Who knew it was this easy to make oven-roasted chicken shawarma at home? You don’t need a shawarma 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’ve cracked the homemade chicken shawarma code, and it’s awesome! 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 Middle East. True shawarma is cooked with stacked, spice-marinated meats– 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 shaved from the surface and served, either on their own or tucked inside a warm flatbread, 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!
How to Make Shawarma at Home
I’ve been trying 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 shawarma 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 nailed homemade shawarma!
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. I use boneless skinless chicken meat (a combination of dark and light meat) in the recipe. Chicken shawarma gets a lot of its flavor from basting in its own fat. I’ve replaced the flavor of that skin fat with olive oil, including a final sauté in olive oil prior to serving.
It may seem strange to sauté meat that has already been cooked. However, you’re going to have to trust me on this one. The extra sauté adds a ton of flavor, giving a shawarma-like texture that can’t be replicated in the oven or on the grill. I’ve shared the whole process below, and the video in this post will also show you the method in great detail!
Can Shawarma be Made Healthy?
This Mediterranean preparation of chicken shawarma is lighter than one you might find at a local restaurant. Skinless chicken is key here. Consequently this shawarma recipe is a pretty healthy, lean protein option!
You can actually lighten up this chicken shawarma recipe even further. If you’re trying to cut down on your oil intake, you don’t need to do the extra sauté. That will save you two tablespoons of olive oil… it won’t taste exactly like shawarma, but it will still be tasty.
But please, don’t replace the chicken thighs with breast meat. This dish really needs some dark meat in it to make it taste great. You can make it with all chicken thighs, if you prefer (I actually love it that way), but don’t sub all chicken breast. Pretty please.
What Do You Eat Chicken Shawarma With?
This homemade shawarma recipe goes great with hummus and toum or tahini sauce, over a salad for a boost of protein, or in a pita pocket or wrap. It stores well in the refrigerator, so you can make a large batch and enjoy it for several days afterwards– just reheat before serving. The best part? It’s ridiculously easy to make! You’re welcome.
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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
Hi Ms. Tori.
Another wonderful recipe that turned out wonderfully i.e., the kids loved their dinner tonight.
Easy to make and delicious.
Thank you.
Happy to hear it! Kids are the toughest critics!
I made it with chicken breast only since it is what I had. So delish and easy. We ate it with a ptitim salad and homemade wraps. I can definitively see myself make double batches of it in the future for easy leftovers. So far all the recipes I’ve tried from here have been delicious and we make them often .
Glad you’re enjoying Lison!
This recipe is fantastic! It was relatively simple and extremely tasty.
Dinner tonight.Terrific !. First stage cooked in the oven. Lovely with a sald eaten in the garden on a very hot evening.
I have frozen half without the second stage cooking and will see how that goes.
Have you tried the same recipe with lamb, perhaps shoulder? If not, do you think it will work as well
Fantastic! I hardly ever leave reviews, but I had to let you know that my family thought this recipe was so delicious! I have also had a hard time finding a seasoning mix for chicken schwarma and this one is perfect! I used my instant pot to cook the chicken, seared meat in the pot first, added sliced onion, then pressure cooked for 12 minutes and followed your tip on searing the meat in the end too. Came out beautifully! Thank you for the hard work put into crafting this recipe!
First time commenting, but I’ve made this recipe many times already (including tonight’s dinner). Everyone in my family just loves this dish. I bake my own pita, so we have it Israeli style: in pita, chopped salad, zhug (Yemenite hot sauce) and fries. Definitely one of the best sandwiches ever. BTW I always use your felafel recipe: another winner here in a family that LOVES the flavors of the Middle East. Your recipes are definitely Ha’ta’am ha’ yisraeli ha’amiti (the real flavors of Israel)!!
Exceptional in the way you keeping thinking about how delish it is long after you’re finished eating. The chicken–organic boneless skinless chicken thighs–was so good when it came out of the oven that I contemplated omitting the last two steps, but did them anyway. It was worth it. I served it with the Mooshi’s cooked eggplant salad from this site–which was also lip smacking–and a simple green salad with a tahini dressing. Thanks for working so hard to perfect this recipe, Tori. You nailed it!
I made this for dinner tonight and so happy you shared the recipe We loved it and so easy to make. Mine was made in the oven. Thank you for sharing
Glad you enjoyed it, Claire!
I love the combination of spices, especially that you remembered to put cinnamon in the mix! Most recipes for shawarma omit that spice, but it is necessary to provide depth and non-spicy “warmth.” That said, you’re missing lemon juice to make this truly authentic, and every shawarma recipe includes at least a few tbsps of lemon juice (usually a 2:1 ratio of oil to acid is standard). I would also use fresh garlic if possible, and blend all the seasonings and liquid to create a paste.
The word “authentic” is very subjective. Shawarma is made throughout the Middle East, and in some regions lemon juice is never used. But you can certainly add it here. Glad you enjoyed it!
Hello. I made this last night using Quorn meatless fillets. It was wonderful. Made a dressing with non-fat Greek yogurt and some of the spices from the marinade. Excellent. Thanks for a great recipe!
Great to hear that the meatless modification worked for you Deborah! Thanks for sharing. 🙂
Great Recipe!!! The whole family (including two teenage boys) loved it! We did not have boneless chicken so I marinated the chicken I did have and baked it at 350 for an hour (uncovered) then cut the meat off the bones and and browned the pieces in a skillet. We served it in Pita with Hummus and Salad.
Worth hunting for the spices I don’t usually have on hand! I went even heavier handed with them and now won’t be able to eat chicken shawarma out ever again, finally a spicy flavorful chicken dish! Rather than spaced out, I baked it piled together in a smaller dish, cooking in its own juices and oil/spices, then finished as instructed. We had it with butter naan, tzatziki, dill and lemon roasted potatoes and salad with feta. The BEST fresh and tasty meal cooked since quarantine (week 8)! Thrilled to have made enough for leftovers!
Fantastic.
Curious if anyone has tried making this in an air fryer?
For the past 6 years, my husband’s best friend, who used to be our roommate would make us your shawarma for any birthday of mine that we celebrated together. I finally decided to make it on my own last night, and it was sooo good. The only “modification” I made was to use a grill pan on the stove top. It worked perfectly. I’m so excited for tonight’s dinner of leftovers.
Delicious!! I served this over rice and I topped it with sriracha and it was perfect!
Decided to try a new chicken recipe during our Covid19 lockdown – this was fabulous – will be adding it to my monthly meals…..better than the last time I had takeout!
We had it in pita with lettuce, pickles, tomato and garlic sauce…..
I have a local Lebanese restaurant and they add onions so I did add a sweet onion to the marinade and then fried it with the chicken – (I did mine in the oven) – I have some leftovers and am going to add some pineapple which will replicate a recipe they do – can’t wait to try it with friends when the social distancing is over!!!
Nicola Morgan, Do you have a recipe for that garlic sauce? Sounds yummy!
This is amazing. Your recipe created for us a lunch reminiscent of an Israeli restaurant in Atlanta.
This was absolutely AMAZING!!!!! The whole family couldn’t stop eating it. I thought I had made enough for leftovers but they finished it ALL at dinner. Thank-you so much for this fantastic and easy recipe! This is definitely going on my dinner rotation permanently.
I dont usually leave comments but felt compelled after trying this recipe. Simply amazing! Finally a chicken shawarma with the delicious crispy bits!