Chicken Shawarma Bowl

What makes my Chicken Shawarma Bowls stand out from the crowd:

• Protein-Packed: With chicken, chickpeas, and feta, this bowl-style dinner provides a hearty dose of protein. Ready in about 30 minutes, it's perfect for weeknights, especially if you make my chicken shawarma in advance.
• Flavor-Packed Chicken: I marinate skinless boneless chicken thighs in warm spices like cumin, paprika, cinnamon, turmeric, cayenne pepper, and cardamom, then grill them until perfectly juicy—either on the grill or a stovetop grill pan.
• Customizable: I provide tips to make it gluten-free, vegetarian, vegan, or spicy, so you can tailor it to your dietary preferences.
• Turmeric Rice Base: I sauté onions and garlic in ghee, then cook basmati rice with turmeric and chicken broth for a fragrant, golden base. You can also use my cilantro-lime black bean rice as a base.
• Fresh, Crunchy Salad: I combine Persian cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, mint, and parsley with olive oil to add freshness and crunch to the chicken shawarma bowl. My husband has recently asked me to inlude more salads to our weekly protein-packed dinners, and this recipe is quickly becoming a family favorite! You can also use my Greek salad here.
• Homemade Tzatziki Sauce: I make a quick tzatziki sauce with Greek yogurt, lemon juice, garlic, and cucumber for a creamy, tangy topping. You can also use your favorite store-bought version.
• Flavorful Add-Ins: I include store-bought toum, pink pickled turnips, pickled yellow peppers, crumbled feta, and chickpeas to add layers of flavor and texture.
• Meal Prep Friendly: I love this bowl-style dinner for meal prep—homemade components like chicken shawarma, turmeric rice, and tzatziki can be made ahead, and the rest is store-bought. Everything keeps well and the leftovers taste just as good the next day, so it’s perfect for easy lunches or quick weeknight dinners.

Ingredient Notes & Substitutions

• Proteins: Ground chicken or turkey, lamb, shrimp, or steak work great for this dish as well! Follow the instructions on how to make the shawarma chicken but replace the chicken with any of these proteins instead. 
• Rotisserie Chicken: You can use rotisserie chicken in place of the chicken shawarma. However, I highly recommend making the chicken shawarma recipe to experience the entire dish as it’s meant to be.
• Other Veggie Ingredients: You can also use pitted kalamata olives, roasted chickpeas, cilantro, sliced radishes, sauteed kale, fresh arugula, chopped romaine lettuce, or raw spinach!
• Cheese: Haloumi fresh or grilled is a great substitute for feta! 
• Grains: I recommend regular white rice, couscous, bulgar, teff, brown rice, or quinoa as alternatives to making the turmeric basmati rice.
• Sauces: I love my homemade tzatziki, but any tahini sauce, hummus, or savory yogurt based sauce will work great with this recipe! Chimichurri type sauces also taste great!
• Smokiness: Dust the finished composed bowl with a little sumac or paprika!
• Crunchy Chickpeas: Have you tried crunchy chickpeas that most grocery stores sell in the snack aisle? I love them! You can replace the canned soft chickpeas I am using here with the crunchy ones for a texture boost!
• Tip: the below photo shows every single ingredient you need. Take a screenshot for your shopping list!

How to Make Chicken Shawarma Bowls

Note: This is a quick rundown of the recipe, complete with helpful step-by-step photos! For the full recipe & instructions please scroll down to the recipe card below.

• To make the turmeric rice, sauté diced onion in ghee over medium heat until soft, then add garlic, cooking for another minute.
• Stir in turmeric and salt, then add the rice, toasting it briefly with the spices.
• Add a bay leaf and chicken broth, bring to a boil, then cover and simmer on low for 15 minutes.
• Let it sit off the heat for 5–10 minutes before fluffing with a fork and removing the bay leaf.

• For the quick salad, toss together cherry tomatoes, diced Persian cucumbers, chopped mint, parsley, olive oil, salt, and pepper.

• To assemble the bowls, start with a scoop of turmeric rice, then top with sliced chicken shawarma, tzatziki, toum, pickled turnips, pickled yellow peppers, crumbled feta, chickpeas, and the cucumber-tomato salad.
• Finish with lemon wedges and enjoy!

Variations

• Vegan: Replace all animal products with vegan ones! It will taste just as fantastic. I recommend using tofu, eggplant, and mushrooms as subs for the chicken and vegan yogurts are easy to use as well. Swap the ghee for a plant based butter and the chicken broth for veggie broth. Use a vegan cheese you like similar to feta or just exclude it.
• Spicy: Add cayenne pepper, red chile flakes, or harissa paste to your tzatziki or in your rice to add a little kick to your chicken shawarma bowl!

Storage Instructions

• Refrigerate: You can either store all ingredients minus the tzatziki sauce together and keep in the fridge for up to 4 days.
• Make-ahead storage tip: I like to use mason jars to pre-assemble and store chicken shawarma bowl ingredients if I am meal-prepping: I layer all of the ingredients, starting with the wettest ingredients first: sauce, then the cucumber tomato salad, veggies, chicken, and finishing with the rice. This helps keep the rice from getting soggy and absorbing all of the sauce and when you turn it out into a bowl, the layers will be reversed!
• I highly don’t recommend freezing any of the ingredients for this recipe as it’s a meal best eaten fresh. 

Side Dish Recommendations

• Cilantro-Lime Black Bean Rice
• Mediterranean Lemon Rice with Chickpeas
• Greek Salad
• Orzo Salad
• Greek Pasta Salad

5 from 1 vote

Chicken Shawarma Bowl

I’m bringing this Middle Eastern street food classic into a bowl—grilled chicken shawarma served over turmeric rice with homemade tzatziki, a fresh tomato-cucumber salad, toum, pickled turnips and peppers, feta, and chickpeas. And yes, we’re making the chicken shawarma from scratch—on the grill or grill pan!

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Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 20 minutes mins

Total Time 30 minutes mins

Course lunch, Main Course

Cuisine Arabic, Middle Eastern

Servings 6

Calories per serving 632 kcal

Author: Julia

Ingredients

For the turmeric rice

• 2 tablespoons ghee or butter, coconut oil, or margarine
• ½ medium onion diced
• 4 cloves garlic minced
• 1 ½ teaspoons turmeric powder
• 1 ½ cups basmati rice or any long grain rice, washed and drained
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 ½ cups chicken broth

For the simple cucumber, cherry tomato salad

• 5 ounces cherry tomatoes quartered
• ½ pound persian cucumbers or English cucumbers with the skin removed, cut into ¼” cubes
• 1 tablespoon mint minced
• 1 tablespoon parsley minced
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• salt and pepper

To assemble

• 1 ½ pounds pre-cooked Chicken Shawarma sliced and reheated or cold
• 1 ½ cups tzatziki sauce
• store bought toum or garlic spread
• pink pickled turnips
• pickled yellow peppers
• 8 ounces feta cheese crumbled
• 7 oz canned chickpeas drained and rinsed (I used half of the 15 oz can of chickpeas)
• lemon wedges

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Instructions 

Plan ahead: Make chicken shawarma and tzatziki sauce

• This recipe uses my homemade shawarma chicken and homemade tzatziki sauce. You can find both recipes here. The chicken needs to marinate for at least 1-2 hours (or overnight in the fridge) and then grilled. Plan accordingly. You can pre-cook the chicken up to 1 day in advance or marinate it, and cook it along with the rest of this recipe. It's up to you.

Make turmeric salad

• In a medium pot, heat the ghee over medium heat. Add the diced onion and saute until translucent, but not browned.
• Add the garlic and saute for another minute, until fragrant.
• Add the turmeric powder and salt. Saute for 1 minute.
• Pour in the basmati rice, toasting and coating the rice with the spices for about 1-2 minutes.
• Put in the bay leaf and pour in the chicken broth, stirring to combine all ingredients. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer for 15 minutes undisturbed.
• Remove from the heat, and let sit covered for another 5-10 minutes or until the liquid has been absorbed. Remove the bay leaf and fluff with a fork.

Make cucumber tomato salad

• Combine the cherry tomatoes, Persian cucumbers, mint, parsley, olive oil, salt and pepper to taste in a medium bowl. Adjust the seasoning and set aside.

Assemble

• Scoop the rice into bowls, and layer the chicken shawarma, tzatziki sauce, toum, pink pickled turnips, pickled yellow peppers, feta, chickpeas, and a scoop of the cucumber tomato salad. Serve lemon wedges on the side

Notes

• Can I eat this hot or cold? Eating this at room temperature or cold are great ways to enjoy this dish! I do prefer my rice and chicken to be warm, so I just quickly warm them up in the microwave.
• Don’t lift the lid or disturb the rice while cooking. This will release the steam from the pot and can undercook the rice.
• Because this recipe is incredibly versatile, feel free to use this as a base and add in your favorite toppings!
• If you want to add some spices to your turmeric rice, feel free!  I recommend cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, and/or coriander.
• Storage Tips: Store the assembled chicken shawarma bowls (minus tzatziki) in the fridge for up to 4 days. I don’t recommend freezing—this dish is best enjoyed fresh.
• For meal prep, I like using mason jars—layering from bottom to top: sauce, salad, veggies, chicken, then rice on top. This keeps everything fresh and prevents soggy rice. Just flip into a bowl when ready to eat! 
• I provide helpful tips on the ingredients and substitutions above this recipe card - scroll up. I also provide step-by-step photos.

Endless Bowl Options: Mix & Match Ideas

• Proteins: Ground chicken or turkey, lamb, shrimp, steak—or even rotisserie chicken—all work well here instead of my shawarma chicken.
• Other Veggie Ingredients: You can also use pitted kalamata olives, roasted chickpeas, cilantro, sliced radishes, sauteed kale, fresh arugula, chopped romaine lettuce, or raw spinach! Or, use my Greek salad.
• Cheese: Haloumi fresh or grilled is a great substitute for feta! 
• Grains: Swap turmeric rice with white rice, couscous, bulgur, brown rice, quinoa, or even cauliflower rice. Or, make my cilantro-lime black bean rice.
• Sauces: Try hummus, tahini, garlic yogurt, harissa yogurt, or chimichurri instead of tzatziki. Anything creamy, tangy, or herb-packed works beautifully!

You will need these supplies:

• knife
• cutting board
• measuring spoons
• measuring cups
• medium pot with lid
• mixing bowl

Nutrition

Nutrition Information

Chicken Shawarma Bowl

Amount per Serving

Calories

632

% Daily Value*

Fat

 

32

g

49

%

Saturated Fat

 

12

g

75

%

Trans Fat

 

0.02

g

Polyunsaturated Fat

 

2

g

Monounsaturated Fat

 

8

g

Cholesterol

 

166

mg

55

%

Sodium

 

1677

mg

73

%

Potassium

 

569

mg

16

%

Carbohydrates

 

52

g

17

%

Fiber

 

3

g

13

%

Sugar

 

4

g

4

%

Protein

 

36

g

72

%

Vitamin A

 

638

IU

13

%

Vitamin C

 

9

mg

11

%

Calcium

 

322

mg

32

%

Iron

 

3

mg

17

%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Nutrition Disclaimer:

The nutritional information on this website is only an estimate and is provided for convenience and as a courtesy only. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed. It should not be used as a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

Keyword Chicken Shawarma Bowl

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