Description
I’d like to think that all the chicken coming off American grills this summer will be as tasty, juicy, and tender as these Turkish chicken kebabs. By using a flavorful, yogurt-based marinade, like the one seen herein, even inexperienced grillers can produce impressive results. I’m not sure how ‘Turkish’ this is–it’s loosely based on a lamb marinade I’ve used for a long time.
Ingredients
- 1 cup whole-milk Greek yogurt
- 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice, or more to taste
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons ketchup
- 6 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon Aleppo red pepper flakes
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- ⅛ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 2 ½ pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs, halved
- 4 long metal skewers
Instructions
- Whisk yogurt
- garlic
- olive oil
- lemon juice
- ketchup
- red pepper flakes
- salt
- cumin
- black pepper
- paprika
- and cinnamon together in a large bowl.
- Place chicken thigh halves into the yogurt marinade and coat them thoroughly on all sides. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate
- 2 to 8 hours.
- Preheat an outdoor grill for medium-high heat and lightly oil the grate.
- Using 2 skewers for each kebab
- thread half of the chicken thighs onto each pair of skewers making a fairly thick “log” shape.
- Place kebabs on the preheated grill. Do not try to turn them until they begin to unstick from the grill
- 3 or 4 minutes. Turn kebabs and grill the other side for 3 to 4 minutes. Continue cooking and turning until chicken is no longer pink in the center
- about 6 minutes more. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the center should read at least 165 degrees F (74 degrees C).
Prep Time: 15 mins
Cook Time: 12 mins
Total Time: 2 hrs 27 mins
Servings: 4