Sarra Ina Garten’s lemon chicken salad is her famous grilled lemon chicken, marinated overnight in lemon juice, olive oil, and thyme, then grilled, chilled, sliced, and tossed with raw sugar snap peas, julienned bell peppers, thin lemon slices, and a simple lemon-olive oil dressing. It serves 6, takes about 30 minutes of active work, and the rest is marinating and chilling time.
This recipe comes from The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook (1999), and it was born in the store kitchen out of necessity. In the headnote, Ina writes that she “needed a salad idea quickly and looked around the refrigerator to see what was available.” Grilled lemon chicken, sugar snap peas, and bell peppers with a lemon vinaigrette “turned out to be the most popular salad of all times, and we’ve been making it ever since.” It is built on her Grilled Lemon Chicken, which she calls “a famous Barefoot Contessa recipe” that they made “millions of pounds” of over the years.
The technique that makes this salad work is the 6-hour lemon marinade on the chicken. That long soak in lemon juice, olive oil, salt, pepper, and thyme infuses the meat so deeply that the salad barely needs a dressing. A quarter cup each of lemon juice and olive oil is all Ina adds at the end, because the flavor is already in every slice. Skip the overnight marinade and grill the chicken plain, and you need a heavy dressing to compensate for what the meat is missing.
Ina Garten Lemon Chicken Salad Recipe
Course: SaladsCuisine: AmericanDifficulty: Easy6
servings15
minutes20
minutes270
kcalThe most popular salad Ina ever sold at her Barefoot Contessa store, built on her famous overnight lemon-marinated grilled chicken. Snap peas, bell peppers, and thin lemon slices keep it light while the deeply seasoned chicken carries all the flavor without a heavy dressing.
Ingredients
- For the grilled lemon chicken:
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3/4 cup (180ml) freshly squeezed lemon juice (4 lemons)
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3/4 cup (180ml) good olive oil
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2 teaspoons kosher salt
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1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
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1 tablespoon minced fresh thyme leaves (or 1/2 teaspoon dried)
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2 pounds (900g) boneless chicken breasts, skin removed
- For the salad:
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1/4 cup (60ml) freshly squeezed lemon juice (1 large lemon)
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1/4 cup (60ml) good olive oil
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1 cup (100g) raw sugar snap peas, stems and strings removed
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1/2 red bell pepper, julienned
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1/2 yellow bell pepper, julienned
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1 lemon, thinly sliced into rounds
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1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
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1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Directions
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Marinate the chicken: Whisk together the lemon juice, olive oil, salt, pepper, and thyme. Pour over the chicken breasts in a nonreactive bowl. Cover and marinate in the refrigerator for at least 6 hours or overnight. The longer it sits, the better the flavor.
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Grill the chicken: Heat a charcoal or gas grill to medium-high. Cook the chicken breasts for 10 minutes on each side until just cooked through but still juicy. Do not overcook.
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Chill and slice: Let the chicken cool slightly, then refrigerate until cold. Slice diagonally into 3/8-inch-thick slices, saving any juices that collect.
- Toss the salad: In a large bowl, toss the sliced chicken and its juices with the lemon juice, olive oil, sugar snap peas, red and yellow bell peppers, lemon slices, salt, and pepper. Taste for seasoning and serve cold or at room temperature.
Notes
- Ina says “freshly squeezed lemon juice is essential to the flavor of this salad.” Bottled lemon juice tastes flat and metallic in a recipe this simple, where lemon is the dominant flavor.
She also writes “I like a salad to look like what it is: using lemon slices in the salad complements the lemon vinaigrette.” The thin lemon rounds are edible and add a burst of citrus when you bite through the rind.
In spring, Ina sometimes substitutes thin blanched asparagus for the sugar snap peas. Blanch for 2 minutes, ice bath, and drain before adding.
FAQs
Why does Ina marinate the chicken for 6 hours?
The long soak in lemon juice and olive oil does two things at once. The acid from the lemon tenderizes the surface of the chicken, breaking down tough proteins so the meat stays juicy even after grilling. The olive oil carries the thyme and pepper into the flesh so the flavor goes all the way through, not just on the outside.
Ina says “the longer you marinate the chicken, the better.” Six hours is the minimum, but overnight is ideal. A 30-minute marinade barely penetrates the surface, and you end up needing a heavier dressing on the salad to make up for the bland meat. The whole point of this recipe is that the chicken IS the flavor.
Can you use a grill pan instead of an outdoor grill?
You can, and the salad will still taste great. A cast-iron grill pan over medium-high heat produces good char marks and cooks the chicken through in about the same time. The only thing you lose is the smoky flavor from real charcoal, which adds a subtle background note.
If you do not have a grill pan, you can also roast the marinated chicken. The same technique Ina uses in her Mustard Chicken Salad works here: roast bone-in breasts at 350F (180C) for 35 to 40 minutes. The texture is slightly different since roasted chicken has a softer surface than grilled, but the lemon marinade flavor comes through just as well.
Why does Ina include whole lemon slices in the salad?
Ina writes that she “likes a salad to look like what it is.” The thin lemon rounds scattered through the chicken and vegetables visually tell you this is a lemon salad before you take a single bite. They also reinforce the flavor because each slice adds a pop of citrus when you eat through the rind.
The slices are cut thin enough to be fully edible, rind and all. If you find them too bitter, use a Meyer lemon instead of a regular one. The rind is thinner and sweeter. But standard lemons are what Ina uses, and most people enjoy the slight bitterness as a contrast to the sweet bell peppers.
How is this different from Ina’s mustard chicken salad?
These are two completely different dishes that happen to both be chicken salads. This lemon version is light, bright, and dressed with just lemon juice and olive oil. There is no mayo, no cream, and no heavy sauce. The chicken is grilled and sliced, and the vegetables are raw.
Ina’s Mustard Chicken from How Easy Is That? (2010) goes in the opposite direction: roasted chicken diced and bound in a thick dressing of mayo, Dijon, and whole-grain mustard with blanched broccoli. The lemon version is a summer salad you eat with a fork. The mustard version is a hearty lunch you scoop onto bread.
Can you make lemon chicken salad ahead of time?
The chicken can be marinated, grilled, and refrigerated up to a day ahead. The assembled salad holds for a few hours in the fridge, but the snap peas lose their crunch overnight, so toss everything together the day you plan to serve.
For a summer lunch spread, pair this with Ina’s Creamy Cucumber Salad for a cool, no-cook table. Both recipes improve with chill time and neither needs last-minute cooking, so you can have lunch ready before noon and spend the afternoon outside instead of in the kitchen.
