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Halal Cart Chicken and Rice
Halal Cart Chicken and Rice – fluffy yellow rice topped with juicy chicken, and smothered in creamy white sauce – a healthy and delicious meal that you can have ready in about 30 minutes. This halal chicken and rice recipe is simple but yields mouthwatering rice and chicken. It’s a must-try!
This dish is a favourite in my family. It is tasty, easy to make, and pretty healthy, so it checks all the boxes! Not only that, but the ingredients are pretty simple, and that’s usually my favourite thing about a recipe.
This halal chicken and rice recipe makes a great lunch or dinner. You can also double, triple, or quadruple this recipe for larger gatherings. It’s always a hit without a ton of effort. You will absolutely love this recipe!
Ingredients Needed
Spices: the three most important spices in this recipe are turmeric, ground cumin, and 7 spice or allspice. These spices really make this a New York-style Halal Cart Chicken and Rice recipe with a Middle Eastern touch.
White sauce ingredients: including yogurt, mayonnaise, lemon juice, garlic, salt, black pepper.
Basmati rice: this is the type of rice that needs to be used for this recipe. Makes fluffy, yellow rice with the perfect texture!
Chicken: highly recommend using boneless thighs, as it makes for the juiciest, most flavourful end result.
Lemon juice: super important to add the perfect tang to the chicken and white sauce – complements the dish really well!
Lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers: you can use other salad vegetables if you’d like, but I like these simple vegetables for mine. Onions would be great!
How to Make Halal Cart Chicken and Rice
This recipe is pretty easy and can be made in around 30 minutes! Follow these simple steps to make this mouthwatering dinner.
Make the sauce
Simply mix together the plain yogurt, mayonnaise, grated garlic, lemon juice, salt, and black pepper. Add the water in 1 tbsp at a time, whisking well, until you’ve reached a pourable consistency. Store in the fridge until ready to use.
Note: you can use Greek yogurt if you prefer.
Another note: you can transfer the white sauce into a squirt bottle. It makes it easier to squirt all over your food. That’s how they usually do it at restaurants, too!
Marinate the chicken
In a bowl, add the chicken pieces, olive oil, all of the spices, including salt and black pepper, lemon juice, and grated garlic, and mix thoroughly. You want the chicken pieces to be coated properly with all the spices. Let this marinate in the fridge for an hour. If you don’t have much time, just let it marinate until you are ready to cook it (while the rice is cooking).
Note: while you can use chicken breast, it tends to be a little more dry with less flavour. I love using boneless chicken thighs in many recipes as it just makes for the most juicy and tender chicken!
Cook the rice
While your chicken is marinating in the fridge, it’s time to make the rice! Start by thoroughly washing the rice until the water runs clear. Heat a heavy bottom pan over medium heat. Next, you’ll add the olive, then the turmeric, ground cumin, and 7 spice or allspice, allowing them to toast for about 1 minute. Doing this will make the spices more fragrant and bring them alive.
Add the rice and toast for 2 minutes. Add the remaining spices, then the water. Bring to a boil, reduce to low, cover tightly, and allow the rice to cook for 10-12 minutes, undisturbed. After this time, remove from heat and let it rest for 5 minutes before fluffing the rice up with a fork. And that’s your halal cart rice ready to go!
Note: washing rice is not only important to clean the rice, but it removes extra starch, which results in rice with a fluffier texture.
Another note: using a heavy bottom pot will prevent the rice from easily sticking to the bottom while cooking.
One more note: It is important that you do not disturb the rice while cooking. Lifting the cover will release steam that is needed to cook the rice properly and evenly.
Cook the chicken
While the rice is cooking, you can start cooking the chicken. If you have a hard time multi-tasking in the kitchen, just wait until the rice is finished before starting on cooking the chicken.
Heat your choice of pan over medium-high heat. Add the olive oil. Add the marinated chicken pieces and cook on each side for five minutes, or until chicken is fully cooked.
Remove the chicken from heat onto a plate, cover, and let rest for 5-10 minutes. Cut the chicken up into bite-sized pieces (don’t throw out the juices that were released from the chicken while it was resting). Toss the chicken pieces in the juices.
Note: stainless steel or cast-iron pans both work really well for cooking the chicken.
Another note: do not overcrowd the pan with chicken, especially if it’s a smaller pan. You don’t want the chicken to steam, you want it to have a crispy outside with a juicy inside. Cook in batches if needed.
One more note: cook chicken until a thermometer reads 165F.
Serve
This is the fun part! Add a generous scoop of the fluffy, yellow rice to a bowl/plate (preferably a shallow bowl). Add a handful of chicken over the rice. Add the lettuce, tomatoes, and cucumbers on the side. Now smother everything with the creamy white sauce. Serve and enjoy!
Note: you can use any of your favourite toppings. Try bell peppers and/or onions.
Storage
Store the rice, chicken, and white sauce separately in their own airtight containers, in the fridge for about 3-4 days.
Frequently Asked Questions
This recipe originally uses basmati rice, which gives it the fluffiness and texture that you know. However, if basmati rice isn’t available to use, you can try using another long grain rice. Keep in mind, the texture may not be the same and it likely won’t be as fluffy as basmati rice would be.
Allspice is a spice that hints flavours of cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg. 7-spice is a mix of ground spices, including cumin, pepper, allspice, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. I prefer using 7-spice because the flavour is more complex. You can find 7-spice in most international grocery stores or in Middle Eastern grocery stores. You should be able to find allspice in any grocery store.
If you love recipes like this, then you’ll love Chicken Tikka Sliders, Marry Me Chicken Meatballs, Roasted Cajun Chicken with Potatoes
Halal Cart Chicken and Rice
Description
Fluffy, yellow rice accompanied by juicy, perfectly spiced chicken, and salad, all smothered in a creamy white sauce.
Ingredients
White Sauce
Chicken
Yellow Rice
Toppings
Instructions
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Make the white sauce
In a bowl, thoroughly whisk together the plain yogurt, mayonnaise, grated garlic, salt, black pepper, and lemon juice. Add the water and whisk (add enough water so that the sauce becomes easily pourable). Keep in the fridge until ready to use. You can transfer to a squirt bottle if desired.
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Marinate the chicken
In a large bowl, add the chicken, 3 tbsp olive oil, salt, black pepper, ground cumin, 7 spice or allspice, turmeric, dried oregano, paprika, lemon juice, and grated garlic. Mix together very well, until all the chicken pieces are coated evenly with the spices. Cover and let marinate in the fridge until ready to use.
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Cook the rice
Heat a heavy bottom pot over medium heat. Once hot, add olive oil. Add the turmeric, ground cumin, and 7 spice or allspice. Toast the spices, mixing constantly, for 1 minute.
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Once the spices are fragrant, add the rice and toast for 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the salt, black pepper, and dried oregano and stir well.
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Add the water, mix, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover tightly, and allow the rice to cook for 10 to 12 minutes, undisturbed. After this time, the water should have dried up and the rice should be cooked. Leave the rice covered for 5-10 minutes then use a fork to fluff the rice up.
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Cook the chicken
While the rice is cooking, heat a stainless steel or cast-iron pan over medium-high heat. Once hot, add 1-2 tbsp of olive oil to the pan. Add the marinated chicken pieces to the pan, ensuring you don't overcrowd the pan.
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Cook for 5 minutes, flip, and cook for another 5 minutes, or until fully cooked through. Remove cooked chicken to a plate and rest for 5-10 minutes.
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Cut the chicken up into bite-sized pieces.
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Serve
Add a generous scoop of rice to a bowl/plate, add a handful of chicken, add lettuce, cucumbers, and tomatoes, and smother everything with the white sauce. Enjoy!
Equipment
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