Greek Chicken Breasts in a zesty, herby, garlicky marinade to level up your chicken breast game. This tender chicken recipe is the perfect example of just how tasty chicken breasts can be.
Zesty, herby, garlicky Greek-inspired chicken that is perfectly tender with plenty of flavor to keep weeknight meals interesting is why we’re all here.
If you’re a fellow fitness enthusiast, you may end up eating more chicken breasts than you would otherwise care to due to its high protein content without excess omega-6 fat.
So if you enjoy cooking with chicken breasts to support health goals or you just love it, a marinated chicken recipe like this Greek chicken breasts is a helpful way of getting the nutrients you’re looking for while keeping the magic in your meal alive.
For those of you who enjoy meal prepping, this is one of those great recipes that you can easily double or triple to have on hand for work lunches or weeknight dinners.
If you’re a fan of chicken recipes, also try my Asian Baked Chicken Breasts, Creamy Mediterranean Chicken and Zucchini Noodles, Lemon Garlic Baked Chicken Breasts, or Waldorf Chicken Salad for great lean protein options.
Let’s discuss the simple fresh ingredients for this easy Greek chicken breast recipe.
Ingredients For Greek Chicken Breasts:
Chicken Breasts: Boneless skinless chicken breasts are the star of the show here. For the best results, use a thinner cut of chicken breasts, which can be achieved through buying chicken breast filets, chicken cutlets, chicken tenders, or by slicing regular chicken breasts in half through the middle.
The thin chicken breasts absorb a great deal of marinade (more so than the thicker breasts because the marinade penetrates better), and bakes evenly in a quicker amount of time.
This mitigates the issue of much of the breast becoming over-cooked in certain areas such that the thickest part of the breast is properly cooked through.
If you love boneless chicken thighs, you can absolutely use them too.
Greek Chicken Marinade: avocado oil (or olive oil), lemon juice (or red wine vinegar), lemon zest, garlic cloves, red onion, fresh parsley, dried oregano, dried thyme, sea salt. This combination of marinade ingredients yields a bright and fresh taste with plenty of citrus and garlicky flavors.
If you do dairy, add ½ cup of Greek yogurt to the marinade. It will help tenderize the chicken breasts and will also bring creamy, tangy Mediterranean flavors to the dish.
Now that we’ve covered the simple ingredients list for this Greek style chicken, let’s make this tasty Mediterranean recipe.
How to Make Greek Chicken Breasts:
Stir the ingredients for the marinade together in a small bowl (avocado oil, lemon juice, lemon zest, garlic, parsley, oregano, thyme, sea salt, and pepper) until well-combined.
Transfer the boneless chicken breasts to a large zip lock bag and pour the Greek dressing marinade into the bag with the chicken. Seal the bag and move everything around until the breasts are well-coated in the marinade. Refrigerate for at least 15 minutes, ideally several hours (up to 12 hours).
When you’re ready to bake the chicken, preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Transfer the marinated chicken to a casserole dish, roasting pan, or rimmed baking sheet including the Greek marinade.
Bake on the center rack of the preheated oven for 12 minutes, then change your oven setting to High Broil and broil for 5 minutes.
Remove the chicken from the oven, and use a meat thermometer to check the internal temperature of the chicken. Chicken breasts are fully cooked once they reach an internal temperature of 165 degrees F.
Note: chicken will continue cooking and increase several degrees after it is taken out of the oven, so you can take it out once it reaches 158 to 160 if you’d like. The exact cooking time will depend on the thickness of the chicken breasts and the temperature of them before they go into the oven
Allow the chicken to rest for 10 minutes before serving with your favorite healthy side dishes. Serve the chicken with tzatziki sauce if you like it!
If you’d like to serve the chicken with roasted cherry tomatoes, add them to the casserole dish when you switch the oven setting to high broil. You can also add kalamata olives, fresh herbs, and feta cheese if you like them!
Prefer cooking using a grill pan or a cast iron skillet? You can absolutely use these cooking methods instead of oven roasting the chicken.
Store any leftover baked chicken breast in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
What to Serve with Easy Baked Greek Chicken Breasts:
Here are some of my top recommended healthy side dishes for enjoying alongside this main dish.
- Greek Pasta Salad
- The Best Potato Salad
- Sautéed Brussel Sprouts Recipe with Butter and Garlic
- The Best Broccoli Salad
- Roasted Asparagus with Parmesan and Lemon
- Mushroom Risotto
Make this simple and delightful tender chicken dinner recipe a part of your weekly meal routine!
Greek Chicken Breasts
Ingredients
- 1 ½ lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts cut into 4 thin filets
- 1/4 cup avocado oil
- 3 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 2 tsp lemon zest
- 2 Tbsp red onion finely chopped
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 2 Tbsp fresh parsley finely chopped
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 1/2 tsp sea salt to taste
Instructions
- Stir the ingredients for the marinade together in a small bowl (avocado oil, lemon juice, lemon zest, garlic, parsley, oregano, thyme, sea salt, and pepper) until well-combined.
- Transfer the boneless chicken breasts to a large zip lock bag and pour the Greek dressing marinade into the bag with the chicken. Seal the bag and move everything around until the breasts are well-coated in the marinade. Refrigerate for at least 15 minutes, ideally several hours (up to 12 hours).
- When you’re ready to bake the chicken, preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Transfer the marinated chicken to a casserole dish, roasting pan, or rimmed baking sheet including the Greek marinade.
- Bake on the center rack of the preheated oven for 12 minutes, then change your oven setting to High Broil and broil for 5 minutes.
- Remove the chicken from the oven, and use a meat thermometer to check the internal temperature of the chicken. Chicken breasts are fully cooked once they reach an internal temperature of 165 degrees F. The exact cooking time will depend on the thickness of the chicken breasts and the temperature of them before they go into the oven.
- Allow the chicken to rest for 10 minutes before serving with your favorite healthy side dishes. Serve the chicken with tzatziki sauce if you like it!
Notes
Nutrition
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