Who knew it was this easy to make oven-roasted chicken shawarma at home? You don’t need a special machine or spit to make juicy, crisp Middle Eastern shawarma. I have developed a simple marinade and cooking technique that results in a delicious batch of chicken shawarma. My Mediterranean recipe can easily be made in the oven or on the grill. I’m excited to share it with you!
What is Chicken Shawarma?
Shawarma is a delicious meat dish that is popular throughout the Mediterranean and the Middle East. True shawarma is cooked with stacked, spice-marinated meats such as lamb, turkey, chicken, beef, or a mix of meats on a vertical rotisserie machine or spit.
The shawarma turns and slowly roasts for hours and hours, basted in fat and its own juices. Thin slices of meat are then shaved from the surface and served, either on their own or tucked inside a warm flatbread with fresh veggies, topped with tahini or garlic sauce.
Shawarma-style chicken might be a better name for this recipe. It doesn’t cook on a spit. However, it’s got all the flavor that you might expect from your local Middle Eastern restaurant!
Ingredients and Notes
I tried to replicate the flavor of chicken shawarma at home for months, playing with different spice combinations and cooking methods. At first, I tried buying pre-made spice blends from the Middle Eastern markets. None of them made my mouth happy. I needed more spice, more flavor, more oomph. So I began to experiment. Then, finally, I found what I consider to be the perfect balance!
- Chicken – I use a combination of light and dark meat (chicken breasts and chicken thighs) for this recipe to keep it a little leaner without missing out on any flavor.
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil – I use this to replace the fat found in chicken skin, adding extra flavor and a boost of omega fats, which are a staple in the Mediterranean diet.
- Spices – A combination of cumin, paprika, allspice, turmeric, garlic powder, cinnamon, cayenne, and black pepper creates a bold, savory flavor with lots of depth, just like you’d find with traditional recipes.
Please be sure to scroll down to the recipe card for the complete details!
How to Make The Best Shawarma Chicken Recipe
You have two choices for cooking this Mediterranean recipe– in the oven or on the grill. To be honest, both cooking methods taste great. There really isn’t a big difference between the two.
- Marinate. Slice the breasts into pieces, and transfer them to a marinating dish or large plastic bag. Whisk olive oil and spices in a small bowl, and pour the mixture over the chicken. Marinate in the refrigerator for at least an hour or ideally up to overnight.
- Cook. Arrange the chicken in a single layer on a baking sheet, and bake in the oven. Or, thread it onto skewers and cook it on a grill. Either way, you’ll want to use a meat thermometer to ensure the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees Fahrenheit, meaning it’s fully cooked and safe to eat.
- Sear. Let the chicken cool slightly. Then, slice it into thin pieces. Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat, and sauté the chicken pieces until brown and crisp, working in batches so as not to overcrowd the skillet.
- Enjoy. Add extra salt and pepper as needed, and enjoy.
My Favorite Ways to Serve
This recipe goes great with hummus and toum or tahini sauce. If you’re not keeping kosher and don’t mind combining dairy with meat, tzatziki sauce or yogurt sauce are both great accompaniments as well.
I like to serve over a salad or grain bowls with saffron rice or lemony saffron couscous for a boost of protein, or in a pita bread pocket or wrap. Add fresh parsley, lemon juice, cucumbers, red onion, lettuce, or tomato to make your pita sandwiches even more filling.
Video by Entice Films
Chicken Shawarma
Ingredients
- 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts (2 large breasts)
- 1 pound boneless skinless chicken thighs (4 large thighs)
- 6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil divided
- 2 teaspoons cumin
- 2 teaspoons paprika
- 1 teaspoon allspice
- 3/4 teaspoon turmeric
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 pinch cayenne
- Salt and black pepper
- Nonstick cooking oil spray
You will also need
- Grill or baking sheet, tongs, skillet, spatula, plastic wrap.
Instructions
Prepare Marinade
- Slice the chicken breasts into 5-6 pieces each and the thighs into 3-4 pieces each. Place them in a marinating dish or large plastic zipper bag.
- In a small bowl, whisk together 1/4 cup olive oil, the spices, 3/4 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp black pepper (if you are salt sensitive, use 1/2 tsp of salt). Pour the spice marinade over the chicken pieces. Stir with a spoon till all the chicken pieces are evenly coated in the marinade.Cover the marinating dish with plastic wrap, or close the zipper bag. Place chicken in the refrigerator and let it marinate at least 1 hour, up to overnight.
Oven Cooking Method
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Spray the baking sheet with nonstick cooking oil. Place the chicken pieces on the sheet, evenly spaced.
- Place the chicken in the oven. Let it roast for about 15 minutes until cooked through, turning the chicken pieces once with tongs halfway through cooking.
- Take chicken out of the oven and let it cool slightly. Use a sharp knife to slice the meat into small, thin shawarma-like pieces.
- Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a skillet on the stovetop over medium. Pour half of the chicken into the skillet and saute for 3-4 minutes till the smallest pieces of chicken turn brown and crisp. Season with additional salt and pepper to taste, if desired.
- Remove the cooked chicken from the skillet. Heat another 1 tbsp of oil and saute the remaining chicken in the same way. Serve warm.
Grill Cooking Method
- Spray the grill with nonstick cooking oil and preheat to medium heat. Thread the marinated chicken pieces onto wooden skewers.
- Cook the chicken for about 20 minutes, giving a quarter turn every 5 minutes, until cooked through (slice into the thickest piece of meat to check for doneness).
- Let the chicken cool slightly, then remove it from the skewers. Use a sharp knife to slice the meat into small, thin shawarma-like pieces.
- Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a skillet on the stovetop over medium. Pour half of the chicken into the skillet and saute for 3-4 minutes till the smallest pieces of chicken turn brown and crisp. Season with additional salt and pepper to taste, if desired. Remove the cooked chicken from the skillet. Heat another 1 tbsp of oil and saute the remaining chicken in the same way.
- Serve warm. Goes great with toum – a creamy Middle Eastern garlic sauce – or tahini sauce. It also makes a great pita bread sandwich, garnished with cucumbers, tomato, lettuce, red onions, and Middle Eastern pickles.
Nutrition
tried this recipe?
Let us know in the comments!
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FAQs
Yes, this recipe stores and reheats well. So, I like to make a large batch for meal prep and enjoy it for several days. Leftovers will keep fresh in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4-5 days. Or, store them in the freezer for 2-3 months.
To serve, thaw your shawarma in the fridge overnight. Then, reheat it in the microwave or in a pan over medium to medium-high heat.
This recipe is lighter than options you might find at a local restaurant, thanks to the skinless chicken. As a result, it makes for a fairly healthy option, full of high-quality lean protein.
You can even lighten the recipe even further by skipping the sautèing, which will reduce the amount of oil needed. It won’t taste exactly like shawarma, but it will still be tasty! Of course, please consult your doctor with any specific questions or concerns.
The best homemade shawarma I’ve ever made ?
Very good! I made it exactly as directed and it was great!
Hi, I can’t print this recipe either. I have tried in Chrome, Firefox and IE, and get the same error message in each: Access Denied – Sucuri Website Firewall
Thanks Melissa, I am working on fixing this issue right now.
Printing worked fine for me! I made this tonight for the first time and it’s so easy and delicious.
This is so good – the best chicken schwarma recipe our there
Can you please tell me why I can’t print it the recipe
Hi William, the print feature seems to be working fine. Can you tell me what browser you are using?
I am unable to print as well. Using Chrome. Receive an error stating Access Denied.
My sister swears by your recipe. Has our mother preparing and now I am going to try. Would have been nice to print.
Thanks Candace, working on a fix…
about to try this recipe and really excited! looking at the nutrition facts. how is this only 1gram of protein? it’s pure chicken so that doesn’t seem to make sense. can you please clarify further? thank you!
Amanda thank you for pointing that out! I recently installed a new software to help me calculate the nutrition, but it appears it was not working properly. I just found another calculator that is more reliable, the nutrition above should be more accurate.
Awesome and easy recipe. Thank you so much. Iv’e made it a few times and my family loves it.
My wife, kids, and I loved this. I grilled the chicken, sliced it and added it to pitas with tzatziki, cucumbers, tomatoes, and lettuce. After 90 minutes of marinating, it had plenty of flavor.
Wow, my son and daughter in law took me out to a restaurant in the Bay Area where I had a delicious shawarma dish. A few days later, I found your recipe and tried it out…OMG! I loved it! We have made it a few times and my favorite is with hummus, grilled onion, tomatoes, on pita or naan. My family also adds tahini and/or sriracha. It’s definitely a new favorite!
Just awesome! I cooked the chicken in a grill basket on the BBQ, and just shredded it once done and crisped it up in the basket – saves a step and keeps that fire-cooked taste.
I’ve made this twice now. It’s delicious!!!! Thank you for a simple, delicious dish. I followed the recipe and at the last minute added a dollop of Greek yogurt to the marinating chicken. Came out amazing. Thanks!!
Excellent! We keep frozen boneless thighs in the freezer. They thaw in about three hours. An hour in the easy marinade, a half recipe roasted quickly in the toaster oven on a parchment-covered sheet pan, then lightly fried in oil, and this dish was full of flavor. We devoured it with onion and mushroom rice. Thank you for simplifying a favorite restaurant meal.
Would smoked paprika really ruin the flavour profile?
It won’t ruin the dish – but it will be different, you will lose the balance of the cinnamon flavor which is key here. In other words, it won’t taste quite as shawarma-like… but it will still be tasty.
I made this with homemade pitas. I let it marinate for 1 hour and used the stovetop method to cook it. It turned out divine. We stuffed it inside our pitas with hummus, aioli, and some spicy mustard. A new favorite…so much better than Naf Naf grill!
Do you think I could cook the chicken in the oven in the morning and then sauté it later in the evening? Thinking of making this for a party so want to get as much of the prep out of the way as possible. Thanks!!
Hi Shivani, Tori’s assistant Ashley here. Yes, you can prep in advance with no problem. 🙂
Why can’t the marinated chicken piece be skewered firmly onto a showtime rotisserie rod to try to replicate the vertical heat rotisserie?
You can try that. Most of us don’t have rotisserie rods handy 🙂
Fabulous recipe! Easy to make and completely nailed the taste. The family loved it; thank you!
This recipe is amazing. Thank you so much for sharing with us . But I have one question can I use chicken thighs with bones in it or not.
Hi John, Tori’s assistant Ashley here. You would need to take the meat off of the bones before preparing.
We were in Israel last week and I posted many pictures of the most amazing Shawarma EVER! I had to promise friend I would make some when I returned home. This recipe is going to be perfect I think. Now to find recipes for the amazing salads and it’s party time!
So I decided this going to be the star player for my son’s high school graduation party. After multiplying the recipe by 27(!), I baked and fried 166 chicken thighs. Everyone raved. Served it with fresh pita, saffron rice, toum, and a red cabbage/feta/date salad. Huge success. Thank you so much!
You are an amazing person!!! What a great way to test a recipe 🙂 nice effort.