These delicious chicken shawarma bowls with rice are so satisfying and totally delicious. All of your favorite toppings are in this shawarma rice bowl, and made with the best chicken shawarma recipe.
Grilled chicken shawarma is just one of those amazing street foods that you can easily do at home. It's a wonderful way to make something different with chicken, especially if you are stuck in the "same-old" rut.
Shawarma has its origins in the Middle East, and I particularly make the Lebanese version of it. Normally, when making chicken shawarma, I use boneless skinless chicken thighs, but for this shawarma bowl recipe, we are going to use boneless skinless chicken breasts.
If you want to check out my original authentic chicken shawarma recipe, just click on the link. You can learn more about the origins of shawarma and step by step directions for how to make shawarma for wraps and so forth.
Or if you did make that recipe, and you had leftovers, then you can use it in these chicken shawarma bowls!
🍚 Ingredients
For the chicken marinade
- Boneless skinless chicken breasts
- Whole milk plain yogurt
- Lemon juice
- Garlic
- Spices for shawarma (I will go over that below)
If you already have shawarma seasoning, then use that in this recipe. I have a recipe for shawarma spice blend if you want to make it and have it on hand. If you don't, that's fine. I am actually going to simplify the shawarma spices in this recipe for things that you probably already have in your pantry:
- salt
- ground cinnamon
- ground black pepper
- cumin
- ground cardamom (omit if you don't have it)
- paprika
- coriander powder
- cayenne pepper powder
- turmeric
For the shawarma toppings and rice bowl
- Cooked long grain white rice
- Cucumbers
- Red onion or Sumac Onions
- Pita Chips
- Tomatoes
- Hummus
- Mint Yogurt Sauce or Toum (Lebanese garlic sauce)
Now all of these chicken shawarma toppings are optional, so you just prepare whatever your heart desires here. I do HIGHLY recommend either the Mint Yogurt Sauce or Toum sauce for this recipe. My preferred topping is the mint yogurt sauce, and it is very easy to make!
🔪 Instructions
How to make chicken shawarma bowls with rice:
Go ahead and start by making a pot of long grain white rice. Basmati rice would also work wonders in this recipe if you have that on hand. While that is cooking, let's start on the chicken shawarma marinade.
Take ⅓ cup of whole milk plain yogurt. Mix in all of the shawarma spices, minced garlic, and the juice of one lemon (2-3 tablespoons). Take that and coat the chicken and allow it to marinate for at least 15 minutes (up to 24 hours).
You can marinate the chicken a day ahead of time. Just coat the chicken and place it covered in the fridge until you are ready to use it.
Fire up the grill! I prefer the shawarma on the grill, especially since traditional shawarma is cooked on a spit over a flame. Grill the marinated chicken on medium heat for 10-15 minutes, flipping it halfway through. Check to make sure it is done and that the juices run clear.
If you don't have a grill, you can bake it in a baking pan at 375 F for 25-30 minutes or until cooked through.
Prepare the toppings for the chicken shawarma rice bowl
Now the toppings are up to you! What do you prefer to eat on a shawarma wrap? I personally love chopped red onions, diced tomatoes, chopped cucumbers and several sauces.
As I stated before Mint Yogurt Sauce is my preferred topping. I also like toum sauce (which is a super garlicky sauce) and hummus. For those delicious recipes, just click the links.
There really is not a limit to toppings, if you want pita chips, go ahead, or even some delicious tabbouleh salad.
While we are talking about this, it would be a really great recipe for entertaining, if you prepared all of these toppings and let people build their own shawarma bowls! Your next party, do it! It will be a hit!
Check out these other popular recipes by A Pinch Of Adventure!
- Lebanese Stuffed Cabbage Leaves
- Burrata Bruschetta
- Za'atar Bread
- Moghrabieh (Stewed Chicken with Pearl Couscous)
- Instant Pot Lasagna Soup
- Cinnamon Streusel Bread
- Easy Brown Sugar Brownies
- Nutella Babka
- Easy Chicken and Dumplings
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📖 Recipe
Chicken Shawarma Bowls
Ingredients
For the chicken
- 3 boneless skinless chicken breasts
- ⅓ cup whole milk yogurt plain
- 1 lemon juiced
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 ½ teaspoons turmeric
- 1 ½ teaspoons cumin
- 1 ½ teaspoons coriander powder
- 1 ½ teaspoons paprika
- ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper powder
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- ½ teaspoon cardamom omit if you don't have it
- 4 cloves garlic minced
For the shawarma bowl toppings
- 4 cups cooked rice white or basmati
- 1 tomato diced
- ⅓ cup red onion finely diced
- 1 cucumber diced
- mint yogurt sauce recommended recipe linked in article
- hummus optional recipe linked in article
- Lebanese garlic sauce optional recipe linked in article
- pita chips optional
Instructions
- Mix yogurt, lemon juice, spices and garlic together and coat the chicken thoroughly. Let it sit for at least 15 minutes (up to 24 hours in fridge)
- Grill the chicken on medium heat for about 15 minutes or until juices run clear and it's cooked through. You could also bake it in the oven on 375° F for 25-30 minutes.
- Prepare all of the toppings while the chicken is cooking.
- Cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces or strips.
- Put the cooked rice in the bowls and add chicken and all of the toppings you desire. Serve and enjoy
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