Chicken Shawarma Rice Plate
Juicy, spiced shawarma chicken over fragrant rice with all the sauces. This tastes exactly like the street food you get at 2am, but made at home.
Main Dish · Prep 15 min · Cook 20 min · Serves 4 · Medium · By Tina · Published
Ingredients
- 600 g chicken thighs, boneless, skinless
- 3 tbsp Greek yogurt, for marinade
- 2 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp coriander, ground
- 1 tsp turmeric
- 0.5 tsp cinnamon
- 0.25 tsp cayenne
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 lemon, juiced
- 300 g basmati rice
- 3 tbsp tahini
- 2 tbsp olive oil
I have spent an embarrassing amount of money on shawarma plates at 2am. So I learned to make it at home, and now the only embarrassing thing is how much of it I eat.
The spice mix is everything — cumin, coriander, turmeric, cinnamon, and a bit of cayenne. You marinate chicken thighs in the spices with yogurt and lemon, then sear them in a screaming hot pan until charred and caramelized. No rotisserie needed.
The rice is cooked with a little turmeric and butter to make it fragrant and golden. And the sauces — garlic sauce and tahini — are what bring the whole thing together.
Pro Tips
- Marinate for at least 2 hours, overnight is better. The yogurt tenderizes the chicken.
- Slice the chicken thin against the grain after cooking. This is how you get that shawarma texture.
- Make the garlic sauce: blend garlic, lemon juice, oil, and a pinch of salt. It is the white sauce from every shawarma shop.
- The pan needs to be HOT. You want char, not steam.
Serving
Rice on the plate, chicken on top, both sauces drizzled everywhere, pickled turnips, lettuce, and tomato on the side. Hot sauce for the brave.
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