I guess we’ve hit that time of the year where just I want to eat cold salads every day (Hi, summer!). So I decided to take one of my favorite pasta salads, Lemony Cucumber Couscous Salad, and transform it into a full meal. I added a few other vegetables and used half of the dressing to marinate a couple juicy chicken thighs. And ladies and gentlemen, we have a winner! So much of a winner that I ate this Greek Chicken Pasta Salad for breakfast this morning. ;) #noregrets
Greek Chicken Pasta Salad Portion Sizes
This Greek Chicken Pasta Salad comes together quickly and easily and makes about four large meal-sized portions, or about six smaller side dish portions. It’s also a great candidate for potlucks, and would be super easy to double, or even triple if needed.
Can I Use Chicken Breast Instead of Thighs?
Yes, just make sure you pound your chicken breast to an even thickness, about 3/4-inch thick before marinating. Making sure the chicken is thin and even will help it cook quickly without drying it out. You can also filet your chicken breast into two thinner pieces, or use chicken tenders.
Make it Vegetarian
Want to make it vegetarian? No problem. Just skip the chicken and you can probably halve the dressing/marinade (or just make the full batch if you really like a lot of dressing on your salads). The medley of vegetables are plenty to keep this salad filling and interesting on its own! And if you want a little more protein in there, chickpeas would do very well with these flavors!
Greek Chicken Pasta Salad
Servings 4 to 6Ingredients
MARINADE/DRESSING
- 1 lemon ($0.59)
- 1/4 cup olive oil ($0.64)
- 3 cloves garlic, divided ($0.24)
- 1/2 Tbsp dried oregano ($0.07)
- 1/2 tsp salt ($0.02)
- Freshly cracked pepper ($0.03)
SALAD
- 2 boneless, skinless chicken thighs ($2.10)
- 8 oz. pasta (any shape) ($0.50)
- 1 bell pepper (any color) ($1.50)
- 4 oz. grape tomatoes* ($1.00)
- 1/2 cucumber (1.5 cups diced) ($1.00)
- 1/4 bunch parsley ($0.20)
- 2 oz. feta ($1.12)
Instructions
- Use a zester, microplane, or small-holed cheese grater to remove the zest from the lemon. Set the zest aside. Squeeze the juice from the lemon into a separate bowl. You’ll need at least 1/4 cup juice.
- Prepare the dressing and marinade by mincing two of the three cloves of garlic and combining them with 1/4 cup lemon juice, olive oil, oregano, salt, some freshly cracked pepper, and a pinch of the lemon zest. Whisk these ingredients until well combined.
- Place the chicken thighs in a small zip lock bag and add half of the dressing, saving the rest to add to the salad later. Mince one more clove of garlic and add it to the bag with the chicken and marinade. Squeeze the air out and massage the bag to make sure the thighs are well coated in the marinade. Refrigerate the thighs for at least 30 minutes.
- While the chicken is marinating, cook the pasta according to the package directions, drain in a colander, and let cool.
- Heat a skillet over a medium flame. Once hot, add the marinated chicken thighs and cook on each side until they are well browned and cooked through (about 5 minutes each side). There should be enough oil in the marinade to keep the meat from sticking. Remove the cooked chicken from the skillet and let it rest for about five minutes. Once slightly cooled, chop the chicken into smaller, bite-sized pieces.
- While the chicken is cooking, prepare the rest of the vegetables. Dice the cucumber and bell pepper. Slice the tomatoes in half (or dice if using Roma or regular tomatoes). Pull the parsley leaves from the stems and give them a rough chop.
- Finally, build the salad. Add the cooked and cooled pasta to a large bowl. Top the pasta with the cucumber, bell pepper, tomatoes, parsley, and chopped chicken. Crumble the feta over top and add a pinch or two of the lemon zest. Pour the remaining dressing over the salad and toss to coat. Serve immediately or refrigerate until ready to eat.
See how we calculate recipe costs here.
Notes
Nutrition
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Scroll down for the step by step photos!
How to Make Greek Chicken Pasta Salad – Step by Step Photos
Start by removing the zest from one lemon. The zest is the magic part of the lemon. It provides an incredibly lemony flavor without making things too sour. So, for this recipe we use both the juice and the zest for an extra lemony kick. Use a zester, microplane, or small-holed cheese grater to scrape the thin layer of yellow zest from the peel. Set the zest aside. Squeeze the juice from the lemon into a separate bowl. You’ll need at least 1/4 cup of juice.
Now prepare the mixture that will be used as both the dressing and the marinade. Mince two cloves of garlic and combine them in a bowl with 1/4 cup lemon juice, 1/4 cup olive oil, 1/2 Tbsp dried oregano, 1/2 tsp salt, some freshly cracked pepper, and a pinch of that lemon zest. Whisk with a fork until well combined.
Add two boneless, skinless chicken thighs to a zip lock bag and add half of that dressing, plus one more clove of minced garlic (you really want the chicken to be garlicky!). Squeeze out all the air, give the bag a quick massage to distribute the marinade, then refrigerate the chicken for at least 30 minutes.
While the chicken is marinating, cook 8oz. of pasta (any shape) according to the package directions. Drain the pasta in a colander, and let it cool.
Heat a skillet over a medium flame and once hot, add the marinated chicken thighs. There should be enough oil on them from the marinade to keep them from sticking. Cook the thighs on each side until well browned and cooked through (about five minutes each side). Seriously, this chicken was SO GOOD that I’m probably going to feature it as its own recipe soon. I wanted to eat it by itself.
Remove the chicken from the skillet and let it rest for a few minutes, then chop it into smaller, bite-sized pieces.
While the chicken is cooking, prepare the rest of the vegetables. Dice 1/2 cucumber (1.5 cups diced), dice the bell pepper, slice the tomatoes in half (or dice if using Roma or regular tomatoes), and give the parsley a rough chop.
Finally, it’s time to put everything together! Place the cooked, drained, and cooled pasta in a large bowl (it’s under there, I swear). Top the pasta with the tomatoes, cucumber, bell pepper, parsley, and chopped chicken. Finally, crumble 2oz. feta over everything and add one last pinch of lemon zest.
Pour the remaining dressing over the salad…
And toss until everything is coated in dressing. Done!
I miiiiiight have to make this Greek Chicken Pasta Salad again immediately after this batch is gone. Yeah, definitely.
Just made this, it is delicious. Thank you!!
So surprised at the amount of flavor in this! I don’t like crumbly cheeses, so used shredded parmesan that turned out great, and made it vegetarian without the chicken. Mm mmmm!
Oh my gosh, this was so good! Made this for dinner and had to stop myself from scarfing it all down. I am looking forward to lunch tomorrow. Thanks for another great recipe, Beth!
Do U think spiraled zucchini would work in place
Of the pasta?
Technically it would work, but I’m not sure how good it would be. ;)
Made this today. It’s kick-ass. I couldn’t find feta at a good price so I just used shredded marble and it was creamy in such a good way.
What a great site and idea! We love to cook and love how you added the cost to everything. Our next blog on LIFESTYLE150 will be about healthy eating. We will definitely put links to your site in the post.
Great recipe made this tonight and it was a hit. I doubled the recipe and use grilled chicken breast instead of thighs. I have leftovers to take to work tomorrow for lunch.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v632/chief2842/IMG_20160525_204708_zpshihnntlk.jpg
Can we talk about how amazing this recipe is? The chicken is to-die-for!! Beth, I’ve cooked a lot of your recipes. They’ve all been fantastic, keep up what you’re doing!
I do have one tiny, teensy request though :)
Would it be possible for you to put “weights” of meat instead of how many you use? I’ve found that every brand of chicken thighs seems to be different sizes and weights, so 2 thighs could mean 1lb or 1/2lb. Having the weights would really help me a lot! Pretty please and thanks!
Yes. :) I try to remember to do that, but sometimes I forget. Sorry! :D
So what is the weight of skinned thighs for this recipe?
I don’t have the exact weight, but this recipe is very flexible. You can use more or less chicken without causing an issue.
This was delicious! I used whole grain penne and chicken breast because that’s what I had on hand, also left out the bell pepper because I didn’t have one. Added some kalamata olives and then devoured. The mix of veggies, noodles, and dressing was so good, yet so simple. Thank you, Beth!
My family loved this! I had to use chicken breasts because that’s what I had, but I used everything else (and added a bit of finely chopped red onion) and it was amazing. Super flavourful!
I picked up a package of boneless, skinless chicken thigh cutlets over the weekend. As I was bagging them separately for freezing, I noticed how disparate they were in size (6 pieces for 1.31 lbs). Do you have a weight guesstimate for your 2 thighs in the recipe?
I think the whole pack of five was about 1.5 lbs., so each one would be about 0.3 lbs., or 2/3 lb. for both. It’s flexible, though. If they’re a little bigger or smaller, it should work out okay for this one. :)
My SUPER PICKY husband loves this so much that he’s asking me to make more and the first batch isn’t even gone yet. This recipe is a winner and just earned a permanent place in my summer rotation! I multiplied everything by 1.5 except the dressing (which I doubled) to feed 3 and wound up with about 6 servings. The pasta absorbed some dressing in the fridge so I’m glad I made extra. I also added Kalamata olives and quite a bit more feta (~5 oz) than called for so there would be a little in every bite. Thanks for an excellent recipe!
I have definitely made a version of this multiple times in the past. Red onion instead of bell pepper, as someone else mentioned, and maybe some red wine vinegar. My personal favorite pasta for this is orzo.
This was such a winner! I used boneless skinless chicken breasts instead of thighs and added in banana peppers but otherwise made it as the recipe indicated. Will definitely make again.
Yikes–you are spending lots for cucumbers, but, on the other hand, get fresh herbs way cheaper than I can. This brings home an important principle. Everyone needs to keep an open mind when shopping and know how to take advantage of local bargains. This is, however, a spectacular recipe–I spent $0.40 less for the cucumber, $0.20 more for the parsley, and purchased 1 5/6 lb chicken breast for $1.75, coming out slightly less for the whole dish (one local supermarket has fresh boneless, skinless chicken breast for $1.99 per lb)–keep your eyes open for bargains. This is a spectacularly satisfying salad!