These greek chicken bowls are an easy and healthy summer dinner. Tender greek seasoned chicken and fluffy brown rice are served with an english cucumber salad made up of cherry tomatoes, feta cheese, red onion, parsley and a homemade vinaigrette.
Looking for more summer recipes? Try my chicken chimichurri steak salad, BBQ chicken pizza or chicken pitas.
This recipe was first published on 05/18/2020 and received new photos and an updated recipe on 06/22/2022.
When summer hits it's those light and healthy dinners that we are constantly reaching for. But it's important that they are still easy to make.
It can't get any easier than these greek chicken bowls. Pick up some already made greek seasoning from the store for the chicken.
This recipe for greek chicken is made with fluffy brown rice. Brown rice is a great choice for a rice bowl because it's not sticky like jasmine rice, it also has a soft earthy taste.
Brown rice takes twice as long to cook as white rice so you have to plan ahead. If you have an instant pot a great alternative is to cook it in that, which cuts the time in half.
You could honestly eat the english cucumber salad all by itself, it's so good!!!
Ingredients
What you'll need to make this dinner. Please make sure to view the actual recipe card for the full list of ingredients, amounts and instructions.
- chicken breast
- greek seasoning - an already mixed together seasoning found at the grocery store
- olive oil
- salt and pepper
- uncooked brown rice
- cherry tomatoes
- feta cheese
- red onion
- english cucumber - could always use a regular cucumber if you can't find one
- parsley
- red wine vinaigrette
- lemon
- garlic powder
Greek chicken is literally just chicken marinated in greek spices. There are a lot of variations, like you could add yogurt and make something a little different.
Brown Rice
The rice to water ration can be tricky. Sometimes the rice turns out too dry, sometimes it's too sticky.
A lot of the variation (I've found) comes from the difference in rice brands. One may cook perfect with a set amount of water but switch the brand and it turns out completely different.
For brown rice I have found (and I'm pretty sure the instructions say) that it's a higher rice to water ratio. So if it's 1 cup brown rice then you'll want to use 2 cups of water. And depending, you might have to add a little more.
My best suggestion is to not open the lid while it cooks. This causes steam to rush out and since you cook rice on low, you really need that steam.
So in case you are worried there's a hot mess of burnt rice happening below the lid, leave the lid on.
Also, salt your water when you cook the brown rice.
Alternatively you can cook the brown rice in a rice cooker or an instant pot.
To make brown rice in the instant pot it's equal parts rice to water and a pinch of salt. Pressure cook on high for 15 minutes then natural pressure release for 7 minutes, then quick release and fluff with a fork.
More Summer Dinner Recipes
- Blackened Chicken Tacos
- Creamy Summer Shrimp Pasta
- Chimichurri Steak and Vegetable Salad
- Quick Italian Pasta
- Oven Sausage Peppers and Onions
- Thai Peanut Chicken Noodle Salad
- 10 Minute Avocado Corn and Tomato Salad
- 20 Minute Cucumber Avocado Salad
Greek Chicken Bowls
These greek chicken bowls are an easy and healthy summer dinner. Tender greek seasoned chicken and fluffy brown rice are served with an english cucumber salad made up of cherry tomatoes, feta cheese, red onion, parsley and a homemade vinaigrette.
Ingredients
- 1 lb chicken breast
- 1 tsp greek seasoning
- Pepper
- Olive oil
- 1 c uncooked brown rice, rinsed
- 2 c water
English Cucumber Salad:
- ½ pint cherry tomatoes, cut in half
- 2 oz feta cheese, crumbled
- ¼ c red onion, diced
- ½ English cucumber, skin on, quartered
- 2 tbsp parsley, chopped
Dressing:
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp red wine vinaigrette
- ½ lemon, juiced
- ¼ tsp garlic powder
- salt, pinch of
- pepper, pinch of
Instructions
- In a pot add the brown rice, water and pinch of salt. Bring to a boil, stir then reduce the heat to low and cover with a tight fitting lid. Cook time varies per brand, follow package instructions. Do not open the lid while the rice cooks.
- Season the chicken with the greek seasoning and some black pepper. Heat a large sauté pan over medium heat, add 1 tbsp olive oil to the bottom of the pan and wait until it shimmer. Place the chicken in the pan and cook on both sides until the center is no longer pink.
- Transfer the chicken to a cutting board. Wait 10 minutes to chop up the chicken.
- To make the dressing use a small mason jar to combine the olive oil, red wine vinaigrette, lemon juice, garlic powder and a pinch of both salt and pepper. Shake it vigorously.
- In a bowl stir together the cherry tomatoes, feta cheese, red onion, English cucumber and parsley. Drizzle in some of the vinaigrette and stir to combine.
- Grab a bowl and fill the bottom with brown rice, then add chicken and top with the English cucumber salad mixture. Drizzle on extra vinaigrette.
Notes
To make brown rice in an instant pot use equal parts rice to water and a pinch of salt. Pressure cook on high for 15 minutes then natural pressure release for 7 minutes, then quick release and fluff with a fork.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 4 Serving Size: 1 gramsAmount Per Serving: Calories: 399Total Fat: 19gSaturated Fat: 5gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 12gCholesterol: 109mgSodium: 673mgCarbohydrates: 18gFiber: 2gSugar: 3gProtein: 39g
This information comes from online calculators. Although moderncrumb.com attempts to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures are only estimates.
Michael
This was really good, everyone loved it! Couldn't get english cucumbers but used regular and it worked out great.
Bria
I made this recipe this week with a few tweaks just because I used what I had on hand instead of going back to the store. It was AMAZING! I used chicken breasts instead of thighs, Primal Kitchen's Greek Dressing & Marinade (didn't have any red wine vinaigrette on hand), and vine ripened tomatoes instead of cherry tomatoes. Wonderful flavors - will definitely make again!
Tara Moore
Hi Bria! Your substitutions sound delicious and I'm so glad it worked out for you! Thank you for trying the recipe 🙂