Mediterranean Chicken Salad (Grilled Cobb with Charred Scallion Dressing)
This Mediterranean Chicken Salad is the showstopper summer salad you have been looking for. Lemon and oregano marinated grilled chicken, jammy soft-boiled eggs, sheep’s milk feta, Kalamata olives, tomatoes, cucumber, pita chips, and marinated red onions, all arranged on a big platter of baby romaine and finished with a charred scallion dressing that is smoky, creamy, and completely delicious. This is the salad you bring to a summer dinner party.
A Note from Teri on Mediterranean Chicken Salad
I have been making versions of a cobb salad my whole life, but this mediterranean chicken salad takes all of the classic elements and rebuilds it with Mediterranean flavors.
The chicken marinade is olive oil, lemon juice and zest, garlic, and dried oregano. It is simple but so flavorful. Make sure to marinate them for at least an hour, but even more time is great. I also opted for chicken cutlets for this recipe. They cook quickly and get a nice crisp on the outside.
A lot of dressings would taste delicious with this recipe, but nothing is quite as wonderful as the charred scallion dressing. Green onions are grilled and then blended into a dressing. The char makes the onions a little sweet and smoky at the same time. Blended with mayo, it becomes a perfectly creamy blast of flavor in your salad.
And of course, no Teri cobb recipe would be complete without jammy eggs. Eggs boil for seven and a half minutes in gently boiling water, then go straight into an ice bath before being peeled and halved. They are the perfect addition to your salad platter.
Make this for a beautiful Sunday lunch! I love to put everything on a platter so that it looks beautiful and all of your eaters can take exactly what they want for their plate. It’s the best of both worlds.
Ingredients and Variations
- Chicken cutlets – thin cutlets cook quickly and evenly on the grill without drying out, and they get so flavorful. If you can’t find cutlets, butterfly chicken breasts yourself or ask your butcher to do it for you.
- Extra virgin olive oil – the base of the marinade that coats the chicken cutlets
- Dried oregano – the quintessential Mediterranean herb flavor comes from the oregano
- Garlic, crushed – by crushing the garlic, you get all of the oils from the cloves in your marinade rather than losing it through mincing
- Lemon juice and zest – they bring both the acidity and brightness to the chicken
- Celtic sea salt® and freshly ground black pepper – salt and pepper is used in the marinade and in your dressing to complement all of the big flavors
- Green scallions – grilling the scallions gets the absolute best flavor for your charred scallion dressing. Just watch them closely to avoid burning
- Mayo – use a high quality store bought mayo or make homemade mayo
- Apple cider vinegar – the acid that balances out the mayo and adds a tang to the dressing. It also brightens the charred scallion flavor
- Hot sauce – the hot sauce adds a gentle heat that makes the dressing taste more complex without making it spicy
- Baby romaine – Baby romaine is the perfect tender but crunchy lettuce to hold up in a cobb salad.
- Sheep’s milk feta – Sheep’s milk feta is tangier and creamier than the cow’s milk variety, and it is always worth it to get sheep’s milk
- Tomatoes, a variety of colors and shapes – use a mix of colors and shapes to make the platter colorful and beautiful
- English cucumber – I like to cut the cucumber in big, generous pieces to give you a satisfying crunch in every bite
- Kalamata olives – the briny flavor of Kalamata olives bring a ton of Mediterranean flavor to this salad
- Large eggs – jammy eggs are the perfect addition to any cobb salad
- Pita chips – use pita chips to add a crunch to your salad. Spread them over the top just before serving so they stay crispy.
- Marinated red onions and their oil – both the onions and the oil they’re stored in are an incredible addition to your salad. They add even more Mediterranean flavor
- Fresh mint and herbs – mint is the ideal choice to complement the bold Mediterranean flavors. Other fresh herbs like parsley, dill, or basil work beautifully too
How to Make a Mediterranean Chicken Salad
Step One: Marinate Chicken and Make Dressing
In a small bowl, combine the olive oil, oregano, basil, garlic, lemon juice and zest, salt, and pepper, and stir well to combine. Place the chicken fillets in a container and pour the marinade over, making sure the fillets are well-coated. Cover and set aside in the fridge to marinate for at least an hour. Heat the grill to 400F.
Place the green onions in a medium bowl and drizzle with 1 tablespoon of olive oil and season with salt. Using your hands or brush, coat onions completely. When the grill is ready, cook the green onions until charred on one side, about 2 minutes. Flip and cook for another 2 minutes, for a total of 3-5 minutes.
Watch closely because they can burn easily depending on your grill and size of green onions. Remove and roughly chop.
Add the mayo, chopped green onions, apple cider vinegar, garlic, hot sauce and black pepper to a food processor. Pulse to combine for about 30 seconds. Use a spatula to scrape down the sides then continue to pulse for about 30 more seconds until combined but not pureed smooth. Place dressing in the refrigerator and set aside.
Step Two: Grill Chicken and Make Jammy Eggs
Let the excess marinade drip off the chicken before placing them on the grill then cook 4 minutes per side. Remove chicken from the grill and set aside on a board to rest. The chicken can also be cooked on a stovetop using a grill pan over high heat.
In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, bring 2 quarts of water and a large pinch of salt to a gentle boil. Carefully add the eggs to the water and cook for seven and a half minutes, adjusting the heat as necessary to prevent the water from boiling too rapidly and cracking the eggs.
While the eggs are boiling, prepare an ice water bath. When the eggs are done, immediately remove them with a slotted spoon to the ice water and let them cool for 3 minutes. Remove the eggs from the ice water bath to a cutting board. Gently crack the shells and immediately peel the eggs and cut each in half. Set aside.
Step Three: Assemble Salad
Arrange the romaine leaves on a large serving platter and sprinkle with salt. Beautifully arrange the chicken fillets, feta, tomatoes, cucumber, olives, eggs, and a couple of handfuls of pita chips. Lightly drizzle with marinated red onion oil and top with marinated red onions and fresh mint all over. Drizzle the salad with the charred scallion dressing.
Recipe FAQs
The Mediterranean flavor comes from the chicken marinade, the sheep’s milk feta, the Kalamata olives, the fresh herbs, vegetables and the charred scallion dressing. This salad is bright, briny, herby, and bold to create a quintessential Mediterranean salad.
Yes! The chicken can be marinated a few hours ahead of time, grilled up and kept at room temperature until ready to serve. The charred scallion dressing keeps in the refrigerator for up to 3 days and gets better as it sits. The jammy eggs can be boiled, peeled, and refrigerated ahead of time. The marinated red onions are best a day later. So when you are ready to serve, all you’re doing is assembling the platter!
Sheep’s milk feta (authentic Greek feta is always made from sheep’s milk or a sheep and goat blend) has a creamier, more complex, tangier flavor than the cow’s milk feta common in most grocery stores. It truly elevates a salad like this one. Just look for the “sheep’s milk” label on the package.
Bring your water a gentle boil, then add your eggs for exactly seven and a half minutes. When the timer is up, the eggs go straight into an ice water bath for 3 minutes. Keep the water at a gentle rather than rolling boil (which can crack the shells), and use the ice bath immediately so the yolk stays jammy
Yes! A grill pan over high heat on the stovetop gives you very similar results. Heat the pan until it is very hot. Before the chicken goes on, let the excess marinade drip off, and cook 4 minutes per side without moving the chicken so you get grill marks and a nice sear.
Try These Other Cobb Recipes!
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Mediterranean Chicken Salad (Grilled Cobb with Charred Scallion Dressing)
Ingredients
For the Chicken:
- 1 ½ pounds chicken cutlets each about ½-inch thick (or about 3 breasts*)
- 5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons dried oregano
- 5 garlic cloves crushed
- Juice and zest of one lemon
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
For the Dressing:
- 1 large bunch green scallions about 6 ounces
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 teaspoon salt divided
- 1 cup mayo
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 1 teaspoon garlic pressed or grated
- 1 teaspoon hot sauce
- Pinch black pepper freshly ground
For the Salad:
- 4 large eggs
- Salt
- 6 ounces baby romaine about 2 heads
- 8 ounces sheep’s milk feta
- 2 pounds tomatoes use a variety of colors and shapes, sliced or cut
- 1 large English cucumber cut to large bite-sized pieces
- 12 ounces Kalamata olives about 1 ½ cups
- Pita chips
- Marinated red onions and oil
- Fresh mint and/or other herbs chopped
Instructions
- In a small bowl, combine the olive oil, oregano, basil, garlic, lemon juice and zest, salt, and pepper, and stir well to combine.
- Place the chicken fillets in a container and pour the marinade over, making sure the fillets are well-coated. Cover and set aside in the fridge to marinate for at least an hour.
- Heat the grill to 400°F.
- Place the green onions in a medium bowl and drizzle with 1 tablespoon of olive oil and season with salt. Using your hands or brush, coat onions completely.
- When the grill is ready, cook the green onions until charred on one side, about 2 minutes. Flip and cook for another 2 minutes, for a total of 3-5 minutes.
- NOTE: Watch closely because they can burn easily depending on your grill and size of green onions.
- Remove and roughly chop.
- Add the mayo, chopped green onions, apple cider vinegar, garlic, hot sauce and black pepper to a food processor. Pulse to combine for about 30 seconds. Use a spatula to scrape down the sides then continue to pulse for about 30 more seconds until combined but not pureed smooth. Place dressing in the refrigerator and set aside.
- Let the excess marinade drip off the chicken before placing them on the grill then cook 4 minutes per side. Remove chicken from the grill and set aside on a board to rest.
- The chicken can also be cooked on a stovetop using a grill pan over high heat.
- In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, bring 2 quarts of water and a large pinch of salt to a gentle boil. Carefully add the eggs to the water and cook for seven and a half minutes, adjusting the heat as necessary to prevent the water from boiling too rapidly and cracking the eggs.
- While the eggs are boiling, prepare an ice water bath. When the eggs are done, immediately remove them with a slotted spoon to the ice water and let them cool for 3 minutes.
- Remove the eggs from the ice water bath to a cutting board. Gently crack the shells and immediately peel the eggs and cut each in half. Set aside.
- Arrange the romaine leaves on a large serving platter and sprinkle with salt. Beautifully arrange the chicken fillets, feta, tomatoes, cucumber, olives, eggs, and a couple of handfuls of pita chips. Lightly drizzle with marinated red onion oil and top with marinated red onions and fresh mint all over. Drizzle the salad with the charred scallion dressing.
The charred scallion dressing sounds like the detail that turns this from a standard Cobb salad into something memorable. Lemon-oregano chicken with feta, olives, and soft eggs has a great balance of bright, salty, and rich flavors. This would be especially good for a summer lunch where everything can be arranged ahead of time.