Lebanese Chicken Tawook Bowls are a high-protein, weeknight-friendly dinner with lemony marinated chicken, creamy cucumber laban, and hummus over greens. Meal prep friendly and ready in 35 minutes!
Growing up with Syrian and Lebanese roots, chicken tawook was never a restaurant dish for us, it was weeknight food! The kind of thing my family threw together when we had leftover marinated chicken and a fridge full of vegetables. These Lebanese Chicken Tawook Bowls are exactly that: a hearty, flexible bowl dinner built around lemony shish tawook chicken, creamy cucumber laban yogurt sauce, hummus, and za’atar-kissed tomatoes.
If you’ve never had tawook before, think of it as Lebanon’s answer to grilled chicken: marinated in lemon, garlic, and olive oil until it’s impossibly tender. Make the chicken once, build bowls all week. 45 grams of protein per serving, ready in 35 minutes. If you want, you can even swap out chicken for shish tawook air fryer shrimp.
The base of the bowl is chopped romaine and your grain of choice. We like using bulgur wheat, but freekeh, quinoa, spelt or farro would work great, too. You can also skip the grain entirely to keep it low carb.
What is Chicken Tawook?
Chicken tawook (also spelled shish taouk) is a popular Lebanese and Middle Eastern dish of cubed chicken marinated in lemon juice, garlic, and olive oil (sometimes with yogurt and spices), then grilled or roasted until golden. The name comes from Turkish: “şiş” (skewer) and “tavuk” (chicken), a legacy of the Ottoman Empire’s influence on Lebanese cuisine. In Lebanon, it’s often served in a pita with toum (garlic sauce) or over a bowl of grains with fresh vegetables.
Ingredients
- Shish Tawook Chicken: I love to make it on the sheet pan to keep things easy, but you can’t beat it on the grill. You can use chicken thighs instead of breasts.
- Cucumber Laban: Delicious and easy to make at home, though you can use store-bought as well. You an use plain yogurt, but plain Greek yogurt works well with the full-fat, rich flavor.
- Hummus: Store-bought is totally fine, but hummus is so easy to make and customize at home. Use a classic hummus with pine nuts, or roasted garlic hummus.
- Za’atar: A super popular spice blend in Middle-Eastern cuisine, typically comprising of sumac, oregano, thyme, marjoram, sesame seeds, and salt.
- Grain base: Bulgur wheat to keep things traditional, freekeh to be a bit more earthy, quinoa keeps it gluten-free, you can also use farro or spelt. Keep it low-carb and use cauliflower rice!
- Tomatoes: Cherry tomatoes are ideal for sweetness; grape tomatoes work as well.
How to Make Lebanese Chicken Tawook Bowls
Step 1. Start by marinating your shish tawook in either a large plastic bag or large bowl. Add the olive oil and lemon juice.
Step 2. Then season with garlic, salt, and pepper, before mixing and letting marinate for at least 30 minutes.
Step 3. While chicken marinates, whip up your laban by mixing yogurt, cucumbers, lemon juice, garlic, and dried mint.
Step 4. Then get your grain (I did quinoa this time) cooking on the stove or in a rice cooker.
Step 5. Toss your chicken on the grill and cook for roughly 6 minutes a side before letting it rest and then slicing.
Step 6. While chicken is cooking, toss your tomatoes with olive oil, lemon juice, and the za’atar.
With all your components finished, assemble your bowl with lettuce, chicken, quinoa, laban, hummus, and the tomatoes. Garnish with fresh parsley or additional za’atar. Serve and enjoy your Lebanese Chicken Tawook Bowls!
Lebanese Chicken Bowl Meal Prep Tips
- Store components separately: don’t assemble until serving to keep ingredients texture.
- Chicken: keeps up to 5 days in an air-tight container in the fridge, you can reheat or eat cold.
- Yogurt sauce: keeps for 4 days in the fridge. Be sure to mix it well each time before serving.
- Tomato salad: keeps for 2–3 days. I recommend adding some fresh lemon juice to wake it back up.
- Romaine: keep it whole and chop fresh each day for best texture, but can be chopped in advance and stored on its own.
More Lebanese Recipes
- Chicken Shawarma Naan Wrap with Tahini
- Warm Hummus with Ground Lamb and Pomegranate
- Labneh with Olive Oil and Za’atar
- Lebanese Rice Salad
- Baked Kibbeh
Eat It, Like It, Share It!
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Your fork is waiting.
Ingredients
Instructions
- Prepare the Lebanese Sheet Pan Chicken Shish Tawook and set aside. While the chicken is cooking, mix together the Cucumber Laban Yogurt Sauce in a medium bowl; set aside.4 servings Lebanese Shish Tawook Chicken, 4 servings Cucumber Laban – Lebanese Yogurt Sauce
- In a small bowl, toss together the halved tomatoes with lemon juice, olive oil, za’atar and season with salt and pepper to taste; set aside.1 cup cherry tomatoes, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, 1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil, 1 teaspoon za’atar, salt and pepper to taste
- To assemble, fill each bowl with two cups of romaine and a half cup of cooked grains (if using.) Top with one serving each of the chicken and cucumber Laban. Finally, top with two tablespoons of hummus and 1/4 cup of the tomato mixture. Serve with extra lemons for squeezing before eating!8 cups romaine, 1/2 cup hummus, 2 cups cooked grain of choice (ie bulgur wheat, quinoa, freekeh, spelt, etc.)
Liz’s Notes
Nutrition
Frequently Asked Questions
Cucumber laban (Lebanese yogurt sauce with garlic, lemon, and mint) is the classic pairing. Toum (Lebanese whipped garlic sauce) is an incredible upgrade if you can find it or make it. Hummus does double duty as both a sauce base and a protein boost.
Very! One serving of this bowl delivers over 45 grams of protein with approximately 423 calories. It’s naturally gluten-free (skip the pita), high in fiber from the romaine and hummus, and uses heart-healthy olive oil throughout.
Simply skip the grain base and double the romaine. The chicken, yogurt sauce, hummus, and tomatoes are all low-carb. The whole bowl comes to approximately 28g of carbs without grains.
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