Grilled Tandoori Chicken
Grilled Tandoori Chicken bring everyones favorite tandoori Indian dish into our own kitchen. So quick and easy made on the grill, the recipe comes with 2 ways to prepare, chicken pieces on skewers (kabob) and a whole spatchcock tandoori chicken both grilled. Made with all natural ingredients and no food coloring.
If you love tandoori chicken from your favorite Indian restaurant you will love this recipe. The best way to get the authentic flavor of Indian tandoori is to cook in a tandoor oven and if you’re like me, you don’t have easy access to one so cooking it on the grill is the closest thing.
If you’ve every been to an Indian restaurant, then you’ve eaten something that was cooked in the tandoor, naan bread, tandoori chicken or seafood. Tandoor is a traditionally bell shaped clay oven that is open at the top.
Used in Indian cuisine to get that unique cooked flavor into naan bread, chicken and seafood that is operated at a very high temperature of 900°F/500°C for that unmistakable char and flavor.
Tandoori Chicken Color
To recreate the very recognizable red hue of the meat an Indian red chili powder (kashmiri) is used. This chili powder can be found on the internet, which is where I bought it. Or, if you’re lucky to live close to an Indian market, they should have it. Sometimes red food coloring is used, but I’m not a fan and I don’t think this recipe needs it.
There’s no perfect way to re-create the flavors of the tandoor, but us home cooks can certainly try and the next best thing to getting the tandoori flavor is making tandoori sauce.
Tandoori Chicken Marinade
Starts with greek yogurt and a delicious combination of Indian spices are mixed in along with lemon juice to marinade the chicken which is the key to the flavor.
This recipe has a 2-stage marinating process. The chicken is first coated in the red chili powder. Then coated in yogurt and spices for the final marinating.
Spatchcock Tandoori Chicken
In addition to skewering chicken breast pieces. I recently tried this recipe with a whole spatchcock chicken on the grill. You can read here all about spatchcock chicken and how to easily spatchcock/butterfly the whole chicken. In this instance, it is best to remove the skin so the meat can come in contact with the grill. Pictured below.
Tandoori chicken serving suggestion
I always serve this chicken with Curry Vegetable Basmati Rice (pic below) and a side of Easy Homemade Naan Bread.
Oven roasted tandoori chicken
This recipe can be made indoors using a stovetop grill pan or roasted in the oven (I would not recommend using wooden skewers). Roast at 425°F/218°C for 8 minutes per side then broil/oven grill to get a nice char. If you don’t want to use skewers, use boneless, skinless chicken breasts using the marinade and roast them whole for 20 – 30 minutes then broil.
Tandoori Chicken Wings
For a delicious appetizer idea, I’ve created a Tandoori Masala Chicken Wings recipe that comes with a cooling raita dipping sauce. Picture below.
Grilled Tandoori Chicken – Step by Step
In a small bowl, mix the Indian red chili powder, salt and oil to make a paste
Coat the chicken breast pieces with the paste mix.
In a separate bowl, Greek yogurt, mix more Indian red chili powder, garam masala, coriander, cumin, turmeric, cardamom.
Add the Greek yogurt mix to the chicken pieces and marinate for 30 minutes.
Thread the chicken pieces onto metal skewers.
Grill 5-8 minutes per side until cooked through to a an internal temperature of 165°F/75°C.
If you’ve tried these Grilled Tandoori Chicken Kebabs or any other recipe on the blog then don’t forget to rate the recipe and let me know how it turned out in the comments below. I love to hear from my readers!
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Grilled Tandoori Chicken
Skewered chicken is grilled with lots of Indian spices and yogurt then grilled for the most delicious tandoori chicken.
Ingredients
- 3 teaspoons Indian red chili powder (kashmiri chili powder)
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into large pieces
- 4 tablespoons plain Greek yogurt
- 1 teaspoon Indian red chili powder
- 1/2 teaspoon garam masala
- 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon turmeric
- 1/2 teaspoon cardamom
- 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon fresh ginger, grated
- 1 garlic clove, peeled and grated
- Juice of 1 lemon
Instructions
- To a small bowl add the red chili powder and 1 teaspoon salt, mix with oil to form a paste.
- To a large bowl with a lid, add the chicken and massage half of the chili paste all over the chicken pieces. Set aside.
- To the remaining chili paste add the rest of the ingredients, mix well. Add the mix to the chicken and coat well. Cover and allow to marinate for 30 minutes at room temperature.
- Thread the chicken pieces onto skewers.
- Grill Method:
- Preheat grill on high. Grill for 5-8 minutes per side until cooked through and the internal temperature of the chicken reaches 165°F/74°C.
- Oven Method:
- Preheat oven to 425°F/218°C. Place the skewers, evenly spread on a baking sheet . Bake for 5-8 minutes per side. Turn the oven to broil and broil until the tops are lightly charred, cooked through and the internal temperature of the chicken reaches 165°F/74°C.
Nutrition Information
Yield
4Serving Size
1 skewerAmount Per Serving Calories 285Total Fat 12gSaturated Fat 2gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 9gCholesterol 103mgSodium 1230mgCarbohydrates 4gFiber 2gSugar 1gProtein 39g
This nutrition calculation is provided by Nutronix that is only a guideline and not intended for any particular diet.
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35 Comments on “Grilled Tandoori Chicken”
I’m trying to find som Nan 2 grocery stores were out of it yesterday! Hopefully they got some in today!🥹!WISH ME LUCK!
You could make your own, I have an easy recipe here: https://culinaryginger.com/easy-homemade-naan-bread/
I found some Naan at the Neighborhood market! Everything turned out great even though my charcoal wouldn’t light!I broiled them in the oven!~😋~
That’s great that you found some. Sorry about your grill, but I’m glad you were able to make it work with your broiler.
So sour, so much cardamom, made for a really tragic meal. Maybe it’s just not to my taste but I felt really cheated
I’m not sure what happened with what you made, but this recipe is far from sour and I’m not sure what would have made it taste that way. Spice blending is all about getting the flavor balance right and it sounds like you mis-measured or missed some ingredients. 1/2 teaspoon of cardamom is a very small amount given all the other ingredients. I have made this countless times for family and friends since 2018 and given the positive comments on the recipe, I stand by it 100%.
Fantastic!Tandoori chicken is my go to order when eating out and I’m so happy I was able to make it at home and it was easy!! I’m making it again this weekend’s thanks
I love to hear this, thank you so much
So so so delicious, as well as beautiful!
I pair this with a vegetable korma recipe from allrecipes and together they make a really wonderful meal.
I usually skewer and grill these but tonight I was too lazy to so I just put the chicken directly on a sheet pan and baked in the oven and it still came out great.
Thank you so much for the feedback.
Made this tonight 20/02/2021 and it was delicious I put it with salad and wrapped it in a Nan bread with some sour cream and chive and it was amazing my son also loved it p. Thanks for the post we will definitely be making his again.
I’m so happy you enjoyed them. I love how you served them.
Kebab are so yummy. I have tasted such flavorful kebab with tasty kulcha. I never know that kebab and kulcha are perfect together.
Thank you for the recommendation. I have never tried kulcha, but I believe is similar to naan and it is delicious.
Really enjoy this recipe. I use chicken thighs instead of breast, but that’s because we love dark meat.
I’m glad you enjoyed the recipe and chicken thighs are a delicious option, I need to try this.
these were absolutely delicious! thank you!
Thank you so much for leaving the great feedback. I’m glad you enjoyed them.
Tried these last night and they were amazing, everyone said how good they was, will definitely be making these again. Thank you for the recipe it’s a keeper.
Thank you for the feedback, I’m so happy they were a hit.
I love that your recipe does not use food coloring. I’ve made this a few times and it’s the closest I’ve had to the real thing. I love your updated pics 🙂
Thank you so much Cheryl, I’m so glad you like the recipe.
Super delicious. Great recipe. Thanks for posting this…
I love this recipe! You have captured the color so well. I have tried this recipe with Paneer instead of the chicken and it came out great. Thanks for the idea.
I’ve never tried tandoori chicken but your recipe sounds delicious. I might just have to give it a try, I think grampy might like this.
These are gorgeous and I can just imagine how delicious they are! I can’t wait to make these very soon!!
Love this! Sounds fantastic!
LOVE the spices in this, looks amazing!!!
Thank you Matt, they are pretty tasty 🙂
These kabobs are absolutely stunning! I would love to serve these to my family and friends! Beautiful photography and excellent step by step directions as always!
Thank you for your kind words Linda 🙂
Absolutely love this perfect tandoori chicken!
Thank you Nisa 🙂
Ohhhh my gosh, absolutely LOVE these! I need to make them this weekend!
Thank you 🙂