New York Halal Cart Chicken and Rice (with White Sauce)
Chicken thighs marinated in lemon, oregano, coriander and garlic, seared and chopped, piled on turmeric and cumin rice with shredded iceberg, tomato and buttered pita, and drowned in a tangy white sauce of mayonnaise, yogurt, vinegar and black pepper, with hot sauce on top.
New York's halal carts started as hot dog carts. Wikipedia says that in 1990 three Egyptian Americans, Mohamed Abouelenein, Ahmed Elsaka and Abdelbaset Elsayed, opened a hot dog cart at 53rd Street and Sixth Avenue in Manhattan, and in 1992 switched to chicken, gyro meat, rice and pita, because hot dogs were not filling; Muslim cab drivers came for a quick, cheap halal meal. That cart became The Halal Guys, which reportedly had more than 100 locations by 2025. Wikipedia says similar white sauces are found at most other halal carts in the city, and that the chain's own sauce recipe is undisclosed.
The platter is the turning spit turned into lunch: chopped chicken or gyro meat on yellow rice, a pile of iceberg and tomato, and two sauces. This recipe is Serious Eats' home version by J. Kenji López-Alt, first printed in the 2011 Serious Eats book; Serious Eats calls it "a spot-on rendition of the street food classic." It is cart style, not any one cart's recipe.
Why it works the kitchen science
Half the marinade saved
The chicken gets flavor going in, and the clean half, tossed with the cooked meat, gives it a fresh, bright coating no raw chicken has touched.
Sweet, sour and creamy
Sugar and vinegar make the mayonnaise and yogurt sauce tangy and a little sweet, which is what makes it taste like the carts and not like ranch.
Step by step
- Step 1
Blend the lemon juice, oregano, coriander, garlic and olive oil until smooth; season with salt and pepper. Pour half over the chicken in a zipper-lock bag and refrigerate the other half. Marinate the chicken in the refrigerator 1 to 4 hours, turning now and then.
- Step 2
Pat the chicken dry and season heavily with pepper and some salt. Heat the oil in a 12-inch cast-iron or stainless skillet over medium-high heat until lightly smoking. Sear the chicken without moving it, about 4 minutes, until lightly browned. Flip, lower the heat to medium and cook about 6 minutes more, until the thickest thigh reads 165°F. Rest 5 minutes, chop into 1/4- to 1/2-inch pieces, toss with the saved marinade and refrigerate.
- Step 3
For the rice, melt the butter in a Dutch oven over medium heat, add the turmeric and cumin and cook about 1 minute, until fragrant. Add the rice and stir about 4 minutes, until lightly toasted. Add the broth, season, bring to a boil over high heat, then cover, lower to a simmer and cook 15 minutes without lifting the lid. Rest off the heat, covered, 15 minutes.
- Step 4
Whisk together the white sauce ingredients and season with salt.
- Step 5
Return the chicken with all its marinade and juices to the skillet and cook over medium-high heat, stirring, until it is hot all the way through, 3 to 4 minutes (165°F).
- Step 6
Divide the rice, lettuce, tomato and pita strips among 4 plates, pile the chicken on the rice and finish with plenty of white sauce and hot sauce.
New York Halal Cart Chicken and Rice (with White Sauce)
Serves 4 · 4 platters · 2 hr 15 min total
Chicken
- 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 1 tbsp chopped fresh oregano
- 1/2 tsp ground coriander
- 3 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
- 1/4 cup light olive oil
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 2 lb boneless, skinless chicken thighs, trimmed (6 to 8)
- 1 tbsp vegetable or canola oil
Rice
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter
- 1/2 tsp ground turmeric
- 1/4 tsp ground cumin
- 1 1/2 cups long-grain or basmati rice
- 2 1/2 cups chicken broth
- Salt and pepper
White sauce
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 1/2 cup Greek yogurt
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 2 tbsp white vinegar
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- 1/4 cup chopped parsley
- 2 tsp black pepper
- Salt
To serve
- 1 head iceberg lettuce, shredded
- 1 large tomato, cut into wedges
- 4 pocketless pitas, brushed with 1 tbsp melted butter, toasted and cut into 1-by-3-inch strips
- Harissa-style hot sauce
Method
- Blend the lemon juice, oregano, coriander, garlic and olive oil until smooth; season with salt and pepper. Pour half over the chicken in a zipper-lock bag and refrigerate the other half. Marinate the chicken in the refrigerator 1 to 4 hours, turning now and then.
- Pat the chicken dry and season heavily with pepper and some salt. Heat the oil in a 12-inch cast-iron or stainless skillet over medium-high heat until lightly smoking. Sear the chicken without moving it, about 4 minutes, until lightly browned. Flip, lower the heat to medium and cook about 6 minutes more, until the thickest thigh reads 165°F. Rest 5 minutes, chop into 1/4- to 1/2-inch pieces, toss with the saved marinade and refrigerate.
- For the rice, melt the butter in a Dutch oven over medium heat, add the turmeric and cumin and cook about 1 minute, until fragrant. Add the rice and stir about 4 minutes, until lightly toasted. Add the broth, season, bring to a boil over high heat, then cover, lower to a simmer and cook 15 minutes without lifting the lid. Rest off the heat, covered, 15 minutes.
- Whisk together the white sauce ingredients and season with salt.
- Return the chicken with all its marinade and juices to the skillet and cook over medium-high heat, stirring, until it is hot all the way through, 3 to 4 minutes (165°F).
- Divide the rice, lettuce, tomato and pita strips among 4 plates, pile the chicken on the rice and finish with plenty of white sauce and hot sauce.
Adapted from J. Kenji López-Alt (headnote by Caroline Russock), "Serious Eats' Halal Cart-Style Chicken and Rice With White Sauce", Serious Eats (published December 5, 2011; updated September 21, 2025), adapted from "Serious Eats: A Comprehensive Guide to Making and Eating Delicious Food Wherever You Are" by Ed Levine and the Serious Eats team (Clarkson Potter, 2011), serves 4. We follow it as written: a blended marinade of lemon, fresh oregano, ground coriander, garlic and light olive oil, half for the chicken (1 to 4 hours) and half saved for later; thighs seared about 4 minutes, flipped and cooked about 6 minutes more over medium to 165°F, rested, chopped and tossed with the saved marinade; rice toasted in butter with turmeric and cumin, simmered 15 minutes in broth and rested 15; the white sauce; and the chicken reheated in its juices at the end. The amount of butter for the pita is ours. Serious Eats. Ingredient list follows the source; the method is in our own words.
All sources (2)
Tips
- Serious Eats warns against marinating longer than 4 hours; the lemon turns the chicken mushy.
- Chop the chicken small, as the carts do, so every forkful has sauce and rice.
- Thin the white sauce with a spoonful of water if you want it to pour like a squeeze bottle.
- The yellow rice goes with almost anything; it is the base of Sheet-Pan Chicken Shawarma too.
The rules people argue about
What the sources agree on, what they don't, and what is just a good story.
- The Halal Guys invented the halal cart platter. Disputed: Wikipedia says the cart helped move halal food into the mainstream and that similar white sauces are at most carts, but it does not say it was first, and a second cart on the same corner makes the same kind of food.
- The white sauce is just mayonnaise and yogurt. Disputed: Serious Eats builds it that way; Wikipedia says the chain's recipe is undisclosed and that recreations have not matched it.
- Halal means the cart food is Middle Eastern. Folklore: halal is a Muslim dietary standard; the carts' founders in Wikipedia's account are Egyptian American, and the platter is a New York invention.
- The red sauce is harissa. Folklore: Serious Eats says "harissa-style hot sauce"; cart recipes are not public.
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