Greek Chicken Salad
Learn how to make a fresh and easy Greek chicken salad with juicy and tender marinated chicken and all your favorite Mediterranean flavors. Just marinate and then grill or pan sear your favorite cut of chicken. Mix romaine lettuce, cucumber, tomatoes, red onion, feta cheese, sliced banana peppers, and kalamata olives together. Make my tasty Greek salad vinaigrette dressing and pour over the salad and chicken. Voila! You now have a healthy, fresh and tasty salad that hits the spot for lunch or dinner.
Ingredients needed to make Greek chicken salad:
For the chicken:
- 1/4 cup good quality olive oil
- 3 cloves minced garlic
- 1 large lemon, juiced
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1/2 tsp dried rosemary
- 1/2 tsp dried thyme
- 1 tsp onion salt (try Trader Joes onion salt blend)
- 1 tsp dried parsley
- 1/4 tsp ground pepper
- 6 small boneless, skinless chicken breasts (may cut 3 large breasts in half) or 6 boneless, skinless chicken thighs. Use chicken pieces that are roughly the same size.
To make the salad:
- 6 cups romaine lettuce, chopped (cut off the bottom of the romaine head and chop in thin slices)
- 1/2 large English cucumber, sliced
- 6 Compari tomatoes, sliced into eight sections
- 1/2 red onion, sliced thin
- 6 oz jar Kalamata olives, drained
- 1 cup banana pepper or pepperoncini slices
- 5 oz container of crumbled feta cheese
- Ground pepper to taste on top of the salad
For the Greek dressing:
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 4 tbsp red wine vinegar
- 4 tbsp fresh lemon juice (approximately one lemon)
- 3 cloves minced fresh garlic
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- Salt and pepper to taste
How to make Greek Chicken Salad:
How to make the Greek chicken:
- Place olive oil, minced garlic, lemon juice, oregano, rosemary, thyme, onion salt, parsley and pepper in a large Ziplock bag and mix together.
- Add chicken into the bag and seal it. Massage marinade and chicken together to coat all the chicken pieces well.
- Marinate for at least 30 minutes at room temperature or if you want to marinate it longer place the bag in the refrigerator. Chicken breasts should be marinated for at least 30 minutes but not more than 2 hours. The marinade will start to break down the meat and make it tough. Chicken thighs can be marinated for 30 minutes to 8 hours. Smaller pieces of meat take less time to marinate and thicker pieces take longer.
- If you want to make chicken skewers, cut the chicken into cubes at this point and place on wooden skewers.
- Place chicken pieces on your grill pan or outdoor grill. You may need to brush some oil on the pan or grill first. I use a Cuisinart electric grill pan which is non-stick and easy to clean like this one. It is reversible with a grill side and a flat side.
- Cook the chicken for 5-6 minutes per side or until the inside temperature reaches 160 degrees using a digital thermometer. Check chicken after turning so that it doesn’t overcook. If you are cooking chicken skewers you may need less time for the chicken to cook depending on size of the chicken cubes.
- Remove the chicken and let it rest for 5-10 minutes to let the juices settle.
- Chicken can be sliced or served whole.
To make the Greek salad:
- Wash and prepare the romaine lettuce by cutting the end of the head of romaine and washing the leaves. Cut the head of the lettuce into slices. Dry with paper towels or with a lettuce spinner like this one https://amzn.to/4bD7CAL.
- Wash and cut the Compari tomatoes into eighths and slice the onions and cucumbers.
- Drain the olives and the banana peppers.
- Place the lettuce in a serving bowl and place the cucumber, tomatoes, onion, olives, peppers and feta cheese on top in sections. You can also build the salad on the plates if you prefer.
- Top individual servings of the salad with the chicken.
- Spoon on the dressing (recipe below) and grate fresh ground pepper over top to taste.
How to make Greek salad dressing:
- In a small bowl whisk the olive oil, red wine vinegar, fresh lemon juice, minced garlic, dried oregano and salt and pepper together.
- Spoon the dressing over individual salad servings and top with fresh grated pepper.
Notes:
- This Greek salad would also be great without the chicken as a side salad.
- Add the chicken to the salad when you are ready to serve it.
- If you are going to store the salad add the salad dressing just before serving. If you dress the salad before storing it will become soggy.
- This salad will keep in the refrigerator for 1-2 days.
Other Recipes to Try:
Greek Chicken Salad
Learn how to make a fresh and easy Greek chicken salad with juicy and tender marinated chicken and all your favorite Mediterranean flavors.
Equipment
- 1 Grill pan may also use outdoor grill
- 1 Juicer
- 1 meat thermometer
- 1 salad spinner
Ingredients
Greek chicken:
- 1/4 cup good quality olive oil
- 3 cloves minced fresh garlic
- 1 large lemon, juiced
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1/2 tsp dried rosemary
- 1/2 tsp dried thyme
- 1 tsp onion salt (try Trader Joes onion salt blend)
- 1 tsp dried parsley
- 1/4 tsp ground pepper
- 6 small boneless, skinless chicken breasts (may cut 3 large breasts in half) or 6 boneless, skinless chicken thighs. Use chicken pieces that are roughly the same size.
Greek salad:
- 6 cups romaine lettuce, chopped (cut off the bottom of the romaine head and chop in thin slices)
- 1/2 large English cucumber, sliced
- 6 Compari tomatoes, sliced into eight sections
- 1/2 red onion, sliced thin
- 6 oz jar Kalamata olives, drained
- 1 cup banana pepper or pepperoncini slices
- 5 oz container crumbled feta cheese
- ground pepper to taste on top of the salad
Greek salad dressing:
- 1/2 cup good quality olive oil
- 4 tbsp red wine vinegar
- 4 tbsp fresh lemon juice (approximately one lemon)
- 3 cloves minced fresh garlic
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
Greek Chicken:
- Place olive oil, minced garlic, lemon juice, oregano, rosemary, thyme, onion salt, parsley and pepper in a large Ziplock bag and mix together.
- Add chicken into the bag and seal it. Massage marinade and chicken together to coat all the chicken pieces well..
- Marinate for at least 30 minutes at room temperature or if you want to marinate it longer place the bag in the refrigerator. Chicken breasts should be marinated for at least 30 minutes but not more than 2 hours. The marinade will start to break down the meat and make it tough. Chicken thighs can be marinated for 30 minutes to 8 hours. Smaller pieces of meat take less time to marinate and thicker pieces take longer
- If you want to make chicken skewers, cut the chicken into cubes at this point and place on wooden skewers.
- Place chicken pieces on your grill pan or outdoor grill. You may need to brush some oil on the pan or grill first. Cook the chicken for 5-6 minutes per side or until the inside temperature reaches 160 degrees using a digital thermometer. Check chicken after turning so that it doesn't overcook. If you are cooking chicken skewers you may need less time for the chicken to cook depending on size of the chicken cubes.
- Remove the chicken and let it rest for 5-10 minutes to let the juices settle. Chicken can be sliced or served whole.
Greek salad:
- Wash and prepare the romaine lettuce by cutting the end of the head of romaine and washing the leaves. Cut the head of the lettuce into slices. Dry with paper towels or with a lettuce spinner.
- Wash and cut the Compari tomatoes into eighths and slice the onions and cucumbers.
- Drain the olives and the banana peppers.
- Place the lettuce in a serving bowl and place the cucumber, tomatoes, onion, olives, peppers and feta cheese on top in sections. You can also build the salad on the plates if you prefer.
- Top individual servings of the salad with the chicken. Spoon on the dressing (recipe below) and grate fresh ground pepper over top to taste.
Greek salad dressing:
- In a small bowl whisk the olive oil, red wine vinegar, fresh lemon juice, minced garlic, dried oregano and salt and pepper together.
- Spoon the dressing over individual salad servings, including the chicken. Top with fresh grated pepper.