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.
Brooke says
This dish came out deliciously! I doubled the ingredients to serve a dinner party of 12 people, who made their own pita-filled goodies buffet-style! I also made the tahini sauce which was a perfect accompaniment to the chicken. This was delicious served with Israeli salad in the pitas, also.
Hisham says
Hi Tori
The recipe looks great, can’t wait to try it. I want to know if its ok to add yogurt to the mix? will it change the taste a lot?
Please advise.
Tori Avey says
Hi Hisham, I recommend trying it first without the yogurt. I have never made it with yogurt and everybody loves it without, so it’s difficult to say how the yogurt would change the flavor.
Brittany Pearce says
I’m so excited to try this. Do you have a beef shawarma recipe? Or do you think this would still work on beef?
James says
I’d tried chicken shawarma at a local Lebanese in Manchester UK and decided I really wanted to replicate it. This recipe is incredible! I’ve just finished eating it, had it with home made flat bread, hummus, tahini sauce, harissa, aubergine (egg plant to you Americans!) halloumi and salad…absolutely fantastic.
I used the grill method and basted the chicken with the fat as it cooked. I can’t recommend this enough!! Thanks.
Tori Avey says
Great James! Waving my spatula from across the pond. 🙂
Mike says
Hi Tori,
I just came across your recipe today and decided to make it. I live in Vancouver, BC Canada and my neighbourhood has a quite a few donair/shawarma joints (lots of middle eastern and mediterranean residents). I have to say, your shawarma spice mixture and method was delicious and tasted just like, or maybe even better than, the places I regularly eat it at. I put it in a whole wheat pita with cucumber, tomato, red onion, homemade tzaziki, feta cheese and kalamata olives. It was amazing! Thanks!
Tori Avey says
So happy to hear that Mike!
steve casman says
Living in Florida now -But miss the great Lebanese restaurants in the Detroit area -I tryed your recipe -including the cardamon -curry-coriander-and garlic and tumeric-I believe allspice includes many of these spices?-What I did differant -was I marinaded overnight then I put all the mixture on aluminum foil and rolled it into a log and slow cooked it for an hour and 30 minutes -then I browned it in olive oil-I think I finally got that flavor that I remember that makes this the best way to make chicken -now all I have to do is dip it in my yogurt-garlic sauce and I’m in heavenly bliss -lol–keep up the good work on those recipes !!!
Colette @ JFF! says
This is a great recipe.
I love that you offered various ways of cooking.
sara says
just tried this, great marinade! only marinated for an hour & used all white meat (all i had) — still tasty. next time i’ll add dark meat as recommended & marinate overnight.
Tori Avey says
It’s yummy isn’t it Sara? You’ll like it even better marinated overnight!
Bret says
I made this today. Pretty legit! I did the prep work last night and let it sit till today. One thing I did was that I used the drippings in the foil after I took it out of the oven as the base to fry the chicken in to get it crispy. I also took the breast meat and rubbed it in the foil after taking it out of the oven to really get that oil and seasonings in there before frying it on the stove top.
Great work! Definitely passing this along to friends.
Blake Johnston says
The Story.
I went on a night out in London and was talked into a Chicken Shawarma from a Lebanese place in Chelsea by a friend of mine. It was amazing! The next day I set myself the challenge of recreating it at home. I failed. Google became my fiend and brought me to you and your recipe, which I duly followed. It too was AMAZING! I had it last night, all wrapped up in some flat bread with lettuce, onion and the tahini sauce. Tori, I salute you, all the way from Little Ol’ England. Best recipe of the year so far!
Married? 🙂
Blake Johnston says
Oh, and I matched it with an equally Lebanese 2003 Chateau Musar, highly recommended!
Tori Avey says
Very happily married Blake, but thank you for the compliment. I’m so happy you liked your meal! I’m really proud of this recipe. 🙂
Gary Turk says
Hey,just devoured these tonight,took us straight back to Muscat in Oman,absolutely amazing,definitely be making them again
Tori Avey says
Wonderful Gary!
G Hadel says
thanks for the schwarma recipe I was looking for ths for a long time. Thanks again
Tracey Allen says
I am a person who is not in your Faith. But, this sound’s very good. Where can one pick up the ingredient’s. I live in Rahway, New Jersey. That you. I want to try this.
Tori Avey says
Hi Tracey, your regular grocery store should carry all of these ingredients. If you have trouble finding anything, try your local Middle Eastern or kosher market. Enjoy!
yuthika acharya says
Really …this recipe is superb as to eat it I had to go to the nearby street, bt now it would be easy for me to cook at home!
Thank u @ shiksa
Tori Avey says
You’re welcome Yuthika!
Hanne matter says
What a great recepie , thank you.
Salam from israel
Diana says
This was awesome! Thank you!
jessica kiromi says
Have you tried the baharat spice instead?cardamom spice that is in baharat 🙂 thats what u must missing
Tori Avey says
I love baharat, but I prefer my recipe blend when making homemade shawarma. Baharat is great on lamb!
Mariam says
Trying this tonight, sounds authentic. But chicken with tahini? Nope has to be garlic sauce!!!!!!!
Jill says
I just recently purchased some delicious garlic sauce and wanting to use it in a homemade chicken shawarma. I do not eat dark meat. Would it taste that horrible or different if I only used white meat?
Tori Avey says
White meat will still taste good… the dark meat tastes more shawarma-like and more flavorful, but the spice blend is good on breast meat too. Enjoy!
Jean says
If you haven’t tried them, you may try some chicken thighs from free range chickens. They made me(a former dark meat hater) a convert…very tender and very little, though just enough, fat to flavor well.
Kaman says
This looks good!
My go-to local lebanese joint closed JUST TONIGHT, literally within less than an hour of my posting this comment. Sadly, my favourite one is clear across the country, and… well, to be honest, I’ve been meaning to make shawarma at home for the longest time. I will be trying this very soon, as I have a craving!
Tori Avey says
Kaman, you will love it, promise!