Do you love juicy grilled chicken and colorful salads? Then you’re gonna love my Mediterranean grilled chicken salad recipe! This salad is everything you could hope for in a light lunch or dinner. It’s a refreshing, vibrant and summery salad with a light, Mediterranean dressing and topped with tender grilled chicken. Let me show you how to make it.
Contents
Chicken Salad Ingredients
Salad ingredients:
- Romaine lettuce: Romaine lettuce works well for this salad, but you could also use iceberg lettuce or any other lettuce of your choice.
- Tomato: Roma tomatoes or cherry tomatoes. Be sure your tomatoes are fully ripe and fresh.
- Cucumber: I recommend Persian cucumbers (small cucumbers) as they are less watery when compared to large English cucumbers.
- Corn: Canned corn or leftover grilled corn, whatever you have available.
- Red onion: Red onion adds some color and flavor to your salad.
- Olives: A couple of green or black olives (optional).
Salad dressing:
- Olive oil
- Lemon (freshly squeezed)
- Pomegranate syrup (available at any Middle Eastern grocery store, many large supermarkets as well as online).
- Dried thyme (or oregano) (optional)
- Salt and pepper to taste
For the grilled chicken (and its delicious marinade), you’ll need the following ingredients:
- Chicken breast: Chicken breast works best for this recipe, but you could also use boneless chicken thighs instead.
- Yogurt: Plain whole-milk yogurt is the secret ingredient to this marinade which makes the chicken so tender and juicy.
- Olive oil (for the marinade): Olive oil adds to the taste and texture of your marinade.
- Garlic cloves: Fresh garlic cloves or garlic powder.
- Lemon: Freshly squeezed lemon juice or bottled lemon juice for some acidity.
- Tomato paste (or chili paste): Tomato paste enhances the color and flavor. If you like it spicy, you can use chili paste instead.
- Seasonings: Dried oregano (or thyme), paprika, ground coriander (optional), salt and pepper.
- Oil for frying: To pan fry the chicken, we’ll need some additional oil (olive oil or sunflower oil).
Note: The exact quantities (according to the amount of servings) can be found in the recipe card at the end of this recipe.
How to Make Grilled Chicken Salad?
Ready to make Middle Eastern grilled chicken? Yallah, let’s get started!
Step 1: Marinade the chicken
We’ll start off by preparing the marinade. Ideally, you’ll marinate the chicken a few hours ahead of time to allow the marinade to flavor the chicken. Squeeze a lemon and set aside the juice. Peel and crush the garlic cloves.
Grab a large mixing bowl and combine yogurt, olive oil, crushed garlic, lemon juice, tomato paste and the powdered spices: dried oregano, paprika, coriander (if using) salt and pepper. Whisk to combine all the ingredients to a smooth paste-like consistency.
Add the chicken to the marinade and mix it well to ensure that the chicken is evenly coated in the marinade. Cover the marinated chicken and refrigerate for at least 2-3 hours.
By the way: if your chicken is uneven in thickness, you can make it even by pounding it a few times with a mallet, or alternatively, filter it with a knife.
Step 2: Prepare all ingredients for the salad
While the marinate is flavoring the chicken, let’s chop all the ingredients for the salad. You can chop the veggies in a random order. I’m going to start with the lettuce: wash before cutting, then use a knife to cut off the root and any other yellowed leaves. Discard the core and roughly chop the leaves. Cut off the ends of the cucumber. Cut the cucumber lengthwise, then cut the half into halves or quarters, and roughly chop. You can use unpeeled cucumbers, or peel them if you prefer. Moving to the tomatoes: remove the core of the tomato, cut the tomato into halves and roughly chop each half. Peel the onion and cut it into thin slices or fine cubes. If using canned corn, drain it in a colander and rinse to get rid of the brine.
Once all ingredients for the salad are ready, arrange the lettuce on a large plate or platter or in a salad bowl. Add the chopped tomatoes, cucumbers, corn and onion and mix well to combine all the ingredients. Set aside while you prepare the salad dressing and the chicken.
Step 3: Prepare the salad dressing
For the dressing, combine olive oil, squeezed lemon, pomegranate syrup, dried thyme or oregano, salt and pepper in a tall pitcher or bowl. Whisk together the ingredients. Set aside until the chicken is ready to maximize freshness.
Step 4: Pan fry the chicken
Heat oil in a large frying pan or griddle pan on medium heat. Add the marinated chicken to the pan and fry for about 8-10 minutes in total, turning it halfway through (4-5 minutes on each side). Once your chicken is ready, remove it from the pan. Use a sharp knife to cut it into slices.
Step 5: Assemble
To wrap up your salad, add the dressing onto the salad and mix well so that all the ingredients are evenly coated with a thin layer of dressing. Add a few olives to the salad and then top off your delicious salad with the sliced chicken breast.
Make Ahead & Storage
Grilled chicken salad consists of three components (salad, dressing and grilled chicken) which can take some time to prepare. That’s especially true if you want to allow the marinate some hours to penetrate the chicken. That said, the grilled chicken can be perfectly prepared ahead of time. In fact, leftover grilled chicken is a wonderful addition to this salad. I often prepare a large batch of grilled chicken breast to eat with salad (or sandwiches) over several days.
The dressing can be stored in the fridge for 3-4 days. Be sure to add the dressing onto the salad right before serving to maximize the freshness. Salad becomes soggy if the dressing is added hours in advance. Leftovers (with dressing) should be consumed the same day or the next day (stored in the fridge). Chopped salad ingredients (without dressing) can be stored in airtight containers in the fridge for 1-2 days.
More Salad Recipes You’ll Love
If you love salads as much as I do, you might want to check out the following salad recipes. Many of them make great standalone meals, others are perfect as sides to a main course.
- Tabbouleh (Arabic parsley salad)
- Fattoush (tossed salad with roasted bread)
- Cucumber feta salad
- Tomato salad
Any Questions or Feedback?
If you liked this recipe, I’d appreciate it if you could leave a star rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ below. In case you’ve any questions or feedback, please leave me a comment (down the page). I’m happy to help you make delicious Middle Eastern food at home.
Learn Middle Eastern Cooking
Are you a new to Middle Eastern cuisine? Then this Middle Eastern cookbook is what you need! In addition to a varied choice of recipes, the cookbook offers plenty of insights on ingredients, cooking techniques and Middle Eastern food culture.
Mediterranean Chicken Salad
Ingredients
Salad
- 1 baby Romaine lettuce
- 1 tomato
- 1 cucumber Persian cucumber
- 50 g (1/3 cup) corn
- ½ red onion
- Green olives optional
Dressing
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 Tbsp lemon juice freshly squeezed or bottled
- 1 Tbsp pomegranate syrup
- 1 tsp dried thyme or oregano
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp pepper
Grilled chicken
- 750 g (1.66 lb) chicken breast or thighs
- 2 Tbsp yogurt
- 1 Tbsp olive oil for the marinade
- 2 garlic cloves
- ½ lemon
- 1 tsp tomato paste or chili paste
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp paprika
- ½ tsp ground coriander optional
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp pepper
- 2 Tbsp oil for frying, olive oil or sunflower oil
Instructions
- Marinade the chicken: Combine yogurt, olive oil, crushed garlic, lemon juice, tomato paste and the powdered spices (dried oregano, paprika, coriander (if using) salt and pepper) in a large mixing bowl. Whisk to combine to a paste-like consistency. Add the chicken to the marinade and mix well. Cover and refrigerate for 2-3 hours to allow the marinade to flavor the chicken.
- Prepare the ingredients for the salad: Roughly chop the Romaine lettuce, cucumber and tomatoes. Cut the onion into thin slices. Drain the corn in a colander and rinse with fresh water. Arrange the lettuce on a large plate, platter or bowl. Add the tomatoes, cucumbers, onion and corn and mix well to combine. Set aside.
- Prepare the dressing: Combine olive oil, lemon juice, pomegranate syrup, dried thyme or oregano, salt and pepper in a tall pitcher or bowl. Whisk to combine. Set aside.
- Pan fry the chicken: Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the chicken to the pan and fry for 4-5 minutes on each side (8-10 minutes in total) until golden brown on the outside and fully done on the inside. Remove the chicken from the pan and cut it into slices.
- Assemble: Add the dressing to the salad and mix well to ensure all ingredients have a thin layer of the dressing. Top off with a few olive (optional) and the sliced grilled chicken.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is only a rough estimate and may vary depending on factors such as the cooking method, exact weight, type, and brand of ingredients used.
