Grilled Mediterranean Chicken Recipes

LEMON HERB MEDITERRANEAN CHICKEN SALAD

Steps:

• Whisk together all of the marinade/dressing ingredients in a large jug. Pour out half of the marinade into a large, shallow dish. Refrigerate the remaining marinade to use as the dressing later.
• Add the chicken to the marinade in the bowl; marinade chicken for 15-30 minutes (or up to two hours in the refrigerator if time allows). While waiting for the chicken, prepare all of the salad ingredients and mix in a large salad bowl.
• Once chicken is ready, heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a grill pan or a grill plate over medium-high heat. Grill chicken on both sides until browned and completely cooked through.
• Allow chicken to rest for 5 minutes; slice and arrange over salad. Drizzle salad with the remaining UNTOUCHED dressing. Serve with lemon wedges.

MEDITERRANEAN GRILLED CHICKEN THIGHS AND EGGPLANT

Steps:

• For the chicken: Combine the olive oil, sumac, salt, granulated garlic, pepper and lemon zest and juice in a large shallow dish or a resealable plastic bag. Add chicken thighs and mix to coat with the marinade. Refrigerate at least 30 minutes or up to overnight.
• For the eggplant and naan: Use a paring knife to make crosshatch marks on the flesh side of each eggplant half. Drizzle both sides of the eggplant with oil and sprinkle with sumac, salt and pepper.
• Preheat a grill for cooking over direct and indirect medium-high heat. Remove chicken from marinade and grill, flipping once, until cooked through, 5 to 7 minutes on each side.
• Meanwhile, grill the eggplant, starting flesh-side down, for 5 minutes. Flip and cook 5 minutes more, then move to indirect heat to cook until tender, an 5 additional minutes.
• Turn one of the burners to high heat. Lightly brush both sides of naan bread with olive oil and grill over high heat, flipping frequently, until slightly charred and warmed through, 3 to 5 minutes total.
• For the yogurt tahini sauce: Whisk together the yogurt, tahini, parsley, honey, olive oil, cumin and lemon juice in a bowl, then season with salt and pepper.
• Arrange chicken and eggplant on a platter. Drizzle with honey and olive oil. Top with fresh mint and parsley leaves. Serve with yogurt tahini sauce and grilled naan bread on the side.

GRILLED MEDITERRANEAN CHICKEN VEGETABLE KABOBS

Steps:

• In shallow glass or plastic bowl, or resealable food-storage plastic bag, mix all marinade ingredients. Add chicken, stirring to coat with marinade. Cover dish or seal bag; refrigerate, stirring occasionally, at least 30 minutes but no longer than 6 hours.
• Heat coals or gas grill for direct heat. Remove chicken from marinade; reserve marinade. Thread chicken, bell pepper, zucchini and onion alternately on each of four 15-inch metal skewers, leaving about 1/4-inch space between each piece. Brush vegetables with marinade.
• Cover and grill kabobs over medium heat 10 to 15 minutes, turning and brushing frequently with marinade, until chicken is no longer pink in center. Add asparagus to grill for last 5 minutes of grilling, turning occasionally, until crisp-tender. Discard any remaining marinade.
• Sprinkle feta cheese over kabobs. Serve kabobs with asparagus.

GRILLED MEDITERRANEAN CHICKEN FOIL PACKS

Steps:

• Heat gas or charcoal grill. Cut 4 (18x12-inch) sheets of heavy-duty foil. Mix cheese, lemon peel and oregano. Place 1 chicken breast, 3 tomato slices, 1/4 cup onion and 5 olives on center of each sheet. Spoon 1/4 of the cheese mixture over chicken and vegetables on each sheet.
• For each packet, bring up 2 sides of foil over chicken and vegetables so edges meet. Seal edges, making tight 1/2-inch fold; fold again, allowing space for heat circulation and expansion. Fold other sides to seal.
• Place packets on grill over medium heat. Cover grill; cook 20 to 25 minutes, rotating packets 1/2 turn after 10 minutes, until juice of chicken is clear when center of thickest part is cut (170°F). Place packets on plates. Cut large X across top of each packet; carefully fold back foil.

JUICY GRILLED WHOLE CHICKEN, MEDITERRANEAN-STYLE

Steps:

• Spatchcock (butterfly) the chicken (or ask your butcher to do it). Place the chicken on a cutting board with its backbone facing you. Using a pair of sturdy kitchen shears like this one (affiliate link) cut out the backbone by cutting along both sides of the spine, and remove it. Push down on the breasts to flatten the chicken. Flip the bird over and remove the wing tips.
• Season the chicken. Pat chicken dry and season with salt all over, lift the skin and apply salt underneath.
• Mix the marinade. In a small bowl, mix together the marinade ingredients (olive oil, lemon juice, oregano, thyme, spices, and minced garlic cloves).
• Apply the marinade to the chicken. Place the chicken in a large dish (with sides so that the marinade does not spill). Apply the majority of the marinade underneath the chicken skins (this will ensure best flavor), and be sure to rub some of the marinade on the back side of the chicken as well. Keep the chicken flat with skin side up. Marinate in the fridge for 2 to 4 hours.
• Grill. Preheat an outdoor grill over medium-high (400 degrees F) and make sure to lightly oil the grates. Place the chicken over indirect heat (this means, the burner or burners directly below the chicken should be turned off, while the outer burners surrounding it should remain on. Watch the video to see how Adam does this). Cover and cook for 45 minutes to 1 hour or until the chicken's internal temp reaches 165 degrees F. Check every few minutes, and if the chicken gains some color on one part, rotate as needed.
• Rest. Remove the chicken from the heat and set aside to rest for 10 minutes before slicing through to serve.

MEDITERRANEAN GRILLED CHICKEN BREASTS

Steps:

• Combine lemon juice, olive oil, parsley, garlic, paprika, and oregano in large plastic food storage bag.
• Pierce chicken with fork several times and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Add to bag and coat with dressing, marinate 20 minutes or up to two days in the fridge.
• Remove chicken from bag. Grill or broil for about 5-6 minutes per side. Or, cook in a grill pan over medium-high heat, 5 to 6 minutes per side, or until cooked through.

MEDITERRANEAN CHICKEN KEBABS

Steps:

• Mix 1/2 of all ingredients for the marinade in small bowl. Place chicken in a ziplock bag and pour marinade over it. Marinade in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
• Mix the other HALF of the ingredients in the same bowl pour into a ziplock bag with the vegetables. Marinade for at least 30 minutes.
• If you are using wood skewers, while the chicken and veggies are marinating, soak the skewers in water for about 15 minutes. You need to soak wooden skewers in water for about 20- 30 minutes to keep them from igniting right there on the grill. I have also noticed that it's much easier to slide out the meat and veggies on your plate if the skewers have been soaked before grilling.
• Thread the chicken and peppers and onions on the skewers. I usually place about 5-6 chicken pieces and a combo of peppers and onion in between.
• Heat an outdoor grill or indoor grill pan over medium-high heat. Spray the grates lightly with oil and grill for about 5 minutes on each side, or until the center is no longer pink.
• You can also bake this Mediterranean chicken skewers in the oven if you want to. Preheat the oven to 425 F. Place chicken skewers on roasting racks over two foil-lined baking sheets and bake for about 10-15 minutes, turn over once and bake for another 10 - 15 minutes on the other side, or until they are baked through.