Greek Recipes
The Best Greek Chicken Marinade
Prep
5 minutes
Yield
1 for 1 1/2 lbs of meat
This is the best Greek Chicken Marinade that can be made in only 5 minutes and is going to be one of your go-to marinades for any protein. Bonus! I've included other variations of delicious chicken marinades to add to your recipe box.
This Greek Chicken Marinade is the perfect, easy recipe to make flavorful Greek chicken. This marinade can be used on your favorite cut of meat, and paired with warm, fluffy pitas, fresh veggies, and tzatziki sauce for dipping. The best part is that you can make this easy marinade with a few, simple ingredients. In under 10 minutes it’ll be ready for your to smother all over your chicken of choice for a healthy, flavorful meal.
❤️ Why You’ll Love This Greek Chicken Marinade
- Easy: It’s wild how easy this Greek Chicken Marinade is and it’ll turn a boring piece of chicken into a flavor bomb. All you’ll need is 8 simple ingredients to whip up this marinade
- Quick: Make this marinade in only 5 minutes, of course, if you have the time, you’ll want to leave it to marinade on your chicken for a couple hours to really get the most of the flavors in the marinade
- Versatile: You can easily use this chicken on pitas, in a Mediterranean-inspired bowl, on top of salad, or eat it on its own
👩🍳 How to Make Greek Chicken Marinade
- Whisk together salt, pepper, minced garlic, dried oregano, lemon juice, mustard, greek yogurt and olive oil
- Add your protein (chicken, pork, or beef) into a container or plastic bag with the marinade
- Let sit in the fridge to absorb all the flavorful goodness for anywhere from 30 minutes to overnight
🍲 Ingredients
Garlic – Fresh garlic is essential in this Greek Chicken Marinade. Garlic powder or salt will not replicate the level of flavor you’ll want in it. Garlic also holds so many fantastic health properties, including being a natural immune booster
Greek Yogurt – Greek yogurt is such an underrated, versatile ingredient to have in your fridge. It is protein-packed, and it can be a substitute for unhealthier things like mayo or sour cream. In this recipe, it’s essential to help marinade all the flavors together and give the souvlaki the perfect taste
🪄 Tips and Tricks
- Marinade Time: Only marinade for maximum of 24-hours, however, the closer you can get to that 24-hour mark, the better because it’ll be the most flavorful
- Use a Bag or Container: Add the protein with your marinade in a bag or a Tupperware container for the marinade time. Make sure the whole piece of protein is fully covered
- Cut Holes: Cutting little slits or stabbing your meat with a fork before adding the marinade can help the meat get all the goodness from the marinade
🗒 Variations
There are a few variations you can do to make delicious chicken marinades if you prefer a different spin than Greek.
Roasted Lemon Chicken Marinade
- 1 lemon, sliced
- 2 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tbsp onion powder
- 6 tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 tbsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- juice of one large lemon (about 1/4 cup lemon juice)
- 1/2 tbsp red wine vinegar
- 2 garlic cloves, pressed or grated
- In a cast iron or heavy-bottomed frying pan heat a drizzle of olive oil over medium-high heat. When the pan is hot, add the lemon slices along with a pinch of salt on pepper onto the slices. Turn to medium heat and cook for 3-5 minutes each side until browned nicely. Remove from the pan and let cool. Once slices are cooled down, remove any seeds from the lemon slices and chop finely.
- To make the marinade add the finely chopped lemon to a bowl and whisk together with the garlic powder, onion powder, olive oil, dried oregano, salt, pepper, lemon juice, red wine vinegar and pressed garlic cloves. Use to marinate 1 lb of chicken breasts or thighs. Make the marinade ahead of time and store in the fridge for up to 1 day.
Sumac Chicken Marinade
- 2 tbsp sumac
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- juice of one lemon
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 4 garlic cloves, pressed or grated
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
To make the marinade whisk together sumac, olive oil, lemon juice, salt, pepper, pressed garlic cloves, dried oregano and red pepper flakes. Use to marinate 1 lb of chicken breasts or thighs. Make the marinade ahead of time and store in the fridge for up to 1 day.
Zataar Honey Mustard Chicken Marinade
- 2 tsp zataar
- 2 garlic cloves, pressed or grated
- 4 tbsp liquid honey
- 5 tbsp dijon mustard
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
To make the marinade whisk together the zataar, pressed garlic cloves, honey, dijon mustard, olive oil, salt and pepper. Use to marinate 1 lb of chicken breasts or thighs. Make the marinade ahead of time and store in the fridge for up to 1 day.
Black Garlic Tahini Chicken Marinade
- 3 black garlic cloves
- 1/4 cup tahini
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 3 tbsp water
To make the marinade use a fork to crush the 3 black garlic cloves in a bowl and then add the tahini, olive oil, salt, pepper, lemon juice and whisk. Then add 3 tbsp warm water, whisk until combined and the marinade is a bit looser. Use to marinate 1 lb of chicken breasts or thighs. Make the marinade ahead of time and store in the fridge for up to 1 day.
Greek Chicken Marinade (no yogurt)
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 1 tbsp dried oregano
- 1 lemon juiced
- 2 tbsp mustard
- 2 tbsp olive oil
Make the marinade by whisking together salt, pepper, minced garlic, dried oregano, lemon juice, mustard and olive oil. Use to marinate chicken, pork or beef. Make the marinade ahead of time and store in the fridge for up to 1 day.
🗒 Substitutions
There are a couple substitutes you can use in this Greek Chicken Marinade recipe but since the recipe only uses 8, simple ingredients, there isn’t too much you want to swap out here without really altering the flavor.
- Oregano: You can swap dried oregano with fresh. You’ll want to use 1 tbsp fresh for every 1 tsp dry and note that the flavor of fresh herbs is different, so it will alter the flavor a bit, but not in a bad way
- Olive Oil: I love good quality olive oil but you can also substitute it for avocado or vegetable oil
🗒 Best served with
- Greek Chicken Souvlaki: This marinade is what is used in this chicken souvlaki recipe
- Homemade Greek Salad: Use this marinade on your fav protein and serve it with a side of Greek salad
- Tzaziki Sauce: Tzaziki is the best dip/sauce to serve alongside this chicken marinade
👝 How to Store Leftovers
You can make this marinade ahead and store it in the fridge for up to 2 days, but you can also make it, use it on your protein, and let your protein marinade for up to 24 hours.
🤔 Common Questions
The marinade that you often find on chicken souvlaki is made up of olive oil, Greek yogurt, oregano, and garlic.
Serve chicken souvlaki on a pita with tzatziki, cucumbers, tomatoes, and red onions. You can also eat it on its own, dipped in tzatziki, or topped on a salad.
Up to 24 hours is the longest I’d go with marinating chicken. Certain ingredients, like lemon juice, can start to make your chicken feel rubbery if you leave it on too long before cooking.
It tenderizes the meat, keeping it juicy and never rubbery. You’ll often find yogurt in many Greek chicken marinades.
Greek Chicken Marinade
Your Greek mommy that is. 😍 Step into my kitchen to learn how to make yummy Greek food. 🍽️💃
Ingredients
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 1 tbsp dried oregano
- 1 lemon juiced
- 2 tbsp mustard
- 1/2 cup plain greek yogurt
- 2 tbsp olive oil
Instructions
- Make the marinade by whisking together salt, pepper, minced garlic, dried oregano, lemon juice, mustard, greek yogurt and olive oil. Use to marinate chicken, pork or beef. Our favourite way to use it is making our Greek Chicken Souvlaki!
- Make the marinade ahead of time and store in the fridge for up to 2 days.
Video
Notes
- You can make this marinade ahead and store it in the fridge for up to 2-days, but you can also make it, use it on your protein, and let your protein marinade for up to 24-hours.
- One of our favourite ways to cook chicken thighs with the Roasted Lemon, Sumac, Zataar Honey Mustard or Black Garlic Marinades is in a deep casserole dish with veggies, potatoes or beans. Cook at 400F for 15 minutes and then lower the temperatures to 375F to cook for 45 more minutes or until cooked through.
Delicious! I followed Maria’s recommendation to poke holes in the chicken before marinating, and it resulted in flavorful, juicy, tender chicken. My only regret is I didn’t make more, but that will change soon! I plan on using this marinade often and judging by my husband’s face at dinner, he will be a happy man!
Thank you so much!! I love to hear that the chicken came out perfect!!!!
I meal prep this chicken every week! It’s so juicy and tender and a perfect protein to add to any plate! I get pretty tired of chicken but this is the only recipe that doesn’t gross me out. I love it!
thank you so much for the love sweetheart!
This marinade is DELICIOUS! I loved it so much that I had to share with my friends and family. It is now my daughter’s go to marinade.
ISNT IT THE BEST!!!
Can the chicken along with the marinade be frozen to cook another day?
Yes!
I ran straight for this recipe when it was posted and it did not disappoint. So tasty and the chicken is so tender because of the yogurt!
YES!!! I love this for you so much!