Chicken Over Rice With White Sauce

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This wonderfully delicious recipe recreates a similar version to a New York City favorite of Halal cart style chicken and rice with white sauce. The marinated and perfectly seasoned chicken is tasty along with the flavorful rice and creamy white sauce.  Add all the garnishes, and you’ll have a meal of chicken over rice with white sauce that you’ll want to make again and again. 

chicken over rice with white sauce

Making This for More Than One Person?

You’ll be just fine since it makes enough for about 4 meals. If you need to scale it back for one to two people, you can do that by making half a recipe. 

What is Halal Guys Chicken and Rice?

Halal Guys is a fast-food casual restaurant that started in New York City Manhattan as food carts. You might be thinking, what is Halal Guys Recipe? In this article we’ve shared with you a. recipe that resembles the type of NYC food cart food they make with their chicken over rice and  white sauce specialty.

It’s Halal cart style chicken over rice with flavorful, marinated chicken plated over fluffy yellow rice drizzled with the famous, creamy white sauce – all made from scratch!

Why You Should Try This Recipe

If you like chicken over rice bowls, you’re going to love this flavorful dish.  The biggest reason you should try this recipe is because it’s delicious.  It tastes just like the authentic street food.

And though there are three main components, it comes together quite easily with some basic ingredients and delicious flavors. 

What Ingredients You Need to Make this Dish

Here are the recommended ingredients needed to make this dish:

boneless skinless chicken thighs
garlic cloves
oregano
salt and pepper
lemon juice
olive oil

Basmati rice
chicken broth
butter
turmeric
cumin
salt and pepper

Greek yogurt
mayonnaise
vinegar
sugar
fresh parsley

chicken over rice with lettuce

Ingredient Substitutes

When making chicken over rice, you might run into a few ingredients where you think I wonder if there’s something that could be substituted in its place. Here are a few popular substitutes.

Chicken. Chicken thighs are recommended because it’s authentic with Halal Cart Chicken Over Rice, but any kind of boneless, skinless chicken will potentially work for this recipe.

For a vegan-friendly chicken option, make the “Chicken” replacement, and use an extra firm tofu in place of the chicken.

Rice. We recommend using Basmati rice because that’s what traditionally used in the street cart recipes and it makes a good fluffy yellow rice. However, long grain rice would also work as a substitute.

Greek Yogurt. You can use plain yogurt in place of Greek Yogurt if desired, as well as a vegan friendly yogurt. 

Mayonnaise. For a vegan white sauce option, be sure to substitute the mayonnaise with whatever your favorite vegan mayonnaise is.

Shredded Lettuce. We typically use Iceberg lettuce that is chopped finely.  However, you can also use Romaine or whatever your favorite kind of lettuce is.

chicken over rice with garnishes

How To Make Halal Chicken Over Rice Recipe

For how to make chicken over rice, you’ll want to think of the dish as three main components. Those components are the chicken, the rice, and the white sauce. Everything else is a garnish. Follow our step-by-step instructions below for how to make this delicious dish.

Delicious Halal Chicken and Rice is a favorite New York City street food. This make at home version tastes just like the real thing.

Ingredients Needed:

For the chicken:
2 lbs boneless skinless chicken thigh
1 ½ tablespoons diced garlic cloves
2 tsp fresh chopped oregano
salt to taste
pepper to taste
3 tbsp lemon juice
¼ cup olive oil
1 tbsp cooking oil

For the rice:
Here are the rice ingredients.

1 ½ cups Basmati rice
2 1/2 cups chicken broth
3 tbsp butter
½ tsp turmeric
¼ tsp cumin
salt to taste
pepper to taste

For the sauce:
Here are the white sauce ingredients.

½ cup Greek yogurt
½ cup mayonnaise
2 tbsp white distilled vinegar
1 ½ tsp lemon juice
1 tbsp sugar
chopped parsley

Optional Ingredients:
Pita Bread
Hot Sauce
Shredded Lettuce
Fresh Tomato

chicken over rice served in tin

Instructions for Chicken Over Rice:

Pulling together Halal Chicken Over Rice can be a bit involved, so you’ll want to work on preparing this delicious dish in three main parts.

How To Make Chicken:

1. Combine the lemon juice and the seasonings including garlic, salt, pepper, oregano, and olive oil in the blender and blend until smooth. This will serve as a marinade for the chicken.

2. Place the chicken in a zipped food storage bag and marinate in the refrigerator from 1-4 hours. 

3. Remove the chicken from the bag and pat dry with a paper towel. Season as desired with salt and pepper again and place in the frying pan with oil.  Cook the chicken until they’re lightly browned and then flip them. 

4.  Cook the remaining side until the internal temperature at the thickest part reaches 165F degrees. Let stand for 5 minutes.

5. For the juiciest chicken it is best to leave it undisturbed as much as possible while it cooks. Flipping it only once is ideal. 

6. Transfer to a cutting board and cut into bite sized pieces.  Store in the refrigerator while the remainder of the dish is prepared. 

How To Make Rice:

1. Using a large Dutch oven, melt the butter over medium heat, then add the spices including turmeric and cumin.

2. Add the rice and stir to coat. Then add. The chicken broth and season with salt and pepper to taste.

3. Bring the mixture to a boil by increasing to high heat.  Reduce the heat and cover the pan to let simmer for 15 minutes. 

4. Remove from the heat and allow it to rest until the liquid is completely absorbed and the rice is tender. This will take about 15 minutes.

How To Make White Sauce:

In a mixing bowl, use a whisk to combine mayonnaise, Greek yogurt, vinegar, sugar, parsley, lemon juice, salt, and pepper. 

To Serve Chicken Over Rice:

1. Return chicken and any marinade juices to the frying pan and warm through briefly over low heat.

2. To serve Halal Cart Chicken Over Rice, divide the rice, shredded lettuce, chopped tomato, and pita bread into 4 bowls. Add the chicken on top of the rice. Drizzle with white sauce and hot sauce if desired. Serve immediately and enjoy. 

chicken over rice in tin

What to Garnish Chicken Over Rice with:

If you want to make your chicken over rice a complete meal or take it a notch up and make it visually appealing and full of flavor, consider some or all of these garnishes we recommend. Here’s how to serve halal chicken over rice:

Chopped parsley.  Consider using chopped fresh parsley and adding it to your dish. It not only provides some great flavor, but also adds a nice bit of beautiful dark green color.

Chopped tomatoes.  Chopped tomatoes that are juicy add a bit of a sweet flavor as well as some moisture to the dish. You can cut them in wedges, dice them, or cut them however you’d like as another added dimension of color for your chicken over rice bowl.

Shredded lettuce. Finely chop some Iceberg lettuce to make shredded lettuce. Or any of your favorite lettuce will work fine for that matter.  Lettuce gives a nice, cool texture as a garnish and compliments the flavor that already exists. 

Sriracha sauce. If you like spicy, you’ll love a drizzle of sriracha on your chicken over rice as an optional added garnish. What is sriracha?

Shredded cheese. A pile of any kind of shredded cheese is delicious. And serving as a garnish for your chicken over rice is no different. Cheese that’s orange in color such as Mexican cheese or cheddar cheese adds another dimension of color to this delicious dish. 

Pita bread or naan bread. Toast some pita bread slices or naan bread to add to your halal chicken over rice as a garnish it completes the textures and food groups.

Frequently Asked Questions

Following are frequently asked questions for how to make Chicken Over Rice with White Sauce. If you have a question that’s not answered here, feel free to drop it in the comments box below and we’ll be happy to answer it.

Can I use chicken breast instead of chicken thigh?

Yes, you can use chicken breast instead of thigh meat if you prefer. The reason we recommend using thighs is because a thigh tends to remain nice and moist when it’s cooked, more than breast meat does.

Can I make chicken over rice ahead of time?

Yes, if you know that it will be beneficial to have some of the meal prepared ahead so that it can simply be reheated, the rice and the white sauce are two items that can be made ahead without compromise to quality.     

How long will the white sauce keep?

The white sauce will keep about 3-4 days sealed in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

Can I bake the Halal chicken?

Yes, halal chicken, also known as chicken over rice with white sauce can be baked in a conventional oven. It should be baked until the internal temperature of the meat reaches 165F degrees.

How to store chicken over rice? 

If you have leftover chicken over rice, you can store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. If you have already spread white sauce on the dish, the lettuce and tomato portions will likely be soggy the next day. 

How to reheat Halal chicken over rice?

To reheat chicken over rice, you can microwave it for 30 seconds to 1 minute, or place it in a skillet on the stovetop, with a little oil in the pan. Please note if you have shredded lettuce or tomato, they’ll not fare well.

Instead, you’ll want to move those to the side and not include them in the reheated portion. They can be added back on top of the dish after the remainder has been reheated.

Can I freeze chicken over rice?

Before freezing your chicken over rice leftovers, there are two things to note. White sauce doesn’t freeze well and neither does produce like tomatoes and lettuce.

When freezing chicken over rice, it’s best to just freeze the chicken and rice portion. Place it in an airtight container or zipped freezer bag and store in the freezer for up to 2 months.

Resources:

How long can thawed chicken sit out?

How long can thawed chicken stay in the fridge?

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Sarah
Sarah is known for her extra fancy yeast breads, melt in your mouth pies, and everything salads. She has won awards as a home cook, and is passionate about helping others feel smarter in the kitchen. Sarah is the cooking genius of the sister duo.

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