High-Protein Chicken Shawarma Bowl
The takeaway version arrives soggy in foil. This one keeps the char, loses the grease, and gives you 48 grams of protein for the price of two chicken thighs.
You need
- 1 heavy frying pan
- 1 saucepan
- 1 knife and board
Ingredients
For 2 servings
- 400 g (14 oz) chicken thighs, boneless and skinless, sliced
- 120 g (4.2 oz) basmati rice, dry
- 150 g (5.3 oz) 0% Greek yogurt
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- 2 tsp sweet paprika
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 3 cloves garlic, 2 for the chicken and 1 grated for the sauce
- 1/2 cucumber, diced
- 2 tomatoes, diced
- 1 lemon
How to cook
Toss the sliced chicken with the cumin, paprika, coriander, cinnamon, 2 minced garlic cloves, half the oil and a good pinch of salt. Leave it while the rice cooks.
Even ten minutes in the spices is worth it. The cinnamon is what makes it read as shawarma rather than generic spiced chicken.
Rinse the rice until the water runs clear, then cook it in the saucepan by your usual method and leave it covered off the heat.
Get the frying pan properly hot with the rest of the oil, then lay the chicken out in a single layer and leave it alone for 3 minutes.
Crowding the pan is the difference between charred shawarma and grey stew. Cook it in two batches if your pan is small.
Turn the pieces and cook another 3 to 4 minutes until the edges are dark and the thickest piece is cooked through.
Stir the grated garlic and a squeeze of lemon into the yogurt with a pinch of salt to make the sauce.
Toss the cucumber and tomato with the remaining lemon juice and a little salt.
Build the bowls: rice, chicken, salad, then the garlic yogurt spooned over the top.
Why it fits a maintain goal
- 48g protein per bowl from thighs, which stay juicy under high heat in a way breast does not.
- At 570 kcal this sits comfortably in a maintenance day and still eats like a proper takeaway.
- Portions are auto-sized to your target, no counting required. Tell Pann you have chicken and it builds the meal around it, then walks you through it.
Cooking guides
Pann is your AI cooking assistant: tell it what you've got and it builds the meal around it, quietly sized to your maintain goal. No food database, no log spiral.