Greek chicken with cucumber feta salad

This meal has the flavors of a Greek combination plate with chicken souvlaki, Greek salad and tzatziki, but it is streamlined for the home cook. Boneless chicken thighs are coated with herby, garlicky yogurt, then seared until tender inside and crusty and browned outside. Extra yogurt dresses cucumbers and tomatoes that have had a chance to drain with salt so they taste their most vivid. Feta and olives add briny bites to the creamy, crunchy salad, but feel free to incorporate other elements of Greek salad or tzatziki, like romaine lettuce, bell peppers, mint or dill, toasted walnuts or thinly sliced red onion. Eat with lemon potatoes or toasted pita.

Ingredients

Yield: 4 servings

• 1½cups plain Greek yogurt
• 3garlic cloves, finely grated
• Kosher salt (Diamond Crystal)
• Black pepper
• 1teaspoon dried oregano or mint
• 2pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs, patted dry
• 1½pounds cucumbers (preferably Japanese, Persian or mini, seedless cucumbers)
• 1pound ripe tomatoes
• 2tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more as needed
• 4ounces feta, crumbled (about ¾ cup)
• ½cup Kalamata olives, pitted and halved

Preparation

1. Step 1

   In a large bowl, stir together the yogurt and garlic; season to taste with salt and pepper. Transfer ½ cup of the yogurt to a medium bowl and reserve for Step 5.

2. Step 2

   Coat the chicken: To the large bowl, add the oregano and stir to combine. Season the chicken all over with 1½ teaspoons salt and a few grinds of pepper. Add the chicken to the large bowl and turn to coat; set aside.

3. Step 3

   Start the salad: Smash the cucumbers with the side of your knife until craggy and split. Rip into ½- to 1-inch pieces and transfer to a colander placed in the sink. Slice or chop the tomatoes into bite-size pieces. Add to the cucumbers along with 1 ½ teaspoons salt. (It may seem like a lot of salt, but most will drain away.) Toss to combine and leave to drain.

4. Step 4

   In a large nonstick or well-seasoned cast-iron skillet, heat the olive oil over medium. Scrape excess marinade off the chicken, then cook the chicken in batches, adding oil to the pan if necessary, until it’s well browned and releases from the pan, 5 to 7 minutes. Flip and cook until cooked through, another 5 to 7 minutes. Transfer to plates to rest. (For grilling info, see Tip.)

5. Step 5

   To the medium bowl of yogurt, add the feta and mash with a fork until a chunky paste forms. Shake the cucumbers and tomatoes to get rid of any excess moisture. Add to the feta yogurt along with the olives and stir until coated. The balance is dependent on your produce and feta, so season to taste with salt and pepper until flavors are vivid. Eat alongside the chicken.

Tip

• To grill the chicken: Heat a grill to medium and clean and grease the grates. Grill the chicken over direct heat until it's well browned and releases from the grates, 5 to 7 minutes. Flip and cook until cooked through, another 5 to 7 minutes. (For a gas grill, close the lid between flips.)

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Say goodbye to dull, dry chicken breasts. This recipe makes chicken that’s unbelievably tender, juicy and flavorful. The salad is delicious, too. It’s effortless to make with cucumber, tomato, feta cheese and an easy lemon dill dressing. You can even make it ahead of time. Jump to the Lemon Chicken Breasts Recipe or read on to see our tips for making it.

More chicken breast recipes: Try our Oven Baked Lemon Garlic Chicken Breasts or this Easy Pan Roasted Chicken Breast Recipe.

Four Steps for Perfectly Cooked Chicken Breasts

Chicken breasts are a staple in most kitchens, including ours. Read below for our tips for making sure they are juicy and flavorful.

Marinate

Even the simplest marinade can make a huge difference — marinated chicken becomes moist, juicy and flavorful. Just 20 minutes in a marinade will make a difference. You could leave it for longer, but there is no need to go past 2 hours for chicken breasts (a whole chicken can marinate overnight). A resealable plastic bag or small rimmed dish makes marinating easy, too.

For this recipe, we went with a simple marinade of lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, fresh dill, salt, and pepper. The lemon and dill work nicely with the light cucumber feta salad, but you could switch lemon for lime or dill for other herbs if you wanted. This lemon and garlic chicken marinade is also one of our favorites.

Sear Until Golden

After 20 to 30 minutes of marinating, remove the chicken from the marinade and pat it dry — this helps with getting that golden sear when we cook. Whenever you sear meat, especially chicken, it’s critical that you pat everything dry. If the chicken were still wet from the marinade, the chicken breasts would steam, not sear.

Heat a frying pan over medium-high heat and add some olive oil (or other fat like vegetable oil, coconut oil or a combination of butter and oil). As soon as the oil is shimmering, add the chicken and cook 2 to 3 minutes until golden.

Cover, Turn Heat to Low

Once golden on one side, flip the chicken and turn down the heat to low. Then cover and walk away — you want to let it cook 10 to 15 minutes. During this time, there is no need to open the lid or flip the chicken. The chicken breasts become moist, juicy, and plump. While the chicken cooks, you can make the cucumber feta salad. We use this method when making these chicken breasts and these juicy pork chops!

Let It Rest

Last step — Transfer the chicken to a plate and cover loosely with foil and let the chicken rest for 5 minutes. As the chicken rests, the juices redistribute. This way, when you cut into the chicken, all the juices stay in the meat instead of running out on the plate or cutting board.

Once the chicken has rested, slice it up and serve with the salad. Don’t forget to spoon extra dressing from the bottom of the salad bowl on top — that’s gold!

Recipe updated, originally posted June 2013. Since posting this in 2013, we have tweaked the recipe to be more clear. – Adam and Joanne

Lemon Chicken Breasts with Cucumber Feta Salad

• PREP 40mins
• COOK 20mins
• TOTAL 1hr

Chicken breasts are a staple in most kitchens, including ours. To make sure that they are juicy and flavorful, we marinate the chicken in a simple marinade for about 20 minutes, although you could go longer. Then we sear it in a pan until browned, flip and cover the pan until the chicken is plump, juicy, and cooked through.

Makes 2 servings

You Will Need

Lemon Chicken Breasts

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts; 6 to 8 ounces each

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

1/2 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for cooking

3 garlic cloves, minced

2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill or other fresh herbs

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Directions

• Cook Chicken

Combine lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, dill, salt, and pepper in a small bowl. Use the back of a small spoon to press garlic and dill into other ingredients, releasing more flavor from the dill and garlic. Add marinade to a resealable plastic bag or small rimmed dish then add chicken breasts. Marinate 20 to 30 minutes at room temperature or up to 2 hours in the refrigerator.

Brush extra garlic from chicken and pat dry. Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a medium frying pan (with lid) over medium-high heat. As soon as the oil is hot and looks shimmery, add the chicken. Cook 2 to 3 minutes until golden. Flip, reduce heat to low then cover with lid. Cook 10 to 15 minutes or until an instant-read thermometer reads 165 degrees F when inserted into the thickest part of the breast.

Transfer chicken to a plate then cover loosely with aluminum foil. Let the chicken rest for 5 minutes, slice, and then serve with salad.

• Make Cucumber Salad

Whisk lemon juice, olive oil, mustard, honey, and dill in a medium bowl then add tomatoes, cucumber, and feta cheese. Toss gently, season to taste then refrigerate at least 20 minutes and up to a day.

Adam and Joanne's Tips

• Nutrition Facts: The nutrition facts provided below are estimates. We have used the USDA database to calculate approximate values.

If you make this recipe, snap a photo and hashtag it #inspiredtaste — We love to see your creations on Instagram and Facebook! Find us: @inspiredtaste

Nutrition Per Serving: Calories 421 / Protein 32 g / Carbohydrate 15 g / Dietary Fiber 2 g / Total Sugars 9 g / Total Fat 27 g / Saturated Fat 7 g / Cholesterol 109 mg