Need a new mid week chicken recipe idea? How about a new grilling recipe for your next tailgate to impress your buddies. Then read on about how yogurt marinated grilled chicken!
Yogurt Marinated Grilled Chicken Thighs
Chicken Thighs are an underutilized ingredient. You can do so much with them! They are also cheaper and juicer then chicken breasts. They’re a versatile protein that you can cook bone in or bone out. Chicken thighs are also a nice fatty piece of protein so they won’t dry out quickly if you accidentally overcook them. Get creative the next time you are looking for something different to grill. Adding a yogurt marinade to chicken thighs is a great technique for chicken grilling.
Marinated Grilled Chicken Thighs
Yogurt combined with Turmeric root for the chicken marinade
Yogurt is great for tenderizing the chicken, but let’s add some additional flavors. First flavor booster for this recipe is turmeric. Often found in Indian dishes and curries, fresh turmeric root gives dishes an awesome yellowish orange coloring. I encourage you to try turmeric in other dishes besides this one. From ground fresh turmeric in rice to dried turmeric powder in soups, don’t be afraid to get creative and try something new. You’ll quickly realize that the flavor is unique, but fantastic. It a little bitter, a little spicy, but will add a lot of depth to your marinade.
One issue to watch out for when working with turmeric is staining. It will stain everything including your cutting boards, graters, and fingertips. So make sure you wear gloves.
Along with the yogurt and turmeric, take ground fresh ginger, fresh garlic, lime juice, lemon juice and a handful of fresh cilantro and combine it with cumin seeds, paprika, thyme, and chipotle pepper powder. Between the turmeric, ginger, and chipotle pepper powder this dish has the potential for some heat, but the yogurt does mellow out the marinade, so feel free to give it some kick with the spices.
Spices for Yogurt Marinade
Is yogurt a good marinade for chicken?
Why marinate a protein? The two answers I always come back to is for flavor and to tenderize the protein. That is the whole point of using yogurt. Yogurt marinades are common in Indian cooking. It will tenderize the chicken due to the lactic acid in the dairy. It’s a long process so that’s why I recommend letting the chicken thighs sit overnight in the refrigerator to marinate.
What type of yogurt is good for chicken marinade?
Do not use a yogurt with added fruit or sugar. The best yogurt is plain full fat dairy yogurt.
Along with the yogurt and turmeric, take ground fresh ginger, fresh garlic, lime juice, lemon juice and a handful of fresh cilantro and combine it with cumin seeds, paprika, thyme, and chipotle pepper powder. Between the turmeric, ginger, and chipotle pepper powder this dish has the potential for some heat, but the yogurt does mellow out the marinade, so feel free to give it some kick with the spices.
Add all the marinade ingredients to a blender and blend until smooth.
Combine with boneless, skinless chicken thighs and let marinate overnight. After marinating overnight, place the cubed chicken thighs on wooden skewers.
Grilling chicken thigh skewers on a kettle grill
Heat your charcoals up on one half of the kettle grill.
Once the grill is hot, put the chicken skewers on the grill grates over the direct heat of the charcoal. Flip the skewers with a good pair of tongs occasionally so the chicken gets a little char but does not burn. With a meat thermometer, check the internal temp of the chicken. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture guidelines, you want to bring the internal temperature of the chicken thighs up to 165 degrees Fahrenheit.
Should you rinse off marinade before you grill?
No, do not rinse off the marinade before you grill. Too much marinade will cause the chicken to steam on the grill which will hurt making grill marks. Because of this wipe off excessive marinade, but do not rinse it off.
Tips for grilling yogurt marinated chicken thighs on a kettle grill.
- Start with a clean grill. A dirty grill will destroy any good grilling recipe.
- Get your charcoals blazing hot before you put on the chicken.
- Because there is very little sugar in this marinade, it’s ok to put the chicken over direct heat.
- Close the kettle lid when grilling. The grill smoke will add to the chicken flavor.
Hope you enjoy this smokey, tender, slightly spicy chicken recipe. It will bring out the compliments at your next backyard party or tailgate.
Yogurt Marinated Grilled Chicken
Need a new mid week chicken recipe idea? How about a new grilling recipe for your next tailgate to impress your buddies. Then read on about how yogurt marinated grilled chicken!
Ingredients
- Marinade
- 16 ounces plain yogurt
- Juice of one lime
- Juice of one lemon
- 2 tablespoon fresh minced turmeric
- 4 cloves of garlic
- 1 tablespoon fresh minced ginger
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon thyme
- 1 tablespoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon chipotle pepper powder
- 1 cup fresh cilantro
- 2.5 pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs
Instructions
Place marinade ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.
Remove the skin of the chicken thighs and cut the chicken thighs into cubes.
Pour the marinade over the thighs and let rest overnight in the refrigerator.
After marinating overnight, place the chicken thighs on skewers.
Wipe off excess marinade before grilling chicken.
Heat coals for kettle grill.
Once hot place chicken skewers on grill grate above direct charcoal heat.
Flip chicken skewers occasionally so each side has grill marks.
Bring chicken to an internal temp of 165 degrees F.
Remove chicken from grill and serve.
Notes
When buying the chicken, try to find boneless and skinless thighs. It will save you time. If you can't find them ask your butcher to debone and remove the skin.
Yogurt Marinated Chicken Thighs
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