Greek Salad with Chicken is a hearty twist on the classic Mediterranean favorite. Featuring crisp vegetables, tangy feta, and juicy grilled chicken, it’s a balanced meal full of flavor and protein. It’s one of my favorite keto chicken recipes, especially in the warmer weather.
Greek salad has long been one of my favorites, but it’s usually served as a side dish rather than a full meal. The classic version contains tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, red onion, feta, olives, and a lemony olive oil dressing. It doesn’t usually have any lettuce, but nothing says you can’t add some to get additional fiber and nutrition. Adding romaine lettuce also helps increase the volume of the salad, so you can go lighter on the carbs without sacrificing flavor.
Topping it with some cooked chicken or another healthy protein like salmon or shrimp can take a simple Greek salad from side dish to main meal. While it’s usually dressed with an easy vinaigrette, you can kick it up a notch with some delicious Feta Dressing.
Dinner salads like this can be so hearty and satisfying. For a little variation, also try this Chimichurri Steak Salad or Mexican Wedge Salad.
Why we love this recipe
- Easy recipe: This keto salad recipe comes together quickly and easily. If you have cooked chicken ready to go, you can have it on the table in 20 minutes. We like it with grilled chicken thighs, but rotisserie chicken works just as well.
- Fresh produce: When you’re craving crisp, fresh vegetables, nothing beats a Greek salad full of peppers, cucumbers, and tomatoes.
- Tangy dressing: I love this easy lemon garlic vinaigrette on many salads, not just this one! I often make a bigger batch and store it in the fridge for the week.
- Beautiful presentation: You can lay it all out decoratively on a tray, allowing each person to scoop up their own. Or you can toss it all together and serve. Either way, it’s colorful and fresh.
- High protein: Need more low carb high protein recipes? Add this one to your list, stat! With 42 grams of high quality protein in one serving, it can’t be beat.
Reader’s Thoughts
“I’ve made this twice already…so so soooo good! I was getting into a rut with the same few salads over and over again and this was exactly the change we needed around here. There’s a bit of prep work involved but so worth it!” — Sandra
Ingredient Notes
- Lettuce: I use baby romaine lettuce, but you can use your favorite green lettuce.
- Tomato: Any variety of tomato works here. I love using my fresh garden tomatoes when I have them!
- Bell pepper: Red, orange, or yellow bell peppers make a bright, colorful salad.
- Cucumber: Make sure to use a firm cucumber for that delicious crispness.
- Red onion: Red onions are a classic addition to Greek salad. I keep them to a minimum to lower the carb count.
- Cooked chicken: Grilled chicken (boneless and skinless) is ideal on this salad, but any cooked chicken will do. You could even used canned chicken in a pinch!
- Feta: If you are not a fan of feta, try using goat cheese or whatever cheese you like.
- Kalamata olives: Black olives are a must in a Greek salad. But those who don’t enjoy them can skip them!
- Lemon juice: I highly recommend fresh lemon juice for the best dressing.
- Garlic: I also recommend using fresh minced garlic.
- Dijon mustard: You can use coarse or regular dijon mustard.
- Pantry staples: Olive oil, red wine vinegar, dried marjoram, salt and pepper.
Salad Presentation
- For an eye-catching presentation, you can arrange all the ingredients in lines or another pattern on a large platter. Then you can serve it with salad tongs and people can scoop up what they like and put it on their plates.
- You can also arrange the ingredient in a layered pattern in individual bowls or simply toss them in one large bowl and dish them out.
- For the dressing, combine all the dressing ingredients in a jar or bottle with a sealable lid and shake well. Serve with the salad at the table.
Expert Tips
Greek salad ingredients are perfect for making chopped salad, as they lend themselves well to being chopped up more finely than bite-size. Making a chopped salad does take a bit longer, since you have to spend time dicing all of your ingredients. But it’s worth it!
Never dress a salad until you are ready to serve it. The salt and vinegar leaches moisture out of the vegetables, causing the lettuce to wilt and the other vegetables to soften.
Undressed salads can be stored for several days in a covered container in the fridge.
Frequently Asked Questions
Most salads can be made a day in advance and stored in the fridge, with no loss of flavor or appearance. For a chopped salad like this one, you can prep all the ingredients the day before and store them separately, and then arrange them or toss together just before you plan to serve.
A vinaigrette like this should keep for up to a week. Store in an air tight bottle or mason jar in the fridge.
More healthy salads to love
Greek Chicken Salad Recipe
Ingredients
Salad
- 1 head baby romaine lettuce, diced, (or half of one large head)
- 1 medium tomato, diced
- 1 small bell pepper, diced
- 1 1/2 cups (199.5 g) diced cucumber
- 1/4 cup (40 g) diced red onion
- 1 1/4 lb (566.99 g) cooked chicken, diced
- 1/2 cup (75 g) crumbled feta
- 1/3 cup (45 g) kalamata olives
Dressing
- 1/4 cup (59.15 ml) avocado or olive oil
- 1/4 cup (59.15 ml) red wine vinegar
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tsp Dijon mustard
- 1/2 tsp dried majoram
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
Salad
- Option 1: Lay all of the ingredients out decoratively in lines on a large platter. Allow people to scoop up the various portions as they like.
- Option 2: Toss all ingredients together in a large bowl and divide among four large plates.
Dressing
- In a jar or bottle with a sealable lid, combine all the dressing ingredients and shake well. Serve with the salad at the table.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional Disclaimer
Please note that I am not a medical or nutritional professional. I am simply recounting and sharing my own experiences on this blog. Nothing I express here should be taken as medical advice and you should consult with your doctor before starting any diet or exercise program. I provide nutritional information for my recipes simply as a courtesy to my readers. It is calculated using MacGourmet software and I remove erythritol from the final carb count and net carb count, as it does not affect my own blood glucose levels. I do my best to be as accurate as possible but you should independently calculate nutritional information on your own before relying on them. I expressly disclaim any and all liability of any kind with respect to any act or omission wholly or in part in reliance on anything contained in this website.
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I absolutely love this salad! I made a big batch and have been eating it for lunch all week at work.
I’ve also been sharing it with everyone that enjoys salad.
Thanks for such a wonderful recipe.
Second time making this DELICIOUS recipe. Only things I changed is I didn’t use Romaine because I had plenty of arugula in my garden, and I don’t like olives. I used left over rotisserie chicken.
This looks delicious! Can’t wait to try it.
This looks wonderful. If I have leftover salad dressing, does it need to be refrigerated?
Thank you for “doing all of the hard work” of each of your recipes. I love your cookbooks!!
Don’t hate me for asking, but what would you suggest to substitute the Feta??
Or is there a feta that doesn’t taste like Feta????
Sub whatever cheese you want!
Hi Carolyn,
Happy New Year! Do you have any way that you keep lettuce so that it stays fresh longer. Mine goes rusty so fast. Thanks for all your tips!
I don’t have any special tricks for that, I’m afraid. Layered salads like the 7 Layer can do well because the top layers form a bit of a barrier. You could do this one that way too.
I haven’t tried the hacks, but it’s definitely worth it.
https://www.facebook.com/reel/569523424725538?fs=e&s=cl
See my response to Carolyn below. I’m going to try the fresh lettuce hack today actually. Good luck,!
Yummy!! I love Greek style salads, and this one is on point! And so easy to put together as well.
Makes a great and easy lunch. I don’t mind lettuce in my greek salad!
Delicious! I got pitted Kalamata olives from Trader Joes and they worked great (and no pits) Will definitely be making this again! Makes for a perfect lunch.
I’ve made this twice already…so so soooo good! I was getting into a rut with the same few salads over and over again and this was exactly the change we needed around here. There’s a bit of prep work involved but so worth it!
Oh this looks delicious! I really love chopped salads. As long as you have some good protein and fat in there they can be totally filling as a standalone meal. I’m adding this to my meal plan for next week!
Your pic is awesome. There’s a Mediterranean Restaurant out here in Hillsboro called Gyrohouse Mediterranean Grill. i get the Chicken Shawarma plate w/out rice so they give me extra salad. It is so good. My husband who is not keto gets the gyro’s of course, they also these little crispy potatoes rounds w/a spicy garlic dip which I get extra for my salad. I don’t eat the potatoes, but from what I’ve heard they’re delicious. They do have other locations in SE, Wilsonville & Sherwood.
Tasty!
My favorite salad!! I always recommend the best feta you can buy- it makes a difference to me.
Is that The Yard House out here in Boston? Great restaurant if so!
It was… back when I lived there. There happens to be one here in Portland too, but it was Boston where I first indulged in chopped salad.