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This Grilled Lemon Herb Mediterranean Chicken Salad packs a punch with a dressing that doubles as a marinade!
This simple salad recipe is as close to perfect as you can get! Full of Mediterranean flavours- olives, tomatoes, cucumber, avocados, and chicken- it really is a complete meal in a salad bowl!
Why This Recipe Works
With all of the salads I post on here, like my delicious Chicken Shawarma Salad, and Honey Mustard Chicken Salad, I thought some readers might be getting sick of these ‘whole meal salad’ recipes. BUT. It turns out, you guys are wanting MORE of these GIANT salads.
So of course, I got cracking in the kitchen, trying out new salad recipes, and what’s better than a fresh, Mediterranean salad with so much flavour, you won’t be able to put your forks down?
Ingredients
- Chicken: I used boneless, skinless chicken breasts or thighs. If you’re using chicken breasts, you may want to pound them a bit to tenderize them if you want to.
- Veggies: You’ll need fresh garlic for the chicken marinade and some lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes, onions and avocados for the salad.
- Olives: Kalamata olives are best, but if you don’t have them, just use any regular pitted olives you have.
- Lemon juice: For the marinade and for the salad dressing.
- Red wine vinegar: For a bit of tanginess.You can use white wine vinegar or even regular vinegar if you want to.
- Seasonings: To season, I just used some salt and cracked pepper.
- Herbs: I used a mix of fresh and dried herbs for that aroma and freshness. Dried basil and dried oregano, and a bit of fresh parsley.
- Olive oil: Ideally extra virgin.
Note: please see recipe card at the bottom for list of full ingredients and measurements
How To Make
- Prepare the marinade: In a large jug, add the ingredients for the marinade- the minced garlic, herbs, olive oil, lemon juice, seasonings and vinegar. Whisk together and pour half of the marinade in a bowl.
- Marinate chicken: Using the bowl, add the chicken and let it rest for about 15-30 minutes, or up to 2 hours in the refrigerator. (the longer the better, it’ll help soak in)
- Grill chicken: Heat oil on a grill pan and grill the chicken on medium heat for a few minutes on each side until completely cooked through and slightly charred.
- Assemble and serve: Let the chicken rest for 5 minutes, slice and then add to the salad bowl with the veggies. Top with the marinade aka dressing, toss and serve!
Enjoy this hearty chicken salad on its own, or pair it with a simple veggie side dish of your choice. I love sticking to the classics- my Buttery Sauteed Green Beans and Honey Roasted Carrots. Sometimes, I also like to team it up with my Crispy Garlic Baked Potato Wedges, which are seriously addictive! For a more authentic Mediterranean flavor, try my Crispy Greek Lemon Smashed Potatoes.
Recipe FAQ’s
Veggies like kale, arugula, grilled zucchini and baby spinach can be excellent additions to the salad.
Check the internal temperature of the chicken using a meat thermometer if you want to be sure. Otherwise, you can just slice the chicken, and if it doesn’t have any pink in the center and the juices run clear, the chicken is cooked and ready to be used.
Watch Me Make It
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Lemon Herb Mediterranean Chicken Salad
Ingredients
Marinade/Dressing:
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/4 cup lemon juice juice of 1 lemon
- 2 tablespoons water
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 2 tablespoons fresh parsley
- 2 teaspoons dried basil
- 2 teaspoons garlic minced
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon salt
- cracked pepper to taste
- 1 pound skinless boneless chicken thigh fillets or chicken breasts
Salad:
- 4 cups Romaine lettuce or Cos lettuce leaves, washed and dried
- 1 cucumber large, diced
- 2 Roma tomatoes diced
- 1 red onion sliced
- 1 avocado sliced
- 1/3 cup pitted Kalamata olives or black olives, sliced – optional
- 2 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.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Everyone loved this recipe! My husband said that it tasted like a salad you would order at a restaurant. I used cherry tomatoes, halved, and baby cucumbers, halved and sliced. The second time I made it, I doubled the receipe so that we could have enough dressing the second time we ate leftover. I likely added more romaine than what receipe calls for. The avocado gets a little brown second day, but still delicious. Great recipe!
Sooo yummy! I love greek salad and this is one step above. The chicken is tasty and I think I will use the marinade for the chicken just because. I used fresh basil in the salad dressing/marinade. So easy, so delicious! Thank you for creating and sharing this.
One of the best salads I’ve ever made or eaten. Very filling, very flavorful, easy to make and delicious. Have already made this once and will be making again next week for family!
this is so so good- made it for lunch a while back and will definetly be having again.
A healthy yet tasty option- would recommend!
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.
Delicious and super easy
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!
Hi there, in your opinion which is better chicken thighs or breast? Which one did you use in the video? Thanks
This salad was amazing – so fresh and full of flavor (even for lunch the next day)! I also look for recipes that are either low sodium or ones that I can tailor to meet my low sodium needs and this one was perfect! I only added a dash of low sodium garlic salt (instead of 1 tsp of salt) to the marinade and I omitted the olives from the salad and it still didn’t lose any flavor. I also recently purchased a Ninja Foodi 5-in-1 indoor grill and the marinade was a perfect match with the boneless skinless chicken thighs and it grilled up perfectly – I’ll probably start cooking my thighs with this marinade for other meals!!
This makes a fantastic chicken marinade, I use this weekly when I make big salads for dinner. Thanks!
Excellent recipe! Loved the flavour. Chicken tasted so good. Excellent marinade and dressing. Everyone in my family enjoyed it. I will be trying out more recipes from your site!