Takeout foam container of sliced seasoned chicken over white rice, a lettuce salad with feta and black olives, and white sauce — Photo: User:CrunchySkies · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Middle Eastern & North African · Lunch · Dinner

Chicken Shawarma Bowl

Name: Chicken Shawarma Bowl
Prep time: 25 min
Cook time: 45 min
Total time: 70 min
Cuisine: Middle Eastern & North African
Ingredients: 600 g (about 3 breasts) boneless skinless chicken breast; 1 tbsp olive oil; 3 tbsp (about 1 1/2 lemons) lemon juice; 3 cloves garlic; 1 tsp ground cumin; 1 tsp paprika; 1 tsp ground coriander; 1/2 tsp ground turmeric; 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon; 1/2 tsp black pepper; 1 tsp, divided salt; 1 cup, dry brown basmati rice; 2 1/4 cups water; 1 cup plain nonfat Greek yogurt; 1 medium cucumber; 2 medium tomatoes; 1/2 small red onion; 2 cups shredded romaine lettuce; 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley; 2/3 cup sliced dill pickles or pickled turnips

Shawarma Dajaj

By BerryFit Kitchen · Nutrition checked with USDA data · Updated Oct 11, 2026 · How we make recipes

Warmly spiced, lemony chicken sliced over nutty brown basmati rice with a crisp chopped salad, tangy pickles and a cool garlic yogurt sauce. All the flavour of the street-food classic in a lighter, home-cooked bowl.

Prep: 25 min
Cook: 45 min
Total: 70 min
Serves: 4

Easy
Gluten Free
High protein

23%

Per serving462kcal23% of a 2,000 kcal day

46gProtein

47gCarbs

10gFat

5gFiber

Calories come from: Carbs 41% · Fat 19% · Protein 40%

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Ingredients

For 4 servings

600 g (about 3 breasts)boneless skinless chicken breast
1 tbsp14 golive oil
3 tbsp (about 1 1/2 lemons)45 glemon juice
3 cloves9 ggarlic
1 tspground cumin
1 tsppaprika
1 tspground coriander
1/2 tspground turmeric
1/4 tspground cinnamon
1/2 tspblack pepper
1 tsp, divided5 gsalt
1 cup, dry185 gbrown basmati rice
2 1/4 cups530 gwater
1 cup245 gplain nonfat Greek yogurt
1 medium200 gcucumber
2 medium250 gtomatoes
1/2 small50 gred onion
2 cups shredded100 gromaine lettuce
1/4 cup chopped15 gfresh parsley
2/3 cup sliced100 gdill pickles or pickled turnips

Steps

1
Rinse the rice, then add it to a saucepan with the water and 1/4 tsp of the salt.
2
Bring to a boil, cover, reduce to low and simmer for 40 minutes until the water is absorbed; rest covered for 5 minutes, then fluff.
3
While the rice cooks, mince the garlic.
4
In a bowl, mix the olive oil, 2 tbsp of the lemon juice, two-thirds of the garlic, the cumin, paprika, coriander, turmeric, cinnamon, black pepper and 1/2 tsp of the salt.
5
Slice each chicken breast in half horizontally into thinner fillets, coat them in the marinade and leave for 20 minutes.
6
For the sauce, stir the yogurt with the remaining garlic, the remaining 1 tbsp lemon juice and the remaining 1/4 tsp salt; chill until serving.
7
Dice the cucumber and tomatoes, thinly slice the red onion, chop the parsley and toss them together with the shredded romaine.
8
Heat a non-stick or cast-iron pan over medium-high heat and cook the chicken for 5-6 minutes per side until well browned and cooked through to 74 °C / 165 °F.
9
Rest the chicken for 5 minutes, then slice thinly.
10
Divide the rice among four bowls, top with the chicken, salad and pickles, and spoon over the garlic yogurt sauce.

Swaps, storage and make-ahead

Swaps

Use chicken thighs instead of breasts for juicier, more forgiving meat that is closer to street-style shawarma.
For a dairy-free sauce, whisk tahini with lemon juice, garlic, salt and water instead of the Greek yogurt.
Swap the brown basmati for white basmati rice, using about 1 1/2 cups water and simmering for about 15 minutes instead of 40, if you want a quicker, softer rice.
For a vegetarian bowl, replace the chicken with drained chickpeas tossed in the same spice marinade and roasted until crisp.

Storage

Refrigerate the chicken, rice, sauce and salad in separate airtight containers within 2 hours, and eat within 3 to 4 days, reheating the chicken and rice until steaming hot. The chopped salad is best eaten within a day, and the yogurt sauce and salad should not be frozen.

Make ahead

Cook the rice up to 1 day ahead, cooling it quickly and refrigerating it within 1 hour, and mix the garlic yogurt sauce up to 3 days ahead and keep it chilled; the chicken can sit in its marinade in the fridge for up to 24 hours before cooking. Chop the cucumber, tomato and onion on the day you serve so they stay crisp.

Nutrition values are for the recipe as written.

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Allergens and nutrition

Contains: Milk

Check the labels of packaged ingredients for allergens and suitability for your diet.

Full nutrition

	Per serving (589 g)	Per 100 g
Calories	462 kcal	78 kcal
Protein	45.5 g	7.7 g
Carbohydrates	47.4 g	8 g
of which sugars	6.5 g	1.1 g
Fiber	4.6 g	0.8 g
Fat	9.8 g	1.7 g
of which saturated	1.8 g	0.3 g
Sodium	795 mg	135 mg

Nutrition is calculated from USDA FoodData Central data and may differ from what you cook.