How many calories are in a shawarma plate?
A shawarma plate, meat with rice, salad and garlic sauce, comes to about 750 kcal. The garlic sauce is 165 of that in two tablespoons, which makes it the most expensive thing on the plate per mouthful and the one people never think about.
The plate, as served
About 120 g of lamb shawarma, a portion of basmati rice, a dressed side salad and two tablespoons of garlic sauce.
Where the calories come from
| Nutrient | Grams | Calories | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Protein | 30g | 120 | 16% |
| Carbs | 46g | 184 | 25% |
| Fat | 49g | 441 | 59% |
| Fibre | 3g | counted within carbs | |
The ring is sized by calories, not grams: protein and carbs are 4 kcal a gram, fat is 9. Drawn by grams, fat would look like a sliver of what it actually contributes.
What is on the plate
| Lamb shawarma meatAbout 120 g | 290 kcal |
| Basmati rice, cookedA cupped handful, about 150 g cooked | 185 kcal |
| Garlic sauce (toum)Two tablespoons, about 30 g | 165 kcal |
| Green salad, dressedA side salad, about 100 g | 110 kcal |
The same dish, several ways
This is where the calories actually move. Not the ingredient, the cooking.
- With hummus and falafel added1,180+430
The mixed plate people actually order when they are hungry.
- About 120 g of lamb shawarma, a portion of basmati rice, a dressed side salad and two tablespoons of garlic sauce.As served750
- As a wrap instead730-20
Pita instead of rice. Usually assumed to be the lighter option, and it roughly is, but not by much.
- Without the garlic sauce585-165
One omission, 165 kcal. Nothing else on the plate changes.
- Salad undressed, sauce on the side530-220
Two small changes to the things that are not the meal, and neither touches the shawarma.
Where each number comes from
Composition tables list ingredients, not dinners. There is no row anywhere for this plate, so it is built from its parts, and the preparation assumed for each part is written next to it, because that assumption is usually worth more calories than the ingredient.
| Component | Portion and preparation | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Lamb shawarma meat | About 120 gSpit-roasted, fat rendered but not trimmed. | 290 |
| Basmati rice, cooked | A cupped handful, about 150 g cookedBoiled in water and drained, no ghee or oil. | 185 |
| Garlic sauce (toum) | Two tablespoons, about 30 gEmulsified garlic and oil. Almost pure fat, and easy to add twice without noticing. | 165 |
| Green salad, dressed | A side salad, about 100 gLeaves with about a tablespoon of oil-based dressing. Undressed it is about 20 kcal, which is the whole point. | 110 |
| Total | 750 | |
Sources: USDA FoodData Central, Indian Food Composition Tables 2017 (ICMR-NIN). Every figure is an estimate with a range around it, and is rounded to the nearest 5 kcal rather than pretending to a precision that does not exist.
Why you will see 550 to 1300 kcal quoted for this
The range is mostly about sauce and portion. A takeaway plate with a double meat portion and a generous ladle of garlic sauce is a different meal from a home-assembled one, and both get published as "a shawarma plate".
Which is why this page shows the sum instead of asserting a total. Build the plate you actually eat and the number is yours rather than an average of strangers.
Build your own plateCommon questions
- How many calories are in a shawarma plate?
- About 750 kcal for a plate with 120 g of lamb, rice, a dressed salad and garlic sauce. Takeaway portions with double meat and a heavier hand on the sauce reach well past 1,000.
- Is a shawarma wrap or a shawarma plate lower in calories?
- The wrap, but by less than most people expect. Swapping a portion of rice for a large pita saves about 20 kcal. What actually changes the number is the sauce.
- How many calories is garlic sauce?
- About 165 kcal in two tablespoons. Toum is an emulsion of garlic and oil, so it is close to pure fat. It is the highest-calorie item per mouthful on a shawarma plate.
- Is chicken shawarma lower in calories than lamb?
- Usually, and it depends more on how much fat was left on the meat than on which animal it came from. Spit-roasted meat renders some of its fat off, so the gap is smaller than the raw cuts suggest.
- How do I order a shawarma plate that fits a calorie deficit?
- Sauce on the side rather than over the top, and salad undressed. That is about 220 kcal without touching the meat or the rice, which are the parts you came for.
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