This Healthy Chicken Sandwich recipe is juicy and packed with flavor, using green goddess dressing as the chicken marinade and sauce. It's easy to make using only a cast iron skillet and once your chicken is marinated, it can be made in less than 30 minutes. If you are looking for a restaurant quality healthy chicken sandwich recipe, I am going to walk you through my tried and true methods to reach perfection in your own kitchen.
Why I Love This Recipe
- There are only 8 main ingredients, making this recipe straightforward and easy to pull together.
- This sandwich is versatile, allowing you to pair it with a combination of sides! In this recipe, I will walk you through a recipe for pan roasted brussel sprouts, but you could also serve it with pan roasted sweet potato fries, broccoli, zuchinni or fresh veggies.
- The best part of this recipe is that it's perfect for a busy weeknight, once the chicken is marinated, it can be made in less than 30 minutes!
- The flavors are bright and juicy, you won't regret making this instead going through the drive through at chick-fil-a again!
This recipe pairs well with my Baked Fennel or Tri-Color Carrots! If you love this healthy chicken sandwich recipe, be sure to check out my Greek Chicken Sandwiches that I serve with oven roasted sweet potato fries. If you are looking for a dessert to eat with this sandwich that's light and not overly sweet, you have to try my Almond Olive Oil Cake!
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Ingredients
- Chicken breasts: I am using 2 large chicken breasts sliced in half in thickness. You could also use thinly sliced chicken cutlets or chicken tenders.
- Green Goddess Dressing: I like the dressing from trader joe's, it has avocado, green onions, lemon juice, chives, basil and garlic. The flavors are bold and fresh!
- Olive Oil: I primarily use olive oil when cooking, I also love using other healthy fats like coconut oil, avocado oil, beef tallow or ghee.
- Flaky sea salt: To bring out the flavors in your chicken and liven up your dish.
- Ground pepper: I like to use a pepper grinder for my savory dishes, it tastes so fresh!
- Brussel Sprouts: I love how simply and crunchy brussel sprouts are, making them the perfect side veggie.
- Brioche buns: Brioche buns are light, fluffy and have the perfect flavor and texture for this Healthy Chicken Sandwich!
- Red onion: The perfect pungent and tangy crunch to tie the flavors of the sandwich together.
- Lettuce: Add that light and crunchy texture to your sandwich!
- Tomato: It's juicy and adds extra freshness to this sandwich.
- Ranch: The creaminess of the ranch pairs perfectly with the chicken and green goddess dressing.
- Swiss cheese: The perfect melty cheese for this sandwich!
See recipe card for quantities.
How to Make this Healthy Chicken Sandwich
Step 1
Preheat the oven to 400°F. Slice your chicken breasts half in thickness, making about 4 thinly sliced chicken cutlets. To a plastic bag, add the chicken, green goddess dressing and salt. Marinade in the fridge overnight or for 30 minutes before cooking.
Step 2
Heat your skillet to medium while you prep the brussels. Add 2 tablespoon of olive oil to a baking sheet. Slice of the ends of the brussel sprouts and cut into quarters. Add the salt and pepper and bake until tender about 20-25 minutes.
Step 3
On medium-high heat, sear the chicken breasts about 5 minutes per side until golden brown and the internal temperature reaches 165°F.
When pulling the chicken breasts out of the marinade, keep as much of the marinade in the bag as possible. If you have a lot of extra liquid in your pan, I would drain it off first to ensure your chicken can get nice and crispy!
Step 4
Once cooked, place the chicken on a baking sheet and add a slice of swiss cheese to each chicken breast. Bake until the cheese is melted, about 3 minutes.
Step 5
On a grill pan or the cast iron skillet, lightly toast the buns with an olive oil drizzle on medium heat until golden brown.
Step 6
Slice your tomatoes, red onion and chop lettuce for the buns. Add ranch on one side of the bun and green goddess dressing on the other. Add your vegetables on top of each chicken breast with melted swiss.
Equipment
Baking Sheets: I like to use stainless steel baking sheets for all of my cooking needs!
Large skillet: I like to use a 15 inch cast iron or stainless steel skillet.
Storage
I like to keep my Green Goddess Chicken in an airtight container or wrap in plastic wrap for 2-3 days to store leftovers and then build the sandwich when I am ready to eat. You could also easily meal prep the chicken cutlets and use the ingredients on top of a bed of lettuce for a yummy salad to enjoy for lunch throughout the week!
Top Tip
I do recommend marinating this chicken in the green goddess dressing overnight or for at least 30 minutes before cooking for optimal flavor. You can marinade the chicken for 2-3 days in advance as well if you are prepping your meals for the week.
Don't have time to marinade? No problem, don't let that stop you from making this recipe! If you are cooking the chicken cutlets without marinating first, I would add a tablespoon or so of the green goddess dressing on top of each chicken breast to add some flavor. It will still taste amazing!
Is a Chicken Sandwich Healthy?
Absolutely! Chicken Sandwiches are a great option if you are looking for healthy recipes for your family due to their versatility. My husband prefers the brioche buns and I can always easily opt for a healthier alternative like multigrain bread or buns with whole grains if I am wanting a low glycemic option.
If you are wanting to go lower carb or keto, the chicken and cheese are a great source of healthy fats. You could always serve the chicken and veggies on top of a bed of lettuce or make a lettuce wrap.
How to Toast Burger Buns on Stove
You can use a cast iron grill pan, griddle or cooking pan to toast your sandwich buns. I recommend to lighlty drizzle the inside of the buns with olive oil or butter for a both a soft and crispy texture.
Heat your pan to medium heat and ensure it is hot before placing the insides of your buns face down on the pan. Apply very gentle pressure with your hand or a spatula to ensure even browning on the buns. Check your buns after 30 seconds to check your stove temperature. Did your buns already burn slightly? Go ahead and turn down your heat and continue monitoring the toast on your buns for the next few minutes until they are golden brown.
Best Way to Cook Chicken on Stove
Are you intimated on how to cook your chicken or worried it won't be cook throughly through? Not to worry, I will walk you through all of the expert tips to ensure you have a juicy and fully cooked chicken every time!
How to cook chicken using a cast iron, stainless steel, or non-stick pan:
- Preheat your pan: Always make sure your pan is hot before adding your oil and chicken. This is key to ensuring your chicken has a crispy texture and won't stick to your pan.
- How to check if your pan is hot enough: Once I have pre-heated my pan at medium-high heat for a 3-5 minutes depending on your stove top, I carefully check my heat by adding a dash of water to the pan.
- If using the a stainless steel pan, the water will boil and create small beads that run across your pan.
- If using a cast iron or non-stick pan, the water will boil and evaporate very quickly. If the water pools up on your pan and does not quickly evaporate, it needs to be hotter.
- Sear your chicken: Once your pan is properly heated on medium-high heat, add your olive oil and chicken to begin cooking.
- What if my pan is too hot?: This happens to me all the time! One minute, I am pre-heating my pan and the next my toddler needs me and before I know it my pan is slightly smoking!
- If this happens to you, I turn off the heat and let the pan cool down for a few minutes before placing on the heat again. This is also why it's important to not add your oil to your pan before you are ready to cook your chicken!
How to know if your chicken is cooked?
For this recipe, the cooking time on the chicken cutlets is about 10 minutes total or 5 minutes on each side.
- To ensure even cooking and prevent burning, I flip my chicken after 3 minutes on each side and then flip back for the remaining 2 minutes to finish the cook.
- At the end, I always like to use a quick digital thermometer to ensure the internal temperature reaches 165°F.
- If you don't have a thermometer, here are two methods to ensure your chicken is cooked through:
- Towards the end of the cook, insert a table knife into a center chicken. Carefully place the knife on the back of your hand, the knife should be very warm. If the knife feels cold to the touch, the inside is not cooked through and needs to be cooked longer.
- Once your chicken is golden brown on each side and it looks cooked through, let it rest on a cutting board for 3 minutes to cool and finish cooking. Cut through the center of the chicken, it should be white and not light pink or translucent in the center.
Related
Looking for other recipes like this? Try these:
Healthy Chicken Sandwich
Ingredients
For the Chicken:
- 1 lb chicken breasts
- 4 oz green goddess dressing
- 1 ½ teaspoon flaky sea salt
For the Sandwich:
- 4 Brioche buns
- 4 swiss cheese slices
- 1 roma tomato sliced
- ¼ red onion sliced
- 4-5 leaves lettuce chopped
- Green goddess dressing for bun
- Ranch for the bun
- For the Brussel Sprouts:
- 1 lb brussel sprouts quartered
- 1 teaspoon flaky sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper about 6 pepper grinds
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F. Slice your chicken breasts half in thickness, making about 4 thinly sliced chicken cutlets. To a plastic bag, add the chicken, green goddess dressing and salt. Marinade in the fridge overnight or for 30 minutes before cooking.
- Heat your skillet to medium while you prep the brussels. Add 2 tablespoon of olive oil to a baking sheet. Slice of the ends of the brussel sprouts and cut into quarters. Add the salt and pepper and bake until tender about 20-25 minutes.
- When pulling the chicken breasts out of the marinade, keep as much of the marinade in the bag as possible. If you have a lot of extra liquid in your pan, I would drain it off first to ensure your chicken can get nice and crispy!
- On medium-high heat, sear the chicken breasts about 5 minutes per side until golden brown and the internal temperature reaches 165°F.
- Once cooked, place the chicken on a baking sheet and add a slice of swiss cheese to each chicken breast. Bake until the cheese is melted, about 3 minutes.
- On a griddle or pan, lightly toast the buns with an olive oil drizzle on medium heat until golden brown.
- Slice your tomatoes, red onion and chop lettuce for the buns. Add ranch on one side of the bun and green goddess dressing on the other. Add your vegetables on top of each chicken breast with melted swiss.
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