Homemade Souvlaki

A first attempt at a traditional yet timeless Greek recipe

By: Alexa Keeler

Welcome! This corner of On the Danforth Online will document my exploration of authentic Greek cuisine; both restaurant-made and homemade.

When most North Americans think Greek food, they think Souvlaki. That is why I’ve decided to conquer this recipe first, as it seemed to be the least daunting. We can’t have Souvlaki without Tzatziki sauce (that would be preposterous!), so I will be making some homemade Tzatziki as well.

Greek Chicken Souvlaki

Ingredients:

3 lbs. chicken breast
⅓ cup olive oil
2 lemons, juice of
6 tbsp. garlic, crushed or minced
2 tbsp. dried Basil
1 tbsp. dried Rosemary
2 tbsp. dried Oregano
1 tbsp. parsley
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Juice the lemons.

2. Whisk last eight ingredients together in a bowl to make the marinade.

3. Cut chicken breasts into cubes.

4. Dump chicken cubes into a plastic re-sealable bag. Add marinade and shake to coat all the chicken cubes.

5.   Refrigerate until ready to grill.
6.   While waiting, make the Tzatziki sauce. See: Tzatziki Sauce recipe below.
7.   Preheat barbeque or grill.
8.   Remove chicken from refrigerator and gather cubes onto metal skewers.
9.   Grill until cubes are no longer pink inside.
10.   Serve hot with Tzatziki sauce.

Tzatziki Sauce

While the chicken is marinating (the longer the better) we can prepare the Tzatziki sauce so it is ready for dipping while the chicken is still hot.

Ingredients:

1 500 g. container of plain Greek yogurt
1 hothouse cucumber
3 tbsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 tbsp. white wine vinegar or rice vinegar
1 tbsp. minced fresh dill
1 ½ tbsp. crushed garlic
1 tsp. mint leaves
2 tsp. salt
½ tsp. pepper
Drizzle of olive oil

Directions:

1.   Place yogurt into medium bowl.
2.   Grate cucumber on a box grater and squeeze excess water out of cucumber rind.
3.   Add it to the yogurt, along with lemon juice, vinegar, dill, garlic, mint, salt, pepper, and olive oil.