Marinated Chicken Thighs, served with pickled onions and a garlic yogurt sauce. This is a slightly tweaked version of Molly Baz’s Spiced, Grilled & Swaddled Chicken Thighs with the Works from her book, “Cook This Book”. Molly is amazing, and this is her site https://mollybaz.comhttps://mollybaz.com, which requires subscription, but I highly recommend it and also buying her book – so many good recipes!
This recipe is meant to mimic the middle eastern style of chicken shawarma, which is folded into grilled pita breads and served street taco style. The marinade of the garlicky yogurt sauce tenderizes the chicken deliciously, and the combination of warming spices is perfectly complimented by the pickled onions, fresh mint, and I even like a splash of tabasco at the end.
A couple of years ago when I was just starting this blog, a friend (TY SB!) gave me a heads up on Molly Baz, who up until then I’d only known as a contributing writer to Bon Appetit Magazine. I quickly bought her book, and this was the recipe she recommended to me – I think her words were “you MUST make the swaddled chicken!”. Man, was she right…
Spiced Grilled Chicken Thighs with Garlic Yogurt Sauce
Ingredients
- 2 red onions
- 1 cup distilled white vinegar
- 1 Tbsp kosher salt, plus more for the chicken
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 5 cloves garlic
- 3 lemons
- 2 cups plain whole milk greek yogurt
- 1 Tbsp olive oil, plus more for grilling
- 1 Tbsp smoked paprika
- 1 Tbsp ground cumin
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
- 2-3 lbs skinless boneless chicken thighs
- 6 pita breads
- parsley leaves and fresh mint for serving
Instructions
Pickled Red Onions
- Slice 2 red onions into 1/4 inch thick rings. Put into a heat safe glass bowl.
- In a small saucepan, heat the vinegar, 1 Tbsp salt, 1/2 cup sugar, and 1 1/2 cups water over medium heat, stirring frequently with a whisk until everything dissolves, and the mixture has come to a simmer. Immediately pour the hot liquid over the sliced onions, leaving to soak until cooled to room temp. Drain when complete - these can be made up to several days in advance, and make great toppings for salads and sandwiches as leftovers.
Garlic Yogurt Sauce
- Grate 1 clove of garlic into a small bowl, and then stir in 1 cup plain greek yogurt. Season with salt and pepper, and a squeeze of lemon juice. Set aside until ready to serve.
Grilled Chicken
- Grate or finely chop the remaining 4 cloves of garlic into a large bowl. Stir in 1 cup of greek yogurt, the juice of two lemons, 1 Tbsp olive oil, 3 tsp kosher salt, 1 Tbsp smoke paprika, 1 Tbsp cumin, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, and 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper, and whisk until well combined.
- Add the chicken thighs to the marinade, turning to coat each piece evenly. Allow to sit at room temp up to 30 minutes, until ready to grill. You can also marinate this in the fridge for up to 6 hours.
- Preheat a grill to medium heat, and lightly oil the grates. Using tongs, place the chicken thighs on the hot grates, rotating as needed to balance out hot spots. The chicken wants to be 165 degrees, which should take 5-6 minutes a side.
- When through cooking the chicken, quickly grill the pita breads to get some grill marks and heat through.
- To assemble, using a warm pita as the base, build a pile of thinly sliced chicken, pickled red onions, yogurt sauce, and a few leaves of parsley and torn fresh mint. Roll 'em up and enjoy with LOTS of napkins!!
Notes
