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Greek Chicken Pasta Salad

This Greek Chicken Pasta Salad is filled with cheesy tortellini, cucumber, tomato, feta, and a delicious Greek dressing.
Serve as a main dish or as a side dish salad. Tastes wonderful with chicken but the chicken can also easily be omitted and it's still delicious.
Serves 6-8 as a main dish, 10-12 as a side dish.

Ingredients

  • 1 bottle (12 oz.) Greek dressing (I like vinaigrettes best, but any Greek dressing will work great) (The Greek Feta kind from Girard's is great if you can find it.)
  • 6-8 chicken breast tenderloins (or 3-4 chicken breasts)
  • 1 lemon zested and then juiced
  • 3 sprigs fresh oregano
  • 1 teaspoon garlic salt
  • 18 oz. cheese tortellini (cooked, then chilled - drizzle with oil to keep from sticking) (can use any short cut pasta)
  • 1 cucumber, diced in 1/2" pieces
  • 2 cups grape tomatoes, halved
  • 1 cup chopped Kalamata olives (easiest to buy them already pitted)
  • 1/4 red onion, diced
  • 1/2 cup feta cheese crumbles
  • olive oil for cooking

Instructions

Chicken Marinade

  • Be sure to plan time to marinade the chicken. It can marinade for as little as 1-2 hours but tastes best the longer it marinades (up to overnight).
  • Zest and juice the lemon, then set aside.
  • Chop 2 fresh oregano sprigs finely and set aside.
  • Add the chicken breasts to a large ziploc bag and pour 1/2 the bottle of Greek dressing over it. The add in the oregano, lemon juice, and lemon zest, along with the 1 teaspoon of garlic salt.
  • Seal the bag, trying to remove as much air as you can, then mix it well to make sure the marinade is well incorporated over the chicken.
  • Refrigerate for 1-2 hours, up to overnight.

Tortellini

  • While the chicken is marinating, it's a great time to make the tortellini. Cook it al dente so it doesn't get too soft or mushy in the salad.
  • Once tortellini is cooked, transfer to a plastic tupperware container with 1-2 tablespoons of butter or oil, and mix gently with a spoon to keep the tortellini from sticking.
  • Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, up to overnight.

Cooking the Chicken

  • To cook the chicken, heat a large nonstick or cast iron skillet to medium-high heat. Drizzle 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil in the pan.
  • Once oil is hot, slowly remove chicken from marinade bag, using tongs, and dripping off most of the excess marinade before placing in the hot pan (too much marinade can burn in the pan).
  • Pan sear 3-4 chicken breasts at a time, about 5-6 minutes per side until they are golden brown.
  • Remove from heat and let rest on a cutting board until you're ready to chop. Lightly salt the chicken.
  • Repeat cooking any more pieces of chicken you have left. Remove and let rest for 5-10 minutes.
  • Once chicken has rested, chop into small pieces, and place into a large serving bowl.

Salad Assembly

  • To assemble the salad, layer the chicken and tortellini in a large bowl, then add the cucumber, tomatoes, finely diced red onion, and feta. Pour the remaining dressing over the salad (you may not need all of it, but most of it).
  • Toss the salad well and then top with a little more fresh chopped oregano, and if desired black pepper.
  • Serve immediately while the chicken is warm, or if you'd like refrigerate for several hours to serve the whole pasta salad cold.
  • This is a great make ahead side dish pasta salad for gatherings. When making ahead, i like to mix everything together except the cucumber and chill overnight. Then right before serving or bringing to a gathering, add the chopped cucumber.
  • Enjoy!