During the week, all-in-one dinner bowls like this and my DIY CAVA bowl are a satisfying, time-saving option. With a little bit of advanced preparation, you can turn this popular street food (typically served with pita bread) into a hearty shawarma rice bowl perfect for a quick weeknight dinner. If chicken isn’t your preference, you can also make this shawarma bowl recipe with my classic Beef Shawarma.
Ingredients You’ll Need
This is a wonderful recipe to make with leftover chicken shawarma, and it comes together very quickly if you have leftovers. Otherwise, you can make your chicken shawarma meal from scratch. You can find all of the ingredients at your everyday grocery store—no specialty shopping is required.
- For The Marinade
- Chicken: I used boneless skinless chicken thighs in this deconstructed chicken shawarma, which gives the best flavor and texture. But if you’d prefer to swap in chicken breasts, they will also work well.
- Kosher salt
- Shawarma seasoning: My homemade spice blend, made with flavorful spices like ground cumin, paprika, turmeric, coriander, cardamom, and cinnamon, is easy to make and great to have on hand. But if you’d prefer to buy a ready-made jar, here’s my favorite one (affiliate link).
- Lemon juice
- Extra Virgin Olive oil
- Garlic: I prefer fresh garlic cloves for the most impact but garlic powder could be used for a milder garlic flavor.
- For The Rice
- Water or Stock: While water is sufficient, using either vegetable stock or chicken broth when cooking your rice will give it more flavor.
- Unsalted butter: I prefer unsalted butter so that I can adjust the salt but if all you have is salted butter, omit the additional Kosher salt. Alternatively, you can also use olive oil to cook your rice,
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- Rice: For my chicken shawarma rice bowl recipe, I used long-grain white rice. While I know it is controversial, I prefer to rinse my rice before cooking it.
- Toppings For The Bowls
- Cherry tomatoes: Look for fresh, crisp cherry tomatoes and cut them into quarters. Regular or grape tomatoes will also work if that’s what you have available.
- English cucumber: Persian cucumbers are also an option.
- Curly salad greens: These can be one type of lettuce or a blend of various kinds. The key here is that you want a more delicate, curly leaf to slice thinly for texture in your shawarma chicken bowl.
- Dill pickles: You can purchase these at the store, or pickle your own in advance. The zesty crunch these pickles provide makes them one of the chicken shawarma toppings you don’t want to skip!
- Pickled red onions: If you’d like to make your own, here’s my pickled red onions recipe. Storebought is also ok to use.
- Tzatziki: While you can find many tzatziki options at the grocery store, making your own tzatziki using plain Greek yogurt, cucumbers, and fresh lemon juice is easy and extra tasty.
- Hummus: This is an optional ingredient that adds some creaminess to your chicken shawarma bowls. Again, you can select any version at the store, or you can make my Mediterranean Hummus in advance.
- Lemon: A couple of lemon wedges, served on the side, are optional for a touch of brightness as a finisher.
Ingredient Substitutions
One of the best parts about this chicken shawarma rice bowl recipe is that it is endlessly customizable. There are so many different varieties that you can make, depending on which ingredients you have on hand or simply prefer. Here are some common substitutions you can use:
- Other grains: If you’d like to skip the long-grain white rice and go for a more traditional Middle Eastern grain, I recommend that you make bulgur wheat for the base. For a gluten-free option, my seasoned quinoa will work well. You can also swap in Vermicelli Rice, Yellow Rice, or Jasmine Brown Rice.
- Other toppings: A great option to add a creamy zing on top of your shawarma meal is my Crazy Feta recipe (made popular with my copycat CAVA bowl recipe), but crumbled feta cheese is a quicker alternative. Or you can combine several toppings using my Cucumber Salad recipe, which, to me, is the perfect chicken shawarma bowl topper.
- Other pickles: You can use pink pickled turnips as an alternative or in addition to the pickled onions and pickled cucumbers.
- Other sauces: As an alternative to tzatziki, I recommend this vibrant Tahini Yogurt Sauce. Basic Lemon Tahini Sauce serves as a dairy-free (vegan) alternative. And Yogurt Dill Sauce adds some Mediterranean flair to your chicken shawarma with rice.
How to Make Chicken Shawarma Bowls?
Chicken shawarma over rice is a straightforward recipe that anyone can make. With a little advanced prep, you can even throw your shawarma bowls together quickly on a busy weeknight for a quick and easy dinner.
- Prepare your chicken. Pat 1 ½ pounds of chicken thighs dry with paper towels and season them with 1 ½ teaspoon of kosher salt on both sides. Transfer them to a large bowl.
- Season your chicken and allow time to marinate. Add 2 tablespoons of shawarma seasoning, ¼ cup of lemon juice, ¼ cup of olive oil, and 2 cloves of fresh minced garlic to the bowl with your chicken in it. Mix it all together using kitchen tongs to coat the chicken with the marinade. Cover the chicken with stretch film and marinate it in the refrigerator for an hour or overnight.
- Cook your marinated chicken shawarma. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Arrange the marinated chicken on the sheet pan and place it on the middle rack. Bake for 18-20 minutes or until the internal temperature of a chicken thigh registers 165 degrees F. If you prefer your chicken shawarma to be on the browned side, move the sheet pan to the top rack and broil for 2-3 minutes more, while watching it closely to prevent burning.
- Prepare your chicken shawarma for your bowls. Let the chicken rest for 5 minutes, then slice it into ½ inch strips (or you can cut it into cubes as well.)
- Cook the rice. While the chicken is cooking, cook the rice. In a medium saucepan, add 2 cups of water (or stock), 1 tablespoon of unsalted butter, and 1 teaspoon of kosher salt. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then add the rinsed rice, reduce the heat down to low, cover, and cook until rice is tender, about 15-17 minutes. Remove from the heat and let it rest for 10 minutes (do not remove the lid); right before serving, fluff it with a fork.
- Assemble your chicken shawarma bowls. To assemble the shawarma chicken and rice, divide the rice among four bowls. Top it off with sliced shawarma chicken, a handful of cherry tomatoes, sliced cucumbers, salad greens, pickled cucumbers, pickled red onions, and a generous dollop of hummus and tzatziki.
How to Meal Prep & Store Leftovers?
My chicken shawarma bowls recipe can be adapted for your weekly meal prep routine. Here are a few simple instructions to ensure the optimal result:
- Meal Prep: How you prepare your shawarma meal in advance depends on how you prefer to eat it. Do you plan to enjoy it hot, or do you not mind eating it cold/at room temperature?
If you’d like to eat your chicken rice shawarma hot, then I recommend you store your rice and chicken together, keeping the rest of the toppings separate. This way, when you go to reheat your bowls, you can heat only the shawarma chicken and rice, then add the toppings afterward. If you don’t mind eating your chicken shawarma bowls cold or at room temperature, feel free to store everything together when you meal prep your bowls. - Storing Leftovers: The same instructions as above apply here with any leftovers you have. Store the rice and chicken together separately from the toppings if you plan to eat it again hot. As long as they are kept in an airtight container in the fridge, they should be fresh for up to 3 days.
- Reheating: You can reheat rice and chicken in a low-heat oven (around 300 degrees F) and then add the toppings right before serving.
Expert Tips
When it comes to all of the chicken shawarma bowl recipes you’ll find, this one is achievable and foolproof. Here are a couple extra tips that I have for you to ensure a seamless preparation experience in your own kitchen:
- Feel free to cook your chicken in the manner you prefer. While the recipe below instructs you to cook your chicken thighs on a sheet pan in the oven, they will also come out just as delicious if you choose to grill them on a barbeque, or if you choose to use a cast iron skillet on the stovetop. You can find the details of each method in our chicken shawarma recipe.
- Marinating your chicken will result in the best flavor. My mom always marinated our chicken shawarma overnight, allowing the spices to fully infuse the meat. This extra time helps the flavors develop and makes the chicken even more tender. However, if you’re short on time, you can cook it right away—shawarma seasoning is already packed with bold, aromatic flavors that will still shine through.
- Short on time? Take the Trader Joe’s shortcut. If you live in the US and have access to Trader Joe’s, here’s a hot tip: The packaged chicken shawarma they sell at Trader Joe’s is fantastic and takes about 20 minutes to cook in the oven. It is a fantastic shortcut to make this shawarma chicken bowl in less than 30 minutes for a quick weeknight dinner.
- Make it lighter. If you want to cut down on calories, you can skip the rice and assemble your shawarma bowls over a bed of lettuce or cauliflower rice (for a low-carb and keto friendly option) instead. Additionally, you can add other veggies like thinly sliced red bell peppers, cucumbers, and radishes.
- Serve it as a part of a larger meal. While this recipe is a complete meal on its own, you can easily turn it into a feast by pairing it with chicken shawarma sides like warm pita bread, baba ganoush, muhammara, or a fresh cucumber and tomato salad.
If you make this Healthy Chicken Shawarma Bowls recipe, I would greatly appreciate it if you could take a minute to rate it and leave a comment below. It is a great way to support this website and help those planning to make it. Also, if you took pictures, I’d love to see them. Share your creations on Instagram using #foolproofeats so I can share them with the Foolproof Living community.
Chicken Shawarma Bowl Recipe
If you’re wondering how to eat chicken shawarma beyond the usual pita, this versatile grain bowl is the answer. Meal prep-friendly and easy to customize, this chicken shawarma and rice recipe transforms a classic shawarma plate into a hearty rice bowl with all the authentic Middle Eastern toppings like tzatziki sauce, hummus, and pickled red onions.
Ingredients
For The Marinade:
- 1 ½ lbs. Boneless skinless chicken thighs, or chicken breasts
- 1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt
- 2 tablespoons shawarma seasoning
- ¼ cup lemon juice
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
For The Rice:
- 2 cups vegetable stock , or water or chicken stock
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter or olive oil
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 cup long-grain white rice, rinsed and drained
For The Bowls:
- 1 ½ cups cherry tomatoes, quartered
- 1 English cucumber, cut into small pieces, or 3 Persian cucumbers
- 1 ½ cup curly salad greens, rinsed and sliced thinly (or any other salad greens)
- ½ cup pickled cucumber, sliced (aka dill pickles)
- ½ cup pickled red onions
- 1 cup tzatziki sauce, or yogurt tahini sauce
- 1 cup hummus, optional
- 4 wedges of a lemon
Instructions
- Pat dry 1 ½ pounds of chicken thighs with paper towels and season with 1 ½ teaspoon of kosher salt on both sides. Transfer them to a large bowl.
- Add 2 tablespoons of shawarma seasoning, ¼ cup of lemon juice, ¼ cup of olive oil, and 2 cloves of fresh minced garlic. Mix well using kitchen tongs to coat the chicken with the marinade. Cover the chicken with stretch film and marinate it in the refrigerator for an hour or overnight.
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. (218 degrees F.).
- Arrange the marinated chicken on the baking sheet on a single layer and place it on the middle rack. Bake for 18-20 minutes or until a meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of a chicken registers 165 degrees F. If you prefer your chicken shawarma to be on the browned side, move the sheet pan to the top rack and broil for 2-3 minutes (while watching it closely).
- Let the chicken rest for 5 minutes, then slice it into ½ inch strips (or you can cut it into cubes as well).
- While the chicken is cooking, cook the rice. Into a medium saucepan, add 2 cups of water (or stock), 1 tablespoon of unsalted butter, and 1 teaspoon of kosher salt. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Add the rinsed rice, reduce the heat down to low, cover, and cook until rice is tender, about 15-17 minutes. Remove from the heat and let it rest for 10 minutes (do not remove the lid); right before serving, fluff it with a fork and season with black pepper.
- To assemble the chicken shawarma bowls, divide the rice among four bowls. Top it off with sliced shawarma chicken, a handful of cherry tomatoes, sliced cucumbers, salad greens, pickled cucumbers, pickled red onions, and a generous dollop of hummus and tzatziki.
- Serve right away.
Notes
- Yields: This recipe makes four adult servings of chicken shawarma bowls. The nutrition values below include optional toppings like hummus and tzatziki.
- Meal prep: If preferred, you can assemble it in airtight meal prep containers. If you go in that direction, I recommend storing cooked chicken and rice together and adding the toppings right before serving the most fresh shawarma rice bowls.
- Storing: Bring leftovers to room temperature, place in an airtight container and keep in the fridge for upto 3 days.
- Marinading: The one-hour (or overnight) marinading is optional. If you are short on time, you can cook chicken right away.
Nutrition
Calories: 747kcal | Carbohydrates: 60g | Protein: 44g | Fat: 38g | Saturated Fat: 8g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 5g | Monounsaturated Fat: 16g | Trans Fat: 0.1g | Cholesterol: 179mg | Sodium: 2615mg | Potassium: 896mg | Fiber: 6g | Sugar: 7g | Vitamin A: 948IU | Vitamin C: 23mg | Calcium: 159mg | Iron: 4mg
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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