Greek Marinated Chicken Breast

I had some family visiting recently whose favorite meal is Greek food, so I set about compiling a menu. Good! Sometimes I need a reason to step out of my comfort zone and challenge myself to do something new! Not long ago I posted a delicious Greek Quinoa Salad so that was definitely going to be part of the meal (you must try this Greek Quinoa Salad), and then I started imagining a chicken dish to pair with the salad.

I saw an idea for a Greek chicken marinade which inspired my experiment and it was delicious! The ingredients included Greek yogurt, but since my preference is to eat dairy free, I eliminated that on the first round. I had read some notes about the yogurt being a staple ingredient that keeps the chicken tender, so I made the dish a second time and added the Greek yogurt back in. In comparing the two, if you are dairy free, this recipe was very good, and if you want to keep the greek yogurt in the recipe it is still very good! The yogurt does add a texture of creaminess that is unique and I believe it did help tenderize the chicken a bit.

INGREDIENTS -

2-3 chicken breast
1/2 cup plain greek yogurt (optional)
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup lemon juice (1-2 lemons)
2 Tbsp oregano
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp fresh ground pepper

Mix together the liquid ingredients and pour into a shallow baking pan. Slice the chicken breast lengthwise into two thinner pieces. Place the chicken in the marinate and set aside for a few hours, or for the day.

When it is time to cook, you have a few options - I made a guess that placing the marinated chicken directly on the grill would be pretty messy and I didn’t have the energy to tackle that. Maybe placing the chicken on top of foil over the grill would be a good option? That should work well, but for now, I kept it simple and baked them at 375 for 20 minutes and they were perfect. Next time, I will try foil on the grill 😜.

This could be a new favorite for several reasons - it can be prepped early in the day, it is simple to prepare, the flavor is great by itself, or for serving on top of a salad, and all healthy ingredients - a perfect combination!

I hope you enjoy this as much as I did! It is back on the menu for this evening as I write!