Vegan Mushroom Shawarma Pita Pockets
with Cucumber Salad, Garlic-Herb Rice & Lemon Dill Sauce
- Sesame
- Wheat
We’re always on the lookout for creative vegan dinner ideas, and tonight it’s all about shawarma! For this veggie-centric spin, we swap the traditional roasted meat for crispy sautéed mushrooms with the same aromatic, warming spices. They’re nestled in a warm, fluffy pita with garlic-herb rice and a juicy cucumber and tomato salad for cool contrast (with plenty leftover to serve on the side). Perhaps the best part of shawarma (besides the whole thing) is the sauce! Whip up a bright, creamy lemon-dill number that balances all those earthy, spiced flavors.
Ingredients
2 unit
Pitas
(Contains: Sesame, Wheat)
½ cup
Jasmine Rice
8 ounce
Button Mushrooms
1 unit
Lemon
1 unit
Mini Cucumber
4 ounce
Grape Tomatoes
1 tablespoon
Shawarma Spice Blend
4 tablespoon
Vegan Mayonnaise
1 teaspoon
Garlic Powder
¼ ounce
Dill
Not included in your delivery
2 teaspoon (tsp)
Cooking Oil
1 tablespoon (tbsp)
Olive Oil
teaspoon (tsp)
Salt
teaspoon (tsp)
Black Pepper
Nutrition Values
Utensils
Cooking Steps
• In a small pot, combine rice, ¾ tsp garlic powder (1½ tsp for 4 servings), ¾ cup water (1½ cups for 4), and a pinch of salt. (You’ll use the rest of the garlic powder later.) Bring to a boil, then cover and reduce heat to low. Cook until rice is tender, 15-18 minutes. • Keep covered off heat until ready to serve.
• Meanwhile, wash and dry produce. • Quarter cucumber lengthwise; slice into ½-inch-thick pieces. Halve tomatoes. Zest and quarter lemon. Pick and finely chop fronds from dill. Trim and thinly slice mushrooms (skip if your mushrooms are pre-sliced!). Halve pitas.
• In a medium bowl, toss cucumber, tomatoes, a large drizzle of olive oil, and a squeeze of lemon juice to taste. Season generously with salt and pepper.
• In a small bowl, combine mayonnaise, half the dill, remaining garlic powder, a squeeze of lemon juice, and lemon zest to taste. Season with salt and pepper.
• Heat a large drizzle of oil in a large pan over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms and Shawarma Spice Blend; cook, stirring occasionally, until browned and slightly crispy, 5-7 minutes. (TIP: If pan seems dry, add another drizzle of oil.) Season with salt and pepper.
• Wrap pitas in damp paper towels; place on a microwave-safe plate. Microwave until warmed, 20 seconds. • Fluff rice with a fork; stir in remaining dill and a drizzle of olive oil. • Spread insides of pitas with sauce. Fill each pita with 1 TBSP rice; top with as many mushrooms and as much salad as you like. Serve with any remaining rice, mushrooms, and salad on the side.
Customer reviews
Review summary
Updated on Dec 2025- Flavor: Many loved the tasty combination of spices, fresh veggies, and zesty lemon-dill sauce, though some found the seasoning too strong.
- Ease of prep: Quick and easy to make, but some found stuffing the pitas messy or challenging.
- Suggestions: Consider serving as a bowl with toasted pita chips for easier eating. Try adding protein like tofu or vegan chicken for a heartier meal.
- Portions: Several felt it was a bit light; doubling the rice or adding more mushrooms could make it more filling.
- Texture: The crispy seasoned mushrooms and cool cucumber salad provided a nice contrast, though a few found the mushrooms dry.
Reviews from our home cooks
Another, surprisingly good meal! We made this into a bowl. I tore the pitas into small pieces and tossed with Italian spices and EVOO and toasted (croutons) and they added so much texture and flavor to the bowl. Would definitely order again!
Wonderful flavors! I added chicken since we are not vegan. The star of the show was the Lemon-Dill sauce! The more the better! It was fantastic. Even my 9 year old wanted more!
Never would have thought of making mushroom pita sandwiches and the spices included to make this was absolutely tasty!
The sauce for the pitas was outstanding. It was zesty and brought the tomato and cucumber together really nicely. It's a keeper. I wish I could have received more cucumber and tomato. It felt like I couldn't actually fill the pita like the picture.
Good flavors, loved everything but the rice took up too much room and putting the rice in the pocket first made it dry and all rice for the last few bites.
Enjoyed the rice and salad. The mushrooms could have been spicier. Comes together quickly. I love pita.
Flavors were so good, love the contrast of the crunchy side salad. Was hard to keep the filling in the pita but overall delish
A new favorite over here. The mushrooms in this recipe are amazing and get a bit of a crispy coating from the seasoning.
This was a tasty meal but putting the ingredients into the pita pockets was a bit messy. It could have been served over the rice without the pockets. A few more tomatoes sent with the recipe would have been a nice touch.
Very tasty and easy to make. It needs more mushrooms (at least 12 oz) because the salad overtakes it and you can't taste the mushroom in the pita.
