Lemon Garlic Greek Yogurt Marinated Chicken
This recipe is too easy and too delectable not to give a go and, subsequently, keep on your weekly food playlist, trust me, you will save this goodie. The ingredient list is small and the method is one a toddler could manage to throw together. The beauty of this dish is that it is totally versatile – you can use chicken that’s bone in and skin on or chicken breasts. You can also prepare it on the grill or on your stove top in a non stick pan – just add a little olive oil to the pan/grates to prevent sticking. If you love this recipe, you will love my Greek Lemon Chicken and Potatoes.
Why marinate with yogurt?
Greek yogurt contains lactic acid and calcium, both of which tenderize the chicken meat. Lactic acid is more gentle than traditional citrus juice based marinades and does not break down the meat quite as fast making Greek yogurt marinade almost fool proof. You can marinate for 30 minutes and still have amazing results. I left mine in the fridge for 2 hours and was extremely happy with the outcome. Greek yogurt is similar to when we use buttermilk to soak our chicken drumsticks. Makes them SO juicy.
I highly recommend serving this delicious entree with some Tsatziki sauce, on top of some rice or with a Greek Horiatiki Salad or a Maroulosalata (Greek Lettuce Salad).
Also, if you enjoy this meal, you will definitely LOVE my One Pan Roasted Greek Chicken ‘Salad’ – it is one of the most popular recipes on our website!
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Lemon Garlic Greek Yogurt Marinated Chicken
Ingredients
- 8 bone in skin on chicken thighs
- 1 cup Greek yogurt
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 5 cloves garlic
- 1 large lemon, juiced
- 2 tsp salt
- 2 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp paprika
- black pepper to taste
Optional Dip/Topping:
- tzatziki
- fresh parsley
- chili pepper flakes
Instructions
- Rinse and pat dry your chicken pieces with a paper towel.
- In a large bowl, mix the yogurt, olive oil, garlic, lemon juice and spices. Add the chicken to the bowl and coat everything well. Cover the bowl and refrigerate for a minimum of half an hour (I recommend 1-2 hours).
- Take your meat out 30 minutes prior to putting it in the oven.
- Preheat your oven to 375°F. Transfer the chicken to a 9×13" baking dish. Take the leftover marinade and add it to the bottom of the pan. Top with the last two pieces of chicken. Bake for about 50 minutes or until golden brown. Make sure internal temperature of chicken reaches 165°F. Let it rest out of the oven for 5 minutes and then serve.
Notes
Nutrition
Looking for more?
This is the best way to bake chicken breasts! I didn’t have thighs but had defrosted 2 large chicken breasts. I always pound the chicken breasts with the edge of a saucer to tenderize before baking (but this marinade makes chicken tender on its own so that might not be necessary, but they came out scrumptiously tender! I used whole milk plain yogurt since I didn’t have any Greek. I only had 3 cloves of garlic and I used a garlic press and was perfect. No lemons so I substituted 3 T lemon juice concentrate. It made a lot of delicious pan drippings as it cooked and I thickened with a few T. cream of mushroom soup after coming out of the oven. Great recipe!
Hi Rosalyn, Great feedback- thanks for coming back to share! Cheers!
I’m always looking for a new way to do baked chicken – that isn’t too spicy for babies! this turned out really well, such great flavor and so easy. this inspires me to try more of your recipes. thank you!
Hi Lee, I’m so happy the recipe worked out so well for you! Thank you for the kind review and I hope you enjoy all that you cook!
Great recipe, I’m no cook but this was so easy – I followed the recipe exactly and for me it’s a keeper – thank u 😊
Hi Laraine, so glad you liked the recipe! Thanks for the kind feedback!
I didn’t read comments so my garlic has gone in whole
hi Stella, can these chicken breasts marinate overnight before cooking – and csn they be frozen to serve a week later, please?
Forgive my ignorance but the recipe says transfer chicken to baking dish. Add leftover marinade to dish . What does “Top with the last two pieces of chicken” mean?
enjoyed this recipe.
HI Charlette, glad you liked it!
Trying this tonight! If grilling, should I be wiping off the marinade before placing the chicken on the grill? Would love your thoughts on that.
Hi Jody, I would leave a little on but wipe away the majority of it
THE BEST LEMON CHICKEN!! I’ve lost count of how many of your recipes I’ve made and they are ALL outstanding and this chicken – oh my gosh!! It was so tender and juicy and deeply flavorful!! My regret is that only made 4 chicken thighs – wish I’d made the full 6 and if I make it again I’m gonna make 8 or 12! I had everything on hand and needed to use up some homemade homemade yogurt so this was perfect timing for finding this recipe! (Do you know about making cold start yogurt in an instant pot?? It’s so good and creamy!!)
I served it with baby cucumber, mixed sweet peppers, red onion, feta, and your red wine oregano vinaigrette. Also, poured off all the chicken juices after baking and put it in a sauce pan and reduced the liquid, which reincorporated the “curdles” then dipped thick toasted ciabatta slices in the sauce before pouring the remaining sauce over the beautifully browned chicken pieces and serving. You’re so right, this is definitely going on the regular chicken rotation!! Thanks so much for sharing your recipes, Stella!! They are definitely bringing inspiration and we are loving our life with all this great food!! xoxo
Was looking for an easy chicken recipe and came across this one. Made it for lunch today and it was soooo good!
The chicken thighs were incredibly tasty and very moist.
Will definitely be adding this recipe to my list of favourites, so that I can make it on rotation, from here on in!
Hi Effie, so glad you liked the dish! Thank you for taking the time to rate it!
Absolutely beautiful dish, love the flavour of the chicken!
This was not good. Small bit of yogurt marinade left on chicken broke into greasy mess at 375 degrees. Chicken flavorless. Skin soggy and fatty. Never again.
I love the sound of this but I want the meat to fall off the bone as well , could I cook these for about 1hour 45 minutes with foil and then broil it for 5-10 minutes to complete this dish . LMK thanks can’t wait to try this recipe
Hi Justin – sounds like a plan to me! Enjoy!
I made this tonight and…WOW!!! I didn’t expect it to be soooo flavourful. It was moist and tender and the skin was nice and brown. Will definitely be making this regularly from now on. Thank you!!!
Hi Jessica, Thanks so much for trying the chicken dish out and I’m so glad it worked for you!
Hi Stella- you have all these great recipes where you use Greek yogurt. I accidentally bought fat free Greek yogurt at Costco and want to use it. Any of your recipes you would recommend that work best with the fat free version? Thanks!!
Hi Kristi, Thanks so much for following allow. The fat free should work in most of dishes. Or you can enjoy it with some honey, walnuts, blueberries for an elite snack!
Looks great! Trying tonight. What does it mean to “top with the last two pieces of chicken”? Are they going in a single layer or two? Thanks!
Hi Jen, they go on top of the leftover marinade – you can leave it out the leftover marinade too if you like…
I wish I understood your instruction about the leftover marinade and last 2 pcs chicken. Can you please take another attempt at explaining what you mean? Thank you!