Incredibly tasty chicken shawarma recipe that is going to transfer you to the Middle East. Best authentic marinade with exotic Middle Eastern spice that will make your shawarma not like any other, one that does not taste like just spiced grilled chicken.
Next time try this beef shawarma too.
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Shawarma is probably the second most popular Middle Eastern food in the whole world right after falafel. This is the best chicken shawarma recipe, trust me. I've tried many shawarma(s) before that I've lost count of and this is the ultimate spice mix and way of making shawarma as close as I can get to the one I remember from my childhood.
❤️ Why You'' Love This Recipe
- The flavor of this chicken shawarma is absolutely divine loaded with everyday spices.
- Great for gatherings and cookout.
- Effortless recipe with an amazing result, van be grilled or oven baked.
Take it from a Middle Eastern girl, shawarma should be tangy with a slight sweetness all combined with a special spice blend and cooked slowly with an umbrella of fat. This is the shawarma I am used to.
Almost all of the recipes I could find online does not give that taste that I grew up with. They all ended up for me under the category of very well spiced grilled chicken but unfortunately not my shawarma.
📝 Ingredients
- Chicken, I like using chicken thighs but chicken breasts work as great.
- Yogurt, this is a yogurt based marinade.
- Mayonnaise, will actually release the powerhouse flavors of the many spices we are using.
- Orange zest, orange juice, lemon zest and vinegar these are what will give your shawarma much needed acidity and a hint of sweetness.
- Shawarma spice mix, a bunch of spices that I bet are already there in your home. Detailed below.
- Onions and garlic, necessary basic flavors.
Shawarma Spice
Here are the spices that you are going to need. I do not want you to be intimidated by the long list as they are all most probably there in your spice rack anyways.
🥄 Instructions
Note: This is an overview of the instructions. The full instructions are in the recipe card below.
- In a food processor combine red pepper, onion and garlic. Pulse twice until roughly chopped.
- Add mayonnaise, tomato paste lemon zest, orange zest and yogurt then pulse until combined.
- In a large bowl, combine dry spices, lemon juice, orange juice and olive oil.
- Add the onion mixture to the bowl and mix well.
- Add chicken and toss well to coat. Fold chicken pieces in half and thread it into two metal skewers. Arrange the metal skewers over the pan as shown above so they are elevated. Cover with chicken skin if available.
- Bake in the oven for about 40 minutes. Remove skin and brown the chicken for about 10 minutes each side.
💡 Tips
- Use Orange juice. The slight sweetness I told you about actually comes from the use of orange juice and not sugar as I was thinking. I've heard a lot about this before but was hesitant to try.
- Use zests. Orange and lemon zests helped also in flavoring the dish giving it the desirable tartness without the need for more vinegar or lemon juice.
- Use chicken skin is possible: This was genius guys. If you can find lamb fat then by all means use it. Or else do as I just did, use the fat dripping from chicken thigh skin. I simply skinned some organic chicken thighs.
🧺 Storage
Refrigerate leftover in a sealed container for up to 4 days. Freeze if you are going to leave them for longer, take them out to defrost in the refrigerator and rehat on the stove top.
⌛ Make Ahead
You can leave the chicken to marinate overnight but if you are planning to leave it longer, I recommend you freeze the chicken immediately with the marinade. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before cooking.
🍽️ Serve With
Serve this shawarma as wraps or over a bed of rice. These sides goes great with the chicken shawarma as well:
- Toum, baba ganoush, tahini sauce, mutabal are all great to serve with chicken shawarma.
- Yellow rice, the flavors in this rice pairs very well with the Middle Eastern spices.
- Chickpea salad, is one of our favorite too.
💬 FAQs
Chicken Shawarma is made of thin layers of marinated chicken stacked on top of each other on a spinning vertical broilers. Shawarma is usually topped with lamb fat which melts during the process of grilling giving shawarma this unique taste.
In Egypt, Shawarma is known to be a Syrian food. A simple search shows that chicken shawarma origin is actually the Levant area. Also some people says it is based off the Turkish doner kebab which is also the base of the famous Greek Gyros.
You may need
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I like using metal skewers for my shish kabob they help in cooking the chunks of meat better.
📣 Related Recipes
If you need recipes that are bursting with flavors and special exotic spice blends, let me introduce you to some of our best Middle Eastern recipes:
- Beef Shish Kebabs, this easy recipe comes with the best kabob marinade, tips, and video to guide you
- Chicken Kebabs, try my perfected recipe of chicken kebabs with a marinade of yogurt, lemon, blend of spices and harissa paste.
- Kofta Kebabs, big in flavors yet so easy to make with simple tips that has been in the family for decades.
- Chicken Kofta, make something new for dinner that will be ready in just 30 minutes. Serve with Lebanese rice and veggies on the side.
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Chicken Shawarma
Ingredients
- 1 (100g) Small onion, quartered.
- 5 (12g) Large garlic cloves.
- 1/2 (70g) Large red bell pepper .
- 1 Tablespoon mayonnaise.
- 1 Tablespoon tomato paste.
- 1/2 cup (120g) plain yogurt.
- 1 teaspoon orange zest.
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest.
- 1/4 cup Orange juice freshly squeezed no sugar added.
- 2 Lemons juiced about 6 Tablespoons.
- 1 Tablespoon white vinegar
- 1/3 cup olive oil.
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom.
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon.
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves.
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper.
- 1/2 teaspoon paprika.
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin.
- 1/2 teaspoon Cayenne pepper optional or add to your liking.
- 2 teaspoon salt or to taste.
- 2 bay leaves.
- 2 pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs.
Quick shawarma white sauce
- ⅓ cup mayonnaise.
- ⅓ cup plain full fat yogurt.
- 1 Large garlic clove, minced.
- Salt and pepper to taste.
Instructions
- In the food processor add onion, garlic and red bell pepper. Pulse twice.
- Add mayonnaise, tomato paste lemon zest, orange zest and yogurt then pulse until combined.
- In a deep bowl, pour lemon juice, orange juice, vinegar, olive oil and all the spices crumble bay leaves on top and mix.
- Add the ingredients in the food processor and mix well.
- Add thighs and toss to coat well.
- Refrigerate for at least 6 hours or better overnight.
- Preheat oven to 430F.
- Divide chicken into two equal piles.
- Fold one piece of chicken in half and thread it into two metal skewers. Repeat with the remaining chicken until you are done with one pile. Note1
- Repeat with the second pile of chicken.
- Choose a pan that is smaller than the skewers but can contain the drippings from the chicken while being cooked. Line with tin foil.
- Arrange the metal skewers over the pan as shown above.
- Place chicken skin over the skewers to cover chicken.
- Bake in the oven for about 40 minutes.
- Remove skin and brown the chicken for about 10 minutes each side.
- Remove pan from oven, cover with foil, make a vent and let it set for 5-10 minutes.
- Remove skewers and cut chicken into thin slices. Note2
- In a small bowl. mix the sauce ingredients well
- Serve with rice or as a wrap with white sauce, cucumber slices, thinly sliced ice berg lettuce, pickles, onion rings, hummus and much more.
Notes
- Use Orange juice. The slight sweetness I told you about actually comes from the use of orange juice and not sugar as I was thinking. I've heard a lot about this before but was hesitant to try.
- Use zests. Orange and lemon zests helped also in flavoring the dish giving it the desirable tartness without the need for more vinegar or lemon juice.
- Use chicken skin is possible: This was genius guys. If you can find lamb fat then by all means use it. Or else do as I just did, use the fat dripping from chicken thigh skin. I simply skinned some organic chicken thighs.
- For the onion, you can use yellow or red onion.
- You can also try layering chicken on wooden skewers that has been deeply inserted into a large half onion with a flat side set on a baking dish. I saw this on a facebook video before that I could not find unfortunately. Worth noting that I've tried this method several times and it did not work for me but worked wonders for many of my readers, who also recommended not throwing that onion away as it came out so flavorful.
- You might want to brown the sliced chicken more in a pan on stove top for more color.
- Serve with: Serve this shawarma as wraps or over a bed of rice. These sides goes great with the chicken shawarma as well:
- Toum ( garlic sauce) , baba ganoush, tahini sauce, mutabal are all great to serve with chicken shawarma.
- Yellow rice, the flavors in this rice pairs very well with the Middle Eastern spices.
- Chickpea salad, is one of our favorite too.
- Make ahead:
- You can leave the chicken to marinate overnight but if you are planning to leave it longer, I recommend you freeze the chicken immediately with the marinade. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before cooking.
- Storage:
- Refrigerate leftover in a sealed container for up to 4 days. Freeze if you are going to leave them for longer, take them out to defrost in the refrigerator and reheat on the stove top.
Nutrition
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First published Jun 27, 2019 . Last updated October 6, 2021 with important tips, clear step by step instructions and readability.
Thank you so much for sharing your recipe with us!
I’ve made the chicken shawarma marinade today and the shawarma was very delicious! I will definitely make it again 🙂
Ramadan Mubarak
Love from Germany
Thank you so much Ash, I am very glad you liked it.
what kind of pasta did you use?
i'm brazilian and i want to learn a different option.
Thanks for your attention
Pasta? I do not get it can you please clarify in which part? Thanks
Hello just preparing this recipe, looks amazing! However, when do i use the vinegar?
Hello Kaitlin, you add the vinegar with the orange juice and the lemon juice. I updated it.
Hi can I freeze the extra sauce? I made a whole batch of the sauce but using only half the chicken.
Jenah, there is no health risks in freezing the sauce. However the texture will be different as the citrus juice(s) will cause the yogurt to curdle. I do not think it will be a big problem as this is a marinade and not a dip. I hope this helps.
Amazing recipe. This came out so close to our favorite restaurant version that we couldn't believe it. Our family of four ate 7 thighs in a blink, next time I'll make 12. Instead of baking I cooked the chicken on a gas grill using indirect heat for 40 min, and finished over the flame for 5 min to hit 165 F. I also did not have the skins to drape the thighs, but it still came out super moist.
Chris, thank you so much for your feedback I am so glad you liked it. Your grilled version is going to be on my menu next week, sounds so delicious.