It’s so simple to combine mayonnaise and Italian salsa verde as a marinade for an oven baked or air fryer chicken breast kebab that is moist, super herby and definitely magical!
I have used good quality mayo for many purposes in my kitchen but ‘food glue’ has not been one of them. It’s actually a thing and I am, as usual, a bit late to the party.
At times, I struggle with getting crumb coats or marinades to stick to the protein. Often the crumb coating will come off in large pieces. And, generally, I find a lot of my herby marinades simply slide off the chicken and very little is left to flavour the meat through the cooking process.
Using mayonnaise to bind the flavour to your protein while roasting, grilling or frying is magical. And all credit for this technique needs to go to J Kenji Lopez-Alt, an American chef and food writer, who first wrote about the technique in 2019. he wrote a New York Times article about it: The Secret Ingredient That Improves Meat Every Time.
I like to cook the kebab in a hot fan forced oven but it will also work in an air fryer or in a covered BBQ.
Make sure you get my salsa verde recipe into your repertoire. And I have also showcased this super Italian green sauce in my recipe for Salsa Verde Roast Chicken.
Ingredients
I think Italian salsa verde makes the best mayo marinade for chicken breasts.
This recipe for chicken kebabs in the oven has very little prep work aside from making the herby green sauce. You need around 600g of chicken, usually 2large skinless breasts, mayonnaise and the salsa verde.
But the style of mayonnaise is important. There is no place here for any of those way too sweet and runny ‘light’ varieties. You need a full fat variety that’s emulsified to the point you can stand a spoon in it.
Where I grew up in Western Canada the mayo of choice was Best Foods and I later discovered there was an equivalent called Hellman’s. Turns out it was the same recipe and, at some point, the UK company Unilever bought both brands. Unilever still markets the recipe under both names.
When I first came to Australia in the 1980’s I had to but Best Foods mayo at an American specialty food store and paid a whopping $10 for a large jar (about $40 in today’s money). Now you can buy both Hellmann’s and Best Foods branded mayonnaise in Australia at all major grocery stores. And the mayonnaise is made in Australia from Australian ingredients.
I highly recommend either Best Foods or Hellman’s mayonnaise.
Marinate the chicken breasts
Prepare the Italian salsa verde, using only 1 tablespoon of the red wine vinegar and 1 tablespoon of the extra virgin olive oil. Hold the rest of the oil and vinegar back at this stage.
Take 2 tablespoons of the partially completed salsa verde and mix well with ½ cup of mayonnaise in a medium sized bowl.
Complete the salsa verde sauce with the remaining red wine vinegar and olive oil to taste, place in a sealed container in the fridge until needed.
Slice the skinless chicken breasts across the grain into 1 ½ cm slices and add sliced chicken to the marinade. Use your hands make sure all the strips of chicken are well coated and leave to marinate in the fridge for 15-30 minutes. It really doesn’t need time to get added flavour. This marinade is all about the mayo sticking the herb sauce to the meat, not penetrating the meat.
Assembling the chicken kebab
Preheat your oven to 250°C fan forced with the rack in the top third of the oven.
I use three 25 cm skewers to assemble the chicken kebabs. Oil them first to ensure an easy removal of the meat after they are cooked. You can also use wooden skewers, but I would soak them in water first, dry them off, and rub some oil over them.
I line up my slices of marinated chicken breast on a cutting board according to the length of the strips. I then start with one skewer and string the strips on through the centre of the strip. Work from the widest strips at the bottom through to the smallest pieces of chicken at the top. I then add the two other skewers either side and angle them up through the chicken towards the middle skewer. This configuration of skewers will ensure you can pick up the kebab and it will cook evenly and flat.
Make sure you squish any leftover marinade in between the strips of chicken. This will result in extra herby flavour in between the kebab strips.
Finishing the salsa verde chicken kebab
I use my oven to cook the chicken breast kebab as I like to ensure it gets an even high heat (250°C fan forced). The kebab is a good size to cook in an air fryer but mine does not go to 250°C. When I tried air frying at 230°C it didn’t get as golden brown as I like but yours might run at a higher temperature than mine. You can also cook the kebab on a rack in a covered BBQ or on the BBQ grills if you watch it carefully and turn it often.
By using 250°C fan forced, the outside of the kebab quickly seals and goes a lovely deep golden brown. The centre remains moist as the meat is sealed in and is protected by the mayonnaise marinade.
A 600g kebab took approximately 15 minutes to cook. The final internal temperature should reach 65°C but I take it out between 63-64°C as the temperature will continue to rise after it leaves the oven.
As soon as the kebab is out of the oven baste it with the reserved salsa verde sauce until it is well coated. Leave to rest 10 minutes before serving.
Turn your salsa verde chicken kebab into a burger!
This easy salsa verde mayonnaise chicken kebab recipe is super versatile. I often serve it simply with a salad and feel quite virtuous with my carb restraint.
But my favourite way to enjoy this super flavorful chicken breast recipe is as a chicken burger, with no carb regrets. The example in the image is built with a toasted bun, mayo, chicken kebab pieces, extra salsa verde, cucumber ribbons, red onion and rocket. Obviously, a ‘kebab’ would work just as well as a wrap!
Salsa Verde Mayo Chicken Kebab
Equipment
- Food processor
- Salad spinner
- 500ml plastic or glass jar with lid
- Three 22-25 cm metal skewers
- Shallow roasting pan
- Instant read thermometer
Ingredients
Chicken kebab:
- 2 large skinless chicken breasts (600g total weight)
- ½ cup full fat mayonnaise
- 1 batch salsa verde sauce (below)
Salsa Verde:
- 100 g fresh basil (6 cups loosely packed leaves)
- 100 g continental parsley (6 cups loosely packed leaves)
- 4 small garlic cloves
- 2 tablespoons capers (drained)
- 4 anchovies
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon white sugar
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 2 – 4 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 200 – 300ml extra virgin olive oil
Instructions
Salsa Verde:
- Wash the parsley and basil in cold water. Spin dry and roll up between paper towels to absorb any extra water. Alternative, dry between multiple layers of paper towels or a clean tea towel.
- Pick basil and parsley leaves, discarding the large stems (small stems are fine) and refrigerate until required.
- Peel garlic cloves and crush them into the bowl of the food processor.
- Press anchovy fillets between paper towels lightly to remove excess oil.
- Add the capers, anchovies, mustard, and 1 tablespoon of vinegar and 1 tablespoon of olive oil and pulse until chopped finely. Scrape down the bowl several times to ensure even chopping.
- Add parsley, pulse a couple of times and scrape down the bowl. Then add the basil and pulse until herbs are finely chopped (not too fine you don’t want a puree).
- For the marinade, remove 2 tablespoons of the herb mix at this stage, set aside until required.
- Whisk in remaining vinegar and olive oil (you may not need it all – taste as you go – I like a good hit of vinegar myself).
- Add salt and pepper to taste.
- Pour sauce into a clean 500ml container, level out, and top with some olive oil to prevent oxidation.
- Store in the refrigerator until required.
Chicken kebab:
- Preheat oven 250°C fan forced (put rack in top third of oven).
- In a medium sized bowl, make the marinade by whisking the 2 tablespoons of herb mix into a ½ cup of marinade until combined.
- Slice chicken breasts across the grain into 1 ½ cm slices.
- Add the chicken to the marinade and mix until well coated (I use my hands).
- Refrigerate for 15-30 minutes. This step is optional as this marinade is a coating and does not absorb into the meat.
- Arrange the slices of chicken from longest to shortest on a board.
- Start creating the kebab by pushing the slices onto the first skewer through the middle of the slice of chicken crosswise. Start with the longest slices and work towards the shortest (smallest pieces of chicken).
- Work with the meat laying flat out on a board and straighten the pieces as you go. Your kebab will have a pine tree shape.
- One skewer at a time, run the other two skewers through the chicken pieces on either side of the middle skewer.
- Start at the bottom and run each skewer through the chicken at an angle so it meets the middle skewer at the other end of the kebab.
- Move the kebab carefully to a baking paper lined shallow roasting pan.
- Use up any leftover marinade on both sides of the kebab and push the marinade in between the slices of meat.
- Cook at 250°C fan forced on a rack in the top third of the oven for approximately 15 minutes.
- The final internal temperature should reach 65°C. You can take the kebab out at 63-64°C, as the temperature will continue to rise after it leaves the oven.
- As soon as the kebab is out of the oven baste it with the reserved salsa verde sauce until it is well coated.
- Leave to rest 10 minutes before serving.