This Middle Eastern Grilled Chicken Kabobs recipe is a mind-blowing, flavorful dish! The chicken flavor explodes on your taste buds with its heavily spiced marinade and intoxicating aromatics. Pair it with some our Homemade Hummus Recipe, a bright tomato cilantro salad, and some naan bread. You’ll eat every bite of this dish and want to make it over and over again!
The way to eat this meal is with using your hands. Rip off some naan, dip it in the hummus, pile on some chicken, and top it with the tomatoes. This will ensure you’re getting the most flavorful bite every time. My mouth is watering just thinking about this recipe!
Here’s how you make it!
Start by prepping making the marinade for the chicken. You will need: 5 oz. of Greek yogurt (5oz is normally a single serving size at the grocery store), five minced garlic cloves, three tablespoons of olive oil, two tablespoons of paprika, one tablespoon of kosher salt, one-half tablespoon of crushed red pepper flakes, two teaspoons of cumin, one-fourth teaspoon of cracked black pepper, one-eighth teaspoon of cinnamon, the zest of one lemon, and the juice of one lemon. Mix this up in a small bowl until completely combined.
Next, prep your chicken thighs. For this recipe use 1 lb. of boneless, skinless chicken thighs. Trim off the excess fat off each thigh, then cut into about 1″ chunks. Place the chunks of chicken thighs into a gallon freezer bag, and dump the marinade into the bag. Work the outside of the bag with your hands and really get the marinade massaged in that chicken! Let the chicken marinate in the refrigerator for at least thirty minutes. The longer it sits, the better it’ll taste!
Now get started on the Homemade Hummus. This hummus is so easy to make, and tastes way better than what you buy in the store. A link to that full recipe is here. Its very easy to explain. Get your food processor and process the can of drained chickpeas and three tablespoons of tahini. Blend for about thirty seconds, until chickpeas are fairly smooth. Now add three tablespoons of olive oil, three tablespoons of water, one clove of garlic, one-fourth teaspoon of kosher salt, one-fourth teaspoon of cracked black pepper, and the juice of one lemon. Blend this for about one minute, until its smooth. That’s it! Set aside and serve with dinner.
Next, make the tomato salad. This is insanely easy and it pairs so perfectly with this meal. Wash one package of cherry tomatoes and cut them in half, lengthwise. Finely chop cilantro until you have two heaping tablespoons. Use the STEMS and LEAVES! The stems in cilantro have soooo much flavor, never throw these out! In a bowl, combine the tomatoes, cilantro, two tablespoons of olive oil, 1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt, and 1/4 teaspoon of cracked black pepper.
After the chicken has marinated for at least thirty minutes, put the chicken onto skewers with chunks of red onion alternating. Heat grill to high, coat grill grates with vegetable oil so chicken won’t stick. Grill kabobs until chicken is 165 degrees internally. Serve on a plate with the hummus, naan bread, and tomato salad.
Ditch the fork – use the nan bread as a spoon and scoop up the hummus, chicken, then some tomatoes for an incredible tasting bite. Enjoy your Middle Eastern Chicken Kabobs!
Middle Eastern Chicken Kabobs
Ingredients
- 1 pound chicken thighs, cut into bite size pieces
- 1 onion, cut into large chunks
- 2 pieces naan bread (or pita)
Chicken Marinade
- 1/2 cup Greek yogurt
- 5 garlic cloves, minced
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons paprika
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt
- 1/2 tablespoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 2 teaspoons cumin
- 1/4 teaspoon cracked black pepper
- 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
- zest of one lemon
- juice of one lemon
Hummus
- 1 can chickpeas, drained
- 3 tablespoons tahini
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 3 tablespoons water
- 1 clove garlic
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon cracked black pepper
- juice of one lemon
Tomato Cilantro Salad
- 1 package cherry tomatoes
- 2 tablespoon cilantro, chopped (stems and leaves)
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon cracked black pepper
Instructions
- Mix Greek yogurt, minced garlic, olive oil, paprika, lemon juice, salt, red pepper flakes, cumin, pepper, cinnamon, and lemon zest into a small bowl. Stir well to combine.
- Trim fat off chicken thighs. Cut chicken into large bite sized pieces. Place in gallon freezer bag. Pour marinade in bag and massage marinade into chicken. Place in refrigerator for to marinate for 30 minutes.
- For the hummus: use a food processor. Blend chickpeas and tahini together for 30 seconds. Add the rest of the ingredients and blend on high until smooth, about 1 minute. Flavor with salt and pepper. Add more water for desired consistency, if needed. Check out our .
- For the tomato salad: slice cherry tomatoes in half, lengthwise. Finely chop cilantro (leaves and stems). Combine rest of ingredients in small bowl. Set aside.
- Heat grill to high heat. Oil grill grates with vegetable oil before placing chicken on. Skewer chicken on skewers, alternating with large chunks of onion. Grill until chicken is at least 165 degrees internally.
- Grill the naan bread for 2 minutes on each side. Cut into quarter pieces.
- Serve with naan, hummus and tomato salad.
