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Yogurt marinated chicken delivers tender, juicy chicken with warm spices and a simple, luscious sauce to drizzle on top.
While there are all kinds of ways to get after flavorful, tender chicken, I find myself back at this yogurt marinated chicken most often. For a short time in the life of this blog, this recipe somehow fell off visibility. I received a near-frantic email from one of my favorite cousins, wondering where is that recipe? Her family was clamoring for it, their favorite of the chicken she makes. I myself went into a panic wondering where it went, somewhere deep in techno-ville. We both breathed a sigh of relief when the lost goodness was found again!
Why so special, this chicken? Ohhhh the tenderness…ohhhhh the flavor…ohhhh the simple ingredients and EASE in the oven. Here’s how to get all the way there and breathe your own sigh of relief at having this recipe on your A-list.
Ingredients
Lemon juice, freshly squeezed, from about 2 lemons. Other citrus juice such as lime juice is also delicious.
Extra virgin olive oil. Use any level of acidity or flavor; My favorites of course include Lebanese extra virgin olive oil
Yogurt (any fat percentage). Greek yogurt or labneh work fine here, or plain yogurt. Remember that you can make homemade yogurt with ease too!
A few cloves of fresh garlic, grated or minced
Kosher salt
Sumac, a zesty red spice that tastes bright like citrus. Get great sumac in my shop (What is sumac? Check it out here!)
Cinnamon
Red pepper flakes
Skinless, boneless skinless chicken thighs
Red onion, peeled and cut in wedges
Flat leaf parsley
For the sauce:
Yogurt
Salt
Cayenne Pepper
How to Make Yogurt Marinated Chicken
Because this chicken is all about the marinade, it comes together in a few simple steps. While chicken kebabs are a fun way to make this same chicken, that step can be skipped and the chicken baked without metal skewers or wooden skewers.
Step 1. In the same large bowl you will marinate the chicken, whisk all of the marinade ingredients: lemon juice, olive oil, yogurt, garlic, salt, sumac, cinnamon, and red pepper flakes. Add the chicken thighs, cover, and marinate for one hour at room temp or up to one day in the refrigerator.
Step 2. Get the oven very hot at 500ยฐF, first positioning a rack in the upper third of the oven. Line a baking sheet with parchment or non-stick foil.
Just before baking, toss the red onion with the chicken in the marinade, then place chicken and onion in a single layer on the sheet pan, discarding the marinade because it has had raw chicken in it.
Step 3. Roast for 30 minutes, turning the chicken halfway through baking, and bake until the chicken is nicely crisped around the edges and golden brown. Broil for a few minutes to get the chicken caramelized, if needed.
Step 4. Make an easy sauce by whisking yogurt, salt, and cayenne pepper to have at the ready when the chicken is done.
Step 5. Slice the baked chicken thighs into 1/2-inch strips on a cutting board. Serve immediately with the sauce drizzled on top.
Storage
Store any leftover chicken in an airtight container for up to 3 days in the refrigerator. Make the marinated chicken ahead up to one day in the refrigerator. The cooked chicken can be frozen but it will not retain the same succulent texture and flavor!
What to Serve with Yogurt Marinated Chicken
Lebanese vermicelli rice or wild rice pilaf is a natural with yogurt-marinated chicken. Serve the chicken slices on a bed of the rice on a large platter or on individual plates. Also excellent, a fattoush salad, which is a very flavorful Lebanese salad with lots of seasonings in the dressing and pita chips in the salad! Some pita bread (make homemade pita bread!), pink pickled turnips, and olives round out this meal beautifully. Make a quick yogurt sauce by whisking the yogurt with cayenne and salt. Adjust seasonings to taste. Drizzle the sauce over the chicken, and sprinkle with parsley. Serve the chicken hot, with the roasted onions.
What does yogurt marinade do for chicken?
Yogurt marinade is so great for chicken because it will tenderize the chicken. Yogurt contains natural lactic acid that go to work on chicken to make it juicy and tender. Marinades with yogurt can be plain greek yogurt marinade or plain yogurt marinade. In either case the yogurt becomes a base for all kinds of seasonings. Boneless skinless chicken works best, and the best cut of chicken is thighs because they are the most tender chicken, but boneless skinless chicken breasts are a fine substitute. Just take care to watch your cook time and not exceeding 165ยฐF internal temperature.
What kind of yogurt is best to use?
Ideally regular yogurt, plain whole-milk yogurt, is the base for yogurt-marinated chicken. Make Greek yogurt marinated chicken using Greek yogurt, which is slightly thicker than plain yogurt. Same goes for labneh or even sour cream.
More Lebanese Chicken Recipes
Chicken Shawarma is also marinated in a multi-spice blend for deep, savory flavor.
Try Simple 7 Spice Chicken that is loaded with a traditional Arabic flavor.
Shish Tawook is a fabulous chicken kebab recipe for the grill (or the oven!)
Ramp up even more lemon flavor with my Lemon Chicken that comes together in a snap.
Yogurt Marinated Chicken
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice (from 2 lemons)
- 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 cup yogurt (any fat percentage)
- 6 cloves garlic, peeled and halved
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 teaspoons sumac
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 2 pounds skinless, boneless chicken thighs
- 1 large red onion, peeled and cut in wedges
- 2 tablespoons coarsely chopped flat leaf parsley
For the sauce:
- 1 cup whole-milk yogurt, chilled
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- Pinch cayenne pepper (to taste)
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, combine the lemon juice, olive oil, yogurt, garlic, salt, sumac, cinnamon, and red pepper flakes. Add the chicken, cover, and marinate for at least one hour and not more than one day.
- Heat the oven to 500ยฐF with a rack positioned in the upper third of the oven. Line a sheet pan with parchment or non-stick foil.
- Toss the red onion with the chicken in the marinade, then place the chicken and onion evenly on the sheet pan, discarding the marinade. Roast for about 30 minutes, flipping the chicken halfway through cooking, until the chicken is nicely crisped around the edges and golden brown. Broil for a few minutes to get the chicken caramelized, if needed.
- Immediately slice the chicken (I like 1/4-inch strips). Lay them over a platter of rice, if using.
- Make a quick yogurt sauce by whisking the yogurt with cayenne and salt. Adjust seasonings to taste. Drizzle the sauce over the chicken, and sprinkle with parsley. Serve the chicken hot, with the roasted onions.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I started this yesterday afternoon with deboning/skinning the chicken thighs and then making the marinade and so forth. This morning I fired up the oven early and began.
This recipe smells absolutely terrific right out of the marinade and also while baking.
WOW!
Still about 10 minutes left in the oven but obviously this is going to be a special meal indeed.
I whisked up the yogurt sauce (even had some mint to add) and have made a pan of long grain brown rice too. I can’t wait!
Thanks for the great recipe.
Charlie, mmmmm I can just smell the aroma!! Thank you, hope you enjoyed this as much as we do. Sounds like it so far!!
Hi Maureen, once again a wonderful recipe. Iโm having the family over this weekend for Orthodox Easter. Iโve made the kibbe bil sanieh and warak which are in the freezer. I love this recipe for the chicken, but I also want to use chicken breast as well as we have a lot of family that likes the white meat. Any tweaks or recommendations on the recipe? I figured if I cut the breast in pieces the timing should work?
Thanks
Sharon
Sharon this shawarma is on the table regularly here, we love it so much! Your Orthodox Easter menu sounds SO good, beautiful. You are a major cook! For chicken breast shawarma, pull back on the heat and the cook time so it doesn’t dry out. Use a thermometer to pull it off at 165ยฐF.
Maureen,
So glad I chanced upon this recipe, sounds delicious and I want to try it. I have a question about the cinnamon powder. Should I use the regular cinnamon powder we get in the States? Or ground up Cassia Bark as cinnamon that is used in South Asia?
Thank you.
I use regular cinnamon powder, standard issue from the grocery store!
Winner winner chicken dinner! This is a great recipe! At the last minute, before I put the chicken on the pan I realized I didn’t have enough rice so I cut up some potatoes, tossed them in the marinate and layed it all on the pan as instructed. Everything just roasted fabulously.
That is wonderful–the potatoes sound so good with this because they would soak up the flavor so well, and roast so well too! Thank you Susan!
Everyone loved this. The yogurt sauce is great. I used a 40 oz. bag of frozen chicken thighs from Trader Joes. Just put the marinade right into the bag in the morning, put in the fridge and cooked that evening. Delicious! And the red onions are perfection.
This is so great, thank you!
Hey,
Thank you for shawarma recipe, I really really like the way you explained it, Me and my family like shawarma when we ate it in asian restaurant so i’m going to try this one in upcoming weekend where we set together once in a week so this will be amazing can you please tell me if i use persian saffron in it ? this will be perfect or not give me some suggestion
Thanks
Debra
This is my FAVORITE chicken dish. Thank you for sharing it! It’s been a big hit with my family too and is definitely a great intro to your recipes ๐
I’m so happy to hear that April! It really is so delicious and healthy!
I was looking for a great shawarma recipe and I found your blog. It is explained nicely. I’m going to cook it on this weekend.
I’ve also combined your recipe with Sam Sifton’s as I like both sumac and cumin and it came out great. I used both: chicken breasts and chicken thighs respectively and we liked the latter much better. The thighs came out jucier and more flavorful.
Ah yes, the thighs are the best! Thank you Inna!
Made this for dinner tonight with leftovers for lunch tmw. Big hit with the family! So yummy thanks for sharing it!!
Fantastic Lara, thank you!
Hi Maureen, I am long time your reader and first time writer ๐
Just HAVE to let you know that this shawarma recipe is fantastic, first time we tried it I made it every day for a week ๐ I also use this marinade for Chicken Tawook using breast and grilling.
One question I have for you however, when I back the tights at 500 for the first 15 minutes – lots of juices comes out, that in my opinion prevents the crispiness. chicken almost boiling in the juices. To work around I drain all the juices after approximately 10-14 minutes, and then I will get the crispiness. Do you have any better suggestions ? Thanks
Hi Masha–thanks so much. Delicious chicken! I like your idea with the juices. Mine evaporated in large measure by 30 minutes in, but it’s smart to pour it off if there is too much, to ensure crispiness.
Hi Maureen, my babysitter made this for my family last week and it was wonderful. I brought leftovers in to work throughout the week. I had seen Sam Sifton’s recipe, and had sumac in my spice drawer, and here you have it – what a perfect adaptation! Will definitely go into my weekly recipe rotation. Thank you!
Just fantastic!
Hi Maureen – I had not heard of Shawarma until last week when I had a fabulous Shawarma plate at a small deli just south of Seattle. I immediately came home and started searching for recipes and found your blog. I tried it out tonight and it was wonderful! I like your blog very much so I will be back to explore more. Thanks so much!
Great article Maureen. I have been able to perfect the shawarma with my spit. The fat melting down the meat gives it a flavor that even roasting or a cast iron skillet can’t beat. But not everyone is crazy as me and buys a spit!
Your marinade looks great! Can’t wait to use for the next shawarma party.
If there ever is a signing or gig in Denver we will have to make together! All the best – Matt
Oh Matt, your shawarma sounds deeeeelectable! You’re my hero!
These look mouth-wateringly delicious! x
This recipe was to die for!! Everything about it was wonderful! The chicken was almost like it was charred on a spit. The red onion was fabulous. My mouth is watering now, even though we ate this hours ago. I posted it on Facebook for others to try it. I’ll make this for company, it was that good!
Wonderful, thank you!
My parents lived in Saudi Arabia while I was growing up and when I was there during summer or Christmas vacations I always looked forward to the weekends. Almost every Thursday we’d go into town and dinner would be shwarmas (three for me, please) from our favorite stand downtown — eaten in the car, still parked on the street, so we could go get more if we needed too. Can’t wait to try your recipe.
This looks so amazing. I know what I’m making tomorrow!
This is very different from the recipe I use for my shawarma dishes, I definitely try yours ๐
I made this as soon as I read the post. It was lovely and I have a very happy family this evening. Thank you!
would the world come to an end if i made your delicious sounding recipe with chicken breast? i do not eat legs.
Hi Nancy! The breast meat will be more delicate to handle in getting the char-like edges. I would try cutting it into strips and broiling it swiftly rather than roasting the whole breast. Or, you could roast the breast, then cut into thin slices and saute over high heat briefly to get some of that caramelization. Let me know how it goes!
The secret in any Shawarma recipe, be it beef, chicken, or lamb meat, is the spices you use to marinate the meat with. I have tried many store-bought brands of Shawarma Baharat. None of them pleased my appetite.
A friend of our family who recently visited her family in Lebanon, brought me back half a kilo of authentic Lebanese Shawarma Baharat. It made a huge difference in taste.
Bite the bullet and order authentic Lebanese Shawarma Baharat. You will not regret it.!.!.!
I definitely think you need to do some “research” in California for olive brining. Perhaps in Santa Barbara??? ๐
I can’t wait to try your chicken recipe shawarma,
Maureen, Congratulations on your stunning booking. Some of my favorite childhood moments were spent around my Grandmother’s table, and your recipes bring those moments — savory on all levels — back to life. Thank you.
It’s great to get a recipe that calls for dark chicken meat. It is so much cheaper than breasts. It was on special a while back for 38 cents/pound so I filled the freezer. Yes I’m cheap and proud of it.
BTW, if you ever get a promotional gig in Kansas City let me know ahead and I’ll try to get off work and drive you around.
Maureen….it was so much fun to meet you…see you cook and listen to your beautiful stories of growing g up in a large lebanese community……continued success with you cookbook..your tour and who knows next??????? The food network in the UP??????? If you ever return to Cook’s of crocus hill in St. Paul I will be there…loved it….Bernadette
Wonderful! Thank you so much!
I can’t wait to try this Maureen! Yogurt sauce sounds lovely, but can anyone tell me how to make the very garlicky sauce that is sometimes served alongside at restaurants?
Hi Alicia! You can make classic Lebanese garlic sauce, or toum, from my book as well as a slightly different version here!