Healthy Chicken Shawarma Bowls

These Healthy Chicken Shawarma Bowls need to be in your weeknight dinner rotation! Fresh vegetables, chickpeas, seasoned chicken and the most amazing spiced yogurt sauce. Keep it low-carb with cauliflower rice or substitute with your favorite whole grain for a complete balanced meal!

Please tell me I’m not the only one who needs a fresh, healthy dinner tonight? Seriously, this is the story of my life after a long holiday weekend. I filled up on way too many foods that my body isn’t used to, at least not in the quantity I was shoveling them in my mouth. It was a carbs galore weekend and not so much the whole grain kind.

But, what’s done is done and it’s time to move on and get back to normal eating, which for me involves one of these Healthy Chicken Shawarma Bowls for dinner tonight.

I was inspired to make these bowls after seeing a similar recipe in my Cooking Light magazine, plus you guys know I’m obsessed with Mediterranean flavored food. Since my weekend didn’t involve many vegetables, unless you count French fries as one, I knew this chicken shawarma bowl would be a great way to load up on them. It was also the perfect excuse to use a bunch of the cherry tomatoes that my garden is exploding with right now.

Instead of using a whole grain in the bowls like brown rice, farro or barley, I decided to go the low-carb vegetable route and use cauliflower rice. There are some days where I need the extra carbs, like before a hard workout or long run, but today is not one of those day. Nope, today it’s a low-carb, veggie and protein filled day for me.

This bowl is probably one of my favorites that I’ve made and I’ve got a few on the blog. Everything from the spice rub on the chicken, the ones added to the cauliflower rice and then that spiced tahini Greek yogurt on top…nothing about these bowls is lacking in flavor!

Tahini isn’t something I buy very often, but it was definitely worth the trip to the store for the amazing flavor it added to the Greek yogurt sauce. That sauce was lucky that it even made it to top of these chicken shawarma bowls!

Let’s get back on track this week with our healthy eating and do it in the most delicious way possible! Enjoy!

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Healthy Chicken Shawarma Bowls

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Preparation 00:20 Cook Time 00:15 Serves 4     adjust servings

 

Ingredients

Chicken

• 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano, rubbed between the palms of your hands
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Cauliflower Rice

• 12 ounces frozen or fresh cauliflower rice, I used frozen
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
• Fresh ground black pepper to taste
• 1 teaspoon lemon zest
• Juice of half of a lemon
• 2 tablespoon chopped flat leaf parsley

Spiced Greek Yogurt Sauce

• 1/2 cup plain non-fat Greek yogurt
• 1 tablespoon tahini
• Juice of half of a lemon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
• Fresh ground black pepper to taste

Other Ingredients

• 1 cup halved cherry tomatoes
• 1 cup diced English cucumber
• 15 ounce can chickpeas, rinsed and drained

Instructions

Spiced Greek Yogurt Sauce:

1. In a small bowl whisk together all of the ingredients for the sauce until smooth. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Chicken:

1. In a small bowl combine all of the spices and sprinkle evenly all over the chicken. Cook or grill the chicken until no longer pink inside and let it rest for at least 5 minutes before dicing it.

Cauliflower Rice:

1. Heat a medium sized non-stick skillet over medium-high heat and spray it with cooking oil.
2. When the skillet is hot add in the cauliflower rice, salt, cumin, coriander, garlic powder and black pepper.
3. Stir to combine and sauté for 2-3 minutes. Add in the lemon zest and juice and sauté another minute.
4. Add in the chopped parsley, stir to combine and taste for seasoning. Remove from the heat and let it cool for a minute before dividing it evenly between 4 bowls.

Assembling the Bowls:

Top the cauliflower rice evenly with the diced chicken, tomatoes, cucumber and chickpeas. Finish with a dollop of the spiced Greek yogurt sauce, a drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkle of parsley and lemon zest.

 

by Danae

Recipe Notes

• If you want a more carb heavy meal, substitute the cauliflower rice with brown rice, farro or your favorite whole grain.

More Greek and Mediterranean Recipes

Greek Chicken and Vegetable Skillet with Olives and Feta

Greek Lemon Chicken Skewers with Tzatziki Sauce

Greek Tomato Cucumber Salad with Crispy Chickpeas

Mediterranean Salmon Couscous Salad