recipe – yogurt marinated chicken

Greek yogurt was on sale, and I miscalculated how much yogurt I was planning on eating. Hence, me trying to find other ways to use said yogurt.

I tried searching online for recipes with the ingredients I currently had on hand, but to no avail. So this is what I concocted instead:

Greek yogurt mixed with spices such as ground coriander and garlic is where I started. The cubed chicken, whole garlic cloves, chopped onion, and marinade sat in the fridge for a few hours.

A few minutes on high for each side will give a slight char to the chicken while cooking it totally through. Once cooked, remove chicken pieces from pot.

I noticed the yogurt marinade really stuck to the bottom more than expected. This is no problem, especially if you didn’t over-burn it. Once the rice begins to cook (yes, in the same pot), it’ll pick up all the tasty bits for you.

Cook the rice according to instructions, and the flavors from the chicken will permeate through. Throw in the chicken pieces once completed and you got yourself a pretty solid easy meal.

The yogurt marinade helped retain the moisture in the chicken, which I personally think is especially needed with chicken breast. And the rice on its own was just as flavorful as you’d imagine. Def would make this again, as long as I have the leftover yogurt to start with of course.

 

—ingredients—

• 2 lb chicken breast, cubed
• 1/4-1/2 cup Greek yogurt plain (to coat chicken)
• Handful of garlic cloves, whole
• 1 onion
• 2 tb ground coriander
• 2 tb ground garlic
• 1tb salt
• 2 tb ground pepper
• 2 tb red pepper flakes
• oil to cook with
• 2 cups of white rice

 

—directions—

1. Chop chicken breast into 1-inch pieces. Put in bowl to the side. Add whole garlic cloves; 5 or more if you want a real garlic flavor, along with a medium onion chopped.
2. In a separate bowl mix 1/2-1/4 cup Greek yogurt (depending on how much you need to coat the chicken), along with all spices (ground coriander, garlic, pepper, salt, pepper flakes). Once emulsified, stir into chicken mixture. Store with either a lid or plastic wrap into the fridge for minimum 1 hour, up to 4 hours.
3. In a large pot, heat some oil on high. Once simmering, slowly add the marinated chicken in, making sure not to overcrowd. Only a few minutes on each side, or until cooked, is needed.
4. Remove chicken once all pieces are fully cooked. Don’t worry about the fond (dark pieces on the bottom of the pan).
5. Add 2 cups of white rice and 4 cups of water to the now empty pot. Start on medium-low heat, trying to de-glaze bottom of the pan. Once a boil comes, put lid on, lower heat, and cook according to instructions.
6. Fluff rice once cooked, and throw the chicken pieces back in.