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This Greek chicken recipe is an easy Mediterranean-style dinner with big flavor! Bake the chicken with tomatoes, lemon, and feta.
Here’s a recipe that’s a total winner every night of the week: Greek chicken. We’re suckers for colorful one pot recipes, and this Mediterranean-style meal has charisma in spades. Bake the chicken with tomatoes, olives, garlic, lemon, and feta cheese, and it comes out with beautiful bold flavors. It’s easy to put together and works for quick weeknight dinners or for parties, making it one of those healthy dinners that’s got everything to offer.
Ingredients for Greek chicken
This Greek chicken recipe is inspired by the Mediterranean flavors of Greece, using lemon, garlic, oregano, and olives to make a satisfying dish. (If you’re looking for something authentically Greek, try this Chicken Souvlaki.) It’s a baked chicken recipe where you place the chicken on top of tomatoes and olives and bake until juicy and tender. In fact, it’s inspired by our Baked Fish recipe that uses the same concept!
This method for baked chicken results in juicy, seasoned meat and the tomatoes, lemon, and olives make a tangy, garlicky counterpoint to serve alongside. We could eat this every day of the week! The ingredients for this Greek chicken recipe are:
- Protein: Boneless skinless chicken cutlets or breasts
- Spices: Oregano, salt, and pepper
- Pantry: Castelvetrano or Kalamata olives, olive oil
- Dairy: Feta cheese
- Fresh ingredients: Cherry tomatoes, lemon, garlic, parsley (for garnish)
- Equipment: Baking dish
Castelvetrano olives vs Kalamata
Castelvetrano olives are a green olive variety grown in Sicily with a signature rich, buttery flavor and crisp texture. They have a mild and fruity flavor, making them suitable for people who shy away from very strong and briny varieties. Unlike other olives, they’re not cured: they’re washed in lye and water for a few weeks until the bitter flavor is removed.
This is our favorite type of olive and it works perfectly in this Greek chicken recipe! You can also use Kalamata olives, but they’re much stronger and saltier. We prefer the buttery, rich flavor of Castelvetrano olives if you can find them.
How to butterfly chicken
Like many of our chicken recipes, this Greek chicken recipe uses butterflied chicken breasts. Chicken breasts are often very thick in the middle, which makes them tricky to cook because the outside can brown before the inside is fully cooked. Slicing the chicken breast in half horizontally makes thinner pieces that cook more evenly, are easier to eat, and are better seasoned. You can buy a chicken breast already butterflied (marked as butterflied or “cutlets”). Or, you can butterfly chicken breasts at home by doing the following:
- Place your hand over the top of the chicken breast.
- Use a sharp knife to carefully slice the breast horizontally, leaving the edge intact so it can open up like a book (or butterfly!).
- Unfold the chicken breast like a book, then for cutlets, cut along the fold to separate the two halves (each half is a cutlet). To make evenly thick chicken, you can cover the chicken with plastic wrap and lightly pound the chicken with a mallet or heavy pan to make it even (we did not do that for this recipe).
For step by step photos and more details, go to How to Butterfly a Chicken Breast.
Buy organic chicken if possible
For this Greek chicken recipe, try to buy organic chicken if possible. Organic chicken is considered the highest quality due to its sustainable raising practices. It is also free of chemicals and additives so it’s the healthiest option for eating, not to mention it just tastes better. Per the USDA, organic chicken must be raised in living conditions that accommodate their natural behavior, be fed 100% organic feed and forage, and not be given antibiotics or hormones.
Side dishes for Greek chicken
This Greek chicken recipe is the perfect weeknight dinner idea or impressive recipe for parties. Add just a few simple side dishes to make it into a hearty meal, like rice, orzo or a simple salad. Here are a few side dish ideas for chicken:
- Rice like lemon rice, basil rice, or pesto rice
- Orzo like easy lemon orzo or orzo salad
- Couscous like easy couscous or couscous salad
- Polenta like creamy polenta
- Salad like Greek salad, chopped salad, or easy arugula salad
- Green beans like green beans almondine, haricot verts or garlic green beans
- Broccoli or broccolini like sauteed broccolini or pan fried broccoli
More chicken recipes
Love chicken dinner ideas? Here are a few tasty chicken recipes you’ll love:
- Make our fan-favorite Tuscan Chicken, Creamy Lemon Chicken or Garlic Chicken
- Go for the quick and stunning Chicken Piccata or Blackened Chicken
- Mix up One Pot Chicken and Rice or Lemon Chicken Orzo Soup
- Make for the best ever Baked Chicken Thighs or Pan Fried Chicken Thighs with buffalo ranch, or try Grilled Chicken Thighs with marinade
- Bake a pan of Chicken Enchiladas with shredded chicken
- Make a batch of Garlic Parmesan Wings
- Whip up Grilled Chicken, Pesto Chicken, Chicken Corn Chowder, or Rotisserie Chicken
This Greek chicken recipe is…
Gluten-free. For dairy-free, omit the feta and add a few pinches more salt.
Greek Chicken
This Greek chicken recipe is an easy Mediterranean-style dinner with big flavor! Bake the chicken with tomatoes, lemon, and feta.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 4 1x
- Category: Main dish
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: Mediterranean
- Diet: Gluten Free
Ingredients
- 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts (about 1 pound, organic if possible), butterflied into 4 cutlets
- 1 pint cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
- ¼ cup Castelvetrano or Kalamata olives, halved
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 small lemon, thinly sliced into rings
- 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt, divided
- Fresh ground black pepper
- 4 ounce block feta cheese
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano
- Finely chopped fresh parsley or basil, for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425°F.
- Place the chopped tomatoes, olives, garlic, and lemon slices in the bottom of a 9 x 13″ baking dish and mix with 1 tablespoon olive oil, ¼ teaspoon salt, and fresh ground black pepper. Crumble the feta cheese into rough chunks and add it to the pan, tossing gently to combine.
- Pat the chicken dry. If using breasts, slice them in half horizontally to make 4 thin cutlets (if you bought the chicken in cutlets, skip this step). Rub it with 1 tablespoon olive oil and ¾ teaspoon kosher salt, oregano and a few grinds fresh ground black pepper. Place it on top of the vegetables.
- Place the pan in the oven and bake for 25 to 30 minutes until no longer pink in the center and the internal temperature is 165°F. Remove from oven and rest 5 minutes.
- Spoon the vegetables over the chicken and garnish with chopped parsley. If desired, remove the lemon slices when serving (or you can eat them if you like!).
Hi. I cannot find any nutritional information for the Greek Chicken recipe.
Added
Is it possible the instruction on what to do with the 3 minced cloves of garlic is missing?
Good question! The instructions said to place the chopped vegetables in the pan, which included the tomatoes, olives and garlic. To avoid confusion, I’ve updated that step to spell out each ingredient. Thank you so much!
This is absolutely delicious!!
I’m allergic to dairy. This chicken dish sounds amazing. What can I use to sub for the cheese?
Will the dish be good if I just leave the cheese out?