Description
This recipe is literally spices, olive oil and lemon juice with yogurt — add chicken. Marinade, skewer, cook and serve. The trick to a good chicken skewer is all about how you pack the chicken on the stick, please don’t cube it. Slice the chicken, then weave it on and pack it tight with a good squeeze. This is the pro trick to a moist, juicy kabob.
Ingredients
Scale
- 4 chicken breasts or 8 – 10 chicken thighs, boneless, skinless
- 1/2 cup Turkish (or Greek) yogurt
- 2 teaspoons cumin
- 2 teaspoons paprika
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon chili flakes
- 1 lemon, juiced
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- salt to taste
- 1/4 cup cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
- 1/4 cup tomato paste
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon fresh mint, chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon fresh basil, chopped
- salt to taste
Instructions
- For your chicken skewers: Mix yogurt, spices, lemon and olive oil in a bowl and season to taste: optional remove 2 tablespoons of marinade and reserve separate for finished sauce. Next, slice your chicken breasts, lengthwise into 1/2 – 3/4 inch slices. If using thighs, cut across the grain into 1/3 slices. Toss chicken with yogurt marinade to coat and refrigerate overnight (or at minimum, 2 hours).
- Soak wooden skewers, one hour in advance. Preheat oven to 400°F (205°C). Thread chicken onto skewers, looping back and forth and squeezing, to pack it tight, keeping it to the end of the skewer for easy snacking. Oven roast for 10 to 15 minutes, turning halfway, until chicken is cooked. If needed, char lightly under the broiler for a couple of minutes.
- To reheat, simply pop your Turkish Chicken Skewers into the oven, as needed, at about 350°F (175°C) for about ten minutes and be your amazing host/hostess self.
- For the Tomato Mint Dip (Domates Sosu): Lightly sauté cherry tomatoes in olive oil over medium heat until beginning to soften. Add tomato paste and cook, stirring constantly, for about three minutes until colour shifts to red-orange.
- Reduce temperature to low and cook for another five to seven minutes, adding water if it looks a little thick. Remove from heat and add fresh herbs. Reserve more fresh herbs as finishing element.
Notes
Serve Turkish Chicken Skewers hot, drizzled with spiced yogurt marinade, or with just a hint of lemon and olive oil, as above. Serve the Tomato Mint dip cold, or at room temperature. Finish with fresh mint and basil.
Make your guests say “WOW!”
- Prep Time: 25 mins
- Cook Time: 25 mins
- Category: Appetizer
- Cuisine: Middle Eastern