Halal Cart Chicken is boldy spiced and served with fragrant Turmeric Rice and spicy yogurt sauce. The perfect copycat of NY cart food.
Halal Cart Chicken and Rice is a hugely popular dish in New York City. Along populated corners you can walk past and smell the amazing warm spices of the chicken and rice and find yourself standing in the long lines before you even realize what happened.
The Halal Guys are as much a reason to visit the city as any other food you’ve decided to put on your short list during a visit. This Halal Cart Chicken and Rice is served up to a long line of fans for good reason. The seasonings are bold and delicious, crispy cooked chicken and seasoned rice.
I mixed up the sauce a bit adding Sriracha and when it came time to dinner, there was a long period of silence as we all stuffed our faces as quickly as we could! This dish is fantastic and isn’t too spicy for even the youngsters to enjoy (minus the sauce).
Give it a shot, it may seem intimidating because of the number of ingredients, but it is really just a slightly long list of really easy steps and the end results more than makes up for it!
This Halal Cart Chicken and Rice comes from one of my favorite sources for dinner inspiration and kitchen wizardry, the Serious Eats Food Lab rock star Kenji.
If he gives you advice you know it is because he has tried it 15 different ways to find the best one. You can go into the recipe and know, with no hesitation, you are in for some really delicious food. He hasn’t let me down yet and I’ve been making his recipes for years. They do normally have a few more steps than most, but look at what it gets you…
To marinade the chicken: Combine the lemon juice, oregano, coriander, garlic, and olive oil in a blender until smooth. Season to taste with kosher salt and black pepper. Place the chicken in a ziploc bag. Marinade for 3-4 hours.
Take out of the bag and pat dry with paper towels. Cook on medium-high in a pan, skin side down for 4-5 minutes, or until well browned. Turn over and cook for another 4-5 minutes until cooked completely through. Let the chicken cool for 5-10 minutes, then chop into rough chunks.
For the rice: Melt the butter over medium heat in a large Dutch oven then add the spices.
Cook until you can smell them, stirring into the butter. 
Add the rice and stir to coat. 
Cook, stirring frequently for 4 minutes until the rice is toasted. 
Add the chicken broth and season to taste with salt and pepper. Bring mixture to a boil. Cover, reduce to a simmer, and cook for 15 minutes without disturbing. Remove from the heat and rest without opening the lid for 15 minutes. 
Once fluffed you can use it as the base to the meal and top with chopped chicken. 
To make the sauce: Combine yogurt, garlic, salt, pepper and Sriracha and let sit for an hour in the fridge. 
Note from Kenji: “Do not marinate the chicken longer than 4 hours or it’ll get a mushy texture. If you must delay cooking the chicken for any reason, remove it from the marinade, pat it dry with paper towels, and refrigerate until ready to cook.”
You can also serve the chicken without chopping and it is still a gorgeous meal. 
Tools used in the making of Halal Cart Chicken and Rice:
Pig Tail Flipper – I use this *almost* more than I use tongs in the kitchen. Flipping is so quick and doesn’t smash foods.
Extra Long Grain Rice – You can use regular rice, but the dish is extra special with either extra long grain rice or Basmati rice.
Dutch Oven – Back around the time of our wedding All-Clad had this amazing gift with purchases and we ended up with THREE of these. I use them for almost everything and sometimes even all three at once.
Turmeric – Not a spice that gets a lot of use in every day cooking, this is really the secret in the dish along with the coriander.
Spice Rack – I listed the spices above as a reference point for what turmeric and what coriander are, but I buy spices in bulk from local grocers and from Penzey’s. It’s less expensive and significantly higher quality than buying the jars individually but I ended up being left with tons of little bags of spices. Enter the spice rack. Everything is clean and organized and I love it so much it is actually going to be in the Holiday gift roundup coming up next month! I <3 this spice rack that AllSpice sent me. 🙂
Halal Cart Chicken and Rice (Copycat)
Ingredients
For the Chicken:
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
- 3 garlic cloves , roughly chopped (about 1 1/2 tablespoons)
- 1/4 cup light olive oil
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 2 pounds boneless , skinless chicken thighs, trimmed of excess fat (6 to 8 thighs)
- 1 tablespoon vegetable or canola oil
For the Rice:
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 1/2 cups extra long-grain or Basmati rice
- 2 1/2 cups chicken broth
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the Sauce:
- 1 cup Greek yogurt
- 1-2 tablespoons Sriracha sauce
- 2 cloves garlic , minced
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- To marinade the chicken: Combine the lemon juice, oregano, coriander, garlic, and olive oil in a blender until smooth.
- Season to taste with kosher salt and black pepper.
- Place the chicken in a ziploc bag.
Marinade for 3-4 hours.
- Take out of the bag and pat dry with paper towels.
Cook on medium-high in a pan, skin side down for 4-5 minutes, or until well browned.
Turn over and cook for another 4-5 minutes until cooked completely through.
Let the chicken cool for 5-10 minutes, then chop into rough chunks.
- For the rice: Melt the butter over medium heat in a large Dutch oven then add the spices and cook until you can smell them, stirring into the butter.
- Add the rice and stir to coat.
Cook, stirring frequently for 4 minutes until the rice is toasted.
- Add the chicken broth and season to taste with salt and pepper.
- Bring mixture to a boil.
Cover, reduce to a simmer, and cook for 15 minutes without disturbing.
Remove from the heat and rest without opening the lid for 15 minutes.
To make the sauce: Combine yogurt and Sriracha and let sit for an hour in the fridge.
- Note from Kenji: "Do not marinate the chicken longer than 4 hours or it’ll get a mushy texture. If you must delay cooking the chicken for any reason, remove it from the marinade, pat it dry with paper towels, and refrigerate until ready to cook."
Recipe Notes
Adapted from Kenji Alt's Halal Chicken on Serious Eats.
Love this recipe! Pretty quick and easy and the kids even eat it. I have also used chicken breasts which also worked well.
It calls for boneless/skinless chicken thighs, but it says to cook it skin side down….
You can put it down on any side at first, just make sure to cook it completely through. I hope you enjoy it!
Right but if it’s boneless SKINLESS there is no skin. Either the ingredients should be updated or the instructions.
Hi, can you add the marinade to the chicken and freeze it right away or will that make the chicken take on a bad texture once it’s defrosted?
I’ve tried this recipe without freezing, as instructed, and it was amazing!
Because of the citrus in the sauce, I wouldn’t recommend freezing it. I’m so glad you love the recipe though!
Used this to get rid of my thanksgiving leftover turkey. It was fabulous
This is one of my favorite recipes and I am so glad you enjoyed it too!
I made this tonight for dinner and my 3 picky kids loved the chicken so much! Sadly there wasn’t enough as they wanted more. I promised them I’d make it again tomorrow!
I love this rice recipe so much. Would love to know the water and time for brown rice instead of white rice. Any ideas?
You’ll need to use about 3 cups of broth and allow it to took for about 30-45 minutes. It takes a lot longer to cook. Enjoy!
I made this for some young men who had requested an halal cookup. It was brilliant.
Haven’t made this yet but curious about the directions. Ingredients call for skinless, boneless thighs but instructions say to cook ‘skin side down’. Are you just saying to cook on the side that had skin on it or is this a misprint? Sounds good will definitely try it.
Just a mis-print, sorry. I hope you enjoy it!
Absolutely delicious. I used brown basmati rice, which took a bit longer to cook, but it turned out beautifully. That was THE most delicious rice I’ve ever had (and I’m an Asian who eats a lot of rice!!!!). I didn’t have chicken thighs so instead used chicken breasts that soaked in the marinade overnight. The yogurt was the perfect add-on.
It was one of the most savory dishes I’ve had. I will be making this often. Thank you.
Thanks for coming back to let me know how much you enjoyed it, Elle.
I’m middle eastern, so I was pretty skeptical with this recipe. It has a great start, but I did change the recipe around. The chicken was pretty good, I did add seven spice since I didn’t have any coriander. The rice wasn’t very flavorful, however, I see how it pairs well with the chicken and yogurt. I didn’t make the yogurt instead I sautéd peppers, onions, and tomatoes then combined it with the chicken. That’s when it became chicken gallaba. It turned out pretty good. I do have to say I’ve always made basmati rice with a 1:2 ratio, and it always comes out great. When I have tried less water, the rice comes out clumpy.
I tried making the sauce but it doesn’t taste like the halal one… something is a bit off. Maybe it’s the sriracha?
Would love to know what the timings and water ratio is for long grain brown rice. Any help is appreciated!
If you want to use long grain brown rice, use 1 1/2 cups of rice with 3 cups of water. It’ll take 30 minutes. Enjoy!
Not copycat at all. There’s no sriracha in the sauce.
Hi Sabrina,
Thank you so much for sharing this recipe. This is one of my son’s favorite dish.
You’re welcome.
I have had Halal cart many times in NYC, sometimes i see cardamom in the rice and bay leaves in the chicken. Any advice on how to incorporate it?
I would add to your taste, with the rest of the spices. Start small (1 bay leaf, 1/2 tsp of cardamom) and adjust to your liking.
This was really good. I had a friend from Pakistan that would make this. Just wish I had a tandoori oven…it definitely makes a difference. Thanks for sharing your recipe.