Grilled Lemon Herb Mediterranean Chicken Salad with a dressing that doubles as a marinade!
This Grilled Lemon Herb Mediterranean Chicken Salad recipe is as close to perfect as you can get! Full of Mediterranean flavours: olives, tomatoes, cucumber, avocados, and chicken for a complete meal in a salad bowl!
Chicken Salad Recipe
With all of the salads I post on here, I thought some might be getting sick of these meal in salads recipes. BUT. It turns out, you guys are wanting MORE of these GIANT salads. Wracking my brains for another awesome recipe, what’s better than a fresh, mediterranean salad with so much flavour, you won’t be able to put your forks down? Yes, I sound like an infomercial. No, I don’t care.
Salad dressing
As usual, I always try to create salad recipes that you only need ONE dressing / marinade. A salad that uses one thing for two uses. This comes from years of making salads that require completely different marinades for chicken or the meat of choice, then drowning it in a completely different tasting dressing, only confusing my brain and taste buds even more. Why do that when you can create one delicious marinade and use it as a dressing? That kinds makes more sense.
Optional additions
You can ALSO top it with some crumbled feta or goats cheese, which I didn’t have at the time, BUT it’s included in the recipe as an option for you to enjoy!
More Salad Recipes!
Pesto Grilled Chicken Avocado Salad
Honey Mustard Chicken, Avocado + Bacon Salad
Greek Lemon Garlic Chicken Salad
WATCH US MAKE IT RIGHT HERE!
Lemon Herb Mediterranean Chicken Salad
Ingredients
Marinade/Dressing:
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- juice of 1 lemon (1/4 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice)
- 2 tablespoons water
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 2 tablespoons fresh chopped parsley
- 2 teaspoons dried basil
- 2 teaspoons garlic , minced
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon salt
- cracked pepper , to taste
- 1 pound (500 g) skinless, boneless chicken thigh fillets (or chicken breasts)
Salad:
- 4 cups Romaine (or Cos) lettuce leaves, washed and dried
- 1 large cucumber diced
- 2 Roma tomatoes diced
- 1 red onion sliced
- 1 avocado sliced
- 1/3 cup pitted Kalamata olives (or black olives), sliced (optional)
- Lemon wedges to serve
Instructions
- Whisk together all of the marinade/dressing ingredients in a large jug. Pour out half of the marinade into a large, shallow dish. Refrigerate the remaining marinade to use as the dressing later.
- Add the chicken to the marinade in the bowl; marinade chicken for 15-30 minutes (or up to two hours in the refrigerator if time allows). While waiting for the chicken, prepare all of the salad ingredients and mix in a large salad bowl.
- Once chicken is ready, heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a grill pan or a grill plate over medium-high heat. Grill chicken on both sides until browned and completely cooked through.
- Allow chicken to rest for 5 minutes; slice and arrange over salad. Drizzle salad with the remaining UNTOUCHED dressing. Serve with lemon wedges.
Rachel says
Honestly, i never thought I’d take the time to leave a comment about a salad recipe. Just be reading the ingredients, i knew it’d be good. I just didn’t know it’d be SO good! Followed recipe, served with couscous and garlic bread + made double the amount of dressing and chicken (1000g) and now have leftover chicken to use as a pizza topping with sundried tomato, spinach, and feta. Mmmm. You now have all my trust and I will continue to explore your other recipes.
Anais says
I made this salad for my husband, who does have a discerning palette, and about halfway through eating it he said, “This is a really good salad.” Another halfway through he said, “This is a really good salad. This is menu worthy.” It looked so pretty and was really tasty and just a great meal salad when you’re trying to be healthy. Thanks for sharing it. I’ve used some of your other recipes too and I really enjoy them!
Richard L says
Look no further for the perfect chicken salad recipe. This was simply delicious!
Lisa T. says
I just made this delicious, easy, and flavorful mediterranean chicken salad for dinner tonight! I followed the recipe exactly and it came out perfect. We live in California and this salad is perfect for hot summer nights. The whole family loved it and requested that I make it again in the near future. Thank you for sharing this recipe!
Macy says
Absolutely amazing! This is seriously the best salad I ever had. Love that it is completely soy, dairy, and gluten free with no processed oils. This salad is super healthy and full of so much flavor. Will deffinatly be making it again!
Graham says
Would fresh basil and oregano work or is it better with the dried versions? Thank you!
Becky Currier says
Fab-U-LOUS!!! I made this earlier this week and am making it again- except doubling it! My 4 year old LOVED the chicken and ate two whole chicken thighs! The hubs and I really enjoyed the salad. There weren’t any leftovers- hence doubling it today. Such great flavor and all things I had on hand. Simply delicious!
Brooke K. says
Absolutely LOVED this! What a nice fresh healthy dinner! Flavors were great and it was so quick and easy!
Marie says
Super tasty fresh salad. This is def going into my recipe book!
One thing I did change was add 1tablespoon of both sundried tomato oil and the brine from my Kalamata olives instead of the 2 tablespoons of water. Boosts flavour and binds together easier too.
Vic Sain says
Hey Karina!
That’s drooling definitely gonna try this! Thanks for sharing.
Brittany S says
The chicken is marinating as we speak! I’m also doing the salad portion of the recipe, but I prefer a bit thicker of a dressing so I added about a tbsp+1/2 of mayo, a 1/2 tsp of honey and 1 egg yolk. A small taste test yielded great results and I’m excited since I don’t normally nail dressings… I too made double the recipe for the marinade to give a bigger amount for the dressing in the end! Super excited to eat dinner tonight!
December says
This is such a delicious and tasty salad! Tastes just like Greek chicken salad from the Coney Island restaurant but even better! Making the salad ahead of time is very helpful.
Laura says
This is so refreshing! My husband loved it and he’s hard to please with a salad as the entree. Perfect blend of flavors. My only addition would be feta. Thank you!
EJ says
Can you let this marinate overnight?
Karina says
Absolutely
Pamela says
I absolutely loved this salad and chicken! Definitely going to add it to my summer dinner rotation. Dressing/marinade is delish! The best part is it’s so easy.
Amanda says
Any recommendations on how to bake the chicken? We got rained out
Maria Cristina says
Excelente!!! Thank you, thank you for sharing, my whole family loved it!
By the way pretty name, like my sister ☺
Karina says
Glad to hear it! Thank you!
Jeanine says
Excellent salad! Loved the chicken marinade!!
Lauren says
Absolutely delicious!! Added this to our weekly meal rotation we love it so much! We’re dressing hogs so I always double the dressing/marinade and put the extra in a container to keep throughout the next few days.
rccola says
Made this last night and my wife and I enjoyed every bite. I made a couple of minor changes though. Firstly, I substituted avocado oil for the olive oil and mixed in a couple of tbl of mayo as I felt the dressing was a little too acidic. Will definitely make this again.
Maddie says
Hello, do you have any suggestions for how to store this salad for Meal Prep?
Karina says
I would recommend adding the dressing last and preparing it in a few containers for the week with the dressing on the side. After making it, if you have any suggestions please let me know! Enjoy! XO
Carol S says
This is such a delishous and tasty salad! Tastes just like Greek chicken salad from the Coney Island restaurant but even better! Making the salad ahead of time is very helpful.
Lynda says
Great recipe & So simple and delicious! My kids said “This is better than a Panera salad!” Sometimes I just marinade the chicken and grill it and skip the salad – both delicious!
Renee says
I absolutely loved this salad!!! You can change up the meat. Double up the dressing/marinade!
Karina says
That sounds great! Thank you so much for sharing! XO
Becca says
Only made the chicken, not the salad, but it was absolutely delicious.
Trinni Stevens says
We tried this salad last night and oh my goodness! It was so easy and had so much flavor. We were completely satisfied afterwards. I’ve been looking around on your website and noticed that we have already pinned quite a few of your recipes, I’m so excited to try more. Thank you!
Karina says
That is great to hear! I am so glad that you have already had some of my recipes pinned! Thank you so much for sharing and following along with me!
Hannah Beth Boersma says
Absolutely delicious! I substituted balsamic for lemon juice for the dressing because I ran out, left out the olives, and cooked the chicken on the stovetop in cast iron skillet on high because we don’t have a grill. Chicken was perfectly seasoned. 5/5 would make again. Thanks for sharing.
Yesenia. F says
Love, love, love this salad! The dressing/marinade on the chicken is delicious. My boyfriend loves it so much that he wants to eat it every other day, so I said okay, no problem. Just so we won’t get tired of it I’m going to try it with grilled tuna one day, another day with grilled steak, another with salmon. Just to change it a bit, since we’re goin to eat it very often. Also I changed a few of the toppings by adding quinoa, mushrooms and broccoli. With that dressing can’t go wrong with what we add. Thank you so much for sharing your recipe.
Victoria says
Easy ?
Stacy says
Fantastic! When I asked my family, elementary aged children included, what they would have me change…they just said “MORE”! Will be a staple at our house!
Sylvie says
That looks so delicious and fresh! Perfect for a hot australian summer down here 😉
Will be including this recipe in my “Inspiration Sunday” post tomorrow !
Janet Renaud says
With the Freestyle on W.W. now using chicken breasts are feee. 2 Tbsp of EVOO = 8 points. The seasonings Do Not count on any W.W. Program. Other than the Avacado the rest of the salad ingredients do not count either. Correction, 6 XML olives or 4 large count 2 points. Eat away & enjoy.
Polina says
This is one of my favorite salads! Made it 3 times at least and now, will make it again!! Thank you for the great recipe.
Karina says
You’re welcome Polina!
Tara says
OMG, this salad looks A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! Our family lives (to varying degrees) low carb, high fat and we don’t come across as many salad options as I would prefer these days. I cannot wait to try this. When I first looked at the PIN, I thought for sure that you would callout using chicken breasts and was pleasantly surprised that you recommended chicken thighs as the first choice. I also assumed that I would have to swap out sugar for swerve (or other), but nope, you have it covered. Thanks so much for sharing this recipe. I’m sure we are going to enjoy this often!
Karina says
You’re welcome Tara! Chicken thighs all the way over here too! Nothing beats them…
june locke says
How does 2 TBS oil and those seasonings equal 36 gm of fat and all that sodium? 15 pts?
Kaitlyn Munoz says
This salad is amaaazing! It is so refreshing and light 🙂
Akshat Gupta says
Lovely and tasty recipe 🙂 Thanks for sharing !!
jennifer says
This is a fabulous recipe – we love it!
Gay says
This salad dressing/marinade recipe is flat-out delicious! My husband is raving about it, too. I’ll be making it in quantity so I can have it on hand all of the time. Thank you!
Karina says
Gay you are very very welcome! Thanks you so much for sharing that with us!
Margaret says
Delicious. I’ve never tried chicken thighs before but they are a less expensive cut and they were perfect. I did double the dressing / marinade though and added the feta. Next time, think I’ll try this with shrimp.
Thank you
Tee says
I made this for dinner tonight. Doubled the marinade based on comments. DELICIOUS! A new family favorite!
Sandra Dee says
This was such an easy and delicious meal, not to mention healthy! I will be making often. Thanks for sharing.
Rheena says
So good! Made this two nights in a row. Delicious. Can’t wait to try other salad recipes now!
Vicky says
I made this last night and it was a huge success! It was really flavorful and so great to have only one sauce: marinade and dressing! Thanks!
Sue says
Looks yummy
Sharon says
When I created the recipe in WW, I only came up with 32 total sp or 8 per serving
Cheryl Jewhurst says
What a great salad. I added cubed feta, grape tomatoes and forgot about the lemon wedges for garnish. Didn’t miss them. Hubby & I practically licked our plates this was so good. Very easy to put together too so makes a nice healthy weeknight meal.
Becky says
Hi! I didn’t read thru all of the responses, so please forgive me if this is a duplicate question – can you please take a look at the Smart Points? Seems to me it should really be a lot fewer than 15. More like half that, without the feta. Thanks!
Ann Marie says
This recipe is amazing! Full of flavor and very filling. I will definitely be making this again
Samdra Keck says
I want to make this for 6, Do I just add 2 breast and 1extra of everything else?
Karina says
Samdra I’d use the two extra breast with half extra dressing! I wouldn’t double the dressing as it may be too overpowering.
Kimberly says
Karina, thanks for sharing this recipe! I cannot wait to make it tomorrow, your salad looks pretty and delicious. I am so happy that you survived your ordeal with cancer and I am praying that you have a long wonderful and healthy life. Keep the recipes coming! lol I love healthy meals.
Nerissa says
Delicious!!!!!!!!!! Made it tonight and no leftovers. Thinking about adding feta cheese next time. Xoxo
Cheryl says
Is the sodium really 770mg for 1 serving? There is only 1 teaspoon of salt in the marinade, and this recipe says it serves 4 people.
Leslie Ramey says
I made this for dinner tonight and it is so delicious, taste like something from a restaurant. My kids even loved the chicken and they don’t like to venture much past chicken nuggets or corn dogs- I was amazed! I will definitely make it again. Thank you for the recipe!
Germaine says
Can the marinadating the chicken be longer if I do it the night before or morning before work – would this work . Looking forward to trying this out – as we eat a lot of chicken – especially boneless skinless.
Renee says
This looks delicious. How far in advance can you make the dressing?
Rain says
Made it tonight, it was so flavorful. Didn’t really need the meat.
Jill says
This was FANTASTIC loved it !! .. very easy to make.. will make this again, will be even better in the summer to grill the chicken outside.
Lynette Hitchman says
This salad sounds amazing, I am going to make it but it says 15 weight watchers smart points per serve ,
Is it because of the avocado?
Thanks Lyn H
Joanne says
how many servings does this recipe make?
Sarah Ellington says
Tried this yesterday and absolutely LOVED it!!!Thanks for a wonderful, yet easy to make recipe!
Deborah Hopper says
Everything look very tasty, i can’t wait to make these, Thanks
Rita Roman says
I am on a Strict Keto diet and am adding this to my Keto friendly recipes. However, I will change the chicken breast to boneless skin-on thighs. I pre-plan my meals so this is going on next week’s menu. 10 Net carbs is a good meal choice.
Ashley says
Besides the cheese, is the rest whole30 compliant . I’m knew to whole30 and looking for recipes. Thanks
Feride says
Hi Karina, this looks delish cant wait to make it. What else can i use instead of red wine vinegar?
Dee says
Can I use balsamic vinegar y I don’t have red wine
Michelle says
I am looking forward to making this salad. I am making my version of one serving, using 3 oz of chicken breast, 1/4 avocado, 5 olives, etc… I got it down to 7 WW smartpoints!! So super excited!! Thank you for creating!
Tina says
Yum! This salad sounds amazing. I can’t wait to try this recipe. I will be sharing a link to your recipe in my upcoming post, Easy Healthy Lunch Ideas (on a Budget). I am sure my readers will love your recipe too!
Karina says
Thank you so much Tina!
Bobi says
This review is for the marinade and the chicken only. 5 stars! Not sure if it registered the 5 stars I rated. I didn’t see them showing.
I just finished grilling the thighs after a 2 hour marinade. The only thing I changed was to use 2 teaspoons of dry parsley for the 2 Tablespoons of fresh. Wow! This is a keeper and will go on a regular rotation! The marinade really got into the meat with the 2 hour soak. I also blotted the thighs well to remove most, but not all, of the marinade.
Thank you for sharing!
Karina says
Hey Bobi! I’m so happy to hear that! Thank you for leaving feedback. Enjoy your week! 🙂
Nola says
The 107 cholesterol is what I’m afraid of. How does it added up to so much. ? what can i take out to lessen the cholesterol levels. Otherwise I would like to try this recipe
Sajida says
I made this last night for my husbands birthday!! Omg!! We loved it!! Came out perfect! Refreshing & oh so tasty! Thank you for sharing! ?
Amy @ The Exercise Coach says
We shared this recipe on Facebook as our “Recipe of the Week” this past week and everyone LOVED it!
https://www.facebook.com/theexercisecoach/
Thanks for publishing! Keep up the great work, Karina!
Mihaela says
Hey Karina, I simply love your salads! Tasty, easy to make and healthy – all in one bowl
Connie F. says
This salad was AMAZING! Can’t wait to make it again,I would double the marinade. Five Stars… but it won’t let me!
June says
Hello!
This looks lovely! I’m planning on making this on our camping trip but I was wondering, could I marinade the chicken and then freeze it?
Thanks so much!!
Karina says
Hi June. Yes, absolutely!
plasterer bristol says
This is lovely one of my favorite dressings. Thanks for sharing this recipe.
Simon
Tommi says
I’ve made two of your chicken salads for weekend dinners and weekday lunches! These are great recipes for changing it up and lightening it up! Thank you for the nutritional info on your recipes! Being an insulin dependent diabetic, that is such valuable info!
Heather says
Made this recipe tonight for supper, even the 15 year old liked it. Nice flavour and a nice combination of ingredients.
Beverley says
lovely and tasty recipe that will see us all the way through summer, thank you for yet another wow recipe xoxo
Linda Love says
Karina! You’ve outdone yourself with this recipe. First of all, Greek salads are one of my favorites; Nicoise is my favorite, and second, I am a professional cook and live for food in all it’s glory, provided it’s healthy and beautifully presented.
I am off to the store to collect all of my ingredients for tonight’s dinner. One exception is that I have leftover roast pig from a 4th of July barbecue (no sauce on it; just pure pork meat) and I’m substituting that for the chicken in your recipe. I also have crisped pork skin that I’m laying on top as a garnish and good eating.
Take care and I’m so glad you’re here to share with me.