Turkish Chicken Kebab Recipe (Tavuk Şiş)

What Are Turkish Chicken Kebabs?

These are also known as tavuk şiş kebab (chicken shish kebab). They are one of the most popular kebabs in Turkey and you can easily find it at restaurants.

Chicken pieces are marinated for long hours, then threaded on skewers either plain or with some vegetables like tomatoes and green peppers. They are cooked on the grill and then served with several kebab side dishes.

You will feel in heaven at these restaurants when you see Turkish chicken shish kebabs, Ramazan pidesi (Turkish pita), red onion salad with sumac, roasted red onions, green salad, Turkish hummus and Turkish style baba ganoush without tahini are all served together.

Turkish Chicken Marinade 

We have to tell you that this chicken kebab marinade has a key role in this recipe so that you get soft and juicy chicken. So what goes in this amazing marinade? Here are what we need:

• Milk: We use full-fat milk for this marinade. We sometimes substitute yoghurt for it or use a combination of both. They all work fine and you get super soft and juicy chicken kebabs.
• Olive oil: This is another ingredient that helps the chicken become tender. Use light cooking olive oil.
• Tomato paste: It adds an amazing richness to chicken kebabs. We use our homemade tomato paste, but you can easily find it at markets. And if you can find Turkish pepper paste too, combine them together for even a richer taste.
• Spices: We use just a few kebab spices like red pepper flakes (pul biber or Aleppo pepper), dried thyme (or oregano), salt and pepper. You can add cumin, sumac, mint, cinnamon and cayenne pepper too if you want your tavuk şiş (chicken skewers) spicier.
• Optional Add-Ins: You can add 2 more flavors in the marinade if you want: Onion and garlic. You can grate an onion and 2-3 garlic cloves in a bowl, strain them using a fine mesh strainer and add the juice in the marinade.

The marinade for this baked chicken shish recipe is so important for the perfection of the flavor and soft texture. And you can absolutely use it for grilled chicken kabobs too.

You will need a few hours to let the chopped chicken cubes sit in the marinade so that they can soak in the marinade properly and you can get the most of the flavor.

What Part Of Chicken Should You Use?

We love to use boneless and skinless chicken thighs for this chicken shish kebab recipe as they are the softest part when cooked. But chicken breast works well too. Just cut them into cubes.

If you have leftover chicken parts from a whole chicken, just remove the meat from the bones and dice them. Place the diced chicken in the marinade and keep it in the refrigerator overnight or at least for 1 hour.

How To Make Chicken Shish In Oven

We have five easy steps for this recipe: Preparing the chicken, making the marinade and marinating the chicken, threading them on the skewers and baking.

• First, start with preparing the chicken for skewers. Chop the chicken meat in cubes (1 ½ inch) and put them in a deep dish. 
• Second, make the chicken shish kebab marinade. In a bowl, whisk together milk, olive oil, tomato paste and seasonings.
• Then, pour the marinade over the diced chicken and give it a good stir. Make sure all the chicken is covered with the marinade. You need to refrigerate it for at least 1 hour, but 4 hours would be even better. Then your chicken will absorb the marinade flavors better and will be softer and tastier.
• Next, thread the chicken on your skewers. If you are using metal skewers, you’re good but if they are wooden, remember to soak them for an hour. Then thread the chicken cubes on skewers. Place them on the edges of the baking pan. (See how we do it in the pictures). You can use a cooling rack on a baking sheet to give it a grill effect.
• Finally, bake your shish kebabs. You will need 30 minutes of baking time. First bake in the oven for 20 minutes, then flip them over and bake for another 10 minutes or until the chicken is cooked.

Expert Tips

• Chicken thighs (bones removed) are the best type of chicken to make skewers. They give the softest and juiciest result.
• Marinating chicken overnight will give you the best result. But if you don’t have that much time, marinate at least 1 hour.
• If you are using wooden skewers, remember to soak them in water for an hour. This is very important. 
• You can place the chicken skewers on a parchment paper lined baking paper. But if you want to give a grill effect, you have two options: 1)Put a cooling rack on a baking sheet and place the skewers on it. 2)Use a baking pan and place the skewers on the edges so that they don’t touch the pan. This is what we do in this recipe. Please see the pictures in the post content above.
• You can add tomatoes and green peppers in the pan so that they bake at the same time.
• Flip the chicken skewers over after baking them for 20 minutes. Then bake for another 20 minutes.
• If you are after a dairy-free marinade, leave the milk out and add in 2 tablespoon lemon juice. You will have equally soft chicken kebabs.

FAQs

More Chicken Recipes

• Roasted Chicken Pieces
• Stuffed Chicken
• Cast Iron Chicken Breast
• Crispy Chicken Wings with Baking Powder

More Turkish Recipes

• Patlican Kebabi
• Çoban Kavurma
• Kuzu Guvec (Lamb Stew)
• Dana Guvec (Beef Stew)

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