Greek Chicken Baked in Yogurt

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A rich and healthy dish, you will get great responses every time you serve it! Fib if you want to, say it is baked with cheese (it is) or just call it creamy roasted chicken if the yogurt makes it sound too healthy. The important thing is that it tastes wonderful, and is easy to prepare… and it’s good for you.

pasta with baked chicken with Yogurt

Yogurt and Yoghurt

Run your spell check, they are both correct. The squabbles however run deeper into the creamy culture that is yogurt. Was the first mention Herodotus in 500BCE, or was it Pliny the Elder in about 4CE? Or…did the bible refer to yogurt with “the land of milk and honey”, since honey was commonly added to yogurt even back then to make it more enjoyable.

cheese in pouch

The real deal is yet another classic case of cuisine by mistake. That’s right, some brave person in the Neolithic period decided to eat the milk that had soured and congealed. Yum. The competition continued between early India with people intentionally fermenting milk, and Mesopotamian folks lugging milk around in pouches made from animal stomachs which has enzymes that cultured milk. Again, yum. The end result is yogurt.

Greek versus everything else

greek warrior statue

All yogurt is essentially the same to a point. Warm some milk, from just about any critter, add culture like old yogurt, let sit together until firm. Then you see a difference in process to make it ‘Greek’. Put the yogurt in a fine mesh and allow the whey (liquid) to drain out, and voila, Greek style yogurt.

straining yogurt in jar

What you see is a thicker creamier yogurt that also has a more intense tanginess to the flavor. This does make it more versatile for cooking as well. You can use it as a straight up substitute for sour cream, few folks will notice. Add just a titch of water and use it for milk in all kinds of recipes.

greek yogurt in jar

What about the goats?

Yes, early yogurts were often goat’s milk, perhaps more often sheep’s milk. We mentioned India, who kept their cows around, and did use that milk for yogurt. Not wanting to be left out, those nomadic middle easterners make yogurt out of camel’s milk. Not sure about the yum factor there.

goats,sheeps and camels

This recipe does use Feta cheese, the likely culprit for using up all the sheep’s milk and goat’s milk. In addition, Feta has salt added to the curds, as much as 3{33fafff82620d55c01e7e54e5509f1f12e5413cbb2b32b1b762de9ae00e8563e}. That is not enough for the Greek folks though.

After the dry salt aging, the cheese is left to hang around for a couple months in a brine of 7{33fafff82620d55c01e7e54e5509f1f12e5413cbb2b32b1b762de9ae00e8563e} salinity. Often bricks are shipped in the brine as a preservative.

Flavorful palette

Fresh dill on table

This recipe uses much of the spectrum of flavors that we associate with Greek gastronomy. Garlic of course, duh. Fresh dill is actually a mild flavor when compared to our usual association with dilled pickles. It is very common to see it matched with yogurt, most notable the ubiquitous tzatziki sauce.

fresh mint leaves

Fresh mint has a deep association with middle eastern and Thai cuisine. Not especially sweet, it offers a different mild tanginess and pungency. Parmesan may be an outlier, but hey its parm, always brings something to the table.

Tips and tricks for Greek Yogurt Chicken

If the chicken breasts are particularly large, you can divide them. Lay them flat on your board and carefully split lengthwise with your knife parallel to the board.

Minced (ßlink to article) means finely chopped, and is applied top both your garlic and onion for this recipe. If you buy pre-minced garlic, use a full tablespoon.

chopped mint leaves

You can tear the mint leaves or coarsely chop them, either is fine. Chop immediately prior to adding so that the pieces do not get brown and limp. Which happens pretty quickly. Dill is slightly sturdier, but is best when chopped right before adding.

chopped dill in spoon

Greek Chicken Baked in Yogurt recipe

Greek Chicken Baked in Yogurt Recipe

Allen Bixby
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 45 minutes
Wait time 5 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 20 minutes
Course Dinner, Entrée, Lunch
Cuisine European, Greek, Mediterranean, Middle East
Servings 6 people
Calories 452 kcal

Ingredients
  

  • 4-6 Boneless skinless chicken breasts
  • Kosher salt
  • Freshly ground black pepper
  • 2 Tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 Large onion, minced
  • 16 Oz. Greek-style yogurt
  • 2 Large eggs, beaten
  • 2 Tablespoons All-purpose flour
  • 2 Ounces crumbled feta cheese
  • 2 Tablespoons chopped fresh dill plus some for garnish
  • 3 sprigs of mint, leaves removed and torn, save some for garnish
  • 3 cloves garlic minced
  • ½ Cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees
  • Season chicken with salt and freshly ground pepper
  • Add olive oil to a skillet over medium heat
  • Brown chicken on both sides, do not fully cook
    fried chicken in pan
  • Remove chicken and set aside
  • Sautee onions in the pan for about 5 minutes until golden
  • Remove from heat and set aside
  • In a bowl, mix yogurt, eggs, flour, feta, dill, mint and garlic
    yogurt in bowl
  • Put onion and chicken on the bottom of a lightly oiled ovenproof dish
  • Spread yogurt mixture evenly on top
  • Sprinkle with grated Parmesan cheese
    grated cheese in a bowl
  • Bake for 45 minutes, the yogurt will turn golden and custardy
  • Remove from the oven and let stand for about 5 minutes
  • Serve garnished with extra chopped dill and mint
  • Enjoy
    Greek Chicken Baked served

Notes

Difficulty; 2 spatulas
Notes on Yogurt: Most of us do not eat enough good yogurt (organic, no added sugars and no artificial colors). It is not a common ingredient that we see on cooking shows, restaurant menus or that we always stock in the fridge, but it is a “good for you” food that we have started to pay more attention to when shopping and in our kitchens. One of yogurt’s most important qualities (beyond that it is a great source of non-meat protein) is that it contains active bacteria – which a number of studies have found improves digestion, allergy problems, calcium intake, cholesterol levels, and may even have a role in preventing certain cancers. If it is not already, you may want to make eating good yogurt a regular thing.

Nutrition

Calories: 452kcal
Keyword greek yogurt chicken, yougurt chicken
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
About the Author Allen Bixby

They say that 10,00 hours working a skill makes you an expert. By that standard I qualify as an expert cook. I eschew the title Chef because I do not have formal training…but dang, do I have hands on work, with the burn and cut scars to prove it. [Read More]

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