These Greek-style chicken bowls taste just like the bowl version of delicious Greek chicken gyro! They are perfect for a tasty and simple dinner that is packed with fresh vegetables and protein.

If you love Greek gyro, then this Greek-style chicken bowl recipe might be perfect for your next lunch or dinner! The bowls are very easy to make, taste super delicious, and are filled with lots of nutritious ingredients.
Ingredients
To make these Greek-style chicken bowls, you’ll need the following ingredients:
- Chicken thighs: For this recipe, I’d recommend using boneless skinless chicken thighs. They stay really juicy when seared in the pan which makes them great for making delicious chicken rice bowls!
- Chicken seasoning: For the chicken seasoning, you’ll need dried rosemary, dried thyme, dried oregano, paprika powder, ground cumin, vegetable oil, and garlic. These ingredients lend the chicken that typical gyro flavor, so please be sure to not skip any of these ingredients.
- Rice: I usually use basmati rice, but any type of rice works here! Just pick something you like to make these bowls.
- Vegetables: Romaine lettuce, cherry tomatoes, cucumber, and red onion (or sumac onions) go really well with the chicken and rice! But if you want to add or replace any of these ingredients, feel free to do so!
- Feta cheese: Feta cheese makes the bowl taste so much better, so definitely don’t skip it.
- Tzatziki: You can either use store-bought tzatziki or make your own tzatziki at home. To make homemade tzatziki, you’ll need Greek yogurt, cucumber, fresh dill, garlic, olive oil, and lemon juice.
- Lemon: You’ll need some lemon juice for the tzatziki, chicken, and salad. So don’t forget to buy fresh lemons before you make these Greek-style chicken bowls.
How to make Greek-style chicken bowls
Preparing these Greek-style chicken bowls is super simple! Just follow these steps:
- Season the chicken: Add the garlic, spices, dried herbs, and vegetable oil to the bite-sized chicken pieces. Toss until combined. Then set aside.
- Cook the rice: Next, cook the rice according to package instructions. After the cooking time ends, let the rice sit for 10 minutes. Then fluff it with a fork.
- Prepare the tzatziki: Add all tzatziki ingredients to a bowl. Then stir until everything is combined.
- Prepare the other ingredients: Next, prepare all vegetables and the feta cheese. Just chop them up and crumble the feta.
- Sear the chicken: Now it’s time to sear the chicken. Preheat some vegetable oil in a large pan over medium-high heat. Then add the chicken and let it sit until it browns. Occasionally toss the chicken pieces. When they are cooked through, add a small amount of lemon juice and toss again. Then remove them from the pan.
- Assemble: Assemble your bowls starting with the rice as a base. Then add the vegetables, chicken, feta, and tzatziki. Add more lemon juice, olive oil, salt, and pepper as needed. Serve and enjoy!
Tips & Notes
Here are a few quick notes that I recommend reading to make sure that your Greek-style chicken bowls turn out perfectly!
- Lower or increase the heat when necessary. If the pan gets too hot, lower the heat so the chicken and seasonings don’t burn. Just keep an eye on the Greek chicken pieces and adjust things as needed.
- Don’t toss the chicken too often. This allows the chicken pieces to brown. So only give them an occasional toss to let the chicken pieces cook from all sides.
- If you want to save some time, use pre-cooked rice and store-bought tzatziki. Making everything from scratch is totally doable but if you want to save some time, you can use pre-cooked rice and store-bought tzatziki. I like to keep some cooked rice in the refrigerator since it’s great to whip up these bowls or make other delicious things like curry fried rice.
Variations
There are many ways to switch up the flavor of these Greek chicken bowls. Here are some ideas for you.
- Vegetables: I really like the vegetables in this recipe as they go very well with the chicken. But another delicious way to serve these bowls is making roasted vegetables! It definitely takes more time, so if you are making this bowl for lunch you might prefer the Greek salad-style vegetables. For roasted vegetables, I’d recommend using zucchini, carrots, and red bell pepper that are seasoned with olive oil, salt, pepper, and dried herbs of choice.
- Carbs: I personally love white rice but you can use other carb sources. Quinoa, bulgur, and roasted (sweet) potatoes are very delicious alternatives!
- Salad dressing: If you have some extra time, you can whip up a simple vinaigrette for the vegetables/salad in this bowl recipe. I’d recommend using the dressing recipe in this Italian pasta salad recipe.
Frequently Asked Questions
I like to use chicken thighs as they stay juicy when they are seared in the pan. If you want to use chicken breasts, I’d recommend sautéing the chicken pieces over medium-high heat until they are cooked through. Chicken breasts become dry very quickly, so make sure to not overcook them.
Sure! Just skip the rice and use extra vegetables for the salad. For the salad dressing, I’d recommend making the one in this Italian pasta salad recipe.
You can store leftovers in an airtight container in your refrigerator for 3-4 days. If you have leftover ingredients, make sure to store the tzatziki, chicken, rice, and vegetables in separate containers.
More simple and delicious chicken recipes
Juicy and well-seasoned chicken is one of my absolute favorites for dinner. Here are more flavorful and simple chicken recipes that you might want to check out.
- Cilantro Lime Chicken Tacos
- Penne alla Vodka with Chicken
- Dakgalbi
- Parmesan Crusted Chicken
- Chicken Yaki Udon
Greek-Style Chicken Bowls
Ingredients
Chicken Seasoning Ingredients
- 1 pound boneless skinless chicken thighs cut into bite-sized pieces
- ½ teaspoon dried rosemary
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon paprika powder
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1-2 garlic cloves minced
- 1 tablespoon avocado oil or vegetable oil half for the marinade, half to sear the chicken
- lemon juice as needed
Tzatziki Ingredients
- 1 ½ cup greek yogurt
- 1 cucumber grated and drained
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
- 1 garlic clove minced
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- salt and pepper to taste
Other Ingredients
- 1 ⅓ cups rice
- 3 cups chopped romaine lettuce
- 1 cup quartered cherry tomatoes
- 1 cup diced cucumber
- 1 small red onion or sumac onions thinly sliced
- ¾ cup crumbled feta cheese
- salt and pepper to taste
- extra virgin olive oil to taste
- lemon juice to taste
Instructions
- Add all chicken seasonings, except for the lemon juice, to a large bowl. Toss until combined. Then set the chicken aside.
- Cook the rice according to the package instructions. I like to use basmati rice that I cook for 15 minutes with 2 cups of water and 1 ½ teaspoons of salt (for 1 ⅓ cups of uncooked rice). After the cooking time ends, let the rice sit for 10 minutes. Then fluff it with a fork.
- While the rice cooks, prepare the tzatziki. Simply add all ingredients to a bowl and stir until combined.
- Prepare the vegetables and feta (other ingredients) for the bowls.
- Now preheat some vegetable oil in a pan over medium-high heat. Add the chicken thigh pieces to the pan and let them brown. Then toss and sauté until the chicken has browned and is cooked through. Add a squeeze of lemon juice and give everything a final toss.
- Assemble the bowls with all ingredients. Drizzle some olive oil and lemon juice over the salad. Season with salt and pepper. Enjoy!
Notes
- If you want to save some time, feel free to use pre-cooked (or leftover) rice and store-bought tzatziki.
Leave a Reply