If you want to add some protein to your favorite Greek salad, chicken would be a great choice.
I'm an experienced food writer and passionate cook. My website, Cookindocs.com, features accessible, informative, and engaging content with quality recipes and articles that are thoroughly researched and enjoyable to read. You can trust my expertise with 8 years of experience in the field. Learn more about me and my work on this website, and check out my featured articles on TastingTable, Mashed, and 5-Minute Crafts. Read more about me HERE.
We put together the cuts of chicken that are commonly used for Greek salads and the tips to choose the best cut of them.
Read on to find the most useful information for your next chicken Greek salad recipe.
How to choose chicken for Greek salad?
[amazon fields=”B08Z8GLJM5″ value=”thumb” image=”1″ image_size=”large” image_align=”center”]
[amazon fields=”B08Z8GLJM5″ value=”button”]
When it comes to making chicken Greek salads, keep the following tips in mind so that you can choose the best chicken for this dish and enjoy the delicious but healthy light dish without feeling guilty:
1. Choose a fresh/ air-chilled cut of free-range chicken
It is important to opt for a fresh cut of chicken to make sure that you have the most delicious and healthiest dish come out from the kitchen.
A fresh cut of chicken is the one with a light color without any dark or grey spots on the surface of the meat cut and has no weird odor.
You can also buy an air-chilled chicken which is the whole bird or cut-up chicken that has been chilled through temperature-controlled chambers with purified air for hours.
This kind of chicken doesn’t contain excess water and reduces as much as bacteria compared to regular chicken.
It is even better if you can buy free-range chicken that has a higher quality because the chicken is treated with a healthier diet and method of raising.
2. Opt for the skinless and boneless version of chicken cut
Greek salads are light dish that is packed with many healthy ingredients.
Therefore, when choosing chicken for this dish, you should opt for a skinless, boneless cut of it.
If there is no skinless, boneless cut of chicken left on the market, it will be fine to purchase the skin-on, bone-in counterpart.
After cooking it, you can remove the bones and skin and toss these pieces of chicken meat into your salad.
3. Consider buying a whole chicken for a more economical way
The last tip to choose chicken for Greek salads is that you can even buy the whole bird and it turns out to be an economical way.
A whole chicken is cheaper per pound compared to cut-up chicken.
Chicken Greek salads only call for a little chicken meat, so you can even make use of leftover roasted whole chicken for this salad recipe.
3 best chicken for Greek salads
As already mentioned, the best chicken for Greek salads is the cut with its skin and bones being removed.
So here are the best cuts of chicken that are ideal for your next Greek salad recipe:
1. Skinless, boneless chicken breast
[amazon fields=”B094C1KGYB” value=”thumb” image=”1″ image_size=”large” image_align=”center”]
[amazon fields=”B094C1KGYB” value=”button”]
Chicken breast is the most popular cut of chicken that is used for different salad recipes.
It is the leanest cut of chicken with very little fat, therefore, chicken breast comes with a milder taste and more tender texture than other cuts of chicken.
Chicken breast can be boiled or roasted before being shredded for Greek salads.
However, it shouldn’t be overcooked, otherwise, the meat might turn to be dry and chewy than you expect.
Skinless, boneless chicken is the most common type of chicken sold on the market, and it is perfect for Greek salads.
But if you can only have an approach to the skin-on or bone-in version, just cook it as regular and remove the bones and skin before tossing it into your Greek salads.
2. Skinless, boneless chicken thighs
[amazon fields=”B01GOBLRWI” value=”thumb” image=”1″ image_size=”large” image_align=”center”]
[amazon fields=”B01GOBLRWI” value=”button”]
If you want your salad to be more flavorful, it is better to opt for skinless, boneless chicken thighs.
Since chicken thighs are dark meat chicken, this cut contains more fat and therefore, is richer in taste.
Chicken thighs are also sold without the skin and bones on the market.
They are more affordable than chicken breast because chicken thighs are considered less healthy because of their high-fat content.
3. Skinless, boneless chicken drumsticks
[amazon fields=”B00J3VHF32″ value=”thumb” image=”1″ image_size=”large” image_align=”center”]
[amazon fields=”B00J3VHF32″ value=”button”]
Although chicken drumsticks are usually sold with the skin and bones intact, you can opt for this cut and take the meat only after cooking to use it for your Greek salads.
Chicken drumsticks are also a dark meat cut of chicken that is prized for its flavorful taste and juicy texture.
Despite the skin and bones, it is quite easy to take the meat from this cut because there is only one small bone running lengthwise the cut.
The bottom line
In conclusion, both white meat chicken and the dark meat counterpart can work well in a Greek salad.
We recommend using the skinless and boneless version of each cut and trying different cuts out to find the cut that suits your taste buds and needs the most.
We are happy to hear from you which cut of chicken is your favorite for Greek salads.
