Halal Guys – Chicken and Rice

60 Minutes

With just the right amount of heat and flavor, this Halal Guys Chicken and Rice copycat recipe is a perfect balance of comfort and excitement. Made with tender and juicy chicken, marinated in aromatic spices, and served over a bed of aromatic rice, you are sure to be dreaming about this dish for days.

Street food is one of the most unique ways to experience a culture, no matter what country you are in – and the United States is no exception. New York City is lined with street food vendors, halal carts, hot dog stands, and so much more. 

A personal favorite of mine is the Halal Guys Chicken and Rice cart on 53rd and 6th. I mean, talk about perfection!

If you haven’t given this a try, I seriously need you to book a trip to NYC immediately, just for this. The blend of flavorful, moist chicken with a creamy, tangy white sauce and a fiery kick from the red sauce is out-of-this-world good.

Now, to be completely honest with you, this Halal Guys Chicken and Rice is usually consumed after a long night of drinking and dancing away in the city. However, it’ll leave you daydreaming about the meal long after that. Plus, it tastes pretty damn good when you’re sober too.

Still, it’s worth the experience. Of course, if you aren’t near New York or don’t want to wait in those long lines, I’m here to tell you that you can easily make this at home. Not only will this be faster than waiting in the lines, but it even tastes exactly the same! 

My husband, who is extremely picky when it comes to copycat recipes of any sort, will tell you that this recipe is the real deal. 

How to Make the Best Halal Guys Chicken and Rice

I confess that the pictures you see do not represent how I actually eat this chicken and rice, because Halal Guys is incomplete without absolutely drenching your meat and rice in the white and red sauce. For the sake of taking a presentable photo for you, I had to limit myself on the sauces. 

So, if you really want the best chicken and rice, you have to go to town with those sauces! If you don’t really eat spicy food, then you can omit the spicy red sauce for sriracha or just skip it altogether.

Now, one of the most important elements of this copycat recipe is marinating the chicken. I highly recommend doing this overnight to give you the best results. It will make a world of different in how juicy and tender your chicken comes out in the dish.

The chicken can be marinated in a large Ziploc bag, which makes for super easy clean-up. I used chicken breast in this dish only because I find it to be a bit cleaner and healthier, but you can use chicken thighs as well.

A great way to add texture to this dish is by adding lettuce and chopped tomatoes along with some Stonefire naan. This really brings out the lovely flavors of the Halal Guys Chicken and Rice and makes everything so much more satisfying to eat.

You should also prepare your white and red sauces ahead of time. If you make them the day before, all the flavors sit together and taste so much better and more complex the next day.

The white sauce is my favorite because it is so versatile. I use it in so many of my recipes! Everything from Homemade Falafel to Moroccan Chicken Kebabs, and even sandwiches and fries. Of course, it is a staple for Halal Guys Chicken and Rice, and is one of the many reasons the street cart got famous in the first place. 

The white sauce can be made in a mason jar and shaken up. I don’t even waste my time whisking the ingredients together anymore, because it can all be mixed together in an airtight mason jar before it goes straight into the fridge.

Vegetarian, Vegan, Dairy-Free, and Healthy Substitutions

The white sauce is made with yogurt, mayo, spices, and some lemon vinegar. However, if you want to make a healthier or vegan version, you can replace the mayonnaise with a plant-based mayo and the yogurt with Greek yogurt (or a plant-based yogurt)! 

You could also use lite mayonnaise. Whatever you do not use fat-free mayo. The consistency is very different and will not taste the same.

Another option to make the Halal Guys Chicken and Rice healthier is by using a rice like jasmine or basmati rice. You can also substitute brown rice or cauliflower rice, but know that they may not give you the same texture as the original recipe. 

I recommend cooking the rice in water, but adding vegetable or chicken broth to take the flavors to another level.

If you don’t eat chicken or meat, you can replace it with my Homemade Falafel recipe; it’s something that’s also served at the Halal Guys street cart if you ever go to to 53rd and 6th, so I promise, it’s still authentic!

Halal Guys – Chicken and Rice

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★★★★★

5 from 3 reviews

• Author: Sweta Patel
• Total Time: 60

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Ingredients

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White sauce

• ½ cup yogurt regular or greek
• 1 cup mayo
• 2 tbsp water
• 1 tbsp vinegar distilled is fine
• 2 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• ½ tsp salt and pepper
• ½ tsp dried or fresh parsley

Red hot sauce

• 1 small tomato roughly chopped
• 5 dried red chilies
• 1 tbsp vinegar
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 2 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 tsp garlic
• ½ tsp salt
• ½ tsp sugar
• ½ tsp onion powder
• ½ tsp black pepper

Chicken

• 4 chicken breast
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tsp adobo seasoning
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 1 tsp garlic minced
• ½ tsp dried parsley
• ½ tsp oregano
• ½ tsp cayenne pepper
• ½ tsp coriander powder

Rice

• 2 cups chicken/ veggie stock or water
• 1 cup basmati rice
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp tumeric
• 1 tsp cumin powder
• 1 tsp salt

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Instructions

White sauce

1. Mix everything in a bowl and refrigerate until ready to use.

Red hot sauce

1. Put all ingredients in blender, blend together until smooth paste

Chicken & Rice

1. In a medium bowl or glass tupper wear with lid, mix all the seasonings for the chicken marinate – olive oil, lemon juice, fresh garlic (minced), dried parsley, oregano, cayenne pepper, coriander powder and adobo seasoning. Place your chicken in this marinate, and coat both sides. Let this marinate for at least 30 mins or best over night!
2. While the chicken is marinating you can make the rice. In a medium size pot with lid, melt the butter. Once butter is melted your going to add the rice and let that toast for 2-3 mins, stirring continuously. Add the spices to the rice, mix well and add the water or broth of choice. Give it one final stir and bring to boil, lower the heat, place the lid and let this cook for 15- 20 mins.
3. Make both of the sauces while the rice is cooking and chicken is marinating. If you already have done this the day or night before skip this and move to step 4.
4. While your waiting for your skillet to heat up, take the chicken out of the fridge for at least 10 mins before cooking, bringing it to room temperature helps to cook the chicken evenly.
5. In a large skillet on med-high heat place 1 tbsp of oil and place the chicken, you will hear a nice sizzling sounds which insures you the temperature is perfect. If you don’t hear the sizzle let the oil heat up a little bit more. Cook both front and back side of the chicken for 5mins each. (total 10 mins) Once the chicken is cooked, turn off heat and cover with lid.
6. Heat up your naan with a little bit of butter and chop up your lettuce and tomatoes.(Optional)
7. Chop your chicken up into bite sized pieces just like how you get at the karts and its ready to be severed!

Notes

• Of course I went the extra mile and served this in same aluminum tin container like you would get at the karts. I put the rice, chicken,naan, lettuce tomatoes and course drizzled the white sauce. I generally love this dish with the meat and rice drenched in the white and red sauce but for the sake of having a presentable picture I had to limit my self on the sauces.
   
• Don’t worry after the pictures were taken my husband and I drenched our chicken in the sauces and devoured this in minutes.
• Marinating the chicken overnight will give you the ultimate results! Trust me guys this will be SO worth it and will make you life a bit easier.
• Making the two sauces day before will also be well worth it, all the flavors will marinate and taste SO SOOO much better.
• If you want to be slight healthy when it comes to the white sauce, you can lite mayo, instead of regular, but what ever you do, DO NOT USE fat free, the consistently is very different and will not taste the same.
• I used chicken breast in this dish only because its just a bit cleaner and healthier, you can use chicken thighs which also work well too.
• Try to use jasmine or basmati rice, brown rice or other subs will not work as well and give you a gritty texture over all.
• You can cook the rice in water but adding veggie or chicken broth just takes to another level, and you want to add as much flavor as you can to this rice!
• I used stone fire naan in this dish and also chopped up come romaine lettuce and tomatoes for that authentic kart taste.

• Prep Time: 30
• Cook Time: 30
• Category: entree
• Cuisine: middleeastern