Dipping in a garlic yogurt marinade keeps these grilled chicken breasts moist and flavorful. A dose of cumin, paprika, and pepper make this grilled marinated chicken a perennial favorite.
I was recently cooking my way through some of the older recipes on Simply Recipes and came across this gem – Moroccan Spiced Grilled Chicken Breasts. It’s a winner!
Boneless, skinless chicken breasts are marinated in yogurt with a Moroccan spice blend of cumin, paprika, and cinnamon, then simply grilled.
What I love about this recipe is that you can have a delicious meal in minutes with just the slightest amount of prep. The yogurt-based marinade is only slightly acidic, so you can leave the chicken in the marinade all day while it gently tenderizes the meat while it’s infused with the spices.
Just put the chicken in the marinade before you go to work in the morning, come home, fire up the grill and the chicken will be ready in less than 10 minutes. Simply. Simply!
The recipe is one we adapted from a recipe at the Sacramento Bee years ago. In the original recipe, we added lemon juice to the yoghurt and cinnamon to the spice mix.
Grilled chicken with yogurt garlic marinade
ingredients
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1/2 cup plain yogurt
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1 tbsp lemon juice
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1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
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1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
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2 garlic cloves, chopped
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1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
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1 teaspoon of paprika
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1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
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1/2 teaspoon salt
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1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
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1 1/2 pounds skinless, boneless chicken breasts
method
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Marinate Chicken:
Combine the marinade ingredients (yogurt, lemon juice, coriander, olive oil, garlic, cumin, paprika, cinnamon, salt and pepper) in a medium bowl.
Place the chicken pieces in the bowl and coat thoroughly with the marinade.
Cover with cling film and chill in the fridge for 2 hours to overnight.
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Grill chicken:
Heat up your grill over high heat if you’re using a gas grill, or prepare coals for direct heat if you’re using charcoal. Let one side of the grill be the “cool” side. If you don’t have a grill, you can use a cast iron grill pan on your stovetop.
Grill the chicken breasts on one side over direct high heat for a few minutes. Then flip them over and place them on the cool side of the grill. Cover and cook a few more minutes until the chicken is tender.
(The easiest way to test doneness is with your fingertips. See The Finger Test to check the doneness of meat. Or, using a meat thermometer, remove the meat from the grill when the internal temperature of the chicken breast reaches 165°F. )
What is the temperature of cooked chicken?CONTINUE READING:
Be careful not to overcook as chicken breasts can dry out easily.
