This easy Greek Salad with Chicken is the most delicious, bright and wonderful entree salad. It’s made with tender marinated chicken thighs, feta cheese, cucumbers, tomatoes, onions, avocado, hummus, and more, all served on top of crisp romaine lettuce. Drizzled on top is a fresh and easy lemon vinaigrette. It doesn’t get any better than this!
🥗 Why I Love This Recipe
Years ago I used to work right next door to a fabulous Greek restaurant called Mykonos. And after every shift, whether it ended at 11 AM or 11 PM, I’d pop over there for my favorite thing on the menu: Greek Salad with Chicken.
It was such a great salad, piled high with tender pieces of chicken, crunchy vegetables, and feta cheese, and served with a delicious lemon vinaigrette and a side of hummus. I’m telling you, it was absolutely fantastic, and the furthest thing possible from a boring salad. That salad had oomph!
So when I recreated it at home and took my first bite, it was like I was transported right back to New York, sitting in the restaurant I loved, eating my favorite dish.
I tried my best to get my Greek salad exactly the way they made it, with juicy marinated chicken thighs, crisp cucumbers and red onions, feta, avocado, olives, hummus, and more.
And I have to say, I did a pretty great job (*gives self a pat on the back*). This salad is oh so satisfying, and surprisingly easy to make! It’s great for a simple weeknight dinner, your weekly meal prep, or when entertaining friends.
🔪 Ingredients List
Get your grocery list ready! The ingredients in this recipe are fairly simple and straightforward, so you should be able to find them at most grocery stores (I did all my shopping at Kroger this week). Here’s what you’ll need to make this recipe at home:
🍗 Marinated Chicken & Salad Dressing
- Boneless Skinless Chicken Thighs. Chicken thighs have more flavor than chicken breasts, but you can substitute chicken breasts if that’s what you prefer or have on hand.
- Olive Oil
- Lemon
- Herbs: Dried dill, dried oregano, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Alternately, use my homemade Greek Seasoning Blend!
🥬 Salad & Toppings
You can customize the salad toppings based on what you have in the house and what you like! Here’s what I use:
- Produce: Romaine lettuce (or mixed greens or spinach), cucumber, tomatoes, red onion, avocado.
- Feta Cheese. I’ve always found a block hummus tastes better and fresher than pre-crumbled hummus. Buy a block and dice it up.
- Hummus. You can use your favorite store-bought brand, homemade spicy hummus, or bean-free Whole30 hummus, whatever works for you.
- Olives.
- Optional, for garnish: Fresh dill, parsley, lemon slices.
🧑🍳 Step by Step Instructions
Before you do anything else, you want to marinate the chicken thighs. Marinating the chicken is a must, so don’t skip this step! Marinating adds flavor and tenderizes the meat, which is what really takes this dish to the next level.
First, dice the chicken into bite sized pieces. Pat them with a few papers towels to dry them off, then transfer the chicken to a large bowl.
Add half of the oil, lemon juice, and herbs, then mix it all up. Note: You can skip this step if you buy a store-bought sugar free greek marinade/dressing.
➡️ How long to marinate chicken? Marinate chicken for at least 30 minutes, but up to 18 hours in the refrigerator. Do not marinate chicken for longer than 24 hours, though, or else it actually starts to work in reverse and will make the chicken tougher.
While the chicken is marinating, we’re going to make all the good stuff that goes in and on the salad. Of course, that means we’re making salad dressing first! In a small jar or bowl, mix together the remaining oil, lemon juice, and seasonings. Set it aside until you’re about to eat.
Next, prepare all the salad ingredients. This is the easy part, because it just involves a bunch of cutting and no real thinking (yay!). Wash and chop the lettuce, thinly slice the onions, and dice the tomatoes and cucumbers. If you’re using a block of feta, cut it into small cubes.
By the time you’re done with the toppings, the chicken should be ready to cook. The really nice thing is that this is the only actual cooking we need to do for this dish.
To cook the chicken, heat the oil in your biggest skillet, then add in the chicken pieces. You should try to avoid overcrowding the skillet, because you won’t get the beautiful caramelization on each pieces. Instead, cook the chicken in two or even three batches, depending on the size of your skillet.
Turn the pieces of chicken as they cook to get all the sides browned evenly. When the chicken is done cooking through, transfer it to a bowl.
➡️ What’s the safe cooking temperature for chicken? According to USDA, chicken must be cooked to 165°F (~74°C). Use a meat thermometer to check that the chicken is cooked through.
Okay, now we’re in the home stretch! All that’s left to do is assemble the salad. Add the lettuce to a large serving platter and top with all the vegetables, feta, and chicken.
Tip: Since we have a few olive lovers and a few olive haters (🙋♀️) in our family, I leave the olives in a small mason jar and serve it alongside the salad. That way everybody gets to make a choice about olives, and nobody’s mad about it!
When you’re ready to serve the salad, drizzle on the dressing, sprinkle it with a little fresh dill and parsley, and garnish with a few slices of lemon. Toss the salad together and dig in! I promise as soon as you take your first bite, you’ll see why this is my favorite!
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