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.
Debbie says
I just made this and it’s so good! I cut my pieces smaller and was able to skip the skillet step. I also used only chicken breast and it wasn’t dry at all. We have a favorite restaurant that serves this over hummus or in a wrap.
Trebor Schteb says
Thank you, I put the marinated chicken breast and thighs in the Fridge. It looks, smells and tastes really good. I made a couple of very small changes, light on the cayenne and added a dash of crushed mint. Will post results.
Ben says
Do you have an approximate weight for the chicken used?
Tori Avey says
The required weights are listed in the recipe above Ben.
Ben says
wow can’t totally flew over my head. Thanks!
Tori Avey says
No prob! 🙂
Marsha M. says
I don’t know how I missed this, but I just read the e-mail and am really excited to try this. I had the REAL thing in Israel, and I mean I ate schwarma just about every day I was there!
Chris says
This recipe is fantastic. I am completely hooked! Thanks so much for posting.
m says
Do u think i can stir fry up leftover chicken with the spices and it will taste good?
Roddy says
Thanks for the recipe Tori. I am definitely going to try this as soon as possible. I wonder though if you have a recipe for the salad you would expect to get with the chicken. When I was in Jerusalem in 2008 I couldn’t stop eating shawarma’s but I really loved the spicy diced tomato concoction that came with it. Any ideas on how to recreate that?
Thanks, Roddy
Karen says
Hi, stumbled onto your page while looking for Shawarma recipe, I am in Australia, my husband is Dutch I am Australian he has been asking me too make Shawarma for years as he grew up with it in Holland, I am making it for lunch today,
Will let you know what he thinks.
Karen
Megan says
After spending time last week in Dearborn, I came back home to Reno with a goal of trying to reproduce what I was treated to there. This was a great recipe! For a first shot, it turned out just fine.
BTW I used some yoghurt and dialed back on the olive oil. It was really good. Thanks for posting!
Tori Avey says
Great Meghan!
Bryam says
This was an excellent recipe and the dish from the recipe was dam close to the dish I get at the local Lebanese restaurant.
rumpa says
what is all spice?
Avigayil says
Indonesia 😀
Avigayil says
Hi Tori,
Am planning to try this out for my dad’s Eid celebration and was wondering what exactly is in an ‘allspice’, since such mix may not be readily available in this part of the world?
Thanks so much!
Tori Avey says
What country are you in Avigayil? Allspice goes by many different names in different countries, including Jamaica pepper, myrtle pepper, pimenta, pimento and newspice.
Ruth says
I have made this several times and we all loved it! I followed the recipe exactly! Thank you!
Brandi says
hands down the best shawarma recipe i’ve tried!
Cody says
We were really hoping this receipe tasted like the Greek Restuarants around my area, however, it tasted nothing like the Chicken Shawarma that we normally eat. It was still good, but it just wasn’t what we were expecting.
Tori Avey says
This is Middle Eastern-style shawarma, which is explained in the blog introduction. It’s not Greek-style. If you’re referring to the Greek meat that is used in gyros, which is sometimes referred to as shawarma, the spices here aren’t the same. Greeks also generally use a mixture of beef and lamb for their gyros… here I’m using chicken. So yes, it would be quite different.
chris says
Just got back from deployment in Jordan and chicken sharamas were the best thing we ate. Hope this comes close to it
Tori Avey says
Thank you for your service Chris! Hope it lives up to your expectations. Lots of my readers love it, as you can see from the comments.
311Rocker says
I’ve been striving to follow the Mediterranean lifestyle for the last year for health reasons, never had chicken shawarma before, but gave this a try. Wow, this was awesome! Followed the recipe exactly, I was sure I was eating restaurant quality food! Served on a pita with onion, tomato, romaine lettuce and Tzatziki sauce (wife and I have not developed a taste for Tahini yet). Made a bulgur wheat with veggies side dish and, of course, a glass of red wine! What a great meal, thank you for the recipe, it’s a keeper!
Annie says
My husband and I just made this for my birthday. We could not BELIEVE how good it was! It was even better than our go-to shawarma place; I’m afraid now we won’t be frequenting them as often. Thanks for this easy and delicious recipe!
Yen says
Hi,
I am from the Philippines. I’ve been selling sandwiches to coworkers at my office and i tried this recipe and it was a hit! They ask me over and over to make this for them. Even my husband loves it. There are a lot of Shawarma places here in the Phils but this is the best I have ever tasted! Even my coworker who everytime takes a bite of her shawarma, makes a sound and says it’s orgasmic! 🙂
THank you and more power!