These Greek-inspired Chicken Souvlaki Bowls are light, healthy, and full of lovely Greek flavor. Loaded with healthy veggies and piled over cauliflower rice, this meal is low in carbs but high in deliciousness! It’s vegan-adaptable with portobello mushrooms.
These Souvlaki Bowls can be made with chicken or portobello mushrooms (or both!) and burst with Mediterranean flavors. Cauliflower “rice” makes the base of the bowl, then it is topped with fresh summer veggies like tomatoes, cucumbers, and bell peppers and served with a flavorful dollop of Cucumber Yogurt Sauce and fresh herbs. It’s quick and easy, perfect for weeknight meals outside on the patio. The vegetarian option using portobellos is just as good as the chicken, and the leftovers taste good too, making for a healthy, refreshing lunch the next day. This can also be made stove-top or in the oven, although the grill does add great flavor.
What you’ll love about this!
- Flavorful! Mouth-watering Mediterranean flavors of lemon, garlic and oregano infuse the marinade for the chicken (or portobellos), and the cool, crunchy veggies with the warm grilled chicken or portobellos are a nice contrast of textures and temperatures.
- Adapatable! This can be adapted to your own preferences – for example, you could skip the cauliflower rice and place everything into a toasty pita bread or into grilled tortillas. And of course, you can make regular rice or sub whole grains like faro or quinoa, or even serve this over a bed of garbanzo beans.
- Light and Lean. This lightened-up version is gluten-free and low in carbs, but as always, make it your own. I left the chicken off the skewers to save time, but skewering is another more traditional option.
What is Chicken Souvlaki?
Souvlaki means “grilled on a skewer”. It’s a popular Greek dish made with grilled skewered chicken, traditionally served in a wrap with veggies and sauce. We’ve taken a few shortcuts here!
Chicken Souvlaki ingredients
- Chicken breast or chicken thighs (or sub 3-4 large portobello mushrooms for a vegetarian option)
- Garlic cloves– fresh is best here, finely minced!
- Lemon- you’ll use the lemon zest and the juice.
- Extra Virgin Olive oil
- Herbs: oregano ( or 1 teaspoon dried) or sub thyme.
- Seasonings: salt, pepper, cayenne, chili flakes, or aleppo pepper
Optional Bowl Additions:
- Yogurt Sauce (see recipe card) or sub Tzatziki or Tahini Yogurt Sauce!
- Cauliflower Rice (See recipe card) or sub basmati rice.
- Bowl toppings: cucumber, tomatoes, avocado, fresh greens, grilled veggies; red bell pepper, eggplant slices, zucchini or summer squash.
How to Make Chicken Souvlaki Bowls
The chicken and/or portobellos are marinated in olive oil, garlic, oregano and lemon and then quickly grilled. You can also grill other veggies to add to the bowl… like bell pepper, eggplant or zucchini.
Marinate: Combine the marinade ingredients in a medium bowl and stir. Add the Chicken or Portobellos (leave them whole) and toss to coat. Set aside at room temperature.
Make Cauliflower Rice: Heat oil over medium-high heat in a large skillet. Add shallot or onion and saute for two minutes. Turn heat to medium, add garlic, and cook one more minute. Add cauliflower rice. Saute a few minutes, stirring, then turn the heat down to med-low. Return to the cauliflower rice, stir for a few more minutes, adding seasonings. Be careful not to overcook this; you want to retain its great texture.
Make Cucumber Yogurt sauce by stirring all ingredients together in a small bowl.
Grill: Preheat grill to High heat. (You can also sear or bake- see notes) Set aside any veggies for the bowl ( cut cucumber, tomatoes, avocado). At this point, put the chicken, portobello, and any veggies you like ( brushed with olive oil & salted) on the grill, cover, and turn the heat down to medium, and cook 5 minutes or so.
Check the grill and flip the chicken when you see good grill marks, adjusting heat as necessary. I like to give a good sear first, then turn the heat down to med-low to finish cooking. When cooked, slice chicken, portobellos, and any other veggies you had grilling.
Assemble Bowls: Place a mound of Cauliflower rice in the base of the bowl. Surround with veggies, chicken and a dollop of cucumber yogurt sauce. Sprinkle the veggies with fresh herbs, a little salt, olive oil and lemon if you like.
Storage
Leftovers keep up to 4 days in the fridge in an airtight container and make great lunches! Reheat in a warm 350F oven or microwave. Its also good cold!
Serving Suggestions
You can also serve the grilled chicken souvlaki in warm pita bread with the veggies and the yogurt sauce- also super delicious! Pair with a classic Greek salad and you are good to go!
I hope you enjoy this one- let us know what you think! Thanks for rating the recipes, it helps others find them and encourages people to try them out as well.
Chef’s Tips
To create a vegan spread, use portobello mushrooms instead of chicken and vegan yogurt in the yogurt sauce. Feel free to prep everything a day ahead, store it in the fridge, and grill it right before serving.
More GreEk Recipes you’ll love!
- Greek Pasta Salad
- Classic Greek Salad
- Mediterranean Chicken
- Greek Salmon Bowls
- Grilled Eggplant with Greek Relish and Creamy Polenta
- Grilled Chicken Caprese
Chicken Souvlaki Bowls
- Prep Time: 20 mins
- Cook Time: 20 mins
- Total Time: 40 mins
- Yield: 2-3 1x
- Category: Main
- Method: Grilled
- Cuisine: Mediterranean
- Diet: Gluten Free
Description
A quick and flavorful grilled Chicken or Portobello Mushroom Souvlaki Bowl with fresh summer vegetables, Cucumber yogurt Sauce and Cauliflower “Rice” – or serve in a toasty pita!
Ingredients
Chicken & Marinade
- 4 cloves garlic cloves, finely minced or grated
- zest of one small lemon
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon fresh chopped oregano ( or 1 teaspoon dried) or sub thyme.
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- generous pinch cayenne, chili flakes, or aleppo pepper
- 1 lb boneless chicken breast or chicken thighs (or 3-4 large portobellos) leave whole
Cucumber Yogurt Sauce
- 3/4 cup plain yogurt
- 1 garlic clove- minced
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1/4 teaspoon salt, more to taste
- 1 cup finely diced cucumber
- 2–3 tablespoons fresh dill, parsley or mint, or a combination
- pepper or chili flakes to taste
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 large shallot (or 1/2 cup finely diced onion )
- 2 cloves garlic, minced (or use 1 tsp granulated garlic)
- 3 cups cauliflower rice (cauliflower florets pulsed in food processor until like grains of rice)
- salt, pepper, cayenne to taste
- optional- lemon zest, fresh herbs
Optional Bowl Additions:
- 1–2 cups diced cucumber
- 1–2 cups tomatoes- sliced in half or diced
- 1 avocado, sliced
- fresh greens- arugula or fresh herbs
- Grilled Veggies- red bell pepper, eggplant slices, zucchini or summer squash ( brush with olive oil and salt before grilling)
- Toasty Pita
Instructions
- Marinate: Place marinade ingredients in a medium bowl and stir. Add chicken pieces or portobellos (leave whole) and toss to coat. Set aside at room temp.
- Make Cucumber Yogurt sauce by stirring all ingredients together in a small bowl.
- Make Cauliflower Rice: Heat oil over medium-high heat in a large skillet. Add shallot or onion and saute for two minutes. Turn heat to medium, add garlic, and cook one more minute. Add cauliflower rice. Saute a few minutes, stirring, then turn the heat down to med-low. Return to the cauliflower rice, stir for a few more minutes, adding seasonings. Be careful not to overcook this; you want to retain its great texture.
- Grill: Preheat grill to medium high heat. (You can also sear or bake- see notes) Set aside any veggies for the bowl ( cut cucumber, tomatoes, avocado). At this point, put the chicken, portobello, and any veggies you like ( brushed with olive oil & salted) on the grill, cover, and turn the heat down to medium, and cook 5 minutes or so. Check the grill and flip the chicken when you see good grill marks, adjusting heat as necessary. I like to give a good sear first, then turn the heat down to med-low to finish cooking. When cooked, slice chicken, portobellos, and any other veggies you had grilling.
- Assemble Bowls: Place a mound of Cauliflower rice in the base of the bowl. Surround with veggies, chicken and a dollop of cucumber yogurt sauce. Sprinkle the veggies with fresh herbs, a little salt, olive oil and lemon if you like.
Notes
Marinate chicken for 20 minutes or overnight.
Feel free to bake chicken (or portobellos) in a 400F oven until cooked through, or pan sear.
Leftovers can be kept for 3-4 days in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Reheated in a warm 350F oven or microwave.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 4 ounces chicken plus ¼ bowl ingredeints
- Calories: 482
- Sugar: 6.8 g
- Sodium: 839.1 mg
- Fat: 25.9 g
- Saturated Fat: 4.9 g
- Carbohydrates: 31.1 g
- Fiber: 8.5 g
- Protein: 36.8 g
- Cholesterol: 89.7 mg
I can’t wait to share this dish with my parents and family this evening. To clarify – is the garlic in the marinade minced, chopped or otherwise prepped? Thank you
Yes, minced or finely grated.
Has anyone tried this with tofu? I am thinking it would work, but just wondering…
Love this! Such a nice change from the standard skewered chicken and Greek salad. Really enjoyed the cucumber sauce with the finely cubed cucumbers as well. Another winning dinner! Thank you!
Wonderful Ingrid, glad you gave it a try!
SO delicious! I made the chicken and cucumber dish. We just kept saying, “this is so bomb.” We didn’t have propane so made it in the air fryer using Well-Plated by Erin’s instructions.
Nice Megan! Happy to hear this and glad you made it work!
Loved this one! I made it with portobello mushrooms, eggplant, and bell peppers on the grill. I made jasmine rice to eat with it. The sauce is amazing, and I added Kalamata olives and cherry tomatoes to the plate. So much yum!
Sounds so good Angeli!
This is so tasty. We had it tonight loved all the flavors and all of the different textures and especially loved how good the cauliflower rice tasted with this on top! After three years of low carb and missing rice this was a welcome change! Thank you!
Great to hear Mary- glad you gave it a go!
How long do we marinate the chicken? Looking forward to making this!
Marinate for 20 minutes while you prep the other ingredients- or overnight!
Another GREAT recipe Sylvia! I did a rice search and found this. Can’t believe I have missed it for years… but so happy to have found it now. I served with roasted veggies and the portobello mushrooms. My only indulgence was full fat yogurt. Leftovers were also delicious!
So glad you enjoyed this one Lynn!
Would it be okay to let the chicken marinate longer? A few hours or overnight?
Of course!
This is my go to recipe especially when I am serving a crowd (my large family).
Everybody loves it, including my vegetarian sister in law.
Great to hear! Thanks Melissa!
One of of my new favorite recipes. I made it with the chicken the first time, but tonight, I will make it with the portobellos. Yum!
This sounds so yummy…can’t wait to try it…
Delicious! Thank you for the recipe!
This bowl is full of everything I ever dreamed of! Give me all the grilled juicy chicken, cauliflower rice, veggies and a tasty sauce to go with it, and I’m a happy girl 🙂