Halloumi Souvlaki Bowl 

By Sue Li

Published May 28, 2026

  • David Malosh for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Hadas Smirnoff.
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Ready In
20 min
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With just a few building blocks—seared halloumi, sautéed chickpeas and yogurty rice—this recipe yields a quick and easy dinner in a bowl. Halloumi is coated with a dried spice rub that includes cumin, thyme and oregano, then gets seared until golden and crisp on the outside. Chickpeas seasoned with smoked paprika add a bit of depth to the bowl. Even the base gets an instant flavor boost: The rice is coated with yogurt to make it tangy and a little rich. Cherry tomatoes, cucumbers and lemon give the bowl plenty of brightness and texture.

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Ingredients

Yield:4 servings

  • 1 cup long-grain white rice 

  • 1 cup water

  • ¾ teaspoon dried oregano

  • ¾ teaspoon dried thyme

  • ¾ teaspoon ground cumin

  • ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper

  • Salt 

  • 2 (8-ounce) packages halloumi, cut into ½-inch slices 

  • 4 tablespoons olive oil, divided

  • 1 (15-ounce) can chickpeas, drained and dried

  • 1 teaspoon smoked paprika

  • ½ cup plain yogurt

  • 1 medium garlic clove, finely grated

  • 2 cup cherry tomatoes (about 11 ounces), halved

  • 4 Persian cucumbers, thinly sliced 

  • 4 lemon wedges

Ingredient Substitution Guide

Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Rinse and drain the white rice. Place in a small pot with a fitted lid and cover the rice with 1 cup water. Bring the pot to a boil over medium-high heat. Once the rice has come to a boil, cover with a lid and immediately reduce the heat to low. Cook the rice until plump, 10 to 12 minutes. Turn off the heat and keep the lid on while you make the halloumi and chickpeas.

  2. Step 2

    Combine the oregano, thyme, cumin, crushed red pepper and about ½ teaspoon salt in a medium bowl. Add halloumi and toss to coat. 

  3. Step 3

    Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a medium skillet over medium. Add the halloumi and cook until golden brown on both sides, 2 minutes per side. Remove from the pan and set aside. 

  4. Step 4

    Add the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil to the same skillet and add the chickpeas and paprika, toss to coat and cook until the paprika is toasted and the chickpeas are heated through, 2 to 3 minutes. Season with salt. Set aside. 

  5. Step 5

    Fluff the cooked rice and fold in the yogurt and grated garlic; season to taste with salt. 

  6. Step 6

    To serve, divide the rice among 4 bowls, top with the halloumi, chickpeas, cherry tomatoes and cucumbers. Serve with lemon wedges.

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    Perfect vegetarian bowl!

    Since this was a brand new recipe at the time I discovered it, I decided to make it exactly as written. Honestly, I have very few notes to change anything for the next time I decide to make it (there will be a next time). Usually souvlaki is a grilled meat dish, and even though this dish is vegetarian, the seasoning blend and heft of the halloumi didn’t leave me feeling like it needed meat at all. Although, you could easily use the same seasoning dish on chopped chicken thighs if you wanted to please both carnivores and vegetarians with this same meal. The only issues I had were that after 10 min of cooking and leaving the lid on while I prepare the rest of the dish the rice was a bit dry when I went to add the yogurt (2% fat Greek yogurt) and it was too clumpy, so I added 1/4 cup hot water and stirred it around to rehydrate a bit and coat the rice evenly with the yogurt mixture. I also noticed I needed to cook my halloumi for longer than 2 min per side to get a nice browning. I made sure to pat my halloumi slices dry, but they still had a bit of moisture to let out before they would start browning. Overall I loved the simplicity and balance and will definitely add to our weeknight rotation!

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