Chicken Gyro Salad: An insanely delicious make-your-own salad board with marinated Greek chicken, tzatziki, feta, tomatoes, cucumbers, and of course, pita. Easy enough to throw together on a busy weeknight and perfect for company on the weekends!Chicken Gyro Salad

Before I drone on about this fab chicken gyro salad, I wanted to thank all of you who commented, both here and on Instagram, and emailed over the past few weeks to send your thoughts, prayers, and condolences about my dad. (This post will fill you in if you’re unsure what I’m talking about.)

Writing about dad last weekend was incredibly difficult and your kind and heartfelt words helped to lift me up. You guys really are the best and I thank you endlessly for your love and support.

Chicken Gyro Salad

And so this chicken gyro salad: it’s pretty hard not to love.

Prep is simple with a super basic yet insanely flavorful Greek-inspired marinade for the chicken and a few chopped up veggies. You can buy the tzatziki cucumber-yogurt dipping sauce in most grocery stores these days or easily make your own (recipe is below but I’ve made and loved this one in the past too), especially if you’re burdened with a seemingly endless supply of garden cucumbers.

Chicken Gyro Salad

And as much as I love to bake my own bread stuffs, I bought some whole wheat pita to go with this salad. Pita isn’t something I like to tackle on a weeknight after work so I bend my own rules to make dinners like this one work when I’m short on time.

Chicken Gyro Salad

This was another meal I made when Kyle’s business partner was over a few weeks ago and I wish I were kidding when I say that there were virtually no leftovers, save some tzatziki and feta. The three of us completely devoured almost everything you see here: one and a half pounds of grilled chicken thighs, four whole pita, a pint of cherry tomatoes, a head of romaine, two cucumbers, and almost half a red onion.

And can you blame us? I’m making it again tonight when my mom is up to visit and I can barely contain my excitement!!

Chicken Gyro Salad

Chicken Gyro Salad

Chicken Gyro Salad

Yield: 4 to 6 servings
Active Prep Time: 20 minutes
Inactive Prep Time: 2 hours
Cook Time: 8 minutes
Total Time: 2 hours 28 minutes

Chicken gyro salad is pretty hard not to love! Prep is simple with a basic yet insanely flavorful Greek-inspired marinade and some chopped up veggies. Served family style, it's a build-your-own dinner the whole family will love!

Ingredients

For the marinade and chicken:

  • 1 ½ tbsp olive oil
  • Zest and juice of 1 lemon
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 ½ tsp kosher salt
  • ¾ tsp sweet paprika
  • ¼ tsp hot smoked paprika, plus more to taste
  • 1 ½ teaspoons dried oregano, crumbled
  • Freshly ground black pepper
  • 10 boneless, skinless chicken thighs (about 3 pounds)

For the tzatziki:

  • 1 hothouse, English or seedless cucumber, unpeeled (about 1 pound)
  • 2 cups (554 grams) plain, unsweetened Greek yogurt
  • 2 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • 1 tbsp white wine vinegar
  • 1 tbsp minced fresh dill
  • 2 medium cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 ½ tsp kosher salt
  • ½ tsp freshly ground black pepper

For assembly:

  • 1 head romaine lettuce, chopped
  • 1 red onion, thinly sliced
  • About 1 pound small-medium tomatoes, chopped
  • 1 hothouse, English or seedless cucumber, chopped
  • 4 large pitas (½ per person) or more as needed
  • ½ cup crumbled feta cheese

Instructions

  1. To make the marinade: Combine all of the ingredients in a gallon-size zip-top bag and smush them around until the chicken is well-coated. Refrigerate for anywhere between 2 and 24 hours.
  2. When ready to cook, preheat the grill to medium-high and cook the chicken, discarding the leftover marinade, for 4-5 minutes per side until cooked through. Let cool for 5 minutes then chop or slice into pieces.
  3. To make the tzatziki: Shred the cucumber using the shredding attachment of a food processor or on the large-holed side of a box grater. Wring the shredded cucumber in a clean kitchen towel until just about no liquid remains.
  4. Mix the shredded cucumber and all of the remaining ingredients in a bowl. Refrigerate until ready to use. *The garlic will bloom in flavor the longer it sits before serving so you may want to cut back a little if you're planning to make the tzatziki in advance.
  5. To serve: Lay the lettuce, onion, tomatoes, chopped cucumber, feta, pitas, and chicken out on large platters or in serving bowls. Assemble salads with desired toppings with tzatziki drizzled over the top. Any leftovers will keep for a day or two, tops, in the fridge; tzatziki will last about 4-5 days; feta will last a couple of weeks.

Notes

adapted from Goop via Smitten Kitchen

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Leave a Comment

  • Stefanie Hamble
    January 22, 2017 at 8:39 PM

    This salad was crazy awesome!!! The marinade. The sauce. Oh. My. Word. The marinade for the chicken is going to be showing up on my summer grilled chicken! Awesome girl!!!

    • February 12, 2017 at 4:57 PM

      Oh yeah! This is seriously one of our most favorite salads ever and I knew for sure it would be a hit with you guys too! The marinated chicken and the tzatziki sauce are the big stars here (I could seriously drink the tzatziki!)!

  • Kathleen
    May 11, 2017 at 4:31 PM

    This was aaamazing! The chicken marinade alone was incredible. This will be making several appearances on our table this summer! Thanks for sharing such a great recipe. Your recipes never disappoint. Love the new look of the blog too!

    • Tara
      May 13, 2017 at 9:43 AM

      Yes! Love that you loved this salad as much as we did, Kathleen! I completely agree about the marinade. And thank you for your kind words too – they always mean so much coming from readers and not just family. 😉