Greek Chicken With Cucumber-Feta Salad
- Total Time
- 30 minutes
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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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
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)
577 calories; 30 grams fat; 11 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 11 grams monounsaturated fat; 3 grams polyunsaturated fat; 18 grams carbohydrates; 3 grams dietary fiber; 9 grams sugars; 59 grams protein; 1568 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Powered byPreparation
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.)
- 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.)
Private Notes
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Cooking Notes
mrs_garver
What is the benefit of “ripping” the cukes into small pieces as opposed to chopping them into same?
larry
baked the chicken on a sheet pan at 400
Qzie
A little bit more info—is there an optimum time to let the salad sit salted and to marinate the chicken? 10 minutes? 20 minutes or….!
Brie G.
I do a similar meal often. I like to add turmeric to my marinade for both the color and the health benefits and always add an acid too such as lemon, lime and sometimes orange zest. Sometimes I add a little cumin for a warm flavor or even chilli powder for some smokeyness. This is a great base recipe to make your own.
Julie
The benefit to smashing the cukes is twofold: first, it introduces different textures to the dish, and it provides more surface area for the yogurt sauce to get into.
MRose
Made this as written and it is fabulous (400 degree oven instead of stovetop). Took a leftover piece of chicken and cut it up and added to the leftover cucumber-feta salad for lunch leftovers! This recipe could easily be a cold Greek chicken salad.
SScott
I think it is a textural thing. You know - how onions "taste" different when they are slivered as opposed to diced. The cucumbers will kind of incorporate into the yogurt sauce if they are jagged rather than cleanly cut, in my opinion.
Phyllis
How long do you roast the chicken in a 400 degree oven?
Pegoo
See step two. It could have been made clearer. The large bowl has the yogurt marinade for the chicken.
nilssons
My favorite method for cooking yogurt-marinated chicken is the broiler: on top of a wire rack in a foil-lined sheet pan, 8 minutes per side. Great char and juicy. That worked well here, as did the juice of half a lemon in the salad. I served it all wrapped up in a flour tortilla and look forward to the leftovers. Dill would be nice here, too.
Melinda Burke
This was delicious. Based on other comments I added juice from 1/2 lemon, 1/2 tsp turmeric and ground cumin to the yogurt for the chicken. We grilled the chicken and served all on a bed of fresh spinach. Will definitely make again!
Lauren
Smashing cucumbers in a plastic bag does avoid a bit of a mess….
Jenny
Try with Lemony potatoes they recommend. Consider sheet pan at 400°. Add dill and lemon or red wine vinegar to salad. Consider adding slivered Romaine, or some of the other things mentioned in the intro.
Deborah
Tearing them increases surface area, and lightly smashing them starts them breaking down. Both are helpful in getting the water out of them during salting.
Sally Brown
It seems as if "ripping" things apart instead of cutting is the new fad in cooking. Smashing and ripping the cucumbers does not sound appealing, just bruised and battered.
John
The yoghurt-feta dressing was great, but overall this was not a keeper. Quantities much larger than needed - I halved the amount of tomato and cucumber and it was more than enough for four people. And it calls for 1.5 cups of yoghurt, but for 0.5 of a cup to be taken out at Step 1 to be made into a dressing at Step 5. What happened to the other cup? I just used all 1.5 cups in one go.
Charley
The salad makes it special
tips for next time
Use less salt in the cucumber tomato part
roig
This was great! So easy and delicious.
Tim
my experience - use the oven to roast or broil, skip the cast iron as it's really messy. use fresh herbs not dried... i used dill, mint and oregano. i would use less yogurt as a lot of the marinade was dumped down the drain and the chicken was well coated (or i would reserve more for the salad, which was too watery... probably need to really press the cukes/tomatoes after salting rather than relying on gravity). but, really tasty! would cook again for sure.
David B.
Nice, fresh summer dish. Very healthy. Used fat-free greek yogurt. Would use 2% or 5% in the future. Added dill to the vegetables, which sprung it up a bit.
Rose Katzin
The cucumber salad with tomatoes is a riff on my Eastern European grandmother's Farmer's salad. Cottage cheese and sour cream, cukes, tomatoes and sliced scallions. My mother would serve it on hot summer nights with rye bread as "dairy dinner" and we kids would groan. Thank you, NYT Cooking, for providing me a forum to remember loving things about my forbears and childhood. Comforting.
Betsey
This works well with boneless skinless chicken breasts. I typically pound them, put them in the marinade, and then grill. This is very easy, very tasty, and light on a hot day.
Renee
Delish! I baked the chicken in cast iron skillet at 400 for 20 min instead of grilling, very good.
allyson j
Our single favorite recipe! So easy and SO delicious. I split the yogurt mix more 50-50 because i was scraping off too much from the chicken and it felt like a waste. Have also added dill to the salad. Seriously make this asap!
ellie
Sooo yummy! The feta is on every bite. I did stovetop and the chicken was blackened which was actually quite yummy!
sgd
There are so many other more flavorful recipes for Greek chicken. This one is bland and not worth the effort. Wouldn’t make it again.
SiouxsieQ65
Baked the chicken at 400° for 20 minutes because it was too chilly to grill out. Also used up the last of a batch of homemade goat’s milk skyr instead of Greek yogurt, which worked just fine.
Carol Smith
I added fresh dill , lemon juice and mint to the salad. Chopped the cukes as the bruised and battered ones didn't sound nice. Broiled the chicken as someone suggested. This was really good!
Yay
I absolutely love this. We make it all the time. My kids LOVE it.
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