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Spiced Grilled Chicken Thighs with Garlic Yogurt Sauce

Print Recipe
Marinated Chicken Thighs in Pita's with Yogurt Sauce and Pickled Onions
Course dinner, Lunch
Cuisine American, middle eastern
Keyword grilled chicken.
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 45 minutes
Servings 6

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

This recipe is taken from Molly Baz's "Cook This Book" and the original is called "Spiced, Grilled and Swaddled Chicken Thighs with the Works".  I updated things to serve 6, and added lemon juice to the yogurt sauce - other than that, it's perfection - thanks Molly!  her recipe's can be found here also... https://mollybaz.com/club/