This Greek inspired dish uses a homemade dressing for both the chicken marinade and pasta salad dressing. Make this recipe in under 30 minutes.
Pasta salads are my go-to for summer picnics and potlucks because they’re really easy to make and they can be as versatile as you want them to be. Plus they kind of look fancy even though they’re in fact very simple.
Easy Greek Dressing
Easy is the key word here. I kept this Greek inspired dressing as simple as possible. When you’re making the dressing, give it a taste and make adjustments to you liking. Add more salt, pepper lemon juice, etc.
The dressing serves a dual purpose in this recipe because it’s used as a marinade for the chicken as well. Pour half of the dressing over the chicken breast and marinate the chicken for at least 30 minutes before grilling. I like to pierce the chicken breasts a couple of times with a fork or knife so the marinade really penetrates the meat.
You can use this dressing on green salads or to marinate other types of food like beef, fish or vegetables.
The Chicken
My 2 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts weighed a little over 1 pound. Boneless, bone-in, skinless, skin-on – use whatever type of chicken you want here. Just be sure to cook the meat so the internal temp reaches 165. Grill, bake, slow cook the meat. What’s your preferred method? Use it!
Orzo Pasta
Orzo pasta is one of my favorite pastas so that’s what you see here. Cook the pasta according to the box’s directions. If you can’t get a hold of orzo you can use another type of pasta like rotini.
Jazz this pasta salad up with your favorite veggies. Keeping with my Mediterranean theme, I used bell pepper (combination of red and green), olives, red onion, cucumber, and tomatoes.
I topped my pasta salad with crumbled feta cheese. I didn’t use too much, just a couple tablespoons but if you like feta, add more in.
Store any leftover pasta salad in refrigerator for 5-7 days.
Greek Chicken & Pasta Salad
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: Serves 2-4 1x
Ingredients
- 1 lb. chicken breasts
- 8 ounces orzo pasta, cooked
- 1/4 cup red onion, diced
- 2 ounces black olives, sliced
- 1/2 cup cherry tomatoes, sliced
- 1 bell pepper, diced
- 1/2 medium-size cucumber, diced
- 2 tbsp feta cheese, crumbled
Simple Greek Dresssing:
- 1 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 1/2 tsp dried oregano
- Pinch of salt & pepper
Instructions
- In a small bowl, mix together the Greek dressing ingredients. Pour half of the dressing on the chicken and marinate chicken for minimum 30 minutes.
- Remove chicken & discard marinade. Grill the chicken over medium-high heat until internal temperature reaches 165 degrees.
- In a large bowl, add the cooked orzo, red onion, black olives, tomatoes, bell pepper, and cucumber. Pour on as much of the remaining dressing as you like. Toss to mix well. Top with feta cheese.
- Serve chicken with the pasta salad.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
Nutrition
- Serving Size:
- Calories: 850
- Sugar: 8.5 g
- Fat: 44.7 g
- Saturated Fat: 6.7 g
- Carbohydrates: 67.1 g
- Fiber: 4.8 g
- Protein: 45.1 g
- Cholesterol: 110.3 mg
This produces a small serving for 2 maybe 3 people. Of course you can easily double this recipe to feed a larger crowd.
You don’t need the chicken for this recipe. This pasta salad makes a great vegetarian side dish.
Emily
Saturday 6th of June 2020
This is by far one of my favorite @fitslowcookerqueen recipes. It’s a weekday staple in our house, with fresh and easy ingredients that we always have on hand. We usually make an extra batch of the chicken because the marinade is lick your fingers good and goes great with other things too! Delicious!!!!
Laurie M
Wednesday 17th of April 2019
This looks light, healthy, fresh and delicious! And so colorful