Greek Chicken Recipe with Easy Marinade
This flavorful Greek chicken recipe features a simple, zesty marinade that brings Mediterranean-inspired goodness to your dinner table.
Looking for something new on your meal plan? This chicken has a fresh, herby, lemony flavor.
My family really loved spooning the sauce over all the rice and vegetables.
What to serve with Greek Chicken
This easy chicken dish packs a lot of flavor. We love to serve it with white rice or quinoa, plus steamed veggies or a Greek salad.
Never made a Greek salad? You’ll need your favorite lettuce as a base, plus quartered grape tomatoes, lots of finely diced cucumbers, red onion, Kalamata olives (optional), a generous amount of feta cheese, and a red wine vinegar dressing.
How to Store Leftovers
To store: Cool to room temperature, then store in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 4 days.
To freeze: I like to cut the chicken into slices before I freeze it. I’ll divide the cut chicken in individual portions with the chicken and sauce in each one. (I like to use freezer-safe ziplock bags or half-cup Souper Cubes.) Freeze for up to 4 months.
To reheat: I prefer to let the chicken thaw overnight in the refrigerator. Then heat in the microwave on 50% power, stirring in 30-second intervals to ensure the sauce thaws evenly.
Want more in-depth information about making this recipe? You can now find it below the recipe card.
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Easy Greek Chicken
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil divided
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 teaspoons dried rosemary
- 2 teaspoons dried thyme
- 1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes we used 1/8
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- Zest and juice of 1 lemon
- 2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts trimmed (we had about four 2-inch-thick breasts)
- 1/2 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth
- 1 shallot finely chopped
- 5 garlic cloves minced or pressed, divided
- Additional salt and pepper to taste
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon cold water
- Lemon wedges optional, for garnish/serving
- Fresh parsley for garnish
Pot-in-pot rice
- 2 cups white rice
- 2 1/2 cups water
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Combine 1 tablespoon oil, rosemary, thyme, 3 cloves of garlic, lemon zest, lemon juice, salt, oregano, coriander, red pepper flakes, and pepper in a large bowl or ziplock bag.
- Transfer the chicken to the bowl with the marinade and turn to thoroughly coat, making sure the marinade completely covers the chicken. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or up to 2 hours.
- Select Saute to preheat the pressure cooking pot. When hot, add the remaining 1 tablespoon of the oil and saute the shallot about 2 minutes, until translucent and cooked through. Add the remaining 2 cloves of garlic and cook for 1 minute more.
- Add the chicken broth and scrape the bottom to ensure no browned bits remain. Add the chicken and any leftover the marinade to the cooking pot.
- If you are making the rice pot-in-pot, in a 7-inch round cake pan, stir together the rice, water, and salt. Place a trivet above the chicken in the pressure cooking pot. Use a sling to carefully lower the cake pan onto the trivet.
- Lock the lid in place. Select High Pressure and 4 minutes cook time.
- When the cook time ends, turn off the pressure cooker and allow the pressure to release naturally for 5 minutes, then finish with a quick pressure release. When the valve drops, carefully remove the lid.
- Use the sling to carefully remove the pan of rice from the cooking pot. Cover and set aside. Remove the trivet. Use an instant read thermometer to ensure the chicken is 165F or higher. (If not, return the lid and pressure cook for a few minutes more.)
- In a small bowl, dissolve the cornstarch in 2 tablespoons of water. Scoot the chicken to one side of the pot, then add the cornstarch mixture, stirring the sauce constantly until it thickens. (This should happen pretty quickly. If needed, select Saute and adjust to medium and bring the sauce to a boil until it thickens.) Once the sauce has thickened, gently stir to ensure it is evenly distributed over the chicken. Adjust the seasoning to taste.
- Serve the chicken over a scoop of rice and drizzled with extra sauce. Garnish with lemon wedges, fresh parsley, additional red pepper flakes, as desired.
Nutrition
How to cook Greek Chicken?
✅ This easy recipe will work in any brand of electric pressure cooker, including the Instant Pot, Ninja Foodi, Cosori, or Power Pressure Cooker XL.
Prepare the Greek chicken marinade
Combine the spices, oil, and lemon juice in a ziplock bag or covered bowl. Coat the chicken in the marinade and let sit for 30 minutes to 2 hours.
(Technically you can let the chicken marinate for up to 12 hours, so if you want to put it together before work and cook it after work, that’ll work fine. We preferred the flavor and texture of the shorter time window.)
Saute the Aromatics and Add the Chicken
If you’re not crazy about garlic, you can cut down on the total number of cloves. I really love the strong garlic flavor, though.
If you want to substitute onions for the shallots, you can: onions are stronger than shallots, so I would only use 1/4 cup (or less) of diced onions.
If you’re in a rush, you can skip sautéing the shallots and garlic. If you have time, however, I find that it mellows the shallots in a way that you don’t get if you skip right to pressure cooking.
Add the chicken broth and scrape the bottom of the pot to avoid the burn notice.
Add the chicken in a single layer, so it’s easy to cook the pot-in-pot rice.
(Make sure to add any remaining marinade for extra flavor in your sauce.)
Optional Pot-in-Pot rice
I love the convenience of cooking the side in the same pot at the same time, so I almost always make my rice pot-in-pot when I cook this chicken.
It’s SO easy: just pop the rice ingredients in a 7-inch round pan and lower it onto a trivet above the chicken.
Never cooked pot-in-pot rice before? Read my How to Cook Pot in Pot guide to learn everything you need to know!
Prep the Sauce
After pressure cooking, we like to thicken the juices in the pan into a lovely sauce to pour over the chicken and rice.
We used a cornstarch slurry to do this because it leaves the sauce clear instead of cloudy (like you’d get with flour).
You don’t even need to remove the chicken from the cooking pot. Instead, just use a large spoon to pile the chicken on one side of the pot. Use the spoon to stir the sauce while you add the slurry.
The cornstarch needs to reach a certain temperature (around 203F) before it thickens. If you need to, select Saute and heat the sauce, stirring frequently, until it thickens.
This sauce also helps keep the chicken juicy when you reheat leftovers.
More Easy Instant Pot Greek Foods
Looking for more Mediterranean flavors? Here are some other amazing Greek foods you can make in your Instant Pot:
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There is only one amount given for garlic but it’s called for twice in the instructions. How much garlic for the marinade and how much for sautéing please
Thanks for catching that. I would do 3 cloves in the marinade and 2 cloves in the pot.
The recipe says to put the garlic in the marinade- which I did- but then it says to sauté the garlic with the shallots. What is the correct instruction? Thanks