One of our favorite places to grab food to-go is Halal Guys! We were so excited when they opened their first location in DFW, only 10 minutes away from us! We love getting their beef gyro platter with extra white sauce and a tiny bit of their SUPER spicy red sauce. So we decided to re-create this beef and rice bowl at home! It’s super easy and so much cheaper and healthier than eating out.

We initially used lamb in our recipe, however, we noted that the lamb was very heavy on the fat content and ended up draining quite a bit, so our total amount of meat shrunk. Because it’s harder to find lean ground lamb, I recommend sticking to ground beef. You don’t want the meat to be too lean either, so I would go with 90/10 if you can.

We also made a small batch of turmeric rice, which you can replace with cauliflower rice or omit altogether if you are trying to stick to a low-carb diet. We used to be so intimidated by making rice on the stovetop! Often ending up undercooking or overcooking the rice. After MUCH trial and error, we found the perfect method. The key is to let the rice stand off the heat, covered, for the last 5 minutes of the cook time. This ensure the rice is perfectly steamed without sticking to the bottom of the pan.

While the rice cooks, you can prep the white sauce and your veggies. The white sauce we made uses a mixture of mayo and yogurt and tastes very similar to the Halal Guys version. You can also buy some store bought Tzatziki if you want to keep things simple. For the spicy red sauce, we bought some harissa at World Market. You can probably replace with any other type of spicy red chili sauce such as sriracha.

For the veggies, we just chopped up some tomatoes and shredded some lettuce, but again you can customize however you like. We were so happy with how these beef and rice bowls turned out! We know they’ll be on the weeknight dinner rotation regularly!

Copycat Halal Guys Beef and Rice Bowl

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Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 20 minutes mins

Total Time 30 minutes mins

Servings: 2 People

Course: Main Dish

Cuisine: Middle Eastern

Ingredients Method

Ingredients

  

Beef and Rice Bowl

• 1 Pound Ground Beef or Lamb Recommend 90/10
• 2 Tbsp Unsalted Butter
• 1/4 Cup Vermicelli
• 3/4 Cup Short Grain Rice Rinsed three times with warm water
• 1.5 Cups Low-Sodium Chicken Broth
• 1 Cardamom Pod
• 1/2 Teaspoon Turmeric
• 1/2 Teaspoon Garlic Powder
• 1/2 Teaspoon Kosher Salt
• 1/4 Teaspoon Black Pepper
• 2 Cups Shredded Lettuce
• 1 Medium Tomato Diced
• 2 Tablespoons Harissa Or other red chili sauce

White Sauce

• 4 Tablespoons Mayonnaise
• 4 Tablespoons Plain Yogurt
• 1/2 Teaspoon Sumac
• 1 Lemon Juiced
• Salt and Pepper to taste

Method

 

1. Be sure to rinse the rice well, at least 3 times in warm water, or until the water runs clear. This helps to prevent the rice from sticking. 
2. In a medium pot, heat up the butter. 
3. Add the vermicelli and stir gently over medium heat until vermicelli have browned, about 2-3 minutes. 
4. Add in the rinsed rice and stir to combine. Meanwhile, heat up the chicken broth until near boiling either in the microwave or stovetop and add to the pot. 
5. Add in the turmeric and cardamom pod. Stir and cover for 15 minutes over low heat. Then remove from heat and let stand another 5 minutes before uncovering. 
   
6. While the rice is cooking, brown the meat in a saucepan over medium heat, using a wooden spoon the gently break up the meat. Once the meat has browned, season with salt, pepper, and garlic powder. 
7. Next, make the white sauce. Simply combine the mayonnaise, yogurt, lemon juice, and sumac in a small bowl and whisk to combine. Add salt and pepper to taste.
8. Finally, arrange your bowl with rice, lettuce, tomato, seasoned meat and top with both the white sauce and harissa.