinade
This Greek Chicken Marinade is very easy to make. You add all the ingredients to a bowl and mix until smooth. Then add your chicken (chicken breasts or chicken thighs) and move it around the marinade until coated.
When your marinade is ready, add your chicken and toss to coat. You can marinate the chicken for up to 8 hours, but even an hour will make a noticeable difference in juiciness and tenderness.
When you’re ready to cook, don’t throw away that marinade. If you’re grilling, brush the chicken with more marinade. If you’re baking, spoon the marinade over the chicken. (You can watch , how I do it in the video!) One thing to keep in mind is that the honey in the marinade will cause the chicken to brown quickly, so watch your I like to sear the chicken in a grill pan over medium-high heat to add some color, then finish it in the oven at 375°F (190°C) for perfectly cooked, juicy chicken.
Easy Greek Chicken Marinade
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PREP
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TOTALLY
Plain Greek Yogurt is the secret to this Greek Chicken Marinade recipe. The Yogurt helps coat the chicken and makes it tender and juicy. I only used this marinade after an hour and was really happy, but if you can wait a few more hours (I’ve even left the chicken marinating overnight in the past and it was still delicious.) If you go past 8 hours, the lemon juice and the vinegar may start to harden the outside of the chicken a bit (although it’s still delicious).
Enough for up to 2 pounds of chicken
You will need it
1 teaspoon of olive oil
2 teaspoons of honey
1 ½ teaspoons balsamic vinegar
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tablespoon of lemon juice
1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill or 1 teaspoon dried dill
½ teaspoon dried oregano
3 tablespoons of plain Greek yogurt
1 teaspoon of fine sea salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 ½ pounds (680 g) chicken breasts or thighs
Directions:
- Marinate the chicken
1:Combine the olive oil, honey, balsamic vinegar, garlic, lemon juice, dill, oregano, yogurt, salt, and pepper in a bowl large enough to hold the chicken.
2:Add the chicken, turning them in the marinade to coat well. Marinate covered in the refrigerator for 1 to 8 hours.
- Cook the chicken
1:Heat the oven until 375°F (190°C) and set aside a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
2:Heat a grill pan over medium heat, lightly oil it, then place the chicken in the pan. Cook 2 to 3 minutes per side until grill marks, but do not cook until cooked through in the center. Make sure your heat is not too high during this step as the honey may burn.
3:Transfer the chicken to the prepared baking sheet and spoon over the remaining marinade in the bowl.
4:Bake until an internal thermometer inserted in the thickest part of the chicken reads 165°F, about 15 to 25 minutes, depending on how thick the chicken is. Let rest 5 minutes, slice and serve.
Advice from Adam and Joan
- Alternatives to cooking chicken. You can broil, bake, or cook the chicken in a pan or grill pan. My favorite is to brown the outside and finish it in the oven. Since the honey is in the marinade, watch for it to burn broil your chicken. You can skip the grill pan and go straight to the oven. You’ll still get a little color if you’re using it outdoors grill, use our grilled chicken recipe for advice.
- The nutritional facts below are estimates. We assumed chicken breast.
Nutrition per serving
Serving size
1/4 of the recipe (6 oz chicken)
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Calories
246:
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Total fat
6.3 g
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Saturated fats
1.5 g
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Cholesterol
125.9 mg
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Sodium
665.1 mg
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Carbohydrate
5.3 g
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Dietary fiber
0.3 g
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Total sugars
3.9 g
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Proteins
39.8 g
