Juicy chicken breast is marinated in a potpourri of savory spices, grilled with a variety of vegetables, and then slathered with a mouthwatering yogurt tahini sauce that is accented with preserved lemon and mint. Heavenly!
Summer is on it’s way, even here in Western Washington! We’ve had some gorgeous days lately and it’s gotten me into a grillin’ mood. How about you?
As you know, I recently published a recipe for Easy Homemade Tahini Sauce. I discussed the versatility of tahini and gave a few examples of how it can be used in dishes other than hummus.
I was in the mood to whip up another batch of this fabulous tahini and wanted to experiment with a new recipe that incorporated it. Grilled chicken sounded like the perfect match.
I started combining ingredients for the sauce – a little of this and that. Mint it a delightful contrast to the spicy chicken and I also wanted to add an element of mild tang. A couple of months ago I also published a recipe for Moroccan Preserved Lemons and those fit the bill perfectly. Preserved lemons are like lemons on steroids – an amplified lemon flavor without the stark tang. I also added some garlic and honey. This tahini yogurt sauce came together beautifully and is the perfect accompaniment for these spicy chicken kabobs. The completed dish features flavor profiles of Middle Eastern, Morocan and Indian cuisine.
You can customize these kabobs to your own preferences – use whatever vegetable combination you like. I just used what I happened to have on hand. Next time I’ll add some zucchini as well. If you prefer, you can also use lamb instead of chicken.
Ready to get grilling? I am!
Let’s get started!
Combine the seasonings in a small bowl. If you like things really spicy, increase the cayenne pepper accordingly.
Toss the chicken with the spices and some extra virgin olive oil, cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
Prepare the Easy Homemade Tahini Sauce. It’s cheaper and tastes so much better than store-bought!
Chop up the garlic and fresh mint.
Chop up some preserved lemon. Be sure to remove and discard everything but the rind and then rinse it thoroughly before chopping.
Combine all the ingredients for the Tahini Yogurt Sauce in a bowl.
Stir to combine, cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour (ideally longer) before using. The longer it sits, the more time the flavors will have to meld.
Cut up the vegetables.
Arrange the vegetables and chicken on skewers and brush the vegetables with some extra virgin olive oil.
Preheat the grill to medium and brush the grates with oil.
Grill the kabobs for 7-8 minutes on each side or until done.
Serve with Tahini Yogurt Sauce and your choice of sides (e.g., steamed basmati rice or couscous and leafy green salad with a vinaigrette dressing).
Enjoy!
- For the Tahini Yogurt Sauce:
- 1 cup whole milk Greek yogurt
- 2 heaping tablespoons Easy Homemade Tahini (or, if you must, store bought)
- 1½ tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon honey
- 2 teaspoons finely chopped Preserved Lemon
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint
- For the Seasoning Blend:
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- 2 teaspoons paprika
- ⅛ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper (+ more if you like it spicy)
- For the Kabobs:
- 2 large chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch pieces (lamb also works great)
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 2 large bell peppers
- 1 large red onion
- 1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes
- 1 medium zucchini
- Combine all the Tahini Yogurt ingredients, cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour before using, preferably longer.
- Combine the seasoning blend in a small bowl. Add it to the chicken along with the olive oil and toss to thoroughly coat. Cover and marinate for at least 30 minutes, preferably longer.
- Arrange the chicken and vegetable pieces on skewers and brush the vegetables with olive oil. Preheat the grill to medium and grill the kabobs for about 7-8 minutes on each side or until done.
- Serve with the Tahini Yogurt sauce and your choice of sides (e.g., steamed basmati rice or couscous and leafy green salad with vinaigrette dressing).
My mouth is watering!! These look amazing!
Thanks, Julie! Even my 2 and 4 year-old loved them!
I can taste all those flavors just by looking through the list of ingredients. Can’t wait to try these!
There are some great layers of flavor in this, Candace. Happy grilling!
This sounds absolutely wonderful. I’m looking forward to being able to put more Moroccan style dishes in my recipe rotation.
Thank you, Susan! This sauce would go wonderfully with a variety of grilled meats and vegetables.
I LOVED this!! I had the yogurt sauce in the ‘fridge and had started eating (I forgot about it marinating in there) and the chicken was still good. Then I remembered the yogurt- oh my goodness heaven!
Thanks, Michele, I am so thrilled you enjoyed this and really appreciate the feedback!
I’m making these kabobs tonight and made the yogurt dipping sauce already. Oh my gosh! It is one of the best sauces I’ve ever made. I love it and I wonder what else I can eat with it. Also, I don’t think I’ll bother buying tahini again. It’s great and I’m going to make some hummus with the leftover tahini later this week.
Thanks Valerie, I’m thrilled to hear that! I agree, homemade tahini is the best and it’s so easy to make, there’s absolutely no reason to buy it. Thanks so much for the feedback and enjoy the hummus!
I’m in Brittany (France) and couldn’t find any tahini paste for a recipe. Thank goodness I found your site for Tahini paste and now I think I’ll do the kebab recipe as well- thank you so much
Fantastic, Sue – welcome and greetings to Brittany!
I will definitely try it. How many people does this recipe serve?
Hi Greta, it makes 6 kabobs. If you use more vegetables you could increase it to 8 kabobs. Happy cooking!