If you've been following along with me for a little while, you'll know how much I LOVE Greek food! Both my husband and I worked in Greek restaurants when we were younger so we enjoy making Greek food at home now (with the secrets we learned from the restaurants.) His Greek Chicken Souvlaki is superb and my favorite way to enjoy it is by making it into a wrap.
We used to eat it that way at the restaurant all the time. And these Chicken Souvlaki wraps taste just like you ordered it off a restaurant menu! The bonus is that it's Weight Watchers friendly @ 8 WW points as a wrap (using my WW friendly homemade Tzatziki Sauce).
Jump to:
🥘 Souvlaki Ingredients
This recipe is dead easy to make with only a few pantry ingredients:
- chicken breast
- lemon juice * I use lemon juice from concentrate (Realemon)
- dried oregano
- olive oil
- garlic powder
- salt
- white pepper
- lemon for garnish (and extra squeezing)
- skewers
If you are making it into a souvlaki pita wrap, you'll also need:
- pita bread
- Tzatziki Sauce
- tomatoes
- red onions
- additional dried oregano
- fresh parsley (optional)
*Just remember to take the meat off the skewer 🙂
🔪 Instructions
Cut chicken into strips.
Put pieces of chicken onto skewers. *If you are grilling these on an outdoor BBQ grill, you'll want to soak them for 10 minutes in cold water first (so they don't catch on fire).
Continue to add chicken pieces to skewers until they are all gone. You should get about 8 skewers. Then add skewers to a long shallow dish. I use a 9X13 baking pan *You can use smaller skewers for the pita wraps and longer skewers for the plain souvlaki
Mix garlic powder, lemon juice, oil, salt, white pepper, and oregano together in a small bowl, then stir and pour over souvlaki skewers. Rotate to ensure skewers are well coated in the marinade
Add chicken souvlaki skewers to a non-stick fry pan or hot grill (or grill pan) cooking as many as you can fit at once (usually about 4 per frying pan).
Fry over medium heat on stovetop or on grill, turning periodically until lightly browned on all sides, for about 12-15 minutes or until cooked through (no longer pink and internal temperature is 165 degrees F (74 degrees C).
Place chicken skewer on warm pita bread with choice of filling (I use parsley, red onion, tomatoes and tzatziki sauce). Serve with lemon wedges or a little lemon zest on top of skewer, if desired.
🎥 Video
Video: How to wrap a souvlaki
💭 Top Tip
The great thing about this recipe is that YOU DON'T HAVE TO MARINATE IT! I have marinated it for a few hours and really didn't find it made that much of a difference. I always assumed that restaurants marinated the chicken souvlaki for long periods of time, but I found out from my husband (who worked as a cook in more than one Greek restaurant) that is not necessarily the case.
It really depended on when it was ordered, how much they had made (if it has been marinating in the fridge overnight or was simply a new batch). So if they had just made it and it hadn't had a chance to marinate, they would simply add additional lemon juice (preferably fresh) before serving. So, if you want it extra lemony, just squeeze extra lemon juice over it when it's done!
📖Variations & Substitutions
- Garlic - you can use minced garlic cloves instead of garlic powder, if you prefer
- Lemon juice - you can use fresh instead of concentrated, but you'll need to double the amount
- Meat - you can substitute chicken thighs, beef or pork skewers for chicken breast, but be sure to adjust the ww points if you are following the Weight Watchers program
Another thing I love about this recipe is its versatility! You can eat it as a chicken souvlaki pita (which is my favorite way as shown above) or on a bed of vegetables (you can add in a little light feta cheese too), Greek rice, cauliflower rice, or with Greek Style Potatoes.
Or you can also eat it on its own, dipped in WW friendly Tzatziki Sauce (a yogurt sauce made with non-fat Greek yogurt) or have fluffy pita bread dipped in tzatziki as it's own side dish.
🔢WW Points
If you are following the WW program or another weight loss program, this Souvlaki wrap is not only healthy food, it's Weight Watchers friendly @ 8 WW points as a wrap (using my WW friendly Tzatziki Sauce).You could further reduce the points by using a lighter ww friendly and lower card pita bread (ie: Joseph's) If you use pork or beef, it will increase the ww points.
*NOTE: When I calculated the WW points in this recipe, I only accounted for ½ of the oil, as that's all that gets absorbed.
🧂 Souvlaki Seasoning
This simple chicken souvlaki recipe is seasoned with lemon juice, olive oil, garlic powder, dried oregano, salt, and white pepper. However, it tastes so flavorful that you think there is actually more in there! In fact, it's one of the easiest chicken marinades you'll ever make!
However, if you're going to make it into a pita wrap, then you'll want to use additional oregano and parsley.
🍽Equipment
You will need a grill or a large skillet (affiliate link) and skewers for this chicken souvlaki wrap recipe.
🥗 Side dishes
Souvlaki wraps go well with so many side dishes, including:
- French fries, Spicy Sweet Potato Fries , Air Fryer Parsnip Fries
- Side salad or Greek salad
- Greek rice
- Greek style potatoes (shown)
Or this Easy Greek Pasta Salad Recipe!
👪 Serving Size
This souvlaki wrap recipe makes 8 servings. However, you can half, double, or triple the recipe by clicking on the blue serving number and selecting the number of servings you'd like.
🌡️Storage
Store chicken souvlaki leftovers in the fridge, in an airtight container for up to 4 days. Store toppings in a separate container. You can also freeze the skewers.
And if I'm having it in a pita, I'll have a simple side salad with it or nothing at all. When you eat this souvlaki as a wrap, it's really a full meal! So if you're looking for FAST, delicious and versatile Greek Chicken Souvlaki Wraps, skip the fast food restaurant because you will love this one!
📋 Chicken Souvlaki Wrap Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- 5-6 chicken breasts
- 1 tbsp dried oregano
- 2 tablespoon lemon juice, from concentrate (Realemon)
- ¼ cup olive oil
- ¼ tsp white pepper
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
Garnish
- fresh lemon wedges
Souvlaki Pita Wrap
- 8 pitas * white or whole wheat
- 16 tablespoon tzaiziki sauce Tzatziki recipe: https://foodmeanderings.com/easy-tzatziki-sauce/
- ½ whole red onion, chopped
- 8 sprigs fresh parsley
- 4 fresh chopped tomatoes * I use Roma
- 1 tablespoon dried oregano
Instructions
NOTE: The instruction images will NOT print by default. If you want them to print, you'll need to check the box beside "images" on the print page
For Souvlaki Chicken Skewers
- Cut chicken into strips.
- Put small pieces of meat onto skewers. *If you are grilling these on an outdoor BBQ grill, you'll want to soak the wooden skewers for 10 minutes in cold water first (so they don't catch on fire).
- Continue to add chicken pieces to skewers until they are all gone. You should get about 8 skewers. Then add skewers to a long shallow dish. I use a 9X13 baking pan *You can use smaller skewers for the pita wraps and longer skewers for the plain souvlaki
- Mix garlic powder, lemon juice, oil, salt, white pepper and oregano together in a small bowl, then stir and pour over souvlaki skewers. Rotate to ensure skewers are well coated in the marinade.
- Add skewers to non-stick fry pan, cooking as many as you can fit at once (usually about 4 per frying pan).
- Fry over medium heat on stovetop or on grill, turning periodically until lightly browned on all sides, for about 12-15 minutes or until cooked through (no longer pink).
Garnish
- If you want as stronger lemon flavor, drizzle additional fresh lemon juice on top.
For Souvlaki Pita Wrap
- Add 2 tablespoon of tzatziki sauce (https://foodmeanderings.com/easy-tzatziki-sauce/) to pita, as well as red onions, and parsley as desired. * Place hot skewers on pita then remove meat from skewer
- Wrap as shown in VIDEO "How to wrap a souvlaki" : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qo7DzmllzWA * I also fold mine over at the top and you can either fold or twist at the bottom
- Sprinkle with additional dried oregano, if desired.
Laura
What a great summer sandwich, it looks just like the real thing! I like that you can make the skewers in a pan as I’ve always thought I had to have a bbq to do this. Will be frying lots of skewers this summer for sure now!
Bernice
I love Greek food too! And, to be honest I love it for its simplicity and how easy it is to make at home, especially these souvlaki.
nancy
that wrap sammy looks SO delicious! I love a good Greek Chicken souvlaki!!
AmyG
I love souvlaki and often have leftovers. This is a great idea for leftovers and lunch the next day.
Colleen
We love souvlaki and lately with our summery weather we are all about grilling, so this is going on our weekend plans. Looks delicious!
Sean
Thanks for the tips re: marinating! I would have assumed that I'd need a lot of time to get souvlaki ready, but if it can be just as good without the long wait, it definitely brings this into the realm of easy weeknight dinner (my favourite kind of dinner, lol). Thanks for sharing!