Last updated on July 20th, 2018 at 12:59 pm
This Chicken Shawarma Tabbouleh Salad is super fresh and loaded with incredible flavors. The chicken is marinated in Middle Eastern spices, super moist and delicious served over the best tabbouleh salad and a side of homemade hummus.
Today I’m sharing with you a couple of my favorite recipes put together to show you how I love to eat my salads because a boring salad will not work for me but if someone were to serve me salads like this every day, I’d be eating salads every single day. However, unless I make this, nobody else will make it here, hubs would rather go pick some up than make it himself. Can’t say that I blame him, but he’s the first one to come to the table whenever I cook food like this because anything with chicken shawarma and hummus is at the top of his list of favorite foods.
I shared with you my recipe for oven roasted chicken shawarma a couple years ago and since then many of you have commented or written to me and told me how much you love this chicken. It’s been such a hit, that I now have a version using an instant pot! It’s no wonder you guys love it so much, it really is loaded with Middle Eastern flavors yet the spices used in the marinade are spices you probably already have in your spice cabinet. Remind me one day to show you a picture of my spice cabinet, it’s my pride and joy and thanks to hubs, it’s nicely organized and every jar is labeled.
Needless to say, I make this chicken often. I usually fill a jar of the dry ingredients mixed together and when I want to make this chicken I just whisk it with the olive oil, lemon juice and parsley and there’s your marinade. Easy peasy! I usually marinade the chicken for at least an hour, but I have marinated it overnight before and obviously the more the chicken marinates the better it will taste. Not to mention when you bake this chicken your house will smell incredible.
On to the tabbouleh salad. I’ve also shared with you my tabbouleh salad recipe before but I’ve changed it up a bit here, mostly only quantities of ingredients used. I love tabbouleh salad now, but I remember a time when I used to hate parsley, we’re talking a long time ago, when I was young and naive and my palette was lacking. But a long time ago a friend opened my eyes to tabbouleh salad and I never looked back. It was love at first bite, and that’s how my love with parsley started. Now I put parsley on everything, I buy it daily almost and it’s probably the most common herb used in my kitchen.
When I was putting this salad together I really wanted it to be a symphony of flavors, I wanted it to represent Middle Eastern way of eating, at least my vision of what Middle Eastern salads are like, which is why hummus was an integral addition to this salad. I also thought some Kalamata olives and feta cheese were kind of necessary here and then I just added an avocado, because I could. Oh come on, avocados are good for you! Oh yes, and the tiny pita breads are a must because then you can make tiny wraps with a bit of salad, a bit of chicken and some hummus, it’s the perfect bite!
If you try this recipe, please let us know! Leave a comment, rate it and tag a photo #jocooks on Instagram so we can see it. I always love to see what you guys come up with!
This Chicken Shawarma Tabbouleh Salad is super fresh and loaded with incredible flavors. The chicken is marinated in Middle Eastern spices, super moist and delicious served over the best tabbouleh salad and a side of homemade hummus.
- 2 tsp smoked paprika
- 1/2 tsp turmeric
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 2 tsp pepper
- 1 tsp salt
- juice from 2 lemons
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 1 tsp red pepper flakes
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 1 lb chicken breasts, boneless and skinless
- 1 large onion, sliced
- 2 cups water
- 1 cup uncooked bulgur wheat
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1/4 cup lemon juice (from 1 or 2 lemons, depends on size)
- 3 cups tomatoes chopped small
- 1 English cucumber chopped small
- 1/4 cup green onions chopped
- 2 cups fresh parsley chopped
- 1/4 cup fresh mint chopped
- 1/4 tsp salt or to taste
- 1/4 tsp pepper or to taste
- 1/4 cup feta cheese crumbled
- 1/2 cup Kalamata olives
- pita bread
- hummus
- 1 avocado sliced
In a 8x8 baking dish add the smoked paprika, turmeric, cumin, cinnamon, pepper, salt, lemon juice, olive oil, red pepper flakes, garlic, and whisk well. Add the chicken, sliced onion and toss making sure the chicken is well coated in the marinade. Cover with plastic wrap or foil and refrigerate for at least an hour. The longer the meat marinates the more flavour you'll have.
Preheat the oven to 425 F degrees.
Bake uncovered until the chicken is browned and crisp on the edges, and cooked through. It should take about 40 to 45 minutes. If you want the chicken crispier on top, turn the broiler on to high and broil for 3 minutes until nice and crispy on the outside.
Let the chicken rest for 5 to 10 minutes before slicing.
While the chicken is baking, prepare the tabbouleh salad. Add the water to a small pot and bring to boil. When the water is boiling add the bulgur and cover. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook for about 5 minutes or until all the water is absorbed. Stir occasionally. Let the bulgur cool before adding to the salad.
Add the bulgur to a large bowl, then add the remaining ingredients. Toss well.
To assemble the salad, spread the tabbouleh salad over the bottom of a large shallow plate. Arrange with sliced chicken, sliced avocado, Kalamata olives and sprinkle some feta cheese over the top. Serve with hummus and pita bread.
In the previous recipe for the chicken shawarma I mentioned adding the onion after the chicken marinated, but I have changed it here and added everything all at once.
If you have an Instant Pot at home, try my IP Chicken Shawarma recipe for this salad.
You can use quinoa in place of the bulgur wheat for a gluten free version.
Use a larger baking dish if you're making 3 or 4 chicken breasts.
You can find the recipe for the homemade hummus here.
My favorite way to serve this is to make pita wraps by adding a bit of everything from the plate. It's to die for!
Please keep in mind that nutritional information is a rough estimate and can vary greatly based on products used.
Nutritional information does not include optional ingredients.
★ Did you make this recipe? Don't forget to give it a star rating below!
I love the entire recipe, chicken, tabouleh and hummus. My entire family raves about it.
love all of these ingredients, they basically cover all of the food types required by my diet on a daily basis and with flavor! Love the flavor with this chicken, thank you
Do the onions get discarded after baking or added to the salad??
That’s totally up to you. I personally love the onions once they’re cooked down.
I made this for dinner tonight and it was quite possibly the most delicious chicken EVER! I didn’t have any breasts so I substituted boneless skinless thighs and they were delish.
The salad looks so amazing! I don’t eat much salad but I will definitely try this. Thank you for sharing!
This was DELICIOUS!!!
Yay!
I just can’t do boring salads either and this one looks delightful, truly a symphony in a salad. All the flavors you used too are my current cravings so I’m thinking I need to place this in the salad rotation soon.
Hope you try it, it was amazing.
Hi Jo, I just made this tonight (all the way in New Zealand!!) and my family absolutely loved it!! So fresh and delicious!! Thank you!!
Hi New Zealand! So glad you liked it!
I made this for company last night and it was a big hit! I mean, they couldn’t stop raving and saying that I could make this again for them anytime! I doubled the recipe for the chicken and lightly covered it with foil while baking. I made a similar Tabouleh, but used quinoa instead of bulgur wheat because some of my guests are gluten free. I served it with all the optional ingredients you listed. Absolutely delicious. I’ll be making this often. Thanks for a great recipe!
My pleasure, so glad you guys liked it!
The recipe doesn’t actually say to remove the chicken from the marinade, but I’m sure that’s what should be done, right?
I had this last night for supper and it was delicious.
You don’t need to Phyllis, that’s why I prepared everything in the baking dish directly, there isn’t a lot of marinade, mostly enough to coat the chicken. It’s easier if you just prepare everything in the baking dish then bake it like that, less dishes to wash. Glad you liked it!
Oh good, because I didn’t remove the chicken from the marinade. When I thought about it later, I wondered if I should’ve. So happy to just throw the whole thing in the oven. The tabouleh was fantastic. I used a local Lebanese recipe for the hummus, and bought fresh feta from our farmer’s market. A really nice supper! Thank you,
Phyllis Belanger Mata
New Iberia, Louisiana
So glad you liked it!!
Now that is a serious looking salad, I love it! The chicken is already on the list.
Tried this for dinner tonight. Absolutely fabulous! Made the easy hummus as well. Great flavors together. Gorgeous colors on the plate. Everything is easy to prepare. Made everything just as Jo posted with the exception of changing to chicken thighs. It was a hit with the whole family and everyone went back for seconds. Thanks for another great recipe Jo!
So glad you liked this!!
Jo –
This Chicken Shawarma and Tabbouleh Salad dinner combo looks amazing. The photos have me salivating and imagining the exotic smell of the roasting chicken. I will be making this same dinner very soon (probably next weekend).
I subscribed to your daily email only a few months ago, but have already tried and saved a couple dozen great recipes. Cooking and eating delicious food would be so much easier, were it not for work, grad school and other pressing responsibilities! Thank you so much!
Great to have you as part of Jo Cooks and thanks for subscribing! You will love this recipe when you make it!
I love this recipe. I was just talking about making shawarma the other day =)