Chicken Shawarma Bowl

It's easy to make incredible chicken shawarma at home with my tested and perfected Shawarma Seasoning blend! Combine the flavorful grilled chicken with warm fluffy quinoa, fresh veggies and creamy garlic sauce to create a healthy Chicken Shawarma Bowl!

These bowls are gluten free, dairy free, perfect for meal prepping and easily made whole30 and keto friendly!

Ever since I created my homemade shawarma seasoning blend, I literally want to make chicken shawarma at home every night! Creating restaurant-quality shawarma at home has never been easier.

Simply marinate cubed chicken in olive oil, lemon juice and the shawarma seasoning. Toss it on the grill and you've got delicious shawarma for dinner! Add some fresh veggies and a drizzle of my epic roasted garlic cashew sauce and you're in for one treat of a meal!

Jump to:

• What you'll need for the chicken shawarma
• What you'll need for the bowls
• Step by step instructions
• Why I marinate diced chicken instead of whole chicken breasts
• Make it vegan
• Make it low carb
• Make it whole30
• How to meal prep the bowls
• More healthy chicken bowls to try
• Recipe

What you'll need for the chicken shawarma

• Boneless, skinless chicken breasts - chicken thighs can also be used, but since we're keeping these bowls light and healthy, I opted for the chicken breasts.
• Olive oil - canola oil, safflower oil or peanut oil can also be used to marinate the chicken.
• Lemon juice - fresh squeezed is always preferred for the best flavor!
• Shawarma seasoning - you can buy pre-made shawarma seasoning at the grocery store, but I highly recommend spending 5 minutes to whip up my homemade mix! It's been tested and perfected to create the perfect seasoning mix that tastes just like it came from your favorite shawarma restaurant!

What you'll need for the bowls

• Quinoa - other greens or grains, like white or brown rice, can be used for the base of these bowls, but I love the way the nutty quinoa pairs with the chicken. Follow this post for how to cook quinoa 3 ways to learn how to easily prepare quinoa in an Instant Pot, on the stove or in a rice cooker.
• Fresh parsley - in this recipe, I used fresh parsley to flavor the quinoa and as a garnish on top of the bowls.
• Lemon juice - I also mixed in some fresh lemon juice with the quinoa to give it even more bright flavor!
• Cherry tomatoes - other varieties of tomatoes can also be used in these bowls.
• Red onion
• Cucumber
• Roasted garlic cashew cream sauce - this sauce adds SO MUCH flavor to anything you add it to! It's super versatile, but pairs perfectly with the chicken shawarma in these bowls.

Step by step instructions

1. Marinate the chicken. (pictured above)
   • Add cubes of chicken to a large zipper bag with the olive oil, lemon juice and shawarma seasoning.
   • Toss the chicken in the bag until it's well coated in the seasoning.
   • Place in the refrigerator to marinate for at least 30 minutes, up to 24 hours.
2. Grill the chicken. The chicken can be grilled on an outdoor grill, an indoor grill pan on the stove, an indoor electric grill or roasted in the oven.
   • If using an outdoor grill, you'll either want to skewer the pieces of chicken before grilling, or put down a piece of grill-safe foil so that the chicken pieces don't fall through the grill grates. The chicken should be grilled over high heat for 3-4 minutes per side, or until it reaches an internal temperature of 165°F.
   • You can also use an indoor grill pan to grill the chicken on the stove over high heat.
   • Alternatively, you can use an indoor electric grill.
   • You can also roast the chicken in the oven at 425°F for 15-20 minutes or until the internal temperature of the chicken reaches 165°F.
3. Assemble the bowls.
   • Toss cooked quinoa with fresh parsley and lemon juice. Divide it between four bowls.
   • Top with the grilled chicken, diced cucumber, cherry tomatoes and sliced red onion. Drizzle with the roasted garlic cashew cream sauce.

Why I marinate diced chicken instead of whole chicken breasts

I like to marinate cubed pieces of chicken instead of a whole chicken breast for 3 reasons.

1. Each piece of chicken gets fully coated in the marinade for maximum flavor!
2. The cubed pieces of chicken cook faster than a whole chicken breast.
3. After you've cooked the chicken, there's no more work to be done slicing or dicing the cooked chicken. The chicken pieces can go straight into the bowl.

Make it vegan

• To make this chicken shawarma bowl vegan, substitute Cauliflower Shawarma for the chicken shawarma. Follow the link for an easy to make roasted cauliflower shawarma recipe.
• You can also replace the chicken with tempeh. Marinate the tempeh just as you would the chicken, then either grill or pan fry the tempeh and add it to the bowls with quinoa, tomatoes, red onion, cucumber and a drizzle of the garlic sauce.

Make it low carb

• To make this chicken shawarma bowl low carb, substitute greens for the quinoa, like in this Chicken Shawarma Salad recipe.
• Omitting the quinoa and adding 1 cup of spinach to each bowl, will result in the carbs being reduced from 31 grams per bowl, down to 12 grams per bowl. The net carbs will also be reduced from 26 grams per bowl, down to 8 net carbs per bowl.
• You can also use cauliflower rice instead of quinoa. Replacing ½ cup cooked quinoa in each bowl with ½ cup cooked cauliflower rice will reduce the carbs per bowl from 31 grams, down to 13 grams per bowl and 9 net carbs per bowl.

Make it whole30

• Using the same methods to make these bowls low carb, will also make them whole30 compliant.
• Simply omit the quinoa and replace it with greens, like spinach, spring mix or chopped romaine lettuce.
• The creamy garlic sauce and all other ingredients in the bowl are already whole30 approved.

How to meal prep the bowls

• For storage:
  • Prepare the marinated and grilled chicken according to the recipe instructions.
  • Divide the prepared parsley lemon quinoa and grilled chicken between 4 separate storage containers.
  • Divide the red onions, cherry tomatoes and cucumber between 4 small zipper bags. Place a bag in each of the large storage containers.
  • Divide the roasted garlic cashew sauce between 4 small containers and add a container to each of the large containers.
• To reheat and eat:
  • Remove the roasted garlic cashew sauce and small bag of cucumbers, tomatoes and onions from the large storage container.
  • Reheat the chicken and quinoa in the microwave for 2 minutes.
  • Add the cucumbers, tomatoes and onions to the container with the chicken.
  • Drizzle the roasted garlic cashew sauce from the small container over the chicken shawarma bowl.

More healthy chicken bowls to try

• Chipotle Chicken Bowls with Avocado Salsa
• Caribbean Jerk Chicken Bowls
• Tex Mex Egg Roll in a Bowl
• Keto Buffalo Chicken Bowl with Cheesy Zoodles
• Whole30 Grilled BBQ Chicken Bowl
• Greek Chicken Quinoa Bowls

Recipe