Chicken shawarma recipe – Shawarma or shawurma is a popular Arab dish that is prepared by grilling meat on a spit. It is prepared by stacking strips of marinated meat and fats alternately on a vertical spit, resulting in a large block of meat & fats. The block of meat is grilled slowly while the spit rotates. Grilled meat is shredded off from the spit when needed and served as an appetizer or used to make shawarma wraps or rolls.
I have come across few places serving these shawarma in Bangalore and in Singapore. I thought making these at home was just impossible since it needs a spit. When i was looking for alternate ways to make at home, i found this recipe on new york times and loved it for its simplicity.
I also felt this is much healthier than the shawarma made on spits as they are grilled for long hours (as long as for a day) and the usage of heavy fats.
Chicken shawarma done on the spits taste very delicious due to the slow grilling on low heat which actually keeps it tender & juicy.
To make the meat tender and keep it juicy i had to use yogurt in this chicken shawarma recipe. I have also grilled this in an oven but the moisture from chicken oozes out. The perfect taste comes from pan roasting it. I made it a few times before and altered the recipe slightly to make this the best flavorful chicken shawarma.
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Easy chicken shawarma recipe
Chicken Shawarma Recipe | How to make Shawarma at home
Ingredients (1 cup = 240ml )
Ingredients for chicken shawarma
- 250 grams chicken breast or thigh (choose tender boneless meat)
- 1 ½ garlic clove minced – about 1 large
- 1 ½ tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- ½ tsp cumin or jeera
- ½ tsp chilli powder or paprika
- ¼ tsp all spice
- 1 pinch turmeric
- 2 pinches cinnamon powder
- Salt as needed
- 1/8 tsp pepper
- 2 tbsp greek yogurt or hung curd (not sour, fresh)
optional
- 1 onion quartered layers separated
- 1 tomato quartered deseeded
How to make the recipe
Preparatiion for chicken shawarma recipe
- Cut chicken to small bite size pieces. Keep it aside.
- Mix all the ingredients for marinade. Add lemon juice only if needed. Taste the marinade and add more salt if needed.
- Marinate chicken with the mix. Cover and refrigerate for at least 12 to 24 hours.
making chicken shawarma
- Heat a pan with half tbsp olive oil on a high heat. When the pan is hot. Place the chicken and flip to cook on all the sides evenly.
- When the chicken is tender cooked, shred it on the pan with a wooden spoon. Cook further for 1 to 2 mins. Set this aside and use the same pan to grill quartered layered onions and deseeded tomatoes.
- Serve chicken shawarma as a appetizer with yogurt garlic sauce (recipe in step by step pics section).
making shawarma wrap/ roll
- Spread sauce on the pita bread, place lettuce and then chicken, grilled onions, tomatoes and roll it up.
NUTRITION
How to make shawarma at home
1. Cut chicken breasts and thigh to small pieces. Set this aside
2. Preparing the marinade: Add the following ingredients to a mixing bowl.
1 ½ garlic clove minced about 1 large
1 ½ tbsp extra virgin olive oil
½ tsp cumin / jeera
¼ tsp all spice
½ tsp chilli powder / paprika
Generous pinch of turmeric
2 pinches of cinnamon powder
Salt as needed
1/8 tsp pepper
2 tbsp greek yogurt / hung curd (fresh, not sour)
3. Mix all the ingredients
4. Add lemon juice only if needed to give a slight tang. I use about 1.5 tsps. Mix everything well and check the salt.
5. Marinate chicken well. The marinade must be thick and not runny.
6. Cover and refrigerate for at least 12 hours. I prefer 24 hours. The longer we rest, it turns more tender and flavorful.
Grilling chicken shawarma
7. As i mentioned earlier, my experience with grilling this in a oven did not yield me very good results. So i do it in a pan. If you have a grill pan, go ahead and use it.
8. Turn on the flame to the highest. Heat a non stick pan with half tbsp oil. When the pan turns really hot, place the chicken pieces separately with out crowding. Flip them to all the sides for even cooking. Note that I grilled the 300 grams chicken in 2 batches. Do not crowd the pan, chicken begins to release moisture if crowded.
9. When the marinade almost begins to caramelize then put the flame to medium high . Continue to cook until the marinade completely dries up and the chicken is completely cooked. Since the chicken is marinated well in yogurt, it cooks fast.
10. You will have to control the flame else it might char the meat and turn it hard. So i switch off the stove for a while. Quickly with a wooden spoon cut the chicken further. I cook further for one to 2 mins to make sure chicken is cooked well. Set the chicken aside. Add quartered layers separated onions and quartered deseeded tomatoes to the pan and toss for few mins on a high flame.
Serving Chicken shawarma
Serve it as a appetizer or make a wrap. It can be served with a variety of sauces like Toum, Yogurt garlic sauce or Tahini sauce. I have shared the recipes of Yogurt garlic sauce & Tahini sauce below.
Making the garlic yogurt sauce. (Roughly adapted from food). This can be used as a dip or to spread on the wrap.
Add ¼ cup greek yogurt / hung curd, 1 tbsp minced garlic,salt, 1 to 2 tbsp olive oil and lemon juice (optional). Skip lemon if using sour yogurt. Mix everything well.
Making Tahini sauce for chicken shawarma
You will have to make tahini from here or use store bought. If buying from store, prefer the one that is packed in glass jars and is made from organic sesame.
Add ¾ cup tahini, 1/4 to 1/2 cup luke warm water, 2 large garlic cloves minced, 2 tbsp. lemon juice, salt only if needed to a processor and process until it turns light and creamy. Next add 2 tsp finely chopped fresh parsley to it. Tahini sauce is ready to use.
Spread the sauce generously on a pita bread. Will share the recipe of pita bread soon.
Then place lettuce, chicken shawarma, then grilled onions and tomatoes. You can also use any of your hot sauces.
Wrap and enjoy.
abhijith says
I’m on diet, is oil important for grilling??
swasthi says
Hi Abhijith,
You can skip oil if you are grilling in oven. If you are doing on stove, pan may get damaged if you don’t grease.
abhi says
I’m on diet …is oil important ??
Natcha says
Hi there Swasthi,
Just to let you know I tried this recipe with salmon fillet and it worked out wonderfully. I made my wraps with homemade tortilla, guacamole, salad and hot sauce. Boy, they were so good! Will definitely make them again.
swasthi says
Hi Natcha
Wow! That’s great!. Thanks a lot for sharing the outcome. Would love to try your combo or guacamole and salmon fillet. Thanks again
🙂
Imogen says
Hi Swasthi,wanted to know if you could share the recipe to make shawarma wraps
swasthi says
Hi Imogen,
I haven’t posted the recipe for pita bread yet. I make pita bread similar to this one on kitchn.com
Imogen says
Hi,wanted to make the shawarma pita bread at home
Could you please share the recipe.thanks
Divya says
Hi, is there any substitute for all spice? I wanted to make this today but don’t have all spice.
swasthi says
Hi Divya
Just use any other spice powder you have. If using garam masala you can use upto 3/4 tsp
Natcha says
Hi Swasthi,
Love this super simple recipe of yours. I make it quite often especially when I am not making your awesome tandoori chicken or chicken tikka. Though I usually use chicken fillet and not even bother to add oil to the pan and it turns out great every single time.
Well, I wonder if I can use fish fillet instead of chicken. Would be wonderful to have a fish wrap from time to time.
Thank you v much.
swasthi says
Hi Natcha,
Happy to see your comment after a long time. Thank you so much for trying the recipes. Yes you can use fish instead of chicken. Love the idea of using fish. I will have to try this soon.
🙂
Natcha says
Hello there again,
Thank you for your quick reply. I dont come here as often as before cuz I’ve written down the recipes on my book. Hehehe… Now I will also try your garam masala and tahini recipes. Cant wait! Thanks again and keep up the good work! Your are simply the best!
swasthi says
Welcome Natcha.
Yes do try the garam masala and tahini. Thank you so much
🙂
Manali says
Today did the chicken shawarma was ultimate delicious.thanks for the receipe and tips.
swasthi says
Welcome Manali
John Fyn says
last week I tried this recipe at home with my family. It was really good. I eat variously shawarma recipes but this one was unique. I feel it is very easy to make because of your instructions. Thanks.
swasthi says
Welcome John Fyn
Thanks for trying and sharing the outcome. Glad you liked it
Didina Gnagnide Angorinie says
Hello, I’d like to make this recipe but I can’t find the chicken’s weight and which parts I should use.
Also if I were to add some oregano gow much would you add?
Thank you, Didi from Italy
swasthi says
Hi Didi
It is 200 to 250 grams of boneless chicken thigh or breast. It is good to use tender meat. You can use about 1/4 tsp of dried oregano or handful of fresh oregano chopped finely. Hope this helps
Didina Gnagnide Angorinie says
I made it today according to your instructions, it was very simple, very tasty and still pretty light which doesn’t hurt. I served mine with extra lemon and a bit of sumak, my sister wrapped hers with yogurt sauce and said “delicious”. I will certainly look forward to more of your recipes. Thank you, Didina
swasthi says
Welcome Didina
Glad to know you both enjoyed it.
Hameeda says
Hi Swasthi….
Your recipes are awesome and your cookware too.
Please give the recommendations and descriptions (like size,material, weight) of your cookware. I’ve seen you using the T-fal Titanium Pro Pan, WMF SS pan, Cast iron Skillet and so many which are highly safe for cooking.
Please suggest the cookware which are safe and unsafe for cooking.
And Please mention the cleaning and maintenance tips of the cookware in your blog.
swasthi says
Hi Hameeda
Thanks a lot.
I am surprised you have noticed a lot.
🙂
Yes i will try to share them soon in a seperate post
Ann Ryson says
I made a slight change over here as I added 1 tesapoon dried oregano,20 grams of ground nutmeg and 1 cup cheddar cheese to add its taste.I need to say that its one of the tastiest dishes which i had till now. I had tried almost all your raggi recipes and my son Ryan who is not fond of raggi loved all the dishes which I made as per your instruction .We loved your biryani too. I have shared this website with my best friend slyvia who justs try out all sorts of recipes.she once gave me a levantine dish recipe website.it wsa also a good one. I wish y0u could ry out those and come up here with some alterations…
swasthi says
Hi Ann
Thanks a lot for trying. Liked your midifications too. Will try them some time. So glad to know you have been following my recipes.
Due to comment moderation the link is not displayed in your comment. I have book marked it. Will surely try some of them and will share on the blog
Ruhina says
Hii….thanks so much for this recepies
swasthi says
welcome Ruhina
Mahek says
Made it and everybody loves it at home. Was going thru Tahini recipe and it said it is used in making shawarma but in this shawarma recipe it has not been used.
swasthi says
Hi Mahek,
Thanks for trying. Yes tahini is used to make shawarma wraps, i.e in the sauce for spreading. But however for these wraps I have shown a easy sauce with hung yogurt assuming many readers wouldn’t have tahini at home. To make tahini sauce, ¾ cup tahini, 2 large garlic cloves minced, 2 tbsp. lemon juice, 1/4 to 1/2 cup warm water, salt if needed, 2 tsp finely chopped fresh parsley will be used. You will have to process tahini with other ingredients except parley until it turns uniform and pale in color. Thanks for mentioning, I will update it here. Hope this helps
Mahek says
Wow that was a quick turn around. Appreciate it
ANU says
EXCELLENT SITE, THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR EASILY MADE TASTY RECEIPES
swasthi says
Welcome Anu. Glad to know you liked it
Ramya says
Hi,
All your recipes seems to be good, I am gone try all of them…. 🙂 🙂
Ramya
swasthi says
Thanks Ramya
Dr.Sureshkumar Swamikkannu says
Awesome……..
swasthi says
Thanks
AwildaHarrison says
Thank a lot for this post that was very interesting. keep posting like those amazing posts this is really awesome 🙂
Jyothi Kasina says
Very crunchy and delicious
Turned good .
Thank you
swasthi says
Welcome Jyothi
Janet says
Hi,
Love your recipes. New to cooking. I have a foolish comment to add. When ever you say high flame, do you mean cooking on the small gas flame or the big one.
swasthi says
Hi Janet
Thanks. Yes in this recipe, high flame means cooking on a high flame on the big burner.