Chicken shawarma. The simplest ingredients and the perfect spice mix brings the iconic street style Middle Eastern masterpiece to your dinner table. This deliciously fancy ‘homemade’ version features spiced chicken slices, garlic sauce, lettuce, cucumbers and vibrant tomatoes - all in a flavor packed pita wrap. Unbelievably delicious!
The key factor that makes any street food undeniably tempting is the taste. Do you agree? In fact, all street foods are downright delicious.
Chicken shawarma. The iconic street food cooked on a vertical spit for hours is definitely so popular around the world just because of its lip-smacking flavor and taste. The meat, when combined with the garlic sauce, pita and greens, is transformed into the ultimate chicken wrap. Of course, I can’t deny the fact that the oven baked version is a far cry from its traditional centuries-old origins. However, I must say, this is the perfect, foolproof option if you want to make shawarma at home.
How To Make Chicken Shawarma
First, the chicken. Here’s a pro tip - use only chicken thighs in this recipe for tender juicy meat. Marinate chicken with a simple blend of shawarma spice mix, olive oil and fresh lemon juice. Let the chicken sit in the marinade overnight so it’ll absorb all the incredible flavors. When ready to cook, bake them in a preheated oven for about 40 minutes. Remember the cooking time may vary depending on the size of the thighs.
Next, the garlic sauce. If you want to go the traditional way, taoum is the garlicky sauce used in this dish. It looks very similar to regular mayonnaise and is actually a garlic whip or emulsion. You will need to grind the garlic to a smooth paste and emulsify it with a slow drizzle of olive oil (regular not extra virgin). But, let’s go the easy route with a delicious combination of mayonnaise, lots of garlic, lemon juice and an optional addition of red chili flakes. Let me tell you, it’s incredibly delicious.
Chicken shawarma is usually served in a pita wrap with a generous drizzle of garlic sauce, sliced chicken, cucumbers, lettuce and tomatoes. With the lettuce, you can opt for regular iceberg but romaine or cos lettuce takes this wrap to another level. Again, regular big plump tomatoes are totally okay, but cherry tomatoes make it so pretty.
When it comes to the filling of this shawarma wrap, the options are endless. You can add more Middle Eastern touch to this utterly delicious wrap with Middle Eastern pickles, pomegranate molasses and everyone’s favorite French fries.
Totally yum!
More Middle Eastern Recipes:
- Arabic Salad
- Sumac Chicken | Mussakhan
- Mahalabia with Rose Jelly | Middle Eastern Milk Pudding
- Crinkle Cake
- Easy Falafel Recipe
- Best Hummus Recipe
- Chicken Kabsa | Arabian Chicken and Rice
- Basbousa | Semolina Coconut Cake
Chicken Shawarma | Video
Ingredients
Cook chicken:
- 1 kg chicken thighs boneless and skinless
- Shawarma spice mix homemade or store bought
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- Salt to taste
Garlic sauce: (see notes)
- ¼ cup mayonnaise
- 8-10 garlic cloves peeled and minced
- Juice of half lemon
- A pinch of red pepper chili flakes (optional)
To make the wrap:
- 6 pita breads warmed
- Romaine cos lettuce shredded
- Cucumber slices
- Cherry tomatoes sliced
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 200 C / 400 F. Line a large baking tray with baking paper.
- Place chicken in a bowl. Add shawarma spice mix, olive oil and lemon juice. Season with salt. Toss to coat chicken in the spices. Marinate in the refrigerator for at least an hour or overnight.
- Arrange chicken on a baking tray in a single layer. Bake for about 40 minutes or until chicken is cooked through. Turn on the grill. Grill for about 5 minutes. Remove from grill. Rest for 10 minutes. Slice chicken as thin as possible. Set aside.
- To make garlic sauce, combine together mayonnaise, minced garlic, lemon juice and red pepper (chili) flakes in a bowl. Set aside.
- To assemble, spread 2 tablespoons garlic sauce on pita bread. Top with chicken, cucumbers, lettuce and tomatoes. Roll into a tight wrap and serve.
Notes
- The traditional sauce used in chicken shawarma is taoum or garlic whip. It’s very similar to mayonnaise but with a very strong garlic flavor and is an emulsion made of garlic and olive oil as the key ingredients. To make the easy homemade version, you can substitute it with garlic sauce. You can also use garlic aioli in this dish
- You can customize shawarma with your favorite ingredients like French fries, Middle Eastern pickles, pomegranate molasses, hummus, sumac onions and Arabic salad
- Even though baking is the easy way to make this shawarma, you can also make this over a charcoal grill to get the perfect smokey flavor.
- You can also thread the chicken thighs on to large bamboo skewers before baking
Nutrition
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