Greek Chicken Bowls

It’s officially SUMMERTIME!!! Who is excited?!?! I am! We took Landon to the beach a few days ago, and the kid LOVES the water. It was actually kind of cold but you wouldn’t have known it by his excitement and attempts to jump in the freezing cold waves. I’m so looking forward to all the adventures we’re going to have with him in the next few months.

I’ve been very into bowls for dinner lately. They are just so easy to throw together! I whipped up a greek chicken marinade one night so I decided to turn the chicken into a full meal. My husband called this a gyro in a bowl, which, is pretty spot on 🙂 I did make the tzatziki sauce from scratch, but if you want to save even more time, you can always grab some pre-made tzatziki from the store.

Greek Chicken Bowls
Serves 4

For the marinade:
1 1/2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken thighs
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp fresh chopped rosemary
1 tsp fresh chopped oregano
1 tsp fresh chopped thyme
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1 Tbsp minced garlic
3 Tbsp fresh lemon juice (1 large lemon)
3 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp red win vinegar

For the tzatziki sauce:
1 cup Greek yogurt
1 cucumber, peeled, grated
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp lemon zest
1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
2 Tbsp fresh chopped dill
Salt & black pepper, to taste

For the bowls:
1 package instant brown rice, or your choice of grain cooked to package directions
1 cup halved cherry tomatoes
1 cup peeled & diced cucumber
1/2 cup sliced or chopped red onion
extra dill for garnish

1. In a small bowl, combine all marinade ingredients and stir to combine. Place chicken thighs in a large zip top bag, pour the marinade on top, close the bag and shake to coat the chicken. Place bag in refrigerator and allow to marinate for  at least 30 minutes or up to 24 hours.
2. While chicken marinates (or just before you grill chicken if you marinated overnight), prepare tzatziki sauce. To drain the grated cucumber, place it between 2 layers of paper towels and press down to squeeze out the excess water. Then, combine all tzatziki ingredients in a small bowl, stir to combine and refrigerate while you cook the chicken.

3. When ready, preheat a grill to medium high. Remove chicken from marinade, discard leftover marinade and grill chicken breasts, approximately 7 minutes per side, or until internal temperature reaches 165ºF.
4. Chop cooked chicken into 1″ pieces. Evenly layer between 4 bowls brown rice, chicken, tomatoes, cucumber & red onion. Top each bowl with 2 Tbsp tzatziki sauce and garnish with dill.