This homemade chicken shawarma is juicy, moist, flavourful, and utterly delicious, it is served in a wrap with fresh veggies and yogurt tahini sauce. Follow these step-by-step instructions for making the best chicken shawarma swap at home like a pro using homemade shawarma seasoning.
This is about to be one of the family’s favorites! It promises to beat the one you get from your kebab shop! Apart from a wrap, you can serve it with pita bread, salad, rice, or fries.
Easy homemade chicken shawarma wrap
You can make delicious chicken shawarma at home without using a vertical spit (I mean an average person wouldn’t own one, I don’t). Even if you own one, you may not fancy getting it worked every time you want shawarma.
Chicken shawarma (or doner kebab) is a popular Middle Eastern street food (fast food) cooked on a vertical spit. It is mostly made with lamb. Beef and chicken. Shawarma is also known as chawarma, shaurma, or showarma.
Why you should make yours at home
- To be honest it is cheaper and easy when you make yours at home and you can control what goes into it. Although this recipe is oven-baked, it still doesn’t compromise on flavors and taste.
- You save more coins on takeaways when you make this healthy dish at home.
- It makes a great made-ahead meal and a great freezer-friendly meal
- The chicken marinade is sinfully good... So delicious!!
- Apart from cooking it in the oven, you can make it in the air fryer, on the stove top or on the grill.
- It is perfect for feeding a crowd and for a change, maybe try it for your next bbq… You'll be pleasantly pleased.
What you’ll need to make it
Boneless skinless chicken thighs
Shawarma seasoning: my homemade shawarma seasoning consists of the following ingredients cardamon powder, cumin powder, smoked paprika, allspice, coriander powder, cayenne pepper, cloves, black pepper, and cinnamon.
Olive oil
Lemon juice: make sure you use freshly squeezed lemon juice as opposed to store-bought one.
Garlic salt
Shawarma Sauce Ingredients (tahini yogurt sauce)
My homemade chicken shawarma sauce is simple, quick, and made with the following ingredients. This sauce is fresh, light, and delicious! It is healthy too as it uses Greek yogurt, no mayonnaise insight here.
Greek yogurt
Tahini: I used homemade tahini sauce, don’t worry if you can’t find this in the shop. You only need two ingredients, sesame seeds and a little bit of oil and it is pretty easy to make too. see my homemade hummus recipe for how it is made.
Lemon juice
Black pepper
Other shawarma sauces you can serve it with include hummus, tzatziki, or toum (garlic sauce), or just tahini sauce
Bread to serve: You can use any of the following: pita bread, flatbread, or shawarma bread.
Veggies: cucumber, onions, tomatoes, lettuce, fresh lemon juice
How to make chicken shawarma
Make the shawarma sauce: in a bowl, combine Greek yogurt, tahini, lemon juice, and a pinch of salt and mix to combine. Place it in the fridge until needed.
Chop the veggies: wash and pat dry the veggies and chop into desired sizes. Place it in the fridge for later.
Prep the chicken: remove any visible fat from the boneless skinless chicken thighs and set aside
Marinate the chicken: In a large mixing bowl, combine shawarma seasoning, olive oil, lemon juice, garlic salt, and mix to combine.
Add chicken to the shawarma marinade and mix and make sure it is well combined. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap (cling film) and marinate for at least one hour.
Preheat the oven at 200C/400F for about 30 minutes before you cook, bring out the chicken from the fridge, set it aside for about 10 minutes so it comes to room temperature.
Bake: Arrange the marinated chicken on a baking tray and roast in the oven for about 25 to 30 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through. The internal temperature of cooked chicken should register 165F/73C when tested with an instant meat thermometer.
Remove the chicken from the oven and rest the chicken for about 5 minutes and slice the chicken into strips.
Assemble: using any bread of choice, serve the chicken strips on shawarma bread with chopped tomatoes, cucumber, onions, lettuce, top with yogurt tahini sauce. enjoy!
FAQs
Is chicken shawarma wrap healthy?
Yes, it is healthy especially when eaten with salad and not bread. Also, most homemade chicken kebab is oven-baked and cooked with less oil than you would get if it were made on a spit.
What kind of chicken is best for chicken shawarma
Chicken thigh is best for making homemade shawarma as you get more flavors from it. the cut of meat is juicier and more flavorful than chicken breast. That said you can use chicken breast if you prefer, be sure to cut it into thin fillets or strips so that the marinate can marry the chicken properly. Also, keep an eye when cooking it so it doesn't overcook.
Tips
- It is important to marinate the chicken for at least one hour, preferably longer before you cook so that it can absorb optimum flavors from the marinade.
- While chicken breast is a healthier cut of chicken when making chicken shawarma, you are best using chicken thighs, it is more flavourful and juicier than chicken breast.
- Slice the chicken thighs into strips if you prefer before roasting in the oven.
- To make this recipe, serve with as many veggies as you want. The fresher they are the better.
- If cooking in the air fryer, cook at 180C/360F for 15 to 18 minutes flipping it halfway through the cooking time or until well done and the internal temperature read 165F/73C.
- Follow my cajun chicken recipe for how to make this recipe on the stovetop.
How to store chicken shawarma
This recipe makes a great leftover and stores well in the fridge too. This chicken will keep in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 3 days. Ensure it cools completely before storing.
To reheat: the best way to reheat cooked chicken is to warm in the oven or the air fryer. Do worry it wouldn’t dry out especially if you are using chicken thighs. reheat at 160C/325F for 3 to 5 minutes or until warmed through.
More easy chicken dinner recipes
Air fryer boneless chicken thighs
Healthy crustless chicken pot pie
Spinach stuffed chicken breast
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Chicken Shawarma Wrap
Ingredients
- 6 Boneless skinless chicken thighs
- 3 tablespoon shawarma seasoning
- ⅓ cup Olive oil
- ⅓ cup fresh lemon juice
- ½ tablespoon garlic granules
- Salt to taste
Shawarma Sauce Ingredients (tahini yogurt sauce)
- 1 cup greek yogurt
- 1 ½ tablespoon tahini
- ½ tablespoon lemon juice
- Black pepper and salt to taste
Bread to serve:
- You can use any of the following: pita bread flat bread, or shawarma bread.
Veggies
- ½ English cucumber cut to strips
- 2 large tomatoes sliced
- 4 cups lettuce chopped or as needed
- fresh lemon juice to serve optional
Instructions
Make the shawarma sauce:
- In a bowl, combine Greek yogurt, tahini, lemon juice, pinch salt, black pepper, and mix to combine. Place it in the fridge until needed. PS: add a little bit of water to thin it out if it is too thick
Chop the veggies:
- wash and pat dry the veggies and chop into desired sizes. Place it in the fridge for later.
Make chicken shawarma
- Prep the chicken: remove any visible fat from the chicken thighs and set aside
- In a large mixing bowl, combine shawarma seasoning, olive oil, lemon juice, garlic salt and mix to combine.
- Add chicken thighs to the shawarma marinade, mix together and make sure it is well combined. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap (cling film) and marinate for at least one hour.
- Preheat the oven at 200C/400F for about 30 minutes before you cook, bring out the chicken from the fridge, set it aside for about 10 minutes so it comes to room temperature.
- Arrange the marinated chicken on a baking tray and roast in the oven for about 25 to 30 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through. The internal temperature of cooked chicken should register 165F/73C when tested with an instant meat thermometer.
- Carefully remove the chicken from the oven and rest for about 5 minutes then slice the chicken into strips.
- Assemble: using any of the flatbread mentioned above, serve the chicken strips on shawarma bread with chopped tomatoes, cucumber, onions, lettuce, top with yogurt tahini sauce. enjoy!
Notes
- It is important to marinate the chicken for at least one hour, preferably longer before you cook so that it can absorb optimum flavors from the marinade
- While chicken breast is a healthier cut of chicken when making chicken shawarma, you are best using chicken thighs, it is more flavourful and juicier than chicken breast.
- Slice the chicken thighs into strips if you prefer before roasting in the oven.
- To make this recipe, serve with as many veggies as you want. The fresher they are the better.
- Follow my cajun chicken recipe for how to make this recipe on the stove top.
Nutrition
Nutritional data: Please note that the nutrition label provided is an estimate based on an online nutrition calculator. It will vary based on the specific ingredients and brands you use. Under no circumstances will thedinnerbite.com be responsible for any loss or damage resulting for your reliance on nutritional information.
Paul Lightfoot says
I made this earlier this evening with your shawarma seasoning and it was divine! I used a sauté pan with a lid as I don’t have an oven. I let the seasoned chicken cook with the lid on then took the lid off to caramelise the juices. Sliced into warmed Pitta with salad and hummus…mmmmmm…!
You are a culinary goddess Ajoke, I look forward to trying more of your recipes.
Paul.