One of my all-time favorite recipes is Oven Fajitas. It’s easy, flavorful, and healthy. So, I decided to try the same concept with different flavors. For this version, I chose Greek inspired vegetables (bell pepper, eggplant, tomato, and red onion), drenched them in a lemon-garlic marinade, then topped the whole thing with feta and fresh parsley after roasting. I added one thinly sliced chicken breast for a little belly-filling power, but this could easily be made vegetarian (add mushrooms, asparagus, or artichokes maybe?).
Although the mix needs about an hour to roast in the oven, the hands-on preparation is very quick. I’ve kept the leftover mix in the refrigerator all week and have really enjoyed eating the pitas every day for lunch. I package the filling in a separate container, heat it quickly in the microwave, and then stuff it into a pita just before eating. …and sometimes I just ate the filling with a fork, because why not? :)
I set the serving size to a half-round pita pocket. Each one of those servings came out to just $1.37, but even if I was so hungry that I ate two (which may or may not have happened…) it’s still less than $3! Win!
Oven Roasted Greek Stuffed Pitas
Oven Roasted Greek Stuffed Pitas
Servings 8 1/2 round pocket eachIngredients
- 1 medium red onion ($0.95)
- 1 small eggplant ($1.71)
- 2 Roma tomatoes ($0.55)
- 2 medium green bell peppers ($1.58)
- 1 boneless, skinless chicken breast (about ¾ lb.)* ($1.75)
- 4 cloves garlic ($0.32)
- 3 Tbsp olive oil ($0.48)
- 3 Tbsp lemon juice ($0.13)
- 1/2 Tbsp dried oregano ($0.15)
- 1 tsp salt ($0.02)
- 1/8 tsp Freshly cracked pepper ($0.05)
- 4 oz. feta cheese ($1.74)
- 1/4 bunch fresh parsley ($0.19)
- 4 whole pita breads (8 half round pockets) ($1.33)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400ºF. Slice the red onion and bell pepper. Cut the eggplant and tomatoes into one-inch chunks. Place the red onion, bell pepper, eggplant, and tomatoes into a large 9x13 inch casserole dish. Slice the chicken into very thin strips and then add to the casserole dish with the vegetables.
- Mince the garlic and add it to a small bowl along with the olive oil, lemon juice, oregano, salt, and a generous helping of freshly cracked pepper (20-30 cranks of a pepper mill). Stir to combine then pour over the chicken and vegetables. Toss until everything is well coated in the dressing.
- Roast the chicken and vegetables in the preheated oven for 60 minutes, stirring once every 20 minutes. After roasting, top with crumbled feta and roughly chopped fresh parsley. Stuff the mixture into the pita pockets and enjoy warm.
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Notes
Nutrition
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Step by Step Photos
I know, I know… there are four tomatoes in the picture. I intended to use four, but quickly realized that would be WAY too much, so I only used two. I also used one red onion, two green bell peppers, and one eggplant.
I sliced the onion and bell pepper into strips, and the tomato and eggplant into one-inch cubes. Place them all into a large 9×13 inch casserole dish. Oh yes, start preheating the oven to 400 degrees. It needs to be HOT.
Slice the chicken breast into very thin strips. Remember, the smaller the pieces, the more pieces you’ll have, and the more chicken will be in every bite (instead of one big piece every now and then). And yes, my price for chicken is extremely good. I only buy chicken breast when they’re on sale (usually for about $2/lb) and freeze it for later.
Mince the garlic and stir it together with the olive oil, lemon juice, oregano, salt, and a bunch of freshly cracked pepper. Red wine vinegar would also be super good in this if you don’t have lemon juice.
Pour the marinade over the chicken and vegetables, then toss it all together until everything is very well coated. Transfer the whole thing into the oven and come back 20 minutes later…
Give everything a good stir after 20 minutes to redistribute the juices and help some of the moisture evaporate off, then put it back in the oven.
Give it another good stir at the 40 minute mark, then back in the oven it goes…
And then after a total of 60 minutes you’ve got some nice brown roasting action. Yummm….
Let it sit for just a minute as you roughly chop some parsley and crumble the feta cheese. Add it to the meat and vegetables and then give it quick stir.
And now it’s ready to stuff into pitas and devour!
Ohhhh yessss….
These were excellent! I used one large tomato from the garden and subbed in a medium size zucchini for the eggplant (also from the garden!). I also used rainbow bell peppers in place of green bell peppers. It was quite watery after the second set of 20 minutes so I drained about 2/3 of the mixture off before putting it back in the oven for the last 20 minutes. Great flavor and easy to reheat for a meal prep later in the week. I will definitely make these again. I am a die hard Budget Bytes fan, so thank you once again for making cooking easy and fun!
This is SO good. We actually make Beth’s naan recipe and use that instead of pita!
so good i am a picke kid but I loved it I made it for my family
Just made this for my lunches for the week, and it is soooo good! I used 1 red and 1 green bell pepper because that’s what I had on hand, and I added a medium zucchini that had been slowly wilting in my veggie drawer. Otherwise, the only other modifications was to cut the vegetables into thin slices (about the size of the chicken) and cooking it all on a sheet pan to allow it to cook a bit faster. I took another commentor’s advice and waited to add the chicken, so that it wouldn’t dry out.
It ended up so delicious, and I’m seriously looking forward to lunches for the week! (PS- my SO said they’d prefer a bit more meat in this, so if you’re cooking for someone who loves meat, I’d do two breasts, but I thought this was plenty of meat for me).
Made this for dinner after I found eggplant in the sale section of Kroger (99 cents in bag with 2 organic cucumbers!!)! I added some yellow squash that was also on the sale rack! I only needed about 40 minutes to cook the chicken through. Severed with a side of yogurt/cucumber/lemon/garlic dip and cous cous mixed with feta/pecans. Fed 3 adults and had plenty left over for 3 more lunches! This is going in my regular meal rotation!
I made this tonight, using zucchini instead of eggplant and chickpeas instead of chicken. It was a hit! Delicious!
Thinly sliced chicken breast cooked at 400 degrees for one hour is a recipe for jerky. I toss the chicken in a little of the dressing and add for the last 20 minutes.
This has become a staple for me. I never get tired of it. I tend to load it up with so many veggies, that I have to double the marinade. So far my favorite version is with lots of eggplant, bell peppers, tomatoes, onion, chickpeas, mushrooms, artichoke hearts and a generous portion of Feta.
I never have luck keeping pita from falling apart, so I usually make it with brown rice. I’ve also tried it with pasta and it’s yummy warm or cold.
I’ve just made this for some of this weeks lunches since I had all the ingredients with the exception of the eggplant which I subbed with some zucchini I had. I also added some dill in the marinade, which I happened to have around. Let me tell you that this kinda blew my mind on how good it is. So simple, so outrageously delicious. Thank you for this – it will definitely become a routine recipe in my kitchen.
Possible to freeze this?
It probably won’t be nearly as good after reheating from frozen. The vegetables will soften more and probably get a bit soggy.
Fantastic as usual!
I made this tonight for dinner along with the Lemony couscous minus the cucumber. We didn’t have any pita so we put these roasted veggies on top of the couscous and it was excellent. Thanks again for another hit.
I made these for dinner last night and served with the Tzatziki Sauce. I substituted zucchini for the eggplant since I already had those and needed to use them up. I loved the pitas; my family wasn’t so impressed.
This was a tasty recipe and I especially liked the eggplant. I used sweet yellow peppers because I don’t like the green. I put all the veggies on a baking sheet pan with the dressing and roasted them for about 15 minutes, then added the chicken and cooked for another 15 and it was done. I also added a little fresh oregano at the end. Very yummy!
Do you think this would work in the crock pot? Trying to convert or use recipes that don’t use the oven for long since it’s too hot in Texas!
I don’t think I’d suggest doing this one in the crock pot because I think it would get too soft and mushy.
So good. 9.5/10. I did one batch of the marinade for the veggies and a second batch for the chicken. Make sure to add extra seasonings ( I used cavenders greek seasoning and Lawrys Garlic salt) throughout the cooking process. Turns out really liquidy, so strain out the liquid and put it under the broiler for about 10 minutes after its done cooking and its perfect. Ate with whole wheat pitas and hummus! Going to try it with tzatziki sauce next time!
If I were to do this with lamb, do you know what kind of cut I should get?
I wish I did, but unfortunately I am completely uneducated about lamb. :/
To the person who asked about lamb.. I’ve bought lamb stew cubes like beef.. I would try that!! Just brown it before you mixing it in so it looks better and stays juicier! :) bet it would be absolutely delish!
We love this recipe, and I’ve even tried my hand at tzatziki sauce, and it was a nice touch, too!
I’m wondering if anyone has tried this with thinly sliced beef? I’m thinking if trying that for supper tonight.
I made it with beef today, and it was GREAT if I do say so myself!
A new favorite! So amazing!!!!! I added some baby portobellos and Penzys Greek seasoning. Served with whole wheat pita and hummus. Hubby was moaning in delight all through dinner. Thank you!
Looks excellent! I am pinning to save for later!
looks absolutely delicious!!
So delicious and easy! Didn’t have chicken so just used the veggies and turned out amazing! Thanks so much. And I used you tzatziki sauce on it as we’ll bc I am pretty much obsessed with your tzatziki sauce after trying so many diff versions so many diff times! Thanks again!
Delicious, however I stumbled across a few problem. My chicken came out dry and overcooked, and it was a little too liquidy for me. Next time I made this, I roasted the vegetables first, just in a little olive oil, salt and pepper for 30 mins, stirring once. After that, I added the chicken and lemon-garlic mix, and roasted for another 20-30 mins. Also, I drained off all the liquid left over, mixed it with some melted butter and poured it over bread and roasted them for some super tasty croutons!
This recipe was seriously delicious! However, my casserole dish was broken completely in half. We were able to salvage most of it, and luckily it was a clean break so we weren’t eating glass shards. I’m guessing this was a fluke, and an just glad we were able to make it work.
Love this recipe. I also love this section, nothing like eating like royalty without having to spend like royalty.
this will be my breakfast this week!
Made this tonight. I accidentally bough blue cheese (eep!) but it still ended up being very tasty. Can’t wait to have it for lunch this week.
This was so simple to make and filling (though I only got 6 servings cause I was a little heavy handed…). I will definitely make again, but may pump up the lemon and garlic since the flavors fell a little flat.
This looks really good. I think I will add some kalamata olives, and chick peas. No eggplant (not a fan)
When I got home from work my husband had this finishing up for us. It smelled delicious. It was pretty tasty. Any ideas for a good substitute for the eggplant? I don’t hate them, but I’m not the biggest fan either. One of those things I try to convince myself I like, but never really do. Would just plain zucchini cook well in this?
Yes, I think zucchini would be the best choice. :)
We made this last night. It was pretty good and easy to make. We used flat bread/wraps instead of pita bread.
Hi Beth – Just wanted to post that I made this last night for dinner to use up some veggies that I had in the fridge. I made it with your homemade pita to save a few dollars and try the pita making as an experiment. The pitas actually worked too and it was cool to see them pop up in the oven! Both were sensational! I made everything in advance, so in the evening, I mixed the marinade with the veggies/chicken and threw it in the oven. Even my husband loved it and requested it to be in our rotation. He’s excited to take it to work today. Thank you! Thank you!
A great dinner ~ and I envision this in an omelet tomorrow morning . . . :)
That is the best idea ever.
I’m a little confused…is the chicken sauteed before hand? Or does it go in the oven raw?
It goes in the oven raw. The whole thing bakes for at least 45 minutes and the pieces are sliced thin, so it cooks quickly. :)
Thanks!
This is really quite nice. It’s healthy and the dressing is subtle enough to let you taste the vegetables properly. My only problem was that I still ended up with loads of liquid.
Made a version of this today with Asian stir-fry vegetables and chicken and a basic teriyaki sauce with garlic and ginger. Thanks for posting the technique, we love the fajitas and I want to try the pitas too–so much easier than stove-top cooking!
I made this for dinner tonight. It was satisfying if not particularly thrilling. The meal made enough to feed two adults and three kids with plenty left over. The kids ate it without too much fuss, but no one asked for seconds. I used fresh oregano and mixed parsley into the mix as well as sprinkling it on top. I used bottled lemon juice since the recipe didn’t specify the need for fresh. In my area, the cheese and eggplant were pretty expensive, so the meal cost more than I’d prefer to spend on a solid-but-not-stellar meal. If you have a particular affinity for the flavors and ingredients in this dish, you may love it. Otherwise, it will satisfy but not wow you.
This looks so delicious and easy! I am putting this on next weeks menu plan :)
Lovely recipe. Looks quite delicious and simple.
Beth! I made this for dinner tonight and it was excellent. I used halved grape tomatoes because it’s what I had on hand. Also, I added rinsed canned garbanzo beans to bulk it out even more and everything was so delicious! Thanks for yet another winning recipe.
Anyone happen to know if this keeps well frozen?
Hi Beth!
I discovered your website about a month ago, and I LOVE it! Thank you for posting delicious recipes that don’t cost a fortune to make. :)
I can’t wait to make these Greek stuffed pitas!! I go to a local Greek restaurant on my lunch break at least once a week for their amazing pitas & lemon chicken salad, and this recipe might very well save me some cold hard cash! Thanks again & keep up the great work.
This sounds like roughly the easiest dinner on the planet. I bet it would be great over rice too!
Looks awesome. I may try with some Balsamic Vinegar and serve over some couscous instead of in pitas. Thanks for the recipe!
It’s 16.47. I haven’t had lunch yet. All I could manage to gulp down was a mandarine and half a raw date/chia energy bar. I want warm, conforting food like that!! These stupid work shifts are doing me in. I had breakfast at 05.30 AM. Listen to me whining, and still a two hour train ride to come..
This sounds amazing! I think I will try it as written the first time and perhaps the second time with shrimp instead! Thank you!
Shrimp sounds yummy, but if I were you I’d wait until the last 10-15 minutes of cooking to add the shrimp so they don’t get all dried out and rubbery. The oven fajitas are a staple in my household, but I find that I don’t like how dried out the chicken gets if it cooks with the veggies the whole time. I do 20-25 min with just veggies and then add the chicken and cook for 20 minutes more.
I cooked this tonight. I marinated the chicken with Greek yogurt, left out the feta cheese and used sour cream instead. It was incredibly delicious! I used a spinach tortillas instead of pita bread. Thanks for the recipie :) yummy!
I’m making this for dinner tonight! Was looking for a veggie packed recipe to pack for lunches this week. You read my mind. Perfect!!
This looks dynamite! I make a greek salad to stuff into pitas that uses the exact same marinade as the dressing, except with a tiny touch of sugar. I bet the sugar would be good here too, for caramelization purposes. Can’t wait to try this!