Greek chicken pasta salad (meal prep)
40 min · 48 g protein · 475 cals / serving
Four lunches from one session: lemon-oregano chicken with a golden sear, pasta, crunchy cucumber, sweet cherry tomatoes, red pepper and salty Kalamata olives, with a whipped feta and yogurt dressing in a jar for each day. It tastes like a Greek salad that grew up into a proper meal.
Ingredients
Chicken
- 1 1/3 lb chicken breast
- 1 tsp olive oil
- zest of 1 lemon lemon zest
- 1 1/2 tsp dried oregano
- 3/4 tsp garlic powder
- 3/4 tsp salt, divided
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
Salad
- 4 1/2 oz pasta, rotini or fusilli
Whipped feta dressing
- 1/2 cup feta cheese
- 2/3 cup nonfat Greek yogurt
- 4 tsp lemon juice
- 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
- 1 tsp olive oil
- 1 clove garlic
- 1/2 tsp dried oregano
- 1–2 tbsp water, to thin
Salad
- 1 large English cucumber (14 oz) cucumber, seeds scooped out, diced
- 2 cups grape tomatoes, halved
- 1 red bell pepper, diced
- 1/2 small red onion, finely diced
- 1/4 cup kalamata olives, halved
- 1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
Steps
- Toss the chicken with the oil, lemon zest, oregano, garlic powder, half the salt and the pepper. Sear in a hot skillet over medium-high heat for 5–6 minutes per side, or roast at 425°F for 18–20 minutes, until golden and 165°F inside. Rest 5 minutes, then dice.
- Cook the pasta in well-salted water for 1 minute longer than the package says (it firms up in the fridge), then rinse under cold water and drain very well.
- Blend or whisk the feta, yogurt, lemon juice, vinegar, oil, garlic, oregano and the rest of the salt until smooth and creamy, then thin with water until it pours slowly. Divide among four small jars.
- Toss the pasta, chicken, cucumber, tomatoes, pepper, onion, olives and parsley together and divide among four containers.
- At lunch, shake the jar, pour the dressing over and toss with a fork.
Good to know
How long does it keep?
Four days in sealed containers in the fridge, which covers Monday to Thursday. The dressing keeps 5 days in its jar. Scooping the seeds out of the cucumber is what stops it weeping, so the last box is as crunchy as the first.
How do I pack it?
Keep the dressing in its own small jar until you eat; dressed in the morning it is fine by lunch, dressed on Sunday the pasta drinks it all. It is meant to be eaten cold or at room temperature, so it needs no microwave.
Can I make it even more filling?
Swap the pasta for chickpea or lentil pasta, or replace half of it with a drained can of chickpeas. Both add protein and fiber and keep the Greek flavor; lentil pasta takes it to about 73 instead of 67.
Per
- Calories
- 98
- Protein
- (42%)
- 10 g
- Fat
- (26%)
- 3 g
- Carbohydrates
- (32%)
- 8 g
- of which sugar
- 2 g
- Fiber
- 1 g
- Sodium
- 180 mg
More meals
Computed from the ingredients with our published formula, not yet kitchen-tested. General guidance, not medical advice. Talk to your prescriber. How
As written, 1902 kcal goes into the pot and 1996 g of ingredients comes out as about 1950 g of food: 98 kcal per 100 g. Cooking moves water and energy density is the score's biggest lever, so the dish is scored as cooked, not as an average of its parts. Every ingredient links to its food page, with the same data and score. The label's percentages are each macronutrient's share of the calories. The full formula.