This Greek chicken tzatziki bowl is a refreshing and satisfying meal everyone will love! A simple dinner to make that is super flavorful.
I am a HUGE fan of olives! Call me weird, but they are my favorite food. I think that is why I like the flavors of Greek food so much. You get that salty, tangy bite from the olives, along with all of the freshness and herbs.
The most time-consuming part about making this Greek chicken Tzatziki bowl is marinating and cooking the chicken. But I have a simple hack to save you some time! Otherwise, this dinner is so simple to whip up, and still bursting with flavor. It is a favorite at our house for a reason…although I think my kids mainly like it for the crackers and tzatziki, lol. What kid doesn’t love a good dip!?
How to Make a Greek Chicken Tzatziki Bowl
The first step is marinating the chicken. I prefer to use chicken breast for this meal because it is less fatty and higher in protein. Grab the number of chicken breasts that you need for your family (plus a little extra if you want leftovers to make lunch simple the next day) and chop them into bite size pieces. This will let the marinade get into all of the bites really well. You could also marinate the whole chicken breast and then chop if you do not have as much time on the front end.
Once your chicken breast is chopped up, put it in a plastic bag or glass bowl. Prepare the marinade and pour it over the top of the chicken breast, and massage it in before covering and putting in the refrigerator. I like to give it at least 2 hours to marinade, but typically I will make the marinade the night before when I’m prepping another meal. It just simplifies things to do it when I already have cutting boards and knives out instead of pulling it out at a random time in the afternoon.
When your chicken is done marinating, it’s time to cook it. If I am cooking inside, I prefer to cook it in a cast iron skillet. But remember that time saving hack I mentioned earlier?? In the warmer months when my husband grills out on the weekends, I make sure to have the chicken prepped and marinated for him. That way when he is throwing other things on the grill, he can throw the chicken on too. Then, when it’s the night I meal planned for a Greek chicken tzatziki bowl, the chicken only needs to be reheated.
Prepping the Remaining Ingredients:
While the chicken is cooking, grab a small pot and get the quinoa started. If the bag does not state it has been done already, rinse the quinoa in a fine mesh strainer. Here’s another tip to help you simplify. Cook the quinoa ahead of time and reheat. Sometimes when I meal plan, we end up having two meals with quinoa. When this happens, I cook double quinoa with the first meal and stick the leftovers in the refrigerator. You can also just cook it earlier in the day to save time at dinner.
Now it’s time to prep all of the toppings. Feel free to grab a kid or two to help you out. My kids always love assisting and it is a great way to teach them important life skills and help them feel like a contributing part of the team.
Our favorite Greek chicken tzatziki bowl toppings:
- Avocado – pit removed and diced
- Cherry tomatoes – leave whole or cut in half based on your preference.
- Kalamata olives – sliced into halves or thirds to make sure there is no pit.
- Cucumber cut into quarters.
- Feta cheese sprinkled over the top.
- Big scoop of tzatziki!
Now it’s time to assemble your bowl. Start with the quinoa on the bottom, then add the chicken. Finally, add your desired toppings. This can vary for each individual, especially for kids. My kid’s bowls look a bit different, but they still eat all of the toppings. They just prefer to eat a few things separate rather than in the bowl mixed together.
My husband and I pile our bowls up with all of the goodies. And finish it off with a giant scoop of tzatziki. You don’t want to skip the tzatziki because it adds some much-needed moisture.
Note about Tzatziki
I also make the tzatziki homemade. The flavor is so much better as well as the ingredients. If everything lines up right, I make the tzatziki at the same time as the marinade for the chicken. It makes sense to do it this way because they both use a lot of the same ingredients.
You can also purchase a premade tzatziki in store, but I have found that most of them use sour cream instead of Greek yogurt. This means they contain a whole lot more fat and no extra protein…
Greek Chicken Tzatziki Bowl Ingredients:
Chicken & Marinade:
- 3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breast
- 6 tbsp. olive oil
- 6 tbsp. lemon juice
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 tsp. dried oregano
- 1 tsp. dried thyme
- 1 tsp. dried basil
- 1 tsp. honey (optional)
- 1/2 tsp. black pepper
- 1 tsp. salt
Quinoa & Toppings:
- 1 1/2 cups dry quinoa (follow cooking directions on package)
- Avocado, pit removed and diced
- Cherry tomatoes, whole or cut in half
- Kalamata olives, pitted and sliced
- Cucumber, cut into quarters
- Feta cheese
- And of course, you can’t forget the tzatziki!
Greek Chicken Tzatziki Bowl Instructions:
- Prepare the marinade. Then, dice up the chicken breast and put in a bag or bowl with the marinade. Marinade for at least 2 hours.
- Grill chicken or cook in a cast iron skillet.
- Cook quinoa following the directions on the package.
- While the chicken and quinoa are cooking, prepare all of the toppings.
- Assemble the bowls by first adding quinoa, then chicken, and top with avocado, tomato, cucumber, feta, kalamata olives, and tzatziki.
Recipe Variations:
- If for some reason you don’t have any tzatziki, adding some extra avocado and lemon juice squeezed over the top will help give the bowl more moisture.
- Swap out the grain for something different.
- Feel free to add more toppings that suit your preference. My husband sometime likes to add sundried tomatoes and salad dressing.
- In a pinch, you can use this Greek dressing as a marinade. I find that I prefer to make my own though because it has more flavor.
How to Store:
If you are lucky enough to have leftovers, I pretty much store everything separately in the refrigerator. The chicken and quinoa go in a glass container, and any remaining chopped up veggies go in plastic snack bags. I try really hard to only slice up exactly what we need because I prefer my veggies and avocado freshly sliced. Enjoy the leftovers for up to 5 days after cooking.
Check Out More Simple Dinners:
- Italian Zucchini Boats
- Mexican Chicken and Sweet Potato Skillet
- Oven Baked Tacos
- Deconstructed Burger Salad
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Greek Chicken Tzatziki Bowl
Ingredients
Chicken & Marinade
- 4 chicken breast boneless and skinless
- 6 tbsp olive oil
- 6 tbsp lemon juice
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 3 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 1 tsp dried basil
- 1 tsp honey optional
- ½ tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp salt
Quinoa & Toppings
- 1½ cups dry quinoa
- avocado pitted and diced
- cherry tomatoes whole or sliced
- kalamata olives pitted and sliced
- cucumber quartered
- feta cheese
- tzatziki
Instructions
- Prepare the marinade. Then, dice up the chicken breast and put in a bag or bowl with the marinade. Marinade for at least 2 hours.
- Grill chicken or cook in a cast iron skillet.
- Cook quinoa following the directions on the package.
- While the chicken and quinoa are cooking, prepare all of the toppings.
- Assemble the bowls by first adding quinoa, then chicken, and top with avocado, tomato, cucumber, feta, kalamata olives, and tzatziki.
Rebecca Horner
I’m going to need to try this! Looks very healthy in nourishing
akinforthesimplelife
It is so good. Come back and let me know what you think!
Carol
This looks delicious! I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of Greek food!
akinforthesimplelife
Same! Do you have other favorite Greek recipes? We do this one a lot plus Greek meatballs. I would love more suggestions.
Julie Anderson
This looks amazing! I can’t wait to try it. Homemade tzaziki sauce is a must, the ones in the store are horrible!
akinforthesimplelife
Agreed! The one time we tried to buy tzatziki to make dinner simple one night it was awful. No one liked it anyways so I would much rather have spent a tiny bit of extra time to make it myself.
Dusty
I love olives too! This looks delicious! I also love quinoa in salads. Saving this for later!
akinforthesimplelife
Can’t wait to hear what you think!
Lauren
This looks amazing!! We are going to have to try it! Anything with tzatziki is a win 😄
akinforthesimplelife
Agreed! I crave tzatziki all the time now, lol.
Rebekah
This looks like a delicious and healthy meal! Can’t wait to try it!!
akinforthesimplelife
It’s quickly become one of my favorites. I crave it all day when I know it’s the plan for dinner that night.
Anja
This looks super delicious! Love that you added the avocado, too!
akinforthesimplelife
We are big fans of avocado around here!
Dawn
This looks delicious. I’m vegan so I’m going to try your recipe but swap out the chicken for maybe organic tofu or tempeh. Thanks for sharing!💕
akinforthesimplelife
That sounds like it could be really good as well. Is there an alternative to the tzatziki you could use as well to add in moisture?
Anna
This looks so yummy!! Can’t wait to try it, thanks for sharing! 😊
akinforthesimplelife
You’re welcome!
Elizabeth
Oh man you’re making me hungry!! Adding this to the must try list asap!
akinforthesimplelife
Can’t wait for you to try it!
Julie
I LOVE tzatziki sauce… I could bathe in it. This looks so delicious.
akinforthesimplelife
It probably would make a pretty good face mask, lol.
Alicia
Ooh yum this looks amazing and fresh! Perfect lunch or dinner for spring and summer!
akinforthesimplelife
Exactly! I love the fresh cucumber and salty olives in it.