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This Oven Baked Greek Chicken Thighs Recipe is a super fast and easy weeknight dinner idea. A quick and flavorful marinade with Greek yogurt, lemon, garlic and herbs helps make this chicken super tender and full of flavor!
If you are looking for a quick dinner recipe, boneless, skinless chicken thighs are going to help you out. They cook so quickly, and have so much more flavor than chicken breasts! Plus they don’t dry out as easily. These Greek Chicken thighs have so much flavor packed into them, you wouldn’t believe that they only have to marinate for 15 minutes!
How to cook chicken thighs in the oven
One reason I love using boneless, skinless chicken thighs is that they cook so quickly in the oven. Depending on the size, they are usually done in 20-25 minutes. I like to use a baking sheet lined with foil for easy clean up. Roast them at 425 degrees F so they can get a little bit browned and crispy. They should have an internal temperature of 165 degrees Fahrenheit when done.
The Best Greek Chicken Marinade
I love using yogurt to marinate meat – here with lemon, garlic and herbs it takes on bright greek flavors. Using yogurt helps to make the meat tender – the lactic acid and calcium in the yogurt helps break down the proteins and collagen. It also helps with browning and carmelization.
What to serve with Greek chicken thighs
Try my Turmeric Rice as a side dish for this Greek chicken, or my easy Homemade Pita Bread! and a simple salad. I also like to serve it with a Cous Cous Salad – I’ll be sharing the recipe for that later this week!
If you like this recipe, you will also love my Easy Chicken Shawarma!
Oven Baked Greek Chicken Thighs
Ingredients
- 1.5 pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs
For The Marinade:
- ½ cup plain Greek yogurt full fat preferred
- ¼ cup olive oil
- zest of one lemon
- ⅓ cup lemon juice
- 4-5 cloves garlic pressed or minced
- 2 tablespoons dried italian seasoning I used my homemade blend, make sure yours has no added salt
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Whisk together ingredients for marinade. Toss chicken in marinade to fully coat. Allow to sit for at least 15 minutes, or keep in the refrigerator for longer, up to overnight.
- When ready to cook, preheat oven to 425°F.
- Line a baking sheet with foil for easy cleanup. Arrange chicken on baking sheet in a single layer.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until cooked through.
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Thanks for sharing! How far ahead of time can I make it?
Hi Vanessa – I wouldn’t leave it in the marinade longer than 24 hours. The yogurt and lemon could start to change the texture of the chicken.
This looks so good! Could I grill it instead?
Hi Suzanne – Yes, I think that would taste great!
I hope I’m not blaspheming when I ask if the air fryer can be used.
Hi there – I haven’t tried it in the air fryer but I think that would be fine.
I make this for my family all the time! It’s so good! I use low fat Greek yogurt and it tastes amazing. Also, always use fresh lemon juice, not that pre packaged store bought stuff. Great for meal prepping, or just having a delicious meal with your family. Everyone here loves it, I would never even search for a better Greek chicken recipe tbh? This one is perfect
Hi Jennifer – thank you so much for your comment! I am so happy to hear that you love the recipe!
Using Greek seasoning makes more sense, than using Italian seasoning. Cavenders is a good one. They also have one with no salt added. It’s a nice recipe…yum!
Absolutely, Greek seasoning would be great here.
I was looking for aomething a little different and this was a huge hit! I didn’t have Greek yogurt, but regular worked pretty well– next time I’ll plan ahead! Made the turmeric rice AND pitas–my family was impressed! I also put red onion and zucchini on the pan for veg, and we sprinkled feta and sun dried tomatoes on as a garnish. Wow!
Yum, that sounds amazing! Thank you so much for your comment, I am so glad you and your family loved the recipes!
If using thin chicken breasts how long would you cook for, I didnt have thighs?
Hi Corie, I haven’t tested this so I can’t be sure. I would start checking at 15 minutes.
Excellent recipe. We made it as is, and the chicken was tender and flavorful. We will keeping this in the rotation!
So happy to hear that Nicole!
Hi! Do you know if I would have to change the recipe if I used bone-in with skin chicken thighs? It looks amazing!
Hi Jennifer – You will need to cook them longer; I would say more like 35-45 minutes. It will depend on the size, the best bet is to use an instant read thermometer to make sure they are done.
Made this tonight with bone-in, skin on thighs and it took 50 minutes to cook. It was worth the wait. I am not a fan of lemon and used only about 1/4 cup of lemon juice from a bottle, and we used Greek seasoning. Added feta at the end. Very tender and tasty.
So glad you loved it Jayne!
Sweet!
I’ll give it a try. I prefer skin on, bone-in!
This was so good. I didn’t change a thing.
So glad you loved it!
can i substitute ras el hanout for the italian seasoning mix? i know it will give it a different flavor profile, but your method seems really simple, which i love. TIA!
Hi Traci – I haven’t tried it but I think it would be fine! Let me know how it turns out!
SOOO good! and EASY!
THANK YOU!
Yay! So glad you loved them Lisa.
Awesome my family loved it!!!!
Yay! SO glad to hear that Margarita!
My oven has been acting up so I sauteed these. So yummy! Hubby gave THREE thumbs up.
Oh yay! So glad to heat that Barrie!
I am trying it tonight for the first time….it looks good
Yay, I hope you love it Patty!
I may or may not have had three or four (okay five) spoonsful of the marinade before I tossed in the chicken. It’s
delicious! I’ll be using that for other marinades and if I add more yogurt it will be thick enough to use as a dip. Yum! Chicken was great – I probably added a bit more lemon juice, as I was eyeballing it, but it had a wonderful citrusy balance. I also broiled it for a few minutes at the end to get more crispy brown spots.
Hi Stephanie – Yay, I’m so happy you loved it!
How long can the chicken remain in the marinade?
Hi Jackie – I think up to 24 hours would be fine!
Delicious! I love these chicken thighs!
I would love to know your special recipe for the Italian seasoning you use! This is definitely on the menu for this week!
Hi Michele – ahh, I meant to put the Italian Seasoning Recipe on the blog before I posted this, but I didn’t have a chance yet. I’ll try to get it up next week! I hope you love the chicken!
This recipe was brilliant! Perfect for weekday cooking – quick, easy, and most of all, delicious! Bonus: I already had all of the ingredients in my kitchen, so no need for a special trip to the grocery store. The whole family enjoyed it. We’ll add it to our regular rotation! Thank you!!
Hi Gwen – Yay, I am so happy you and your family loved it!