Thank you to my friends at Frontier Co-Op for partnering with me for this post. All opinions are my own.
Chicken Shawarma Mediterranean Salad – flavorful juicy chicken, grilled to perfection on top a crunchy super chopped salad for flavor in every single bite! Gluten Free
Good morning! The pup and I just got back from a 3.5-mile walk around the new neighborhood. There are so much more people out walking all the time in the morning compared to my old neighborhood, it’s crazy!
Anyways, I’m ready for the weekend how about y’all???? THREE DAY WEEKEND HERE WE COME!
We grill all year long but for many of you that live in cold states this weekend marks the end of grilling season. Apparently, for some of you that live in the west with me, this marks the beginning of grilling season?
I guess Mr. Hungry is a trooper for grilling in 120F weather. I mean, it’s not that bad though if you go from the grill to the pool and back. Either way, I thought I’d bring you one more epic grill recipe for this weekend!
It’s chicken shawarma time! Many different spices going into this recipe, but like any great marinade for the grill, a little bit of real salt makes all the difference. This summer we’ve been using Frontier’s Co-Op Pink Himalayan Salt Fine Grind in almost every recipe for the grill and really it’s all we use at home.
You may have seen it before but been unsure what the difference is between it and regular table salt. It is sourced from the Himalayas and is said to be one of the purest natural salts in the world. Unlike processed salts, it contains trace minerals and elements.
Typically processed table salt contains 97% sodium chloride, iodine, and anti-caking agents. In contrast, pink Himalayan salt typically contains 83% sodium chloride in addition to other minerals.
Yes, this may mean you need to use a little bit more than you typically would achieve same taste and sodium content.
Now let’s talk about this salad. There is a restaurant chain here in Arizona called Pita Jungle. When we lived in the apartment temporarily in between houses (I can’t believe that was only two weeks ago) there was a Pita Jungle in walking distance.
I was OBSESSED with this salad. Mr. Hungry and I would go there, share this salad and some dolmas, and leave totally satisfied! I knew I had to recreate this salad for you guys because it’s too good for you to not experience! Plus, I selfishly want to eat it all day long every day.
It’s literally loaded with flavor, it doesn’t even need a separate dressing! At Pita Jungle they serve it with a lemon dressing which we never once used, so don’t worry that there is no dressing, I promise it will be crunchy, juicy, and bursting with flavor in every single bite.
Alright, guys, I’m off to tackle Thursday with vengeance but make sure you make this salad this weekend, you won’t regret it!
Chicken Shawarma Mediterranean Salad (Pita Jungle Copycat)
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Chicken Shawarma Mediterranean Salad (Pita Jungle Copycat)
Ingredients
Shawarma Chicken Marinade Ingredients
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 tablespoon ground coriander
- 1 tablespoon ground cardamom
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 tablespoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon sumac
- 2 teaspoons Frontier Real Salt
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- ¼ cup avocado oil
- 2 pounds chicken breasts or thighs I used 2 chicken breasts and 2 thighs from Butcher Box Pita Jungle (copycat) Mediterranean Salad
Mediterranean Salad Ingredients
- 3 roasted red peppers drained and chopped
- ¼ chopped medium red onion
- 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro or garnish with cilantro
- 4-5 Persian cucumbers sliced
- 1/3 cup crumbled feta + more for garnish
- ½ cup golden raisins feel free to sub regular raisins
- ½ cup almond slivers or pine nuts
- 5 cups tabbouleh feel free to purchase or use my recipe for gluten free quinoa Tabbouleh
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon sumac
- salt to taste
- 2 12 ounce bags Romaine Lettuce
Instructions
Directions:
- Mix marinade ingredients (everything except chicken) in a small bowl. Add chicken and marinade in a large gallon size zip lock bag. Massage the marinade into the chicken to ensure its thoroughly coated. Leave it in the refrigerator to marinate for at least 24 hours.
- Preheat grill to 500F and grill chicken until it is cooked all the way through and reaches an internal temperature of 165F. The chicken will stick to the grill if you flip to early so wait at least 5-10 minutes before flipping.
- To make the salad: First prep and chop everything that needs to be prepped and chop (red peppers, onion, cilantro, cucumbers) adding to a large bowl as you go. Add in feta, raisins, almonds, tabbouleh, lemon juice and sumac. Toss and taste. Add salt, lemon juice, and pepper to taste.
- Option to cut up chicken and toss it with the salad or serve it on top.
- What I suggest is serving this salad with a bed of romaine lettuce on the bottom, topped with your tossed salad mixture. Otherwise, if you toss the romaine with the rest of the salad it will get soggy if you don’t serve it right away!
- Garnish with additional feta, almond slivers, and cilantro.
Notes
- Feel free to use more red onion, I just don’t like it that much!
- If you find it needs more moisture add more lemon juice or some of the juice from the red pepper jar. We found that with the lemon juice, veggies, tabbouleh, and red peppers it was plenty juicy and did not need a dressing (just like the actual Pita Jungle version.)
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Yum, Pita Jungle is so good, I will have to give this a try!
This is perfect for this Labor Day weekend BBQ!
This is my favorite salad from Pita Jungle!!!! Now I will have to make the copycat 🙂
OH> MY> GOD. We don’t have Pita Jungle here. I would live there otherwise, apparently.
Miss Pita Jungle! Left AZ in 2017 and always craving the shawarmas – I ate it so much that I learned how to make the chicken by trial and error out here in Fl…. and as of recently have been craving the salad! Thanks so much for this!!!
You are very welcome! Enjoy!