Homemade Halal Cart White Sauce tastes just like the stuff you find in the famous NYC chicken and rice bowls. This simple white sauce comes together with ingredients like lemon juice, dried parsley, white vinegar, sour cream, and mayonnaise. It tastes just like the stuff from Halal Guys!
Layers of creamy and tangy flavors speckled with black pepper and some parsley for color. Honestly, I could squeeze all of this sauce onto one serving, but rest assured, I don’t. What makes this so dangerous is that this sauce recipe uses mostly pantry and refrigerator staple ingredients and comes together in minutes. So it’s easy to put together a batch for my one pan halal chicken rice bowls.
The flavors in the food cart-style white sauce pair beautifully with the turmeric, cumin, coriander, and other spices that I use to marinate the chicken thighs for my bowls. Fluffy basmati rice cooked in seasoned chicken broth is the base. Then we top it with seasoned, pan-seared chicken. And lots of white sauce. The sauce even doubles as a dressing for the crisp lettuce, tomatoes, and cucumbers I like to use on my bowls. And to finish it off a squeeze of hot sauce.
A combination of mayonnaise and Greek yogurt, plus seasonings, nail that classic halal-cart white sauce. Iceberg lettuce and tomato may seem like strange additions, but they’re essential elements of this famous New York City street food.
How to make halal cart white sauce:
- Making the sauce. Add the sour cream, mayonnaise, white vinegar, lemon juice, sugar, dried parsley, salt and pepper to a medium bowl. Add a splash of water and use a whisk to whisk the sauce ingredients together. If the sour cream is cold from the refrigerator, it might breakdown into small lumps. Gently continue to whisk the sauce until it becomes a smooth consistency. You can add the sauce to a squeeze bottle (just like they do at the food carts) so that it’s easy to squirt the sauce onto your bowls! Serve over homemade chicken and rice bowls with hot sauce.
FAQs about this recipe:
- Can I swap the sour cream for greek yogurt? I haven’t tried replacing the sour cream with greek yogurt yet, but this is something on my list to try! Plain yogurt does work fine, so my best guess is that greek yogurt will work here too. If you beat me to it, I’d love to know how it went for you!
- What does halal white sauce taste like? It’s a bright, slightly tangy sauce that really elevates a nicely seasoned chicken or lamb. The closest thing I can think of is a more refined ranch dressing!
- How long can the sauce be kept once made? You can keep the sauce in a squeeze top bottle for up to 5 days once it’s prepared. Make sure to keep the sauce refrigerated when not in use.
- When are you going to share the chicken over rice recipe? Don’t worry it’s coming this week!
How to make NYC Halal Cart Style White Sauce in 3 minutes | Ruma’s Rannaghor
FAQ
What is the white sauce in NYC?
What is white sauce made of?
What is halal white sauce made of?
This white sauce is made of equal parts Greek yogurt and mayonnaise, and a dash of sugar, white vinegar, lemon juice, fresh parsley, salt, and pepper. It’s about as close to The Halal Guys white sauce as you can get.
What are the ingredients in a sauce packet?
Aside from that one major clue, I also had their brand-new sauce packet’s ingredient list as a starting point: soybean and/or canola oil, egg yolks, vinegar, water, salt, sugar, natural flavors, black pepper, xantham gum, and sodium benzoate. The first six ingredients are mayonnaise. There’s no added dairy, because that would have to be stated.
What makes a good white sauce?
Lemon juice and sumac give the sauce its strong citrus flavor. Caraway brightens it up, giving it that refreshing note. Cardamom provides the flowery aroma. Turmeric enhances all those flavors and gives the sauce an ever-so-slight yellow tint, which matches the white sauce perfectly.
How do you make halal cart-style white sauce?
Stir mayonnaise, yogurt, vinegar, pepper, sugar, dill, garlic powder, salt, and 1 Tbsp. water in a medium bowl. Do ahead: Sauce can be made 5 days ahead. Store in an airtight container and chill. How would you rate Halal Cart-Style White Sauce? I was craving so badly my New York City Halal cart now that I live in the suburbs.