Souvlaki are Greek kebabs on skewers. They are made of pork, lamb, beef or chicken. Fish souvlaki is less common. These skewers are cooked on an open fire, but we bake them on a tray in the oven (this method is also used by the Greeks). If you have an electric grill, cook souvlaki on it. This way you can achieve a more crispy crust and not overcook the chicken filet.
But before grilling, we marinate the meat in a traditional marinade. With garlic, oregano, lemon juice and olive oil.
Souvlaki is considered a fast food. It is served in almost every cafe in Greece. Directly on a skewer with zajiki sauce and vegetables as a side dish. Or wrapped in a pita.
In this recipe, we make chicken souvlaki, wrap it in a pita and top it off with a vegetable mix of lettuce leaves, cucumber, cherry tomatoes and feta cheese. Of course, let’s not forget to add zajiki sauce to tie everything together and add juiciness. It will be very tasty, believe me.
Ingredients
For 4 servings:
- 500 g (1,1 lb) chicken breast (~ 2 breasts) (don’t have? check for chicken breast substitutes)
- 15 ml. (1 tbsp) lemon juice (~ 1 tablespoon / half a lemon juice)
- 4 garlic cloves
- 1 tbsp. oregano
- 100g (3,5 oz) feta cheese
- 1/2 – 1 large cucumber (~250 g)
- 100 g (3,5 oz) lettuce leaves (your favorite, your choice: iceberg, rucola, romaine, lettuce or even spinach)
- Sprig of cherry tomatoes
- 4 pita bread (store-bought or made, such as this recipe)
- zatziki sauce
- 1 tbsp. olive oil
- salt
- sweet onions (optional)
Extras:
4-5 wooden skewers;
Directions
Preheat oven to 200 °C / 390 °F, convection + grill mode (or just convection). If the oven is not convection, preheat to 220 °C.
Marinate the chicken
Cut the chicken into medium sized pieces, about 3 cm apart. Put it in a bowl.
Place 4 cloves of garlic on a board, put a knife on top and hit it with your fist or the back of your hand. Peel the skin and chop. Add to the chicken.
Add 1 tbsp oregano, 15 ml (1 tbsp) lemon juice and 1 tbsp olive oil and salt. Stir and set aside for 20 to 30 minutes.
Prepare the vegetables
With vegetables I suggest two options: chop everything and mix it into a salad or leave it unmixed, put it on nice plates and put it on the table so that everyone can assemble their own pita to their liking. This time I went the first way and made a vegetable salad, which I will use as a topping in the future.
Slice the lettuce leaves. I used romaine lettuce. Removed the stem, as it can give unnecessary bitterness. I rolled the leaves into a cigar and sliced them about 1 cm wide.
Slice 1/2 to 1 cucumber into half rings.
Cut the cherry tomatoes into quarters or halves.
Cut 100 g (3,5 oz) of feta cheese into cubes.
Mix everything in a salad bowl and season with 2 tbsp of tzatziki sauce and stir. Or arrange on individual plates and place on the table. In that case, serve the sauce separately as well.
Do not salt so that the vegetables do not let the juice and do not make the salad too liquid.
Bake the chicken
For this recipe, the chicken can either be baked in the oven or cooked on an electric grill. I’m considering the oven option. But I think the baking time in the oven is about the same as cooking under the grill.
Take a small rectangular baking dish and cover with foil. Place the chicken on the skewers.
Place the chicken skewers across the mold so that they rest on the edges and the chicken is suspended in the mold. If the mold doesn’t allow for this, that’s okay. Arrange the skewers diagonally in the mold so they are not touching each other.
Bake for 10-12 minutes. Until internal temperature reaches 71 °C / 160 °F (if you have a thermometer).
Assemble the pittas
There are two ways to assemble and serve it: put the filling on top of the pita and roll up into a boat, or fill the inside pocket of the pita with the filling. My non-yeast pita bread made in a pan is not well suited for the second option. The dough is thin enough for a lot of filling, which makes it soggy and rips.
That doesn’t mean they can’t be used for this recipe. Yes, you can. I assembled one pita this way and ate it, but for the photo I decided to choose the first version of serving, as it is more visually aesthetically pleasing.
Place the pita on a plate, drizzle the zajiki sauce over it, add the vegetables, and top with a few pieces of chicken and pour more sauce if desired.
Greek pita bread with chicken souvlaki
Equipment
- wooden skewers
- baking dish
Ingredients
- 500 g chicken fillet (~ 2 large breasts)
- 15 ml lemon juice (~ 1 tablespoon / juice of half a lemon)
- 4 cloves garlic
- 1 tbsp. oregano
- 100 g feta cheese
- 1/2-1 cucumber (large)
- 100 g salad leaves (your favorite, your choice: iceberg, rucola, romaine, lettuce, or even spinach)
- 1 sprig cherry tomatoes
- 1 tbsp. olive oil
- 4 pitas (store-bought or prepared, according to this recipe)
- tzatziki sauce
- sweet onion (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 200 °C / 390 °F, convection + grill mode (or just convection). If the oven is not convection, preheat to 220 °C.
- Cut the chicken into medium sized pieces, about 3 cm apart. Put it in a bowl.Add 1 tbsp oregano, 15 ml lemon juice and 1 tbsp olive oil, finely chopped 4 cloves garlic, salt to the chicken. Stir and set aside for 20-30 minutes.
- Dice lettuce, cucumber in half rings, 100g feta, mix everything in a salad bowl and dress with 2 tbsp of zazaki sauce. (Or distribute on separate plates and place on the table so everyone can assemble a pita of whatever they want. In that case, serve the sauce separately, too.)Don't salt so the vegetables don't get juicy and make the salad too runny.
- Line a baking mold with foil, put the chicken on skewers. Bake for 10-12 minutes. Until internal temperature reaches 71 °C / 160 °F (if you have a thermometer).
- Assemble the pita. Place the pita on a plate, drizzle the zajiki sauce over it, add the vegetables and top with a few pieces of chicken and drizzle with more sauce if desired.
