Chicken Shawarma Bowl

No ratings yet

Middle Eastern street food meets easy weeknight dinner in this chicken shawarma bowl recipe! It’s packed with flavor and ready in less than an hour.

Servings bowls

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 25

Total Time 40

Ingredients

1 medium russet potato sliced into thin semicircles
2 tablespoons olive oil divided
½ pound frozen chicken breast partially thawed, then shaved into thin slices
1 medium lemon juiced, divided
2 tablespoons shawarma seasoning see Notes
½ cup jasmine rice dry
1 cup water
1 small yellow onion sliced thin
1 medium bell pepper sliced thin
1 medium roma tomato diced
¼ cup dill pickle relish
2 to 4 teaspoons garlic aioli
2 to 4 teaspoons Frank's Red Hot or other hot sauce
3 pinches sea salt

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

First, toss the sliced potatoes with 2 teaspoons olive oil in a large bowl until well coated. Then cook in a large sauté pan over medium-high heat until crisp, stirring occasionally (but not too often) to ensure even browning, about 15 minutes.
Season with a pinch of sea salt, then transfer to a paper towel lined plate or wire rack to drain excess grease.
While the potatoes cook, prepare the rice and chicken marinade.
Rice: Bring water to a boil in a small saucepan, then stir in the rice, cover, and lower the heat to a simmer. Cook until the rice has absorbed all the water, about 15 to 20 minutes.
Chicken: Add the chicken to a bowl with 2 teaspoons olive oil, ½ lemon (juice only), and the shawarma seasoning. Mix by hand to coat the chicken well and set aside to marinate.
Once the potatoes are done, use the same pan to cook the peppers and onions. Heat 1 to 2 teaspoons oil in the pan before adding the peppers and onions, then sauté over medium heat until just softened, about 2 to 3 minutes. Season with ½ lemon (juice only) and a pinch of salt before removing from heat.
Finally, cook the chicken in a hot cast iron pan over high heat until no longer pink, about 5 minutes or so, stirring occasionally.
To assemble: Add a serving of steamed rice to a bowl along with chicken, potatoes, and peppers and onions. Top with diced tomato and pickle relish, then drizzle with garlic aioli and hot sauce. Serve immediately and enjoy!

Notes

Partially frozen chicken: Traditionally, shawarma is cooked on a vertical rotisserie and then carved right off the spit for serving. To replicate this texture at home, you’ll want to use partially frozen chicken breast so that you can slice it super thin before marinating and cooking on the stove.

Shawarma seasoning: We like to use this shawarma spice blend recipe from Perry’s Plate, but you can also find shawarma seasoning at some grocery stores and specialty markets.

Recipe timing: The potatoes will take the longest to cook, so get them on the stove first. You don’t want to stir them too often so they have a chance to crisp up, so once they’re cooking you can focus on getting the chicken marinated and steaming the rice. In the time it takes to finish cooking the potatoes and then the peppers and onions, the chicken will have had enough time to marinate and the rice should be ready right on time.

Grab a partner: If you can, enlist someone to help you make this recipe! Prep goes a lot quicker if you have two people working at the same time.

Storing and reheating: Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. Reheat chicken, rice, potatoes, and peppers and onions in the microwave until warm, about 1 to 2 minutes. Or, reheat the rice in the microwave and warm the chicken, potatoes, peppers and onions in a frying pan over medium heat.

Author: Nicole Langdon

Calories: 642kcal

Course: Dinner, Lunch, Main Course

Cuisine: Fusion, Middle Eastern

Keyword: bell pepper, chicken, garlic aioli, hot sauce, jasmine rice, onion, pickle relish, potatoes, roma tomato, shawarma seasoning

Nutrition