Our chicken shawarma recipe will make you richly spiced succulent chicken thigh pieces pan-fried in minutes to replicate the flavour of traditional chicken shawarma. A shawarma is a sandwich in the Middle East, made to order and prepared by the shawarma guy who slices the chicken or beef off vertical spits. Typically rolled in flat bread, plates of shawarma are also popular takeaway dish.
You’ll love our quick and easy chicken shawarma recipe if you’ve been to the Middle East and eaten a delicious chicken shawarma made to order, or a lamb or beef shawarma for that matter. Because these traditional Arabic sandwiches, a popular Middle Eastern specialty, typically come filled with smoky, succulent, spiced chicken or juicy beef. (Pork isn’t widely eaten for obvious reasons.)
While nothing can match the experience of biting into soft warmed flatbread, heated at the base of the vertical spit, spread with garlicky toum, rolled around hot potato fries, zingy pickled cucumber slices, and fragrant, juicy, gently spiced chicken pieces just-sliced off the vertical rotisserie, our chicken shawarma recipe makes something that comes close!
Wrapped tightly in paper, a chicken shawarma is essentially a takeaway sandwich and a hugely popular Middle Eastern street food at that, typically eaten as a street food snack because they’re quite small. When we lived in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, we’d eat shawarma a couple of times a week. We’d do a sweaty stroll to one of our favourite Lebanese eateries and buy two each, which we’d eat on the spot or take home.
But if we were ordering enough takeaway Arabic food for a proper meal, then we’d order a shawarma plate, which is essentially what you see above, along with tubs of Middle Eastern mezze such as hummus and baba ganoush, salads such as fatoush, and perhaps some falafel, kebbe, shish tawook or kofta kebabs. They’d always slip plenty of complimentary warm flatbread into the big paper bag.
But before I tell you about this chicken shawarma recipe, I have a favour to ask. Grantourismo is reader-supported. If you’ve cooked our recipes, please consider supporting Grantourismo by buying a handcrafted KROK, the best mortar and pestle ever or buying something on Amazon, such as these cookbooks for culinary travellers or classic cookbooks for serious cooks.
Now let me tell you more about our chicken shawarma recipe and why you should make a shawarma plate this weekend.
Chicken Shawarma Recipe Pan Fried on the Stovetop If You Don’t Have a Vertical Spot
This recipe for chicken shawarma will make you a fantastic weekend meal for a family and is perfect if you’re having a group of friends over for a casual gathering. It’s brilliant if you’re feeding a crowd as you can present it as a shawarma plate.
The beauty of serving a chicken shawarma plate is that you don’t have to roll up the chicken pieces in pita yourself. Serve a platter of the succulent chicken pieces on Arabic flatbreads, which is how a shawarma plate is traditionally served to soak up the juices.
Place the shawarma platter at the centre of the table, surrounded by dishes of toum or garlicky yoghurt sauce, mezze dips such as hummus, pickles, salads, fresh herbs such as flat leaf parsley or coriander (cilantro), spicy Lebanese potatoes or French fries, and plenty of pita or other Arabic flatbreads.
Guests can then choose to eat the juicy spiced chicken pieces simply with pickles, sides and salads or roll up their own shawarmas. For a classic chicken shawarma, instruct them to spread the toum on the pita bread, lay down some crispy pickled cucumbers, pile the chicken pieces on top, along with potato fries and roll it all up.
For a non-traditional but equally delicious shawarma, they could spread hummus on any mezze dip onto the pita, pile on some salad and fresh herbs, top with chicken pieces, and drizzle on a garlicky yoghurt sauce. Delish!
Tips to Making this Middle Eastern Chicken Shawarma Recipe Pan Fried on the Stovetop
Just a few tips to making this chicken shawarma recipe makes one of our favourite Middle Eastern specialties – succulent chicken thigh pieces that are richly spiced thanks to being marinated in a mix of baharat or ‘seven spices’, the quintessential Middle Eastern spice blend – and juicy, thanks to that marinade and a quick fry over high heat.
While home-cooked chicken shawarma will never taste the same as marinated chicken pieces pressed onto a vertical spit that are slow cooked over charcoal for hours – unless you have your own vertical rotisserie! – I’ve tried to replicate the flavour, fragrance and texture in the same way that Terence did in Mexico City with his tacos al pastor recipe, which is also made on a vertical spit.
You’ll need to use pieces of chicken thigh fillets to maintain the tender, juicy texture. Don’t even think about chicken breasts. Do slice the chicken thighs before marinating them. Don’t marinate whole thighs and cut them into pieces later.
When Arabic chefs prepare their vertical spits they slide on pieces of marinated chicken of all types, sizes and shapes, but never whole chicken pieces, then, after they’re cooked, when an order comes in, they’ll slice off the chicken into small uniform strips.
I slice the skinless chicken thigh fillets into 2.5 cm wide strips. The lengths will vary obviously but that’s okay.
I recommend combining the dried spices, salt, pepper, and onion powder in a small dish so that they’re well blended, then adding that spice mix to yoghurt, crushed garlic cloves, extra virgin olive oil, and lemon juice to create the spiced marinade. Make sure to stir it all together thoroughly.
I do this in a more eco-friendly large lidded container, which I then add the chicken to in order to marinate it, rather than use a plastic bag, that can’t be re-used. Stir everything thoroughly to combine well to make the marinade.
Transfer the chicken strips to the container, stir thoroughly again to coat each piece of chicken in the marinade, pop the lid on the container, then refrigerate to marinate from a minimum of 1 hour up to 24 hours maximum.
When you’re ready to serve the chicken, pour the olive oil into a large frying pan or griddle pan to coat the surface, and heat over medium-high until hot and the oil is shimmering. Use tongs to transfer the chicken pieces to the pan so the oil doesn’t splatter and they chicken is separated.
Depending on the size of your pan, you may need to fry the chicken in two batches. I fry the pieces on one side for 4-5 minutes, using tongs to turn the pieces, beginning with the first piece, then working my way around the pan, and fry the other side for 3-4 minutes. I use a kitchen timer.
Try a piece – the chicken should be just-cooked and juicy; if it’s not ready, shake the pan to toss the chicken and fry for another minute – then transfer the lot to a lidded casserole pot to keep the chicken warm while you fry the second batch.
Traditionally garlicky toum or toumeya is spread onto the flat breads with chicken shawarma and we have a recipe for toum or toumeya here. You can also use a garlicky lemon yoghurt sauce. It’s a cinch to make: just combine Greek style yoghurt, lemon juice, and a few pieces of garlic pounded in a mortar and pestle. Adjust to suit your taste. I’ll share a proper recipe soon.
Serve with garnishes such as fresh flat-leaf parsley and coriander (cilantro), pickles, mezze such as hummus and muhammara, salads such as tabbouleh or an Arabic farmers salad, these kofta meatballs, this Middle Eastern spiced rice dish, and plenty of pita or other flatbreads.
Middle Eastern Chicken Shawarma Recipe
Ingredients
- ¼ tsp ground cumin
- ¼ tsp ground allspice
- ¼ tsp ground cinnamon
- ¼ tsp ground coriander
- ¼ tsp ground cloves
- ¼ tsp ground paprika
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp white pepper
- ¼ tsp onion powder
- ½ cup yoghurt - Greek-style
- 4 garlic cloves - crushed
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 500 g skinless chicken thigh fillets
- 2 tbsp olive oil
Instructions
- In a small bowl, combine the dried spices, salt, pepper, and onion powder so that they’re well blended.
- To a large lidded container, which you’ll use to marinate your chicken in, add the spice mix, yoghurt, crushed garlic cloves, extra virgin olive oil, and lemon juice, and stir thoroughly to combine well to make the marinade.
- Slice the skinless chicken thigh fillets into 2.5 cm wide strips (the length will vary and that’s okay), then transfer the chicken pieces to the container, stir to thoroughly coat each piece in the spiced yoghurt marinade, then refrigerate to marinate from 1 hour minimum up to 24 hours maximum.
- Pour the olive oil into a large fry pan or griddle pan to coat the surface, and heat over medium-high, until the oil is shimmering.
- Use tongs to transfer the chicken pieces to the pan so they’re separated. (You’ll probably need to fry the chicken in two batches.) Fry the pieces on one side for 4-5 minutes; use tongs to turn the pieces, beginning with the first piece; then fry the other side for 3-4 minutes.
- Try a piece – the chicken should be just-cooked and juicy; if it’s not ready, shake the pan to toss the chicken and fry for another minute – then transfer the lot to a lidded casserole pot to keep the chicken warm while you fry the second batch.
- When you’re ready to eat, lay some warmed pita bread onto a serving plate, pile the chicken pieces onto the flatbreads, which will soak up the spiced oily juices, sprinkle with fresh coriander or flat-leaf parsley, and serve with more rounds of pita or other flatbreads, toum or a garlicky lemon yoghurt sauce, fried potatoes, mezze, and salads.
Notes
To serve: warmed pita/flatbreads, toum/garlicky lemon yoghurt sauce, and an assortment of mezze and salads.
Nutrition
Please do let us know if you make our chicken shawarma recipe as we’d love to know how it turns out for you.
