Crisp, crunchy, and fresh with tangy Mediterranean flavor, this protein-packed Greek chicken salad can be meal prepped ahead for weekday lunches or a light and healthy dinner, too.
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“So tasty! Really simple to whip up and tastes great and healthy. Definitely worth marinating the chicken for about 20 min.” -Jill, FoodieCrush reader
This Is My Go-To Salad If I Don’t Know What to Make for Lunch
Lunch. It’s the meal that we all have the best of intentions in planning ahead for, and too often, don’t.
Our lack of prep leads to over indulging on more expensive than we budgeted for co-worker lunches, or poor choices at the fast food drive-thru (ummm, suuuuure, I’ll take fries with that.) Or worse, we skip the mid-day meal altogether, leading to a snack attack of epic proportions as we walk through the after-work door.
One thing that’s gotten me through the what-to-eat-for-lunch dilemma is prepping a few fave ingredients for a filling and healthy main course salad that I know will hold in the fridge the whole week through.
This recipe is a riff on the classic Greek salad and is topped with grilled chicken. The typical Greek and Mediterranean flavors of Kalamata olives, tangy feta cheese, and crunchy cucumbers are ingredients I crave on a daily basis, with two easy-to-meal-prep recipes I’ve added in.
Enjoy!
How to Make This Grilled Chicken Greek Salad
One of the things I love about Greek salad is that the hearty ingredients stand up to time for meal prep so that a little chopping and small amount of cooking easily turn into lunch or dinner on the fly.
Prep the ingredients below beforehand so that salad assembly is complete in less time than an anguished trip to the vending machine.
- Lettuce — Not traditional in Greek salads, but in this main course salad lettuce is a terrific filler. I typically use iceberg or romaine for the crunch, but spinach or another favorite leafy green works too.
- Kalamata olives — Their unmistakeable tang are my favorite bite. Omit if you’re an olive hater.
- Feta cheese — I’ve learned to always use block feta cheese and crumble it myself. The flavor is undeniably better.
- Tomatoes —When I have time on a Sunday afternoon, I’ll make a batch of my Mediterranean tomato salad which is loaded with Greek flavor and freshness from the capers, red onion, and fresh parsley to top. If prep time isn’t on your side, sliced medium-size cocktail tomatoes or even cherry tomatoes do the trick too.
- Cucumbers — Crunchy and fresh, I like hot house or smaller Persian cucumbers best in this salad for their extra snap, but really any garden variety will do.
- Grilled chicken — My favorite Greek marinade doubles down on the Mediterranean flavors in my grilled chicken. Before I marinade, I slice boneless, skinless chicken breasts in half lengthwise so they cook quicker and the portions are more in line with lunch time salads.
- Greek salad dressing — My homemade Greek dressing is incredibly easy to make and the oregano and garlic flavor clings lovingly to every crunchy bite. I keep a batch of it in the fridge for 1 month or as long as it lasts before I use it all up. (In a pinch, the reserved marinade from the Mediterranean tomato salad can be used as a dressing too, with more vinegar added to taste.)
Don’t want to grill the chicken? You can also bake the chicken breasts or use store-bought rotisserie chicken if you like.
Variations to Try
- Make this salad vegetarian by replacing the chicken with marinated chickpeas
- Swap the Greek chicken with leftover balsamic chicken, lemon chicken, or Mediterranean chicken
- Replace the chicken with grilled salmon or grilled shrimp
- Add thinly sliced bell pepper for extra crunch
- Omit the olives or swap with marinated olives or capers
- Use half lemon juice and half red wine vinegar in the dressing
If you make this recipe, please let me know! Leave a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating below, leave a comment to tell us what you think, and tag me on Instagram @foodiecrush.
Greek Chicken Salad Recipe
Ingredients
For the Salad
- 6 cups chopped lettuce (iceberg or romaine)
- 8 ounces Greek Marinated Chicken Breast , sliced or chopped
- 2 cups Mediterranean Tomato Salad (or sliced tomatoes)
- 1 cup sliced cucumber (Persian or hothouse)
- ¼ cup Kalamata olives
- ¼ cup feta cheese , broken into chunks
For the Greek Dressing
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
- ¼ cup red wine vinegar
- 1 clove garlic , peeled and minced
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Add the lettuce to a large serving bowl or two individual salad bowls. Top with the sliced chicken, tomato salad, cucumber, olives, and feta cheese.
- To make the dressing, add the olive oil, red wine vinegar, garlic, oregano, sugar and salt and pepper to a small canning jar. Top with the lid and shake well until blended and emulsified. Season with more sugar and salt and pepper to taste.
- Drizzle the dressing over the salad and toss to taste.
Notes
Nutrition
More High-Protein Lunch Salads
More Greek Chicken Recipes
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Jill
So tasty! Really simple to whip up and tastes great and healthy. Definitely worth marinating the chicken for about 20 min. Thanks for sharing this recipe!
Melanie
I loved the dressing! its so simple yet so amazing!
It’s a great, simple dressing good on so many salads. Thanks Melanie.
William M Fox
you show lemons in the pics, but make NO mention in the recipe. can you elaborate
Beck
the photo with lemons is of her Greek chicken recipe, which does have lemons in it and which she reccomends to use for the chicken in this salad. it’s linked in the text box directly under the picture.
Michelle
Hi,
This looks amazing! Do you use fresh or dred oregano in your dressing?
Hayley
Hi Michelle! It’s dried oregano. We hope you enjoy!
Angie
The calories listed in the nutrition for this salad is way off compared to plugging it into MyFitnessPal. Where did you get the nutrition info?
Hayley
Hi Angie. Could you please elaborate? What numbers are you getting? We use a nutrition calculator plugin through Wordpress and the amounts should be accurate (per serving and this recipe makes 2 good-sized salads).
Hannah
Wowww!!! This was absolutely beautiful. I felt like I was back in Greece whilst eating this! The flavours all go beautifully together, this will be a regular make!!
Glad you enjoyed Hannah!
Sandra
Delicious, made tonight for dinner and was a hit.
I’m glad you enjoyed it Sandra!
Court
This was so good! Best greek salad
Anne
Excellent Greek salad!
Brenda
I love this salad for lunch! It’s a salad but totally tastes delicious and is filling! Highly recommended! And very easy to take to work or when in a hurry! (Cook chicken & whip up the dressing the day before) EASY! Thank you for this dressing/salad recipe!
Ashley @ Foodie Crush
Thank you Brenda!
Amy
Hi there! Can you please tell me which kalamata olives you use? They look great and I’ve had a hard time finding any that are as appealing as these! Thank you!
Macy Brown From MakeTheBread
This best salad till now, and it looks soo yummy with beautiful colored as well. I will trying to making this in few days latter. Thanks for sharing…keep shared your new amazing recipes…!
Sabrina
thank you for reminding me how much I’ve missed this salad, I haven’t had it in awhile but love all of the components