Chicken skewers in yogurt marinade: 53 g protein per serving

Chicken breast on a skewer usually ends up dry — charred outside, chalky inside. Yogurt fixes that cheaply: the mild acidity and the milk proteins hold moisture in the meat and give you a thin crust without flour or breadcrumbs. This version makes 4 servings at roughly 53 g of protein each.

Prep time and servings

Prep: 20 minutes (plus marinating). Cooking: 15 minutes. Servings: 4.

The meat needs at least 2 hours in the marinade, and it is better left overnight in the fridge. That is not active work, but it does have to go into your planning — mix the marinade at 6 pm and dinner is tomorrow.

Ingredients

• 800 g chicken breast, skinless and boneless
• 300 g Greek yogurt, 2% fat
• 30 ml olive oil
• 20 ml lemon juice (about half a lemon)
• 3 garlic cloves (around 9 g), finely chopped or crushed
• 5 g salt (one level teaspoon)
• 5 g sweet paprika
• 2 g ground cumin
• 1 g black pepper
• 150 g red pepper (one large), cut into 3 cm pieces
• 120 g red onion (one medium), quartered and separated into layers
• 8 wooden or metal skewers

Greek yogurt is thicker than plain yogurt, so it clings to the meat rather than sliding off. If plain yogurt is all you have, drain it in a muslin-lined sieve for 20 minutes first.

Method

1. Cut the chicken into 3 cm cubes. Even sizing matters more than it looks — small pieces dry out while the big ones are still cooking.
2. In a bowl, mix the yogurt, olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, salt, paprika, cumin and pepper until smooth, with no dry pockets of spice.
3. Add the chicken, turn it by hand so every piece is coated, cover and refrigerate for 2 to 12 hours. Beyond 12 hours there is no gain — the acid starts changing the texture and the meat turns mealy.
4. If you are using wooden skewers, soak them in water for 30 minutes so they do not burn.
5. Thread the chicken onto the skewers, alternating with pieces of pepper and onion. Leave a small gap between pieces; packed tight, they steam instead of browning.
6. Heat a barbecue, griddle pan or oven to 220 °C. Wipe off the excess marinade with your hand or kitchen paper — a thick coating burns before the meat is done.
7. Cook for 12 to 15 minutes, turning every 3–4 minutes. In the oven, sit the skewers on a rack over a tray so the fat drips away.
8. Check the thickest piece: the centre should be white with no pink, and the juices should run clear. With a thermometer, aim for 74 °C in the middle.
9. Rest for 5 minutes off the heat before serving. The juices redistribute and the skewers come out noticeably moister.

Nutrition per serving

• Calories: around 370 kcal
• Protein: around 53 g
• Carbohydrates: around 9 g
• Fat: around 13 g

This is an estimate per serving, worked out from the quantities listed above and divided by four. The real figure depends on the fat content of your yogurt, the size of the breasts and how much marinade stays on the meat — some is wiped off before cooking, so your actual intake is probably a little lower.

The skewers themselves are close to carb-free. Add 150 g of cooked rice and you are adding roughly 200 kcal and 45 g of carbohydrate; a large flatbread adds more again.

Variations and swaps

Turkey breast works in the same quantity, and turkey thigh works if you prefer fattier meat — count 30–40 kcal more per serving there. Swap the cumin for oregano and you land somewhere Greek; add turmeric and ginger and you are closer to a tandoori profile.

To cut the fat, drop the olive oil to 15 ml and use 0% yogurt, which brings a serving down to about 300 kcal. To push calories up in a building phase, serve the skewers with rice or oven potatoes rather than salad.

You will usually have half a tub of yogurt left over, so it pays to plan a second meal for it — it finishes a pumpkin soup with Greek yogurt nicely, stirred in off the heat.

Cooked skewers keep for 3 days in the fridge and slot straight into a five-day meal prep plan. The same marinated chicken also works in a vegetable and chicken soup if you want something lighter, and when you need a different protein source, oven-baked salmon with vegetables is done in 20 minutes.

When to see a doctor

Raw chicken is a common source of food poisoning, so wash boards and knives in hot soapy water straight after cutting, and throw away the marinade the meat sat in. If you get a high fever, blood in your stool, or diarrhoea lasting more than two days after a meal, see a doctor. The same applies if you have a diagnosed dairy protein allergy — the yogurt here is not swapped for a plant version on taste alone, it behaves differently too.

In short

A yogurt marinade is the cheapest way to keep chicken breast from drying out: 300 g of Greek yogurt, a little oil, lemon and spice for every 800 g of meat, then 2 hours in the fridge. You get a serving of roughly 370 kcal and 53 g of protein that cooks in 15 minutes and handles a barbecue, a pan or an oven equally well.