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These easy and healthy chicken shawarma bowls pack in all the flavors of your favorite takeout chicken shawarma plate. Drizzle with homemade lemon garlic tahini sauce and enjoy!
I’m always looking for easy, healthy weeknight meals that make everyone in my family happy! This is hard to achieve with kids, which is why I love the “build your own” bowl dinner. This way, everyone can pick and choose the ingredients they want, and I know it’s all healthy.
These healthy, protein-packed bowls are Paleo, Whole30, and dairy-free, truly something for everyone! Topped with delicious shawarma sauces like my homemade lemon tahini or Whole30 tzatziki, this delicious recipe will top your meal rotation in no time!
How to Make Chicken Shawarma Bowls
This Middle Eastern dish is typically made with thinly-sliced garlicky chicken or lamb served on pitas with sauce. The term “shawarma” or “shawerma” means “turning” in Arabic. The meat was typically stacked and cooked on a vertical rotisserie. For my version, it’s all about the marinade! The combination of spices, lemon, and olive oil marinated on chicken thighs or chicken breasts gives you tender, juicy chicken with tons of amazing flavor.
Ingredients for Shawarma Bowls
Chicken: For this recipe, you can use chicken breasts or chicken thighs. Chicken thighs are darker meat, so the fat tenderizes the chicken and creates a delicious flavor, however, chicken breasts will also work!
Spices: Some people buy a pre-made shawarma spice mix, but if you have the spices on hand, it’s super easy to make your own.
My shawarma marinade combines salt, turmeric, cumin, paprika, coriander, crushed red pepper, ground cloves, and cinnamon with minced garlic, sliced onions, olive oil, and lemon juice.
Homemade Tahini Sauce: Authentic chicken shawarma dishes typically come with delicious sauces like tahini and tzatziki. My homemade lemon garlic tahini is super easy to make and just includes a few ingredients. Combine tahini paste, minced garlic, lemon juice, water, and salt, and drizzle!
You can also check out my easy Whole30 Tzatziki Sauce if you want to top your bowls with that as well.
Sheet Pan Cooking Method
This recipe is great because your oven does all the work! Simply place your marinated chicken, onions, and any extra marinade on a lined baking sheet and bake for 20-30 minutes at 425F.
Remove from oven, and serve the cooked chicken in bowls with greens, cauliflower rice, diced cucumber, and tomato with a drizzle of the tahini sauce. Enjoy!
More Easy Whole30 Chicken Recipes
Healthy Chicken Salad with Grapes
Healthy Buffalo Chicken Spaghetti Squash Casserole
Baked Butter Chicken Meatballs
Mary’s Tips & Tricks
How to Serve Chicken Shawarma Bowls: Serve the cooked chicken in bowls with greens, cauliflower rice, diced cucumber, and tomato with a scoop of my Whole30 Tzatziki Sauce & a drizzle of the tahini sauce. Enjoy!
Storing Leftovers: Store leftovers in an airtight container for up to 5 days in the refrigerator.
Meal Prep: These chicken bowls are the perfect meal prep meal. Make a big batch on Sunday, make individual bowls, and store in meal prep containers. Serve warm or cold with a dollop of tzatziki and a drizzle of tahini sauce.
FAQs
Can I freeze chicken shawarma? Yes! Store in a freezer-safe, airtight container. Defrost overnight in the fridge and heat in the microwave for 3-5 min, or in the oven on 350F for 15-20 min.
What else can I make with leftover chicken shawarma? If you’re not eating Whole30, use leftover chicken to make chicken shawarma wraps. Find your favorite gluten-free pita bread or wrap, stuff it with the contents of the bowls, and serve with tzatziki or tahini sauce. Chicken shawarma wraps for the win!
What other sauces can I serve with chicken shawarma bowls? The most popular chicken shawarma sauces are tahini and tzatziki sauces. In this recipe, I include my homemade lemon garlic tahini, but check out my Whole30 Tzatziki Sauce for added flavor and creaminess.
How many calories are in chicken shawarma? For one delicious and filling chicken shawarma bowl, it’s just 469 calories! The perfect lunch or dinner meal.
If you try this dish and love it, a star rating and review below would mean the world! Don't forget to share your creations on Instagram - I love seeing what you make!
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Recipe by: Mary’s Whole Life
Photos by: Casey from The Mindful Hapa
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Sheet Pan Chicken Shawarma Bowls
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 lbs boneless chicken breasts or thighs, cut into thin strips
- 1 onion, sliced thin
- ½ cup olive oil
- 3 cloves minced garlic
- Juice from 1 lemon
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 tsp cumin
- 1.5 tsp turmeric
- 1.5 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp coriander
- ½ tsp crushed red pepper
- ½ tsp ground cloves
- ½ tsp cinnamon
Lemon Garlic Tahini Sauce
- ½ cup tahini paste
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 clove minced garlic
- ¼ cup water
- ½ tsp salt
Instructions
- Add the chicken strips and sliced onion to a large resealable plastic bag or shallow baking dish.
- Combine the olive oil, garlic, lemon juice, and spices in a bowl and whisk. Pour the marinade over the chicken and onions and toss to coat. Let the chicken marinate in the fridge for a minimum of 30 minutes. Overnight is ideal!
- Preheat your oven to 425 and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or foil. Dump the chicken and onions (along with any marinade) onto the baking sheet and spread out in an even layer. You don't want any pieces of chicken overlapping so they cook evenly!
- Bake for 25-30 minutes.
- While the chicken is baking, prepare the lemon garlic tahini sauce. Combine all of the ingredients in a bowl and mix using a hand-held immersion blender. Alternatively, you can blend them up in a regular blender or pulse in a food processor until smooth. Add water if needed to get it to your desired consistency!
- Serve the cooked chicken in bowls with greens, cauliflower rice, diced cucumber, and tomato with a scoop of my Whole30 tzatziki sauce & a drizzle of the tahini sauce. Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
All nutrition facts are an estimate and automatically calculated. While I fact check them using My Fitness Pal, please note that they may not always be 100% accurate and depend on ingredients used. Weigh your total and divide by the number of servings for the most accurate grams per serving size.
Thankyou
Delicious. Made a version with fewer spices for kid too.
Marinaded for half a day this round instead of 30 min – extra tender!
This is a family favorite – absolutely delicious!! My celiac daughter made it for herself multiple times while at college.
Thanks Jessica!
Made this via book recipe. Glad it’s on website too. Delicious. Toddler approved.
Chicken is so tender even after just 20 min marinade.
Thanks Tanya!
Hi Mary! Is the nutrition for just the chicken or for the full bowl suggestion?
These are so good! A quick and easy recipe that will be added to our monthly rotation!
Thank you!!
Wow! These were fab. I marinated overnight and the chicken was bursting with flavor. Perfect amount of spice too. I ended up making a different yogurt sauce bc I didn’t have tahini, but it still came out great. Def making this again! Loved how easy it was too!
Thanks Kali!!
So absolutely delicious and simple to make!
Thanks Elizabeth!
Love this chicken! Very flavorful & makes the house smell like holidays.
Thanks Patti!
This recipe is amazing! I’ve made it three times already. I usually have all of the ingredients already, which makes it an easy dinner to prepare. Always a hit when I have a dinner party. Will make this moving forward anytime I invite anyone over. It’s delicious! Thank you!
Thanks Olivia!