This Mediterranean chicken salad is fresh, savory, and full of flavor from tender chicken, sun-dried tomatoes, Kalamata olives, red onion, and basil. It comes together quickly for an easy lunch or light dinner and is naturally gluten-free and dairy-free.
It's hearty enough for dinner, light enough for lunch, and bursting with Italian flavors. The chicken, marinade, and salad ingredients are low maintenance with a robust dressing that spices it up.
For an alternative dressing and more mediterranean flavors, try my Tahini Dressing! And for more delicious gluten-free salad recipes, check out my Arugula Quinoa Salad, Vegan Pesto Pasta Salad, Tahini Pasta Salad, Vietnamese Noodle Salad with Chicken, and Salmon Quinoa Salad.
Serve this salad alongside a Gluten-Free French Baguette, Gluten-Free Artisan Bread, or Crispy Baked Cottage Fries for a simple yet filling meal.
Ingredients & Substitutions
I keep the salad ingredients super simple since the salad dressing has quite a few ingredients! However it is super flavorful and worth the effort, and this recipe is quite quick considering the dressing ingredients are pantry staples.
- chicken - I like to use either chicken breasts or tenders for this recipe. While you can use leftover cooked chicken, the flavor is best when it's marinaded according to this recipe. If using cooked chicken, you can add the marinade flavors to the cooked chicken or incorporate them in the dressing.
- greens - I used crisp green leaf lettuce chopped into bite-sized pieces mixed with spinach. Any bed of greens will do!
- sun-dried tomatoes - Choose sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil for maximum flavor. I like Mezzetta julienned Sun-dried tomatoes. Chop them into bite-sized pieces if whole.
- shallots - I use shallots in the marinade and love the subtle flavor coating the chicken. However, you can also thinly slice additional red onion as a replacement.
- nutritional yeast - Nutritional Yeast is a common ingredient in my kitchen because it adds that cheesiness back into dairy-free recipes like Dairy-Free Pesto, Dairy-Free Mashed Potatoes, Dairy-Free Scalloped Potatoes, and Vegan Broccoli Mac and Cheese. However, you can replace it with parmesan cheese if you prefer dairy.
You also need red onion, kalamata olives, garlic, onion powder, olive oil, salt and pepper for the marinade and salad.
For the salad dressing, you also need coconut aminos or soy sauce, apple cider vinegar, garlic powder, Italian seasoning, and dijon mustard.
See the recipe card for a full list of ingredients with quantities.
How to make Mediterranean CHicken Salad
- Marinade the chicken: Combine chicken and marinade. Mix together well and set aside. The longer you let it sit, the more flavorful the chicken is. Sometimes I set it up the night before cooking, and sometimes I make it right away.
- Cook the chicken: After marinading, add the chicken mixture to a skillet on medium heat. Cook, stirring on occasion, for 7-10 minutes, until chicken pieces are cooked through.
- Assemble the salad: Assemble the bed of greens. Add thinly sliced red onions and about 5 kalamata olives per plate. Distribute the cooked chicken and sun-dried tomatoes on top. Add extra sun-dried tomatoes if desired.
- Dressing: Add all dressing ingredients to a jar and shake. Alternatively, you can whisk them together in a bowl. Divide the dressing amongst the plates -- each plate receives ¼ of the total dressing. Enjoy!
When you make this recipe, please leave a rating and review below. I always appreciate the feedback! ❤️
📖 Recipe
Mediterranean Chicken Salad
Ingredients
Chicken + Marinade
- 1 pound chicken breast or tenders, cut into bite-sized pieces
- 1 shallot sliced thinly
- 3 rounded tablespoons chopped sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil plus more if desired
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon onion powder
Salad
- 6 cups fresh lettuce and spinach mixture
- ¼ medium red onion sliced thinly
- 20 pitted kalamata olives
- optional: fresh basil leaves for garnish
Dressing
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon mayonnaise
- 1 ½ teaspoons apple cider vinegar
- ½ teaspoon coconut aminos or soy sauce
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon nutritional yeast
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon dried crushed rosemary
- ¼ teaspoons dried crushed thyme
- ¼ teaspoons Dijon style mustard
- 1 pinch ground black pepper 1 pinch = ⅛ teaspoon
Instructions
- Combine chicken and marinade. Mix together well and set aside. The longer you let it sit, the more flavorful the chicken is. Sometimes I set it up the night before cooking, and sometimes I make it right away.
- After marinading, add the chicken mixture to a skillet on medium heat. Cook, stirring on occasion, for 7-10 minutes, until chicken pieces are cooked through.
- Assemble the bed of greens. Add thinly sliced red onions and about 5 kalamata olives per plate. Distribute the cooked chicken and sun-dried tomatoes on top. Add extra sun-dried tomatoes if desired.
- Add all dressing ingredients to a jar and shake. Alternatively, you can whisk them together in a bowl. Divide the dressing amongst the plates -- each plate receives ¼ of the total dressing. Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
Jenna says
Love the combination of sun-dried tomatoes and Kalamata olives! Super tasty salad!!
Jamie says
Me too! You can't go wrong with those two ingredients. Thank you for the review Jenna!
Carrie says
This is really good! I made a double batch of the chicken and dressing so I can enjoy it again tomorrow.
Jamie says
I love that! A double batch is a great idea. Thank you so much for sharing Carrie!
Jenna says
So good! The Kalamata olives and sun-dried tomatoes really make this special!
Jamie says
I'm so glad you enjoyed it Jenna!
Amber L. says
Super yummy! Will definitely make it again!
Roberta says
This is the perfect recipe! Totally captures the Italian flavors! Next time I'm going to use shrimp instead of chicken. 🙂
Kayla O. says
Perfect for the warmer days ahead! I made a double batch of everything so we can enjoy it the next day as well!