Recipes › Fresh bowls & lunches› Greek chicken meal-prep bowls
Fresh bowls & lunches · Easy · Serves 4

Greek chicken meal-prep bowls

Lemon-oregano chicken, herby rice, cucumber and tomato, feta, and a quick garlicky yogurt sauce, portioned into four containers. High-protein meal prep that tastes good all week.

Anna Lind Harper
by Anna Lind Harper
Tested twice · Published 2026-06-19
A single assembled Greek chicken meal-prep bowl in a wide cream-speckled stoneware bowl on a white marble counter: golden lemon-oregano chicken pieces, herby rice, halved cherry tomatoes, diced cucumber, slivered red onion, a generous crumble of feta, a dollop of garlicky yogurt sauce, a sprinkle of chopped dill and parsley, and a lemon wedge on the rim. Soft natural light from the kitchen window.
Prep
20 min
Cook
25 min
Serves
4
Difficulty
easy

This is the meal prep I make when I want lunches that feel like a real meal, not a punishment. Lemon and oregano chicken, herby rice, crisp cucumber and tomato, feta, and a quick garlicky yogurt sauce, divided into four containers on a Sunday. It reheats beautifully and the yogurt sauce keeps it from ever feeling dry.

It is built on the same idea as my lentil bowls: cook the components, keep the sauce and fresh bits separate, and assemble as you go. About 40 grams of protein a bowl, and genuinely something to look forward to at noon.

“Lemon-oregano chicken, herby rice, feta, garlicky yogurt. About 40 grams of protein a bowl, and lunch you look forward to.”
Why this one earns a weeknight

What you'll love about it

  • 01About 40 grams of protein a bowl, no protein powder, just chicken, yogurt, and feta doing the work.
  • 02Prep on Sunday, eat through Thursday. The yogurt sauce added fresh keeps it from ever reheating dry.
  • 03It tastes like a restaurant grain bowl for a fraction of the price, and it travels to a desk without complaint.
  • 04Naturally gluten-free and endlessly riffable. Swap the rice for orzo or quinoa, the chicken for chickpeas.
Anna, in an olive-green linen shirt, spooning herby rice and golden lemon-oregano chicken into a row of glass meal-prep containers on her marble island. Bowls of cherry tomatoes, diced cucumber, crumbled feta, and a jar of garlicky yogurt sauce sit nearby, with her bright kitchen behind her.
Portion the rice and chicken into containers, and keep the fresh veg and yogurt sauce separate until you eat.
Ingredients

For the lemon-oregano chicken

  • 1½ lbboneless skinless chicken thighs, cut into bite-size pieces
  • 2 Tbspolive oil
  • 2 Tbspfresh lemon juice
  • 2garlic cloves, grated
  • 1½ tspdried oregano
  • 1 tspkosher salt
  • black pepper

For the herby rice

  • 1½ cupslong-grain white or brown rice
  • 3 cupswater or chicken broth
  • ½ tspkosher salt
  • 3 Tbspchopped fresh parsley and dill
  • 1 Tbsp lemon juice and 1 Tbsp olive oil

For the bowls

  • 2 cupscherry tomatoes, halved
  • 1English cucumber, diced
  • ¼small red onion, slivered
  • 4 ozfeta, crumbled

For the garlicky yogurt sauce

  • 1 cupfull-fat Greek yogurt
  • 1 Tbspfresh lemon juice
  • 1small garlic clove, grated
  • 2 Tbspfresh dill, chopped
  • ¼ tspkosher salt
  • to thin1 to 2 Tbsp water
Method

How I make it

  1. 01
    Marinate and cook the chicken.
    Toss the chicken with the olive oil, lemon juice and zest, garlic, oregano, salt, and pepper. Let it sit 15 minutes if you have time. Heat a large skillet over medium-high and cook the chicken in a single layer, undisturbed for a couple of minutes, then toss, until browned and cooked through (165°F), 6 to 8 minutes.
  2. 02
    Cook the herby rice.
    Simmer the rice in the water or broth with the salt until tender (about 15 minutes for white, 35 for brown). Fluff, then stir in the chopped herbs, lemon juice, and olive oil while it's still warm so it drinks everything up.
  3. 03
    Whisk the yogurt sauce.
    Stir together the Greek yogurt, lemon juice, grated garlic, dill, and salt. Thin with a little water until it's spoonable. Taste and adjust.
  4. 04
    Pack the containers.
    Divide the rice and chicken between 4 containers. Keep the tomatoes, cucumber, red onion, and feta together in a separate container, and the yogurt sauce in small jars. Refrigerate.
  5. 05
    Assemble and eat.
    Reheat the rice and chicken for 60 to 90 seconds. Top with the fresh veg and feta, a generous spoon of yogurt sauce, a little more dill, and a squeeze of lemon.
    A pair of hands in an olive-green shirt spooning pale garlicky yogurt sauce from a jar over an assembled Greek chicken bowl, the sauce falling in a soft ribbon.
    The yogurt sauce goes on when you eat, never in the container, so nothing reheats dry.
A close macro of the Greek chicken bowl: golden seared lemon-oregano chicken, herby rice, crumbled feta, a drizzle of garlicky yogurt sauce, halved cherry tomatoes, cucumber, and flecks of dill.
A note from Anna

Use thighs if you can. They stay juicy through reheating where breast can dry out by Wednesday. Keep the cucumber, tomato, and yogurt sauce separate from the rice and chicken until you actually eat, or you'll open a soggy bowl midweek. And season the rice while it's still warm; warm rice drinks up the lemon and herbs in a way cold rice just won't.

What to serve with it

Round out the table.

  • ·01
    Warm pita or flatbread
    Torn and used to scoop, if you want a little more on the plate.
  • ·02
    A handful of olives and pepperoncini
    For a quick mezze feel.
  • ·03
    Sparkling water with lemon
    Keeps it bright and light.
Storage & reheating

Keeping the leftovers good.

Fridge: Rice and chicken keep for 4 days, sealed. The yogurt sauce keeps for 5. The fresh veg and feta go in a separate container and stay crisp.

Reheat: Microwave the rice and chicken 60 to 90 seconds, then add the cold veg, feta, and sauce after warming.

Make ahead: This is the make-ahead recipe. Cook everything once and build four lunches at once.

Freezer: Cooked chicken and rice freeze well for a month. The assembled bowl with fresh veg does not.

Recipe card

Greek chicken meal-prep bowls

Lemon-oregano chicken, herby rice, cucumber and tomato, feta, and a quick garlicky yogurt sauce, portioned into four containers. High-protein meal prep that tastes good all week.

Prep
20 min
Cook
25 min
Serves
4
Total
45 min
Ingredients
  • 1½ lb boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut into bite-size pieces
  • 2 Tbsp olive oil
  • 2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
  • 2 garlic cloves, grated
  • 1½ tsp dried oregano
  • 1 tsp kosher salt
  • black pepper
  • 1½ cups long-grain white or brown rice
  • 3 cups water or chicken broth
  • ½ tsp kosher salt
  • 3 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley and dill
  • 1 Tbsp lemon juice and 1 Tbsp olive oil
  • 2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved
  • 1 English cucumber, diced
  • ¼ small red onion, slivered
  • 4 oz feta, crumbled
  • 1 cup full-fat Greek yogurt
  • 1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
  • 1 small garlic clove, grated
  • 2 Tbsp fresh dill, chopped
  • ¼ tsp kosher salt
  • to thin 1 to 2 Tbsp water
Method (short version)
  1. 01Marinate and cook the chicken.
  2. 02Cook the herby rice.
  3. 03Whisk the yogurt sauce.
  4. 04Pack the containers.
  5. 05Assemble and eat.

Nutrition information is an estimate. See full nutrition disclaimer.

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