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.
This has become a household favorite. Super easy to make, delicious, and fun to make for guests. I make one alteration: instead of using new olive oil when searing in the pan, I use the juices from baking. It keeps more of the spice flavor that way!
Hi Tori,
I have made this shawarma multiple times and it has always been a hit. The only modifications I made were:
1. use only thigh meat, and
2. cut it very thin – maybe in 2-3 mm thick slices before the last step.
Now my question – can I use the same marinade to prepare lamb shawarma? Any other modifications need to be done for converting this recipe into lamb shawarma?
Thanks,
Michael
Thank you. Amazing recipe, so easy and tasty! Great instructions too. Will make again.
I love chicken shwarma, but my girlfriend is allergic to olive oil. Do you know of anything I could replace the olive oil with?
Did 5 lbs. of this Chicken Shawarma along with Onions & peppers & Lollipop Lamb Chops with Pomegranate Molasses on the griddle for the 4th of July BBQ…HUGE HIT….everyone wanted to take home but nothing left!
Thanks Tori
PS I would send a photo but ???
Made this tonight and my BF, who is a chef posted on FB that it was one of his top 10 meals of the year so far. Made a couple of sauces with this, a soft flat bread and cut up cucumber, romaine, and baby tomatoes and WOW. Thank you so much for sharing your talents with us! This will be in our dinner rotation moving forward. Well done!
Great Stacey! Thank you for writing. 🙂
Looks great! I work with a middle eastern inspired blend which has cloves, nutmeg, ground coriander and ginger added and contains no allspice and garlic. I will definitely give this one a try as well. And the tahini sauce of course. That recipe looked delicious and it might just be a keeper.
This sounds delicious! But I can’t understand how the chicken breast isn’t dry and stringy with the amount of cooking. I would expect the pieces of chicken shown to be cooked if not overcooked in a 400 oven at 15 minutes. And then you cook again? Can someone explain this?
Susan, the pieces are marinated in an oil-spice mixture. Also, half the mixture is thighs which gives added fat to the mix. They don’t cook up stringy. But the only way you’ll know is to try it yourself. 🙂
Hi Tori,
I’m an Indian, gonna try this recipe for the first time.. So far I have been eating shawarma from my local restaurants… They add veggies like beet, cabbage, cucumbers.. Will u plz help me know which veggies will go along well with chicken n how do u add them..like is it ok to add them raw or should they b fried.. Plz help.. And thanks a ton Tori for this super Recipe..?
Hi Sana, you can serve a fresh salad alongside like fattoush, or fresh diced cucumbers and tomatoes, that will go very well. Enjoy!
Happened upon your recipe for chicken shawarma. Looked lovely,tried it this weekend and is now a firm favourite! So tasty without too much effort! Perfect !
I never bothered to comment on a recipe before but this was out-freaking-rageous! My kitchen has never smelled as good before. It never occurred to me to try to make this at home, so glad that I came across this recipe. It’s definitely going to be a weekly thing : )
For the last three years, we’ve travelled to Malaga, Spain. One of our “must stop” places is a small shawarma place. We’ve always talked about trying to recreate it, but couldn’t come up with how to master the flavors or the texture. This was SPOT ON. In fact, we think it might be a bit better than the shawarma in Malaga…but without the lovely atmosphere of that city, they still top our list. We wrapped ours in a tortilla with red cabbage, lettuce, onion, crema, and a spicy tomato salsa laced with garam masala. Then, we wrapped the whole thing in foil and put it in a hot pan to brown the tortilla a bit. So good, we are making it again this week!! Thank you!
So happy to read that Lindy, thank you for writing!
Hi Tori….
I tried a variation of your Chicken Shawarma Recipe this afternoon and it turned out great.
We are having a big 4th of July Party and decided on Greek theme BBQ (I’ma BBQ Maven)…we have some “Machatonim” from Thessaloniki. I’m doing Leg of Lamb on the Rotisserie but I also wanted to balance it with a Chicken Shawarma Dish. I saw your recipe last night and had fresh boneless/skinless chicken thighs and all the seasonings in the house….. but I wanted to try it directly on my new 3 foot outdoor BBQ griddle (flat top)…to see if it worked. So I cut the raw thighs into smallish strips and chunks and put it into a plastic bag with all the spices you suggested and some Israeli Olive Oil and let it sit overnight in the fridge.
At noon time I wiped the flat top with oil and got it real hot and threw the bag of spiced chicken on it and spread it out…after a few minutes I added sliced onions and red bell peppers…after about 15 minutes I threw some pita on it. When it was done I squeezed some lemon juice on top….I’m telling you it was magnificent!!! We Put the pita on the plates with a couple scoops of chicken, onions & peppers and some tzatziki and WOW…..we just finished having it for dinner also.
The only change I want to make is try a little less oil…maybe strain the chicken mixture before putting it on the griddle….THANKS!
Stormin’Norm
Love that name, Stormin’Norm! LOL enjoy your new BBQ griddle 🙂
I made it last night for the first time. I used only thighs and only marinated for an hour. It was so amazing that my husband had text messaged my daughter to bring her appetite home with her. By the time she got home he had eaten ALL of it! Since there was none left for my daughter, I will be making it again tonight!!! Very easy! Very yummy! Thank you so much!! P.S. I have tried making garlic sauce and only got it right once, so I had my husband pick it up at the corner (Berkley, MI) since they get it right!
Ma’am, your husband and your kids must be very happy people.
Found this on Pinterest and decided to Teipke the recipe and made this with Lebanese rice pilaf for a going away party at work. Everyone loved it! Can’t wait to make it again.
I just made this for our seder (oven method) and it was the most popular dish of the night (competing with your holiday brisket and your Passover potato kugel – both huge hits as well!!). Thank you for making me look so good. I gave out your website info to everyone there – they all wanted the recipes.
This actually was a last minute addition – I had planned to do my boneless chicken with a different recipe but it contained sesame seeds and I realized some of the guests might avoid them on Passover. I went straight to your website because I knew I could trust an ‘untested’ (by me) recipe – everything I try always works well!
Thanks for reporting back Debbie!
Excellent site! Absolutely awesome recipes
Nice and tasty! But this is not really the shawarma served in Arab countries and along the Mediterranean coast in Europe. The spices are different (there is no cinnamon or turmeric, etc.). Thanks for sharing!
Was out of cayenne and used some hot paprika as a substitute. Excellent