You won’t believe how simple this recipe is! The chicken comes out so juicy and flavoursome too. You’re going to love it 😋 Follow me…
Marinated Chicken Souvlaki
To inject some flavour into the chicken we’ll be combining it with a simple marinade. The base is Greek Yoghurt, which alongside the lemon juice, will also help tenderise the meat. The result is super-soft chicken!
Chicken Thighs
Thighs are perfect for this recipe because they’re much fattier than breast, meaning they’re much more difficult to overcook. This will allow you to get a light char on the outside (i.e. extra flavour) without drying out the chicken.
How long should I marinate the chicken?
I typically go for 4 hours, with 2 hours being the minimum and overnight being the maximum. If you’re pushed for time just do as long as you can. Even 30 minutes will help! Process shots: add marinade ingredients to bowl (photo 1), mix (photo 2), add chicken (photo 3), mix (photo 4).
Air Fryer Chicken Souvlaki
You’d typically grill the skewers/cook them over flame, but you can get really awesome results in the air fryer! Depending on how thick the chunks are they cook in around 15 minutes too.
What kind of skewers should I use?
I use bamboo skewers and have never had an issue with them burning. You could use metal skewers, just be aware they’ll be piping hot! I snap the skewers to 20cm/8″ which I find fit perfectly in the air fryer. I recommend packing the chunks quite compactly too, just to keep them nice and juicy! I also like to add chips to the basket too (we’ll get to that in a sec). But the only other thing you’ll need is a little bit of oil spray.
Can I make these if I don’t have an air fryer?
I recommend doing on the grill in a pan. Just gradually rotate them now and then until lightly charred and cooked through the centre. Depending on how big the pieces are, you’re looking at around 8-10 minutes total in a pan. Process shots: add skewers to air fryer (photo 1), add chips (photo 2), spray and cook (photo 3).
Greek Salad
To go alongside the souvlaki, I love whipping up a fresh and delicious Greek-style salad. You can prep this as the chicken is cooking, so no added time. This salad is adapted from my Greek Chicken Salad! The dressing is just a simple concoction of extra virgin olive oil and red wine vinegar, seasoned with salt and pepper. You’d typically add oregano to a traditional Greek salad, but the chicken is quite oregano-heavy, so I opt for dill in this recipe.
Do I have to finely chop the salad?
I like to have everything finely diced so it’s almost verging on a salsa. I love that you get a bite of everything this way. It also packs into the flatbread much easier. Having said that, you can absolutely keep it more on the chunky side if you’d prefer. Process shots: add ingredients to bowl (photo 1), toss to combine (photo 2).
Chicken Gyros
From what I’ve researched and experienced, chicken souvlaki is diced chicken cooked on skewers, whereas Chicken Gyros are shaved kebab-style chicken. Souvlaki seems to be served as more of a spread, but sometimes in a flatbread. Gyros always seem to be served in a flatbread, sometimes with chips. As such, I guess this recipe is a kind of gyro-style souvlaki (somebody please correct me if I’m wrong!). As such, I load up some flatbreads with tzatziki, chips and the salad. Process shots: spread tzatziki over flatbread (photo 1), add chips and salt (photo 2), add chicken (photo 3), add salad (photo 4).
Serving Chicken Souvlaki
As I mentioned, you could serve these as more of a spread, in which case you could keep the salad a bit chunkier. I just like it more finely diced to top the flatbread more easily. For another delicious skewer chicken recipe check out my Caesar Chicken Flatbreads and Garlic Parmesan Chicken Skewers! Alrighty, let’s tuck into these air fryer chicken souvlaki shall we?!
How to make Air Fryer Chicken Souvlaki (Full Recipe & Video)
