The Easiest Greek Grilled Chicken
The easiest Greek grilled chicken that’s perfect for weeknight dinners! I serve mine with a side salad and roasted potatoes but this would be great with just about anything!
It’s that time again! When we make quick, delicious, easy, and healthy midweek dinners.
Summery, simple to make dinners are kinda my jam right now! Like the simple asian grilled chicken I shared earlier last week. Have you made it yet? It’s so flavorful. And this is the latest addition. Chicken marinated in a marinade made with freshly squeezed lemon juice, chopped herbs, like thyme, rosemary, and oregano, minced garlic, a little olive oil, and red wine vinegar. Herby, light, and citrusy chicken that’s sure to please everyone.
TBH i’m loving this new (new for me, but not for the rest of the world) MEAL PREPPING thing. The hubby is traveling Monday-Thursday for work for the next few months and my previously semi-acceptable dinner consisting of scrambled eggs and popcorn isn’t cutting it anymore. Someone wag a finger at this somewhat grown adult. I need a proper meal! No more brinner (at least not everrrryday!) So doing a little weekend (and sometimes midweek) meal prep and eating smart. And hey, what’s more waistline friendly than this greek grilled chicken? Not much.
Simple dinners with tender, marinated chicken FTW.
Count them out, we’re using 123456789! 9 simple ingredients in this greek grilled chicken recipe. And this girl loves her pantry staples so you won’t have to run out and grab a million things to put into this one chicken dinner. Midweek recipes should be kept simple, am I right, friends? As if that wasn’t easy enough, i’m tossing it all in a zip top bag and giving it a good shake and letting it just marinate for 30 minutes before popping it onto an indoor/outdoor grill. I don’t suggest marinating this chicken overnight as we’re using acids that will break down the protein too much. Isn’t that kinda better? While you prepare your sides, the chicken will be ready to pop on the grill.
Tender, juicy, and loaded with flavor, that’s how I like my chicken dinners. And if you’re looking for sides to serve up with this salad, I’ve got a ton of suggestions for you! Keep in mind all of these salads are ideal for preparing ahead of time, just toss in the dressing right before serving!
What to serve with your greek grilled chicken:
- Mediterranean Pasta Salad: Loaded with fresh arugula, sun-dried tomatoes, marinated artichoke hearts, pine nuts, kalamata olives, basil pesto and so much more! You could even dice the grilled chicken and toss it right into the salad! The flavors would pair beautifully.
- Spring Couscous Salad with Basil Vinaigrette: A simple spring salad with feta cheese, fresh parsley, blanched peas, and chopped walnuts and drizzled with the most delicious homemade basil vinaigrette.
- Moroccan Chickpea Quinoa Power Salad: Color, texture, and crunch, this salad has it all. I love the combination of carrots, parsley, dates, and golden raisins. This would make one super protein packed meal!
- Summer Tomato and Cucumber Quinoa Salad: Similar to tabbouleh but made with quinoa, this summer tomato and cucumber quinoa salad is perfection. The salad dressing is light and refreshing. The feta and parsley add a nice little freshness and would be the perfect accompaniment to greek chicken.
And did I even stop and mention that this is the IDEAL recipe to make for all your summer barbecues? YASS! I am not above entertaining with quick and easy dinner recipes.
Bringing you a little midweek winner winner {grilled} chicken dinner.
The Easiest Greek Grilled Chicken
The easiest Greek grilled chicken that's perfect for weeknight dinners! I serve mine with a side salad and roasted potatoes but this would be great with just about anything!
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 - 1 1/2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 1/2 teaspoon salt + 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon EACH fresh chopped rosemary AND dried oregano (see note)
- 1 teaspoon fresh thyme (or 1/2 teaspoon dried)
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (not the stuff in a bottle!)
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
Instructions
- In a small bowl, combine the salt, pepper, rosemary, oregano, thyme, cayenne, minced garlic, lemon juice, olive oil, and red wine vinegar.
- Place the chicken breasts in a large zip top bag. Pour the prepared marinade on top, zip the bag and give it a good shake until the chicken is evenly coated. Allow the chicken to marinate for 10 minutes - 2 hours. I like to stick to a 30 minute marinade if possible.
- Preheat an indoor or outdoor grill to medium high heat. Spray the grates with nonstick cooking spray if desired. Place the chicken breasts on the grill, discard any leftover marinade. Cook the chicken breasts for 5-6 minutes per side or until the internal temperature reaches 165ºF.
- Serve immediately, garnish with chopped parsley if desired.
Notes
- The fresh rosemary can be replaced with 1/4 teaspoon dried rosemary.
- Boneless skinless chicken thighs can also be used in place of chicken breasts if desired. I have not tested this recipe with bone-in chicken thighs/breasts so please use your best judgment!
i could get on board with easy dinner such as this one 🙂
Delicious!
My family LOVED this! Couple changes I made:
I sliced the chicken breasts against the grain to make 1 inch strips. I marinated the strips for about 45 mins. I cooked the chicken on the stove in a non-stick grill pan (no oil–there seemed to be enough in the marinade). I poured any leftover marinade on top. I cooked the chicken for about 10-15 minutes, pushing it around the pan and turning pieces over as necessary. Near the end, I added crushed, roasted and salted almonds and some bacon pieces.
I served the chicken on top of quinoa and broccoli. My family was blown away.
So you made a completely different dish.
This chicken marinade is AWESOME! We have been using it for about 5 or 6 months now and have rarely cooked our chicken with out it. I did make some changes, but the original is the PERFECT chicken marinade! We usually double the recipe so we have leftovers for work or chicken salads the next night. Here’s the changes: 3 tbs of lime juice for the double recipe in addition to the called for standard 3 tbs of lemon juice – from the bottle (not ideal, but fine with us), 1 tbs of balsamic instead of red wine vinegar and 1 tbs of white wine vinegar to double the recipe. That’s it… maybe some extra garlic ;-). THANK YOU for this easy go to, over and over, go to chicken recipe.
Super yum. My chicken hater even ate it.
This was outstanding! I cooked it on my coat iron griddle pan on the gas grill.
Can you leave the chicken to marinate overnight?
No, unfortunately, because of the high acid content of this recipe, I don’t suggest leavening the chicken to marinate overnight. The acid would cook the chicken too much!
Lovely! I’m on to it…. Dinner any one?
The flavors in your recipe are wonderfully balanced and perfect! Reminds me of the chicken I order at my favorite Greek restaurant. The first time I made this, I followed the instructions exactly, using fresh herbs where indicated. Even though I only marinated for 30 minutes, I still found my chicken breasts to be tough and dry because of how acidic the marinade is. The next time I made it, I used the zest of 2 large lemons instead of lemon juice and added a splash of red wine vinegar while they were on the grill rather than marinating with it. The flavor came out just as amazing as the first time, but my chicken stayed moist and tender. I served it with lemon basmati rice, roasted asparagus, and homemade roasted red pepper hummus as an appetizer.
This came out great. Thank you!
Love this recipe! The first time I made it I used bone-in, skin-n chicken thighs and tonight I’m using boneless skinless breasts. Can’t wait to see how they turn out.
Thanks:)
Made this for my family tonight. Even my picky son ate the chicken!!!!!!! YAY!!!!! Will be doing this one more often. Delicious!!
I marinated the chicken for 30 minutes – 1 hour. The chicken grilled up beautifully! The marinade gave the meat a very flavorful and juicy result. I sliced the breasts and put them on pita bread with a homemade tzatziki sauce, crumbled feta, chopped tomatoes, and kalamata olives. Would have been good to have some baby spinach or spring greens for some crunch. The teenagers and husband LOVED IT!