Greek Mediterranean Orzo Pasta Salad

Orzo pasta salad made with all the traditional Greek flavors you love and is a super easy side dish that you can make ahead of time for your next potluck!

Juicy cherry tomatoes, tangy feta cheese, red onions, roasted chickpeas and black olives all coated in a homemade salad dressing made with fresh lemon juice. This pasta salad is so bright and fresh!

We have a traditional Greek pasta salad on the blog, but I’m pretty obsessed with this orzo version. Just like I’m obsessed with our lemon orzo with parmesan and peas! Orzo is just so fun and so versatile!

What is Orzo?

Orzo is a rice-shaped pasta that can be traditionally prepared as pasta or cooked and served in much the same way as rice.

Ingredients Needed to Make Greek Orzo Pasta Salad

In most grocery stores, you walk in and you’re in the produce section. So grab a few plastic produce bags and knock off half this list right there:

Chickpeas

• Chickpeas: roasting chickpeas, or garbanzo beans, adds a great crunchy texture to the salad and is high in plant-based protein
• Olive Oil: helps roast the chickpeas
• Cumin: adds flavor
• Smoked Paprika: adds flavor and smokiness
• Salt: adds flavor

Dressing

• Olive Oil: the base of the dressing, extra virgin olive oil is preferred
• Garlic: adds flavor
• Red Wine Vinegar: adds acid and tanginess to the dressing
• Lemon Zest and Juice: adds freshness, acidity and flavor
• Dijon Mustard: adds zesty flavor and acts as an emulsifier for the oil and vinegar
• Oregano: fresh is highly recommended but if you want to use dried oregano, go with 1 teaspoon
• Dill: fresh dill is best, but if you must use dried, go with 1/2 teaspoon
• Salt and Black Pepper: adds flavor and enhances all the ingredients

Salad

• Red Onion: adds flavor and crunchy texture
• Red Wine Vinegar: helps pickle the onions
• Orzo: You’ll find orzo right next to all your other pastas, and remember that you’re looking for a pasta that looks like rice.
• Olive Oil: helps toast the orzo and sauté the garlic
• Garlic: adds flavor
• Chicken Broth: cooks the orzo
• Lemon Zest and Juice: adds freshness and flavor
• Cracked Pepper: adds a little heat
• Salt: adds flavor
• Feta: I like to buy a block of feta and then crumble it up myself.
• Grape Tomatoes: sliced in half
• Sun Dried Tomatoes: drained from their oil and roughly chopped
• Spinach: fresh and roughly chopped
Read more

Citrus Greek Chicken [+ Video]

Simple marinated citrus Greek chicken with a two ingredient sauce. It’s perfect all year round and you only need one skillet to make dinner in 30 minutes!

Marinated chicken is where it’s at! Whether it’s our simple marinated grilled chicken breasts or our smoked marinated chicken thighs, marinating chicken adds so much flavor and tenderness. The marinade for this citrus Greek chicken packs this recipe with outrageous flavor and is so simple!

This citrus Greek chicken looks like something you’d be served in your favorite restaurant, but it’s the easiest recipe ever. However, I’ve got rules so listen up!

Tips for the Best Citrus Greek Chicken

Boneless, skinless chicken breasts should not be overcooked. Ever. Here’s a really simple way to have perfectly cooked, perfectly moist chicken every single time.

I cringe when I hear about chicken breasts in the oven for an hour or a half hour on the stove top. Please, please don’t do that. Your dinners will be 100 times better if you cook the chicken properly.

Marinated meat is an easy way to have flavor without extra calories or effort, but it must have time. We like to marinate our chicken at least two hours or up to overnight. You pick what works for you.

And finally, oil packed sun dried tomatoes should always be in your fridge. They are amazing. The end.

Ingredients for Citrus Greek Chicken

I’m going to list the ingredients for the chicken marinade first, and then the simple 2 ingredient sauce that we will use to pour over the chicken. Here is what you will need:

• Chicken Breasts: boneless, skinless
• Olive Oil: help tenderize the chicken as it marinates
• Orange Juice: If you have the time, juice your own oranges so you have pure fresh orange juice without any added sugar.
• Greek Seasoning: We prefer McCormick brand, but if you like a different brand or want to make you’re own, we’ve included a recipe below.
• Salt: adds flavor
• Pepper: adds flavor
• Garlic: adds flavor

For the Sauce

• Packed Sun-dried Tomatoes: adds texture, flavor and color to the chicken
• Orange Juice: adds bright citrus flavor to the chicken as it cooks

The measurements for all of the ingredients can be found in the recipe card at the end of this post.

Cade’s Chicken Gyros

For Cade’s chicken gyros, the chicken is marinated in a tangy yogurt sauce loaded with garlic, lemon, fresh herbs and spices. Then it is baked and piled into soft pita bread and topped with veggies, feta and creamy tzatziki sauce!

Alright, so Cade has reentered the kitchen and I’m beyond thrilled because he knocked this one out of the park!! I cannot get enough of the juicy, succulent chicken and I’m just sure we can find more uses for it than just gyros. Scroll down to see some of my ideas.

How to Pronounce Gyros

Let’s start with how NOT to say “gyros”…basically don’t say it how it looks! It is not pronounced jai-rohs. Though I’m sure everyone would know what you were ordering if you did say it that way. The correct way to pronounce “gyros” is yee-rohs.

What is a Greek Gyro?

A gyro is sandwich typically made with either lamb, pork, beef or chicken (or some combination of the those) on pita bread topped with tomato, red onion, lettuce and tzatziki sauce. It’s eaten like a wrap. It makes a great lunch or dinner.

Ingredients for Chicken Gyros

Here is a brief overview of the ingredients you will need for this gyro recipe. The measurements of each can be found in the recipe card at the end of the post.

• Chicken Thighs: You want them to be boneless and skinless and chicken breasts also work fine. Chicken thighs just tend to have more flavor.
• Plain Greek Yogurt: adds flavor to the marinade and helps tenderize the meat. It also makes the marinade thick so it sticks to the chicken when you bake it.
• Garlic: the purpose for garlic is always to add flavor and you’ll want a lot of it in this recipe!
• Olive Oil: adds richness to the marinade and also helps it not stick when baking
• White Wine Vinegar: adds tanginess and flavor
• Lemons: fresh is a must and you’ll want the juice and zest for maximum flavor
• Oregano: fresh is definitely preferred here, if you have to use dried then use 1 teaspoon
• Parsley: same story as the oregano
• Herbs de Provence: Italian seasoning also works too, and this is a dried herb blend
• Salt: adds flavor
• Smoked Paprika: adds a delicious smokiness to the chicken
• Black Pepper: adds flavor and a little heat
• Crushed Red Pepper Flakes: use as much or as little as you want for the heat on the chicken

For the Gyros:

• Small Campari Tomatoes: You could use type of tomato you want but I love the size and flavor of the campari tomatoes!
• Red Onion: slice them super thin, they add so much flavor and beautiful color to the gyros
• Parsley: adds a delicious pop of freshness to the finished gyro
• Pita Flatbreads: you can buy these at the groce

Healthy Greek Turkey or Chicken Tostadas

We are stealing tostadas from Mexican cuisine and piling them high with Greek-inspired toppings for the most delicious Greek turkey or chicken tostadas!

I’ve never been to Greece, but I picture it to be perfection. I don’t eat seafood much, so that part may be difficult. I just keep picturing a beautiful, light and breezy room that looks out over the most serene water with a stunning sunset and relaxation all around. My goodness we want to visit.

I wish someone would just plan a trip for us. Tell us where to go, what to see and especially what to eat. I’m bound and determined to make it happen. It’s a dream I can’t let go of. In the meantime I’ll keep making these healthy Greek turkey tostadas with lemon tzatziki sauce.

Recommended Equipment

• Tomato Knife
• Meat Chopper

Before You Start…

I like to start this recipe by making the tzatziki sauce! The flavor really elevates if you make it and let it sit for an hour or so.

You’ll also want to roast the chickpeas by tossing them with some olive oil, salt and pepper, Italian seasoning and some canned grated parmesan cheese. Roast them at 425 degrees for 20-30 minutes on a baking sheet.

What is a Tostada?

A tostada is basically an open faced taco where a crunchy corn tortilla is piled high with all the typical taco toppings. In this case, we are swapping out the ground beef, cheese, lettuce, tomatoes and sour cream for ground turkey, feta, spinach, cucumbers and tzatziki.

Ingredients for Greek Tostadas

At first glance this may look like a lot of ingredients, but most of the ingredients are toppings and you can pile your tostada with as much or as little toppings as you want. Here is what you will need:

Tomato Cucumber Salsa

• Olive Oil: combined with the vinegar, this creates a simple dressing to amp up the flavor of the cucumber and tomatoes
• Red Wine Vinegar: combines with the oil to create the dressing
• Cucumber: I like to use English cucumbers so I don’t have to worry about peeling or seeding them.
• Tomatoes: you can use grape tomatoes, cherry tomatoes or dice up some roma tomatoes
• Olives: I just diced up a few black olives, but you could definitely go more Greek and use kalamata olives you want.
• Salt and Pepper: just adds a little flavor boost

Chicken or Turkey

• Chicken Thighs: you can use the marinade for the chicken souvlaki if you want or just brown ground chicken thighs or ground turkey
• <

Tzatziki Recipe

This tzatziki recipe is made with creamy Greek yogurt, cucumber, tangy lemon juice and zest, garlic and bright pops of fresh herbs.

I went on a date my first summer home from college and the guy took me to a hole-in-the-wall Greek restaurant with the most delicious fried potatoes and tzatziki (pronounced Tsaht-ZEE-kee). It was perfectly crunchy, fried and indulgent with this light and refreshing sauce. I have been sold ever since!

I have said many times how much of a sauce/dip lover I am, and this one is my latest obsession. We use it on homemade gyros, of course, but I also love it as a dip for fresh veggies or pita bread. It’s also great as a spread on sandwiches or as a dressing for salad.

Tzatziki Sauce Ingredients

The ingredients are so simple, but the combination of them all makes such a refreshing and tasty sauce. Here is what you will need:

• Plain Greek Yogurt: you can use full fat, low fat or fat free, but the fat free doesn’t hold up quite as well and definitely stick with Greek yogurt
• Lemon Zest and Juice: you’ll definitely want fresh lemon juice for this recipe and you can’t beat the flavor you get from the zest
• Extra-Virgin Olive Oil: a good quality olive oil is recommended
• Garlic: grab a whole head of garlic and either press the clove or finely grate it so that texturally you don’t know it’s there but you still get that unmistakable flavor
• Cucumber: always use English cucumbers because they are less seedy and a little sweeter
  • PRO TIP: I tried grated and minced and I much prefer grated.
• Sea Salt: adds flavor
• Dill: fresh and chopped…I don’t recommend dried, just not the same
• Mint: fresh and finely chopped

How to Make This Tzatziki Recipe

1. Prepare the cucumber: grate it and then squeeze as much of the liquid out of it as possible using paper towels, cheesecloth or a thin dish towel
2. Prep the other ingredients: zest and juice the lemon, mince the herbs and garlic
3. Create the sauce: whisk all the ingredients together
4. Let is rest: cover the sauce and let it rest in the fridge for at least an hour so all the flavor can meld together

Tips for Success

We have tried different combinations and tried to cut some corners here and there, but we have found that fresh ingredients are critical! Fresh lemon and fresh herbs!

Use English cucumbers instead of regular cucumbers. You don’t need to peel them and the seeds are so tiny that you don’t even notice them.

Squeeze the living daylights out of that cucumber! You want the fresh flavor of the cucumber but you don’t any of the liquid or it will cause your tzatziki sauce to be watery and separate.

After you’ve mixed everything together, let it rest in the refrigerator so all the flavors can combine. It really does make a huge difference! Y