It’s no secret that I really love my bowl recipes. But this right here is Spicy Chicken Tzatziki Bowls – the Greek Chicken Bowls of your dreams. It starts with tender marinated chicken. We’ll spike the marinade with some Calabrian chili paste to give this recipe a little heat. We’ll also use tons of fresh herbs like thyme, oregano, fresh dill, and chopped rosemary. The acid from the white wine vinegar and the minced garlic combined with lemon juice and olive oil gives this recipe such a unique flavor! You can even skip the bowls and toss the chicken right on the grill and serve with your favorite veggies on the side. It’s truly one of a kind! Top your bowls with all your classic Greek salad favorites – I love kalamata olives, fresh Persian cucumbers, and lots of homemade tzatziki sauce. I plan on adding pepperoncini peppers to my bowl when I make this next, how could that be anything but delicious? This is one nutrition-dense bowl!
Ingredients for Chicken Tzatziki Bowls:
Chicken: As always, you’ll see me using chicken breasts or chicken tenders for this recipe. Chicken thighs would work equally well (and some would argue better) because they’d retain more moisture and deliver more flavor.Seasonings and herbs: I typically prefer to use the fresh herbs from my garden, however, you can also use dried herbs and they’d work equally well. Of course, you’ll need the basics like salt, black pepper, and paprika. I’m also using fresh dill, chopped rosemary, thyme, and oregano. If you have dried oregano on hand, I typically just suggest using 1/2 the quantity if the herbs are dried. They’re twice as potent, so halving the ingredients typically works well. If you don’t happen to have any of these herbs individually, just use a scant tablespoon of Italian seasoning – it’s not ideal, but it will work in a pinch! However, keep in mind that you’ll still need some fresh or dried dill for the tzatziki. Unfortunately, you cannot replace the dill there with Italian seasoning!Lemons: Fresh lemon juice works best for this recipe. You’ll need a couple of tablespoons lemon juice for the tzatziki and some of the chicken marinade. To amp up the lemon flavor, you could also add the lemon zest to the chicken marinade, if you’d like.Olive Oil: Extra virgin olive oil goes into the marinade for the chicken.White wine vinegar: Also used for the chicken marinade. Keep in mind that if you don’t have white wine vinegar on hand, you can swap it with red wine vinegar, it will work just fine for this recipe.Garlic: We’ll need some pressed or minced garlic for the tzatziki and some for the chicken marinade.Calabrian Chili Paste: Calabrian chili paste gives this recipe a really unique flavor. If you don’t have any on hand, I’d suggest replacing it with any other hot pepper paste. If neither of those is an option, red pepper flakes will work in a pinch, but I do prefer this recipe with a paste as the flavors are much better that way.Plain Greek Yogurt: Is the base of the tzatziki sauce. You want to use Greek yogurt as it is much thicker than plain yogurt. Even though we’ll squeeze most of the moisture out of our cucumbers, there will always be a bit remaining, and the thicker Greek yogurt helps keep the tzatziki from becoming too runny.Cucumbers: You’ll need Persian or hot house cucumbers to shred up and use in the tzatziki sauce. You’ll also want to have some on hand if this is something you’d like to add to your chicken tzatziki bowl.Crumbled Feta: What goes better in a Mediterranean-inspired recipe than crumbled feta cheese? I love adding it as a topping, but you could also make my crazy feta sauce (that I have shared in my harissa chicken bowls.) I combine mint, feta, and blend them together to create the most luscious sauce.Prepared veggies: My go to for this bowl is halved cherry tomatoes, Persian cucumbers, and kalamata olives. You could also use red onions, pepperoncini, or any other roasted or sauteed veggies that you’ve got in the fridge that you want to use up. Cooked rice etc: I love serving this bowl over a bed of fluffy rice, but you could certainly use cauliflower rice, quinoa, farro, or even orzo if you prefer. You can also serve this as a salad on a bowl of lettuce or wrap the chicken and serve it in a pita!
Making Chicken Tzatziki Bowls
If you like this recipe, you might also like these bowls:
Cart-Style Halal Chicken Rice BowlsHoney Harissa Chicken Bowls with Feta Mint SauceCrispy Chicken Bowls (Banh-Mi Inspired)Honey Chipotle Chicken Bowls with Corn SalsaSesame Ponzu Shrimp Rice Bowls
