You know the love I have for my slow cooker. I’ve waxed poetic about it here and here and now I am going to do it again. That thing is pure magic. I’ll never get tired of walking into my house in the afternoon to good smells, knowing that dinner is ready. Well, almost ready. In fact, let me tell you a secret. Sometimes, I even put things in it before I go to bed. Specifically, beans. Have the smells awakened me at 3 am in a panic that I am burning my house down? Maybe. Do I still do regularly. Guilty. The smells of this recipe… you will wish you could buy it in candle form. Fair warning, this particular recipe does require a few extra steps to be ready to serve. But, not to worry. The extra steps are super simple and worth the effort for all the flavor. They take like 10 minutes, so turn on some music and chop some veggies. It’s therapeutic. And at the end of your effort, you have dinner ready.
Chicken Shawarma
One of the most common questions I get asked living outside the US is, “what do you eat?” My answer has always been, “whatever I can cook.” If you come over for dinner, it’s anyone’s guess what we are going to have. Last night we went out to dinner with some friends who were here vacationing. The night before that, chicken pesto pizza. Monday we had these shawarma bowls. Tonight, chicken quesadillas with leftover chicken, corn on the cob and watermelon. Tomorrow, probably cereal because it’s Friday and I’m tired. We’ve also had gallo pinto every morning for breakfast and last night my husband made fresco de arroz con piña. Also known as pineapple rice drink. Have I told you about all the Nicaraguan beverages? There are so, so many. You didn’t ask for our weekly menu, but there it is anyway. We sort of eat a little bit of everything, as long as we can cook it.
I’m so grateful that now I have access to a wider variety of ingredients. For years while living in Nicaragua, I would stock up on spices to take back anytime I was in the US. Now I can visit my local spice store and find almost anything. One of my favorite things about this recipe is that all of the spices are easy to find almost no matter where you live. Yep, I could even get them in Nicaragua. In fact, go check your spice drawer. Chances are you already have them on hand!
For this chicken shawarma, you need 2 pounds of bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts. No boneless skinless breasts, please. Why? Well, you need the fat from the skin to keep the chicken from ending up as dry as the Sahara Desert. We don’t want dry chicken. Place your chicken in the slow cooker. Mix together cinnamon, cumin, turmeric, paprika, ground coriander, whol cloves, all spice, garlic powder and kosher salt. Sprinkle it over the chicken and squeeze an orange over everything. Rub the spices and orange juice over everything and place the orange in the slow cooker with the chicken. Turn it on low for 8 hours or high for 4 hours. Your house has never smelled so good. Unless your husband has also made arroz con piña. That stuff smells GOOD.
Tomato Cucumber Salad
This tomato cucumber salad is light, fresh and slightly acidic, making it the perfect shawarma topper. To make the salad, finely dice equal amounts of tomato and cucumber. Remember to remove the seeds from the cucumber. If you want to remove the peel, I’ll leave that up to you. Drizzle over red wine vinegar and sprinkle on dried oregano and kosher salt. Give it a toss and it’s ready to go. You could either make this in the morning when you start your slow cooker and store in the fridge, or mix it up when you are almost ready to serve. Make extra of this because it also makes a perfect afternoon snack!
Feta Tahini Sauce
We are a sauce family. Sauce makes everything better. I love sauce so much, that when Chick-fil-A decided a few years ago to change their BBQ sauce, I wrote them a letter telling them how dissapointed I was. Because I love their chicken and waffle fries, but I need that BBQ sauce. Now, I’m not saying that I made them change their minds, but they did go back to their original sauce soooo……you decide what happened. This tahini feta sauce takes these bowls from “that was really good” to “you should make that again!” In a food processor or one of those smoothie blenders, add in feta, yogurt, tahini, salt and lemon juice. Pulse it until it starts coming together and then blend until smooth. You don’t need anything high powdered for this. And it’s a good thing, because my food processor would have a hard time blending water.
Final steps and storage
Once you chicken is fully cooked, remove it from the slow cooker. Separate the meat from the skin and bones and shred it. Be on the lookout for any cloves and make sure they don’t end up with the shredded chicken. We aren’t trying to chip a tooth here. Using a fine mesh strainer, strain the juices that remain in the slow cooker. That is flavor, baby! Add it back to the slow cooker and toss in your chicken. I like to serve it with a base of Simple Crispy Roasted Potatoes . But, if you don’t want to use potatoes, you could also use rice as the base, roasted cauliflower for a low-carb or keto option, or make it into a wrap or pita sandwich. Yum! Choose whatever works for you (but I highly suggest the potatoes). To assemble, layer potatoes, shawarma, tomato cucumber salad and top with the tahini feta sauce. Store any leftover chicken or tomato cucumber salad in airtight containers in the fridge up to 4 days. The tahini feta sauce will last up to a week in an airtight container in the fridge.
To make these slow cooker chicken shawarma bowls, this is what you need to do…
Slow Cooker Chicken Shawarma Bowls
Ingredients
- 2 pounds bone in, skin on chicken breast
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp cumin
- ½ tsp whole cloves
- ¼ tsp ground turmeric
- ¼ tsp paprika
- ¼ tsp ground corriander
- ¼ tsp garlic powder
- ⅛ tsp all-spice
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1 orange, juiced
Tomato Cucumber Salad
- 1½ cups tomato, finely chopped
- 1½ cups cucumber, finely chopped
- 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- ½ tsp kosher salt
Feta Tahini Sauce
- 4 oz crumbled feta
- 2 tbsp plain greek yogurt
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
Bowl base
- 4 servings crispy roasted potatoes, rice, roasted cauliflour, or pita bread.
Instructions
- In a slow cooker, place the chicken breasts. Sprinkle with the spices and add the orange juice. Rub the chicken to cover evenly with the spices. Place the juiced orange in the slow cooker. Cover and turn on low for 8 hours or high for 4 hours.
- In a medium bowl, add the chopped tomato, cucumber, red wine vinegar, oregano and salt. Toss to combine. Cover in an airtight container and store in the refrigerator until ready to serve.
- In a food processor, add all the ingredients for the feta tahini sauce. Pulse until smooth.
- Once your chicken is fully cooked, remove the chicken from the slow cooker. Discard the skin and bones and shred the chicken. Pour the juice through a fine mesh strainer and return the juice and the chicken to the slow cooker until ready to serve.
- To build your bowls, place the potatoes on the bottom. Layer the chicken, tomato cucumber salad and feta tahini sauce. Enjoy!
Notes
- The chicken and tomato cucumber salad can be stored in airtight containers in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. The chicken can be stored in the freezer for up to 3 months.
- The feta tahini sauce can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 7 days.
- Choose your own bowl base! I recommend using our crispy roasted potato recipe, but feel free to substitute brown or white rice, roasted cauliflower, or turn it into a sandwich or wrap!