Quick and Flavorful Chicken Shawarma: Easy Recipe Inside

This chicken shawarma recipe is healthy, easy, and an absolute favorite of all family members especially the young ones. Shawarma spice mixture is the secret of this Middle Eastern food, which makes the difference. Our guidance will help you to make this flavorful chicken recipe.

The smell of the chicken shawarma is insane and attractive while it is cooking. You don’t need any special spices for this, just grab some spices of everyday use for marination and mix them with chicken to have spicy yummy Middle Eastern flavors. My chicken lasagna recipe will surely satisfy your tastebuds.

What is Chicken Shawarma?

In the Middle East, Shawarma is a very famous dish. It is a street food typically made in the form of spicy meat. You can use beef or chicken, but it is prepared with chicken in most places.

The chicken is marinated with spices and cut into thin slices, then stacked on a vertical rotating rotisserie. But this recipe can easily be adapted to be cooked in a pan or on the stove on BBQ.

shawarma can be made with various meats like beef, mutton, lamb, and chicken. Everywhere it is commonly served in a wrap but in some places, it is served on plates or dishes with fries, seasoned rice, or salads.

Ingredients in Chicken Shawarma Recipe

Ingredients of this recipe will be easily available in your kitchen already. If a single ingredient will be not available at the time of preparation then you can easily avail them from the market. There are some ingredients are listed below.

Chicken:

I also like shawarma because it is made with boneless thighs which are more juicy than breast. But if you like breasts, don’t worry, these will also work great for you.

Lemon Juice:

Fresh lemon juice.

Oil:

You can use any oil. I like olive oil to dilute lemon juice and for a touch of flavor.

Spices:

All the necessary kitchen spices will work great like:

Turmeric Powder
Ground Coriander
Garlic Powder
Paprika
Ground Cloves
Cayenne Pepper – it is important for spiciness in the chicken shawarma
Salt

but one thing you might not have in your kitchen is cardamom. It is easily available in the grocery stores. It is an important key ingredient. Check Roast Chicken in Roaster Oven Recipe here.

How to Make Chicken Shawarma?

If you want the best results, then you have to keep the marinated chicken overnight. However, if you don’t have that much time, then you have to keep it for at least 3 hours for marination to meld the spice flavor into the chicken.

Step 1

There are two options for mixing or saving the marine chicken a container or a plastic bag but i prefer the plastic bag because it has an outer covering so the chicken can be easily marinated in a plastic bag if you use a container then it will demand almost 50% time more for marination then a plastic bag

Step 2

After marination you can place this marinated chicken in the same bag or also in another container, you should mix it well and ensure that all parts of the chicken are coated with marinated with a mixed flavor then put it into the refrigerator for a maximum of 3 hours or overnight for penetration of all marinated flavor which enhances its taste.

Step 3:

After completion of the marination period now move on to the cooking stage. There are two options for cooking this marinated chicken you can cook it on the stove or also on the BBQ grill, the spices of marination are in the form of crust on the surface of the chicken which adds more texture and flavor to the chicken.

Step 4:

When the chicken is cooked completely, rest it for 4-5 minutes so the juices can easily be distributed throughout the chicken. That’s it, your chicken shawarma recipe is ready now.

Step 5:

It’s time to serve it to your family. You can put everything on a platter and ask everyone to make their own wraps to enjoy. If the chicken pieces are large then you can slice them small otherwise leave them as it is.

How to Serve Chicken Shawarma?

You can serve chicken shawarma in two ways.

Platter: If you don’t like to wrap or have some problem with wrapping then a platter is another option for serving. It is also known as a shawarma platter or plate. You can put pita bread or any other bread along with chicken with a big dollop of yogurt sauce or hummus as it is customizable according to your taste.

Options for Sauce for Chicken Shawarma

Garlic Yogurt Sauce

Spread garlic yogurt on chicken or you can also dip chicken in it. You can make this sauce by adding ¼ cup of yogurt, 1 tbsp of fresh minced garlic, 2 tbsp of olive oil, lemon juice, and salt.

Tahini Sauce

You can use homemade or market tahini sauce If you are purchasing this sauce from the market then make sure that it will be fresh and always packed in a glass jar.

If you want to make it at home then add 3/4 cup tahini, one-fourth to one-half cup lukewarm water, 2 large garlic cloves minced, 2 tbsp lemon juice, and salt (if needed). Then mix all these ingredients in a pan and cook it until its color turns light and creamy. Then you can add 2 tsp chopped fresh parsley in it Now this sauce is prepared.

Can You Make this Shawarma in Advance?

Yes, this chicken shawarma recipe can be prepared in advance one or two nights before serving. When the time comes to eat, simply assemble it into pita bread and enjoy.

You can also heat chicken in a pan on medium heat. You can also add water in very minor amounts that will help in the moisturization of the chicken.

Try my chicken pot pie recipe.